‘I’m okay, Frank. I promise.’
She left after that, the brief interaction leaving her steadier. Perhaps it was because she believed what she’d told Frank. She could handle Jordan.
Yes, his being back brought back emotions, memories that she wished she could forget. And it stirred up the anger, the accusations she’d wanted to hurl at him the moment she’d got the divorce papers that had made her realise he had given up on them. But the more time she spent with him now also made her realise that there were things between them that had never really been right. With her, with him or in their relationship.
But Frank’s presence had reminded her of the promise she’d made to Greg to look after the vineyard. And for the first time she realised the implications of Greg’s will on that promise. If she didn’t put aside her feelings, she wouldn’t be able to plan the event. That would mean that 50 per cent of the vineyard would be auctioned off, which would mean an uncertain future.
If someone horrible became part-owner, it would affect Frank and everyone else on the vineyard that she’d grown to care about. She had to do it for them. She needed to plan this event, make sure that it was a success and then sign her share over to Jordan even if the whole process pained her.
And she would do it for the people she cared about.
* * *
It seemed to Jordan that he wasn’t the only one who had decided to let his feelings take a back seat. Mila had greeted him cordially when she’d seen him waiting for her on one of the chairs on the patio and asked him to drive them to the school. Her tone had been reserved, but not entirely cold, and Jordan had thought that maybe she had decided cordiality was better than letting the emotions of the past interfere again.
He couldn’t agree more, and so an unspoken truce had formed between them. He’d waited for Mila to grab some things from her room, and when she’d returned and walked past him the smell of vanilla had followed her. His body had tightened in response, and he’d wondered how difficult this truce would be.
‘What’s our plan for this?’
‘Well, I have the list of all the vendors we used last time. Most of them will be at this food fair—thank goodness Stellenbosch’s event industry is small—so we can split up and ask them about their availability and interest in our event.’
He ran his tongue over his teeth, keeping his eyes glued to the road. ‘I don’t think we should split up. Didn’t the will stipulate we do this together?’
She gave him a wry smile. ‘I don’t think that’s what your father meant.’
‘Maybe not, but it would probably be a good idea for me to tag along with you. I didn’t do any of this the first time, remember?’
He wasn’t sure when it had suddenly become so important for him to stay with her—especially since he was sure he could convince a few vendors to come to an event that they would get great publicity and payment for.
‘Fine, we can stay together.’
She said it as though she was conceding millions instead of just her company. Was there a reason she didn’t want to spend time with him? Maybe it was because she could also feel the slight sizzle that simmered between them whenever they were together.
‘It would probably be best if I introduce you as the new owner of the vineyard. It might give some of them more incentive to say yes.’
‘And what happens after this?’
‘We speak to Karen—she’s supposed to contact me to confirm if she can do it.’
He glanced over at her, saw the pained expression on her face, and smiled. ‘Brings back bad memories, does it?’
She groaned, and it made him feel lighter than he had in a while. ‘I’ve always thought about her with both pride and despair. Her performance that night was fantastic, but I could have done without the drama.’
‘But if she can perform...?’
‘We’ll have to work with her to figure out a date. And then we market.’
They had just pulled up at the school, and were being directed up a road that Jordan remembered led to a sports field. It was ages since he’d been here, he thought idly, and then turned his attention back to Mila when she spoke.
‘Did you know she’s playing a concert? Saturday at Westgate Stadium. It would be an excellent way to show our support. You up for it?’
His eyebrows rose. ‘You want me to go with you?’
‘If I have to suffer through a concert with a load of teenagers, then so do you, buddy.’
He grinned, and found himself relaxing for the first time since he’d arrived back home. ‘Sounds fair to me.’
They got out after he’d parked, and he took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the surroundings he’d in no way appreciated in his teens. The field he stood on reminded him of the countless rugby matches he’d played there, and though nostalgia was easy to slip into, he found the scene beyond the school to be more compelling.
The hills made it seem almost enclosed by nature, and had been the backdrop to many of his teenage escapades. Large trees were scattered over the grounds, leaves fading from green to orange with the turn of the season. He thought it might only be in Cape Town that even a school was beautiful to look at.
‘This place hasn’t changed since I was here,’ Jordan said as they stood in line to get tickets, and he watched as Mila turned her head to follow his gaze.
‘The swimming pool is new,’ Mila pointed out, and he looked over and saw she was right.
He wasn’t sure how he had missed that, since the school grounds were built at a much lower level than where they were parked.
‘How do you know the pool’s new?’
‘I went to school here, too,’ she said, a light blush covering her cheeks.
He wondered why telling him that would embarrass her. He frowned. ‘Why didn’t we see each other?’
‘You would have been four years ahead of me, so we would have only seen each other if I was there in your last year.’ She glanced over at him. ‘I wasn’t.’
‘So you came after I had already matriculated.’ The timeline had already formed in his head.
‘Yeah, and only stayed for a year.’
‘And then what?’
‘I got moved to another family and another school.’
Her words left him...disconcerted. Perhaps it was because of the reminder of her childhood. Or perhaps it was because she had never spoken about her schooling before. It highlighted another crack in the relationship they’d had before breaking up. Shouldn’t he have known this about her, his wife?
‘Why didn’t I know this?’
She shrugged, though the gesture was made with stiff shoulders, and the relaxation Jordan had felt only a few moments ago slipped away.
‘There were a lot of things we didn’t talk about, Jordan,’ she said.
Exactly what he’d realised over the past few days, he thought. He took out his wallet before Mila could pay when they got to the front of the line, and turned to her as they waited for their tickets.
‘It seems a bit strange that we didn’t talk about it, doesn’t it...?’
He trailed off when he saw that her face had lost its colour. And then he realised why. Because the school was at a lower level, there was a long staircase that led down to another sports field. It was steep, even for him, and he felt her shake even before he saw it.
‘I can’t do this,’ she said, and turned away, her eyes wide and frightened.