“That’s nice.” I look back down at the papers in my lap.
“Luke’s a good guy.”
I turn my head toward him. “Do you have a man crush, Ryan? He may be interested, you all looked like best buddies when I came downstairs.”
“I’m serious. He’s sure as hell a lot more fun than I expected.”
“He can be.” I smile and return to my reading.
When Ryan doesn’t say anything else, I look at him again. He hesitates a moment before leaning in again. “He feels awful, you know, about everything that happened with you two.”
“I know.” I say and turn my attention out the window even though my view only consists of the parking lot.
I know Luke feels awful. I do, too.
Chapter 8
Monica and Ryan spend the thirty-minute drive to De Luca winery filling us in on everything we may need to know before we meet our hosts. As we pull up the hill onto the property, all speech halts. The estate is absolutely stunning. The main building is a masterpiece of stone and stained glass. Smaller stone buildings stand to the sides of the main structure, and seemingly endless rows of grapevines stretch out as far as my eyes can make out.
Ryan and I are the last off the bus where an older, grey-haired gentleman, accompanied by a younger man, probably in his mid-thirties, are waiting for us. They’re both attractive in their own way, a fact that is amplified by the genuine smiles they wear.
“Welcome to De Luca winery. I am Antonio De Luca, and this is our general manager, Sebastian.” It’s immediately apparent that our host is friendly and enthusiastic. Luke is the first person to reach him with an outstretched hand.
“We hug here.” He grabs Luke in an embrace. I can’t help but giggle at Luke’s rigid body in the arms of this affectionate stranger.
Mr. De Luca continues to greet Aaron and Chad with hugs and adds a kiss on the check for Monica when it’s her turn. She humors him, but I can tell she’s not amused.
“You’re not going to try to steal my wife this afternoon, are you?” Mr. Bianchi jokes when it’s Mrs. Bianchi’s turn.
“Oh, no.” Mr. De Luca chuckles. He has a fantastic laugh. “I’ve been happily married to my Valentina, for forty years,” Mr. De Luca says, as he kisses Mrs. Bianchi’s hand instead. “But you should watch out for this one.” He points at Sebastian who looks equal parts embarrassed and annoyed. “Sebastian keeps telling me I shouldn’t hug our business associates.”
“Or kiss them,” Sebastian mutters while shaking Monica’s hand.
“I tell him young people today are too uptight. Everyone likes a good hug.” Mr. De Luca pulls me in for my turn. Mr. De Luca is animated and uses his hands a lot when he speaks. He’s a lot to take in.
“I mean, he is a great hugger, Sebastian,” I say, after he lets me go.
“Don’t encourage him.” His tone is serious, but the smile he flashes at me lets me know he’s happy to play along.
“This is the kind of woman you should be looking for, Sebastian.” Mr. De Luca leans into me before adding, “he is single, you know.”
“Good to know.” I nod at Mr. De Luca, but don’t look at Sebastian.
After introductions are complete, we follow our hosts through the large wooden door into the tasting room.
“Good afternoon. Welcome to De Luca winery. Feel free to step up to any counter and purchase your tasting tickets.” A young woman in a black skirt and crisp white shirt greets the couple who walked in ahead of us. “Hello, Mr. De Luca. Sebastian.” She smiles warmly at the gentlemen, her genuine fondness for them evident.
I pause a moment to take in the room once we’re fully inside. It’s expansive, about three times the size of our tasting room. And it’s packed with people.
“This is impressive,” Mrs. Bianchi remarks, her eyes roaming the space.
“Grazie. My wife and I opened the doors thirty years ago and it has grown into this.” Mr. De Luca wears an expression of pride.
“It’s beautiful.” Monica stares at the ceiling. I follow her sightline to the ornate wine bottle chandeliers.
“Beautiful things attract people, brings in the customers.” Mr. De Luca beams.
“Such a great atmosphere. It’s apparent right away,” Mr. Bianchi says to Mrs. Bianchi, but we all hear his comment.
