Rolling in Monday morning, I skipped going to the trailer since there really wasn’t much there anyway. It had been a makeshift office for me, and my gear was there, but since all the planning was done, and everything that was left was the actual work, I didn’t really need it anymore. Before long, I would have it moved back to my house where it would stay until I brought it to the next construction site, provided it was big enough.
Alex was in the main restaurant office when I got there. He was a bright-and-early kind of guy, unlike Derek or Kane, and he and Cameron were often at the vineyard even before I was. I was starting to suspect they just lived there now.
The office was Grandpa’s old office and still had remnants of his time there all over the place. Plaques and framed newspaper articles were hung on the wall, as was his and Grandma’s ABC licenses and certificates of various courses they’d completed. I was glad Alex hadn’t taken them down. They showed the sacrifice and work that went into building the vineyard from the ground up and provided an example of the legacy we were trying to continue.
Still, the office was for sure Alex’s now, even with all of Grandpa’s stuff there. He’d done a good job of making it his own, including some of the nerdier aspects of his personality showing. A few figurines from various sci-fi shows and video games he liked were displayed, as was a movie poster, stuck in the corner. Somehow it all fit and worked with the wood paneling and old things of Grandpa’s. For some reason the pennant from the Padres and the signed baseballs that lined some of the shelves, acting as bookends for comic books and old horror movie VHS tapes, worked. It was Alex, distilled.
The old desktop computer was gone, however, replaced with a double-monitor setup that Alex was dutifully working on. I could see a design program up in one window on one screen and what looked like a spreadsheet on the other. As I came in, he looked up at me and nodded.
“Morning,” he said. “I tried getting ahold of you yesterday. Derek said he tried too.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I just kind of felt like being alone.”
Alex nodded. “I get that, but what if it had been an emergency?”
“I would assume you would have left me a message. But you didn’t and Derek texted. I sent him a thumbs-up so you knew I was alive.”
“Alright,” Alex said, not wanting to argue. “Well, I was only trying to get ahold of you to talk about the timeline. Where is everything with the kitchen?”
“Done,” I said. “Or at least mostly done. Duncan was finishing up in there, and I would assume if there was anything left, he’d be working on it this morning. After that, he’s going to join me in the tasting room and wine room since they’re connected.”
Alex nodded again, checking something on his computer, then pulling up his phone to check a notification. There were always notifications for Alex. His phone seemed to be grafted into his hand, and there was forever a pinging sound coming out of it.
“And the tasting room and wine room? What’s the ETA on those?”
“Not long,” I said. “No firm date yet, because demoing the tasting room will be a pretty big project. I thought we’d be able to keep it mostly as-is, but what Duncan and I saw last week told me it needs to essentially be torn down and started over.”
“Like to the bones?” Alex asked.
“Yup. I can go over why if you need me to.”
Defensively, Alex raised his hands. “No, not necessary. I trust you know what you’re doing. I’m just trying to keep on top of timelines. Do you think you’ll know soon? Is the kitchen ready for use? Could Derek and Ally get in there and start doing work?”
I felt myself bristle at Ally’s name but hoped I didn’t make it too obvious.
“Yeah, it should be ready to go. I’d ask Duncan first, but I’m sure he’d say the same. It’s not like they haven’t been in and out anyway,” I said.
“I heard,” Alex said. “You and Ally seemed to be getting on each other’s nerves.”
I didn’t respond, and when there was silence for a few moments, Alex dropped it.
“Alright, well, if there’s nothing else,” I said, standing. “I’ll get going.”
“Hey, Noah?” Alex asked, just as I reached the door. I turned back over my shoulder to look at him.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“You okay, man?” Alex asked, concern suddenly on his face.
I nodded but didn’t say anything, turning and leaving instead.
I made my way down the hall and into the tasting room where I found Duncan waiting on me. He was sitting in a chair, eating a donut, drinking a coffee, and going through his phone. When he saw me, he grinned and put the phone down.