Page 15 of Gone With the Wine

This morning I ran into Miles at Café Royale when we were both getting coffee and he invited me to the fair. He and Nolan, who I met at the Cuban music event, are going, along with Millie and Ana. A county fair is a long way from the exclusive clubs and flashy night life in Los Angeles, but what the hell. It’s something.

I wait for them at the entrance to the park. It’s a nice warm evening and people are streaming into the venue—groups of teenagers, parents with kids, older couples. Music from the bandstand and the smell of hot dogs drift on the air.

“Hey,” Nolan greets me when he and Ana arrive. “Good to see you, man.”

We exchange hellos and some small talk for a little while. Then Miles and Millie show up and we do it again.

When I first met them, they acted like I was Tom Cruise or some mega-famous celebrity, all polite and careful and formal. Which was laughable because I felt like a huge nobody here in Napa, knowing nothing and no one. Now they’re more at ease.

Finally, when no one makes a move to go in, I gesture at the entrance and say, “Should we get tickets and go in?”

“Just waiting for Bianca,” Nolan says.

Bianca. Oh.

“Okay,” I answer without batting an eye.

Suddenly this outing is much more interesting.

“Oh, there she is!” Millie waves.

Bianca sees Millie waving and strides toward us on long legs. Jesus, she’s pretty. There’s a tinge of gold beneath her smooth, tawny skin, her dark hair gleams in the evening sun, and her smile for her friends is warm and full of affection.

“Hiiii!”

She hugs her girlfriends, then Miles and Nolan, who I gather she hasn’t seen for quite some time. It sounds like she’s been away. Where has she been? My curiosity is aroused.

“Sorry I’m late,” she says. “There was a dog.”

A dog. There was a dog. What?

Then she looks at me. All that warm affection disappears. “Hi again.” I’m certain she had no idea I was coming. I flick a glance toward Millie and Ana, hoping there’s no matchmaking happening here. I mean, Bianca is attractive, but the last thing I need is another woman to screw me over.

“Hi, Bianca.”

“You saw a dog?” Millie says with a laugh.

“He was so cute! You should have seen him—he had these floppy ears and big brown eyes, and he was so soft. A golden retriever puppy. And he was wearing a bow tie! I love dogs,” she finishes with a sigh.

“Okay, let’s go in!” Millie says.

We line up at the ticket booth and once inside with bands on our wrists, we start wandering down the main drag. The girls quickly detour into a big tent that’s selling various crafts, exclaiming over jewelry and coasters and goat’s milk soap or some shit. Miles, Nolan, and I meander a bit, too. Neither of these guys is part of the wine industry—Miles is a deputy in the Napa Valley sheriff’s office and Nolan’s a marijuana grower. They’re both eager to hear about my hockey career, and I don’t mind talking about that. I had a great run; it was only after I left hockey that things all went to shit.

After that, we continue our stroll past the kids’ zone. Nolan spots the beer tent and makes a beeline toward it. I’m not going to object to a cold one, so we all get beers.

“Look at the rides!” Bianca says. “Wow! They never used to have this many.”

“We have to go on the Ferris wheel,” Millie says to Miles.

He slings an arm around her shoulders. “Sure.”

“I want to go on the Shock Wave!” Ana points at a dangerous looking structure.

Bianca bites her lip. “I could do the Ferris wheel. I think I’m too old for the Shock Wave.”

“You used to love it!” Ana says.

“I know.” She scrunches up her face. “I was crazy, apparently.”

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