“Yes, everyone is family when they walk in. Everyone is excited to be here.” Mr. De Luca waves his arms and wears a wide grin.
“I love it.” Mrs. Bianchi speaks louder than normal. I’m not sure if she’s allowing her voice to rise above the clatter of the room or if she’s attempting to match our host’s enthusiasm.
“Make people feel like they are in a special place and they will return.” Mr. De Luca nods so quickly he reminds me of one of those bobble head toys.
“Exactly.” Sebastian jumps in on the conversation, but his tone is calmer and more business-like. “If everyone is ready, I’d like to get our tour started before the wine production team leaves for the day.”
“Sounds great,” Mrs. Bianchi says. We follow Sebastian out of the tasting room, through a large set of double doors.
Their wine storage facility is double the size of ours even when counting the additional square footage we recently added. We continue to walk until we reach another set of doors. Sebastian enters a code onto an electronic keypad and the door clicks, indicating it’s now unlocked.
“We can bottle up to one hundred and fifty bottles per minute during peak season,” Sebastian yells to us over the noise of the bottling machines. “Today we’re bottling a pinot noir which has been aging in our barrels for sixteen months.”
“What type of barrels are you using?” Ryan asks.
“French oak for the pinot, American oak for everything else,” Sebastian responds. “I can introduce you to our winemaker, Giovanni. His office is right around the corner. He’d be happy to talk shop with another winemaker.”
“That would be great.” Ryan follows Sebastian leaving the rest our group with Mr. De Luca. He shares some solid advice regarding the industry and growing a business, but with his own colorful style sprinkled in. I look at my phone when it buzzes with a text from Emily asking me to call her later. I’m surprised to see we’ve already been here an hour.
“How about we continue our discussion over some wine. Sebastian has arranged a private tasting for us.” Mr. De Luca breaks from his conversation with the Bianchis to announce the next part of the tour.
Sebastian and Ryan reemerge as we’re readying to exit the building and we walk as a group over to the conference room. The table is already set with multiple glasses at each place setting. Glasses of water and individual plates of cheese and crackers are also present.
I walk around the table one way and am happy to see Ryan coming toward me from the other direction. Tasting with Ryan is always educational and fun. Sebastian sits on my other side, while Luke and Aaron sit across from us. This leaves the couples at the other end with Mr. De Luca.
Two servers walk around the table with bottles of white wine, and once everyone has a pour in their first glass, Mr. De Luca raises his. “We’re happy to have the great people of Bianchi winery here today and look forward to a rewarding collaboration with you. Salute!”
“Salute!” we all echo.
“So good,” Monica hums, after swallowing the dry wine.
“This is our sauvignon blanc. You may pick up notes of green apple and kiwi in this vintage,” Sebastian explains.
Ryan hasn’t drunk his yet, he’s still smelling and examining the pale yellow liquid. He finally drinks it and turns to say something to Mr. De Luca that I don’t catch. I look across the table to see Luke and Aaron exchanging notes.
I turn to Sebastian. “How long have you worked here?”
“Almost three years now.” He takes another sip of his wine.
“Are you fr
om the area?”
“No, I moved out here for college from Ohio. But I immediately knew California was a good fit for me.”
“And have you always worked at wineries?”
“No, my background is in hospitality. I worked for a hotel and well-known restaurant in San Francisco before coming here.”
“Napa’s quite different than the city. Do you like it?”
“I do. I like the laid-back vibe here. Besides, I can visit the craziness of the city whenever I want.”
A server pours another white wine in our second glasses, this one is noticeably more golden in color.
“This is our chardonnay, Mrs. De Luca’s favorite. The winery has been producing this varietal for over thirty years now and it’s our best-selling white. You may pick up notes of pear and caramelized sugar in this one.”
I swirl the wine a little before tasting it. “I definitely taste the pear,” I say, to no one in particular.
