Page 15 of Taken With You
He flinched at a sudden pang. Dominic had been responsible for scanning the wine lists, ordering something expensive to impress, and taking care of all the fuss that went with tasting it. Dominic had been the gregarious one, entertaining clients, doing most of the traveling, sharing the burden and responsibilities of running an enterprise that employed over two hundred people. Garrick wondered if there would ever come a day when missing his brother wouldn’t slice through him like the cold edge of a knife.
“Shelley mentioned him.” Her voice softened. “I’m sorry for your loss, Garrick. How long has it been?”
His shoulders tightened. He hadn’t meant to keep this a secret from her. It was just too hard to talk about. “Dominic died eighteen months ago.”
Sympathy suffused her features, which somehow made it more difficult for him to speak. Until now, the only people he opened up with about the loss were family members who shared it, and, during a recent reunion on a rugby field, his college friends Dylan and Logan.
He said, “Dominic talked about buying a winery after he retired. His dream is the reason I bought this place.” His throat thickened. He pulled out a random bottle and raised it to her in the hope she would get the hint. “Should we start with this?”
She paused for a moment and then took the bottle out of his hand. “Perfect choice.” She peered into the picnic basket. “You wouldn’t happen to have a wine rabbit in there?”
“You want me to pull a rabbit out of a picnic basket?”
Her freckled nose crinkled. A corner of her lips lifted. The ache in his chest eased and the world brightened like a cloud cover had given way to the sun.
“A wine rabbit is a tool for pulling out a cork.” She plucked a corkscrew out of one of the picnic basket pockets. “This will have to do. I’ll dig up a better one later and show you how to use it.”
“Considering all that you have to teach me, I suggest you open any bottles in front of the reporter tomorrow.”
“Agreed. Let’s focus on the basics.”
She cradled the bottle and twisted the screw with steady pressure into the cork, not a flake coming off. With gentle force, she slid it out until it was freed with a wet pop.
“Pull out two glasses.” She nodded toward the picnic basket as she flipped the cork upside down and waved it under her nose.
“What are you sniffing for?”
“Trichloroanisole.”
“Sounds explosive.”
“It’s a musty sort of smell, an indication that the wine may be tainted by bad corking. The reporter won’t expect you to know that.”
She gave him a wink. Forgiven, then, for all his transgressions. That pleased him more than it should. He held out the glasses. As she poured a little wine into each, the collar of her T-shirt gaped to give him a view of a lacy black bra. He averted his gaze and brought the glass to his lips.
“Stop,” she said.
He startled, the wine wetting his mouth.
“You can’t drink yet.” She lifted her glass into the dappled light. “There’s a process to tasting and appreciating wines. Listen.”
Garrick tried to absorb the avalanche of information she told him about the grape varieties, what kind of wines they make, how to read a label. The faint coconut scent of her sunscreen, warmed by her skin, fogged his head. A lock of pale blond hair brushed her shoulder and tugged at his focus. He wanted to wrap his fingers in the sleek silk, bury his nose in the hollow where her neck met her shoulder. She was still talking, but he didn’t hear a word. He kept imagining what she would do if he leaned towards her and tilted her chin up with one finger.
He closed his eyes.
“Too much chemistry, right?” She sighed. “I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned sulfites.”
“Hunger,” he said, blinking his eyes open. “When does the eating part start? I’m starved.”
“After we take a few sips.” She gave her glass a swirl. “First check out the legs.”
He did as the lady requested.
“The legs,” she said, swirling the glass at eye level, “are the streaks on the inside of the glass. The more of them, the higher the alcohol content. The sweeter the wine, the slower the legs slide down.”
Easy, boy.
She said, “Now stick your nose in and describe the aroma.”
