Sweet, Sweet Wine

by Jaime Clevenger

Jeanette showed up as Riley was locking the door behind the last client. She unlocked the door and held it open for her. Jeanette held up a plastic bag with two Styrofoam containers inside. “Chinese. I looked at your schedule earlier and knew you weren’t going to have time to eat.”

  “You’re right and that smells delicious.”

  “Good,” Jeanette said, heading toward her office.

  Riley locked the front door and turned off the lights. She went to the break room and grabbed two water glasses and forks. Jeanette handed her one of the containers when she sat down. “Chef’s Special with rice.”

  “Sounds like dinner.”

  Jeanette let Riley eat several bites before starting with, “I called Sharon yesterday. I had plans to spend next weekend at her place. I didn’t know you were there. She mentioned you were with someone.”

  Riley set her fork down and took a sip of water. “Lisa knows.”

  “I’m sure she does. She keeps tabs on everything you do. That isn’t what I was getting at. Sharon said this woman was from California.”

  “I’m not moving, Jeanette.”

  Jeanette nodded. “That was pretty much what Sharon said as well. I just don’t want to find out through the grapevine that I’m going to need to replace you. To be blunt, you see more than half of our clients and there are three of us dividing up the workload. You can do the math.”

  “In other words, I’m working too hard and we should tell Laney to ease up on my schedule?”

  “In other words, I can’t lose you unexpectedly. Right now, you’re the only one willing to work nights, and although I don’t think it is a good idea, you sign up for nearly every weekend. I’m worried you are going to burn out, Riley.” Jeanette sighed. “Anyway, I need to know if anything is going to be changing in your life. Before you tell your new girlfriend, tell me.”

  “You’re not going to lose me unexpectedly, Jeanette. But if things work out, down the line I’m going to ask for weekends off.”

  Jeanette nodded. “Tell Laney to start scheduling you now for only one weekend a month. You need some time to yourself.”

  “How’s Lisa?”

  Riley had never asked Jeanette about Lisa. She felt strange asking now, but since Jen had broken up with Lisa, her feelings had shifted. She wanted to know that Lisa was doing okay, but her feeling of compassion didn’t extend much beyond that.

  Jeanette rolled her eyes. “Don’t get me started. You don’t want a roommate, do you?”

  “You or Lisa?”

  Jeanette laughed. “At this point, I don’t really care. I’m one step away from evicting her.”

  “You won’t do that and she knows it.”

  Jeanette nodded. “You’re right, of course. But sometimes I’d like to at least threaten it.”

  “It won’t do any good. I won’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to stop her from coming over to my place. I’m going to need to change the locks, I suppose. At least she’s stopped spending the night.”

  “She told me she’s thinking of moving to California. Again. Jen lost her job at the hospital here, and I guess she knew it was coming. Lisa told me that Jen had already applied to a few places in California, without Lisa’s knowing until well after the interviews. Sounds like the same hospital in Sacramento where she used to work is taking her back. And, as I’m sure you know, Jen broke up with Lisa and then they were back together the next week. I’ve had it up to here with her drama.”

  Lisa had told Riley only part of the story, of course. “Well, if she moves to California, you’ll get the house back to yourself.”

  “You’re right. I’m not discouraging her from moving.” Jeanette paused. “But I would discourage you. I’d like to tell you that you aren’t allowed to leave, but that isn’t in the contract, unfortunately.”

  Riley smiled. “You could, however, give me a terrible reference if I try to get a job somewhere else.”

  Jeanette arched her eyebrows. “I like the way you think,” she joked. “So, tell me, how likely is it that this woman you’re seeing would move here?”

  “It’s up for debate.”

  “But you’re definitely not considering moving there.”

  “I’m not going to move for a relationship. Not again, anyway. Besides, I like it here. Are you going to eat?”

  Jeanette opened her container. “I’ve been too nervous to start. You’re sure I don’t have to start looking for your replacement?”

  “It’s probably never a bad idea.”

  Jeanette glared, pointing her chopsticks at Riley. “You better be kidding.”

  Riley grinned. “I’m staying here, Jeanette. I promise you’ll be the first to know if I ever change my mind about that.”

  They turned their attentions to the cases that they had seen that day and to devouring the Chef’s Special. Between bites, Riley remembered the wine from the winery that Ana had given her that morning. She went out to her car and found the bottle of peach sauvignon. Jeanette nodded approvingly when she held it out to her.

  “Might as well pop that open now. I don’t want to go home yet. Lisa will be waiting up for me. She knows I’m meeting with you tonight. The Chinese food was her idea. Well, she told me you liked Thai, but the place she wanted me to go to was closed tonight. So you got Chinese instead.”

  Riley softened at this. Thai food was their standby. Lisa had always picked up an order of pad thai from their favorite restaurant downtown whenever either of them had a rough day. Riley never could be mad at her for long. “Chinese takeout is perfect. Thank you.”

  Riley missed a call from Sharon while she was in an appointment. Sharon’s voice message began with an apology. She’d told Jeanette about Ana. Riley smiled when she heard this. Sharon couldn’t keep anything to herself. But if she was trying to warn her, she was a week and a half late. Riley guessed it was more an apology than a warning. In the next breath, Sharon was asking Riley to make another trip to the mountains. Deb had slipped on ice and done something to her knee. She’d seen a doctor but wasn’t improving. Sharon wanted Riley to take a look and the rest of her long message was difficult to follow. Riley called her back and was soon making plans to drive up that afternoon.

  Sharon greeted her at the door with a big hug. “She isn’t an easy patient. I doubt you’ll be able to convince her to do anything differently than the way she wants to do it.”

  “You said she was scheduled to have an MRI yesterday, right? How’d it go?”

  “Fine, but of course we won’t know anything definitive until probably next week. They didn’t talk to her about the results. I don’t know the details of her initial visit with her doctor, but Deb made it sound like they think it is only a flare-up of her arthritis, something that should respond to medication. But it’s been five days now and there’s no improvement. She won’t stay off of it, of course.”

  “Where is she?”

  “In the kitchen.”

  Deb was hobbling from the dishwasher to the cabinets on the other side of the island with a stack of dishes in one hand and a cane in the other. “Riley,” she said with an upbeat voice. “Sharon coerced you yet again into helping me. I wish we were up in Williams Canyon working instead.”

  “Not right now. It’s five below with wind chill.”

  Deb heaved the plates up into the cabinet. “I haven’t been outside today. I’m a little stir-crazy.” She maneuvered back over to the dishwasher and started stacking up bowls.

  “A little?” Sharon continued, “Deb, I can put the dishes away. It will give me something to do when you go lie down on the sofa.”

  Riley took the bowls out of Deb’s hands. “Well, I’m sure you are fine, but why don’t I take a look since I’m here anyway?” Riley put the bowls in the cabinet next to the plates.

  Deb grabbed a dish towel and dried her hands. She looked at Sharon and something unspoken passed between them. Deb nodded and hobbled out into the sitting room.

  Deb settled herself on the sofa, and Riley sat down on the cof
fee table opposite her. Deb tugged her pant leg up past the knee, cringing with the movement, and then gingerly touched the spot. “Damn it. I hate getting old.”

  “Twenty-year-olds wreck their knees all the time,” Riley countered.

  “But if I were still twenty, the rest of me wouldn’t feel like a sixty-year-old. One injury and everything else seems to fall apart too.”

  “Falls apart? Yeah, right. The reason you feel like crap is that you aren’t willing to give yourself a