“Yes,” Sebastian agrees, before leaning in to whisper. “This one’s not my favorite, but the De Luca’s love it and it sells.”
“I’m more of a red drinker, myself.”
“Me, too.” Sebastian smiles. “I suggested to Mr. De Luca we focus on the reds during our tasting today, but as you can already tell he doesn’t listen to me much.”
Sebastian rolls his eyes in such an exaggerated way that I can’t help but laugh out loud. I set down my wine and as I reach for my glass of water, I lock eyes with Luke. I brace for a surge of jealousy from him, but instead he gives me a small smile and turns to resume his conversation with Aaron.
With each sample of wine, the volume of individual conversations rises. At the other end of the table, the Bianchis and Mr. De Luca have added more hand gestures, table slapping and booming laughter into their exchange.
We’re on our eighth or ninth taste when the wine really hits me. Wine tasting is like that. You’re drinking small quantities of wine at fast intervals and it’s hard to keep track of exactly how much you’ve drank. With these pours in particular being on the generous side and gauging by how I feel, I estimate that we’ve drank the equivalent of three glasses of wine in the last hour.
“I’d like to give a toast.” Mr. De Luca stands suddenly, commanding the attention of the table with his boisterous voice. “I planned on thanking you all for coming to visit us today and toasting to our new business associates, but I changed my mind.” Mr. De Luca attempts to look serious before his mouth breaks into a wide smile. “Today we toast to new friends. Salute.”
“Salute.” We all respond in kind, and clink glasses.
I turn back to Sebastian to resume our discussion about the winery and his experience. I find him and his stories completing engaging. We spend the rest of the tasting exchanging notes on the similarities and differences of the two wineries.
An hour later, after hugs goodbye from Mr. De Luca and handshakes from Sebastian, we’re boarding the shuttle to take us to dinner.
“Dinner will be at…” Monica says, before swaying too far to her left and losing her footing. “Oh geez.” She rights herself before continuing. “Dinner will be at Brix, assuming we can pull ourselves together.”
Mrs. Bianchi giggles. “Serious business is over for the day.”
“If that’s what serious business looks like to her, I want to be Mrs. Bianchi when I grow up,” Ryan says. I think he meant to whisper it but misjudged his volume. Aaron and Luke snicker at his comment from across the aisle.
The ride to dinner goes by quickly as Monica leads a discussion about the De Luca wines. We all agree that their Cabernet was our favorite. Ryan gives a more detailed account of the wine and uses some fancy terms that I’m not even sure the Bianchis are familiar with.
“Showoff.” Aaron pretend coughs and we all laugh, even Ryan.
“We’re here,” Monica announces as the van slows, and we all stand to wait our turn to exit.
“This is the best field trip I’ve ever been on,” I say to Ryan.
“If they would have included winery stops on our field trips, I may have attended school more often,” Aaron answers.
“No, you wouldn’t have,” Luke shakes his head.
“No, you’re probably right.” Aaron nods.
“Aaron, I’m shocked. I can’t picture you being anything other than a studious young man in school.” I grab onto the back of one of the seats to steady myself, it feels like the bus is still moving.
“Ah, Jessica, I wasn’t always the dashingly handsome captain of industry you see today.” Aaron smiles widely. I like buzzed Aaron.
“Oh no?” I tilt my head to one side.
“No.” Aaron shakes his head. “I always had big dreams, but…don’t tell anyone…but I was actually, just a little bit, lazy.” Aaron holds his thumb and forefinger slightly apart.
“Well, I don’t believe it.” I wink at him.
“It’s true.”
“And what changed?”
“Andi.” Aaron laughs as he’s remembering something. “I don’t think she knew the extent of my laziness until we moved in together. Let’s just say she was having no part of it.”
I laugh. “I don’t imagine she would.” I’ve only had the pleasure of speaking with Andi a few times, but I’ve enjoyed every conversation we’ve had. Andi is opinionated, outgoing, and funny. Based on our interactions I have no trouble believing she wouldn’t have a lot of patience for nonsense.
