“What was Conway like growing up?”
“Very charismatic.” She smiled as she thought back to his childhood. “He always did well in school. He was very active in sports. Very popular among the rest of the students in his class. But he was also very private. He matured much faster than the average boy his age. He seemed to come into adulthood when he was fifteen or so. By then, he was fairly independent and ready to move on with his life. The day he turned eighteen, he was ready to move out.”
“He’s still private now.”
“He’s very protective of his creative genius, not that I judge him for it. He was an easy son to raise, and I’m very proud of who he’s become—even with the overbearing nature.” She smiled and drank from her glass. “When he moved to Milan, it was hard for Crow. Cane has always been my husband’s best friend, but Conway quickly replaced him once he was older. I know Crow was looking forward to enjoying the years of having Conway as a friend rather than a son. But since Conway lives so far away, that hasn’t really happened. He pictured Conway taking over the wine business so that he could see him every day.”
My eyes softened in sadness, knowing that letting a son go must be difficult. They were such a close family. Of course they wanted to be even closer.
“The hardest thing about being a parent is when your job is over. The day Conway no longer needed me, I was happy and sad. But Crow has never really gotten over it. And Vanessa is so independent that she’s never wanted help from anyone. She’s a very stubborn Barsetti.”
Conway’s studio was in Milan, but he spent most of his time in his home in Verona. But since he was the business owner, I didn’t understand why he couldn’t handle his company from Florence, somewhere closer to his family.
“Do you want to have children?”
The question yanked me from my thoughts. “Yes.”
“How many?”
“Two,” I said. “But maybe three. I’m not sure yet. Depends on when I have the first one.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, do you and Conway talk about that sort of thing?”
I didn’t want his mother to get her hopes up, that Conway and I would get married and start a family. He said he wasn’t looking for romance or anything meaningful, but I couldn’t help but question our relationship. He said he didn’t want monogamy, but that’s exactly what we had. He said he didn’t want to kiss, but now he couldn’t stop kissing me. Then he gave me my freedom and asked me to stay with him. Everything he did contradicted everything he said. “It’s come up a few times…”
Pearl smiled in a new way. “That’s nice to hear. Conway is so committed to his career, I thought he might not want children. Crow was the same way until I became pregnant with Conway. And the second I was pregnant, he was happy.”
Maybe Conway didn’t realize everything he wanted. Maybe he just needed time to figure it out.
Pearl continued to eat her salad, taking small bites but not eating much. Her wedding ring was unusual because it was a white gold band with a single button on top. There were no diamonds. It was obviously one of a kind. “How did you and Crow meet?”
She hesitated in her movements, pausing before she set down her fork. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you another time.”
It was a weird response, but I didn’t push her on it. It was her personal life, and if she didn’t want to share it with me, that was her decision. “How do you like your salad?”
“It’s excellent. Crow and I come here often when we’re in town.”
“Is he here now?”
“Yes. He’s meeting with this man who owns a dozen restaurants around Verona. He’s a fan of Barsetti wine, so he’s interested in buying our product in bulk. We have different versions of our wines that we offer clients. Crow will go out into the vineyards and identify the largest and juiciest grapes. He’ll use those in the press instead of the generic ones we harvest. As a result, the wine is a lot brighter. It’s not necessarily stronger in taste, just bolder. Those wines cost more because there are only so many prime grapes in the harvest. It sounds like this man wants to exclusively reserve those cases since we only make so many every year.”
“Wow, I never knew that.”
“We charge a lot more for that exclusive wine, but this man is willing to pay to be the exclusive distributor of it. It’s a smart move on his part and also a great deal for us. Win-win.”
“That does sound great. Do you enjoy working at the winery?”
“Very much so,” she responded. “I’ve never felt more connected to the earth than I do now. A simple life is a much better life. Our family is small, but it’s certainly enough. I used to love the chaos of the city, the constant sound of people going out for Chinese at two in the morning. But now I find the silence comforting.”