Page 64 of A Vineyard for Two

‘Well, maybe it’s time for a change.’

‘You don’t mean that.’

‘Are you sure about that?’

‘What about Georgia?’

‘Georgia will always be taken care of,’ Leo said.

‘Taken care of? That sounds so clinical.’

‘Harper, there’s a lot you’re not aware of.’

‘What aren’t you telling me, Leo?’

‘You need to talk to Georgia.’

‘No, Leo. I’m talking to you. What aren’t you telling me?’ She didn’t realise her voice had risen until a woman gave her the once over as she passed her on the sidewalk.

She heard him sigh. ‘Georgia has been sick for some time.’

‘How sick?’

‘They gave her two, maybe three years, tops.’

No, that couldn’t be. She would have said something. There was no way that Georgia would keep such a secret from her. ‘How long has she known about this? How long have you known?’

‘We suspected something wasn’t right around Christmas. She told us in April.’

‘When was she going to tell me?’

‘She wasn’t.’

‘Why the hell not?’

‘Because Harper, you left. You made your own life, and she didn’t want to burden you with her problems. She didn’t want to be the reason you came back here.’

‘Well, I’m here now.’

Harper couldn’t imagine the estate without Georgia. The bubbly personality, the woman who loved her canary Mustang and pissed off the crocheting club with her cursing and politically incorrect opinions.

‘There has to be something that we can do. Has she gone through treatment?’

‘She’s refused it.’

‘What? And you let her?’

‘Harper, Georgia is a grown woman. She’s not someone you tell what to do.’

‘But…’

‘We tried. Believe me, we all tried.’

‘Zoe, Tyler, Brookes, they all know as well?’

‘Yes.’

‘I gotta go.’