“She came home for lunch one day and found me. I had called in sick to work and was eating pizza and watching a baseball game.” Aaron shakes his head. “I remember it like it was yesterday. She stood there with her hands on her hips. She wore a calm exterior, but there was this look in her eyes. She was the scariest, most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She told me I would pick up after myself and I would get myself to work on time or I could move back home with my mother.”
Luke laughs. “I can totally picture it.” Luke has described his friendship with Andi as being almost sibling-like, including a fair amount of teasing and competitiveness.
Aaron nods. “That woman changed my life, not putting up with my bullshit.” Aaron lets Luke pass him to exit first. Aaron hangs back until Luke is out of earshot. “Kind of like you two.” He waves his hand from me toward the front of the van where Luke was a moment ago.
Aaron’s back is to me, retreating down the aisle toward the door before I can respond. I follow him outside where the others are waiting for us.
The restaurant is warm and inviting with tall beamed ceilings and stone accented walls. Monica walks up to the hostess station and quickly returns.
“They’re getting the room ready for us,” Monica says as another hostess walks up behind her.
“Bianchi party?” she asks, wearing a bright smile.
“That’s us,” Monica responds.
“Allow me to show you back to your table.”
We follow the young woman back to an intimate private room. The lit candles atop the long, wood table cause light to flicker across the pair of crystal chandeliers hanging above. I walk the length of the room and start to pull out a chair before realizing that Luke has rounded the table from the other direction and I’ll be sitting next to him.
Luke senses my hesitation and pauses from pulling out the chair to my right. “Should Aaron and I switch?”
“No, this is fine.” Today has gone really well and I don’t want to be the one to make things awkward. Besides, we need to be capable of sitting next to each during a casual dinner.
He nods and takes his seat. I take off my sweater and sit down as well. The waiters arrive with wine already in hand.
“Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Bianchi and guests. We’re ready to begin pouring the wines you preselected for this evening,” the blond one says with a flourish, before beginning to pour a sparkling wine into Mrs. Bianchi’s glass.
> The other waiter, an older gentleman with a warm smile, remains and proceeds to tell us about specials and take any additional drink orders.
“No thanks,” I say, when the waiter reaches my glass.
“I’m good,” Luke says, when the waiter attempts to pour into his glass.
We both look to Mrs. Bianchi’s end of the table where she appears to be giving Aaron marriage advice while sipping on her wine.
Luke asks Aaron a question about their company, effectively saving him from the awkward conversation. I turn my attention to Monica and strike up a conversation about her summer vacation plans.
The table is conversing loudly when the waiter returns. “So, is everyone ready to order?”
“Shoot, I knew I forgot to do something. I haven’t even looked at the menu.” Mrs. Bianchi laughs again before picking the menu up from the table.
“Give us a couple of minutes,” Mr. Bianchi instructs the waiter.
I open the black leather portfolio to find a list of elegant dishes listed in fancy script. I’m trying to decide between the salmon and the steak when Luke leans his head slightly toward me. “Mrs. Bianchi’s had a lot to drink today. You’ve known her longer, is this normal for her?”
I keep my eyes on the menu. “No, this is definitely a first.”
“She’s not showing signs of slowing down, either.”
I peer over my menu at Mrs. Bianchi. She’s smiling and rubbing Mr. Bianchi’s arm, while reading her menu. “I think the wine just got away from her tonight. She’ll be fine.”
“Okay, but if she insists we go somewhere else after this I’m faking an illness. I don’t need to get trashed on a work trip.”
I tilt my eyes up to see Luke is suppressing a playful grin and there is a sparkle of amusement in his eyes.
“We better start working on our alibis. She’s very persuasive.” I place my hand on his arm as I lower my voice.
The small gesture causes his thoughts to drift for a moment and his eyes soften. He shakes whatever thoughts he was having away and returns to our conversation. “We can tell them I have a headache and you need to go wash your hair.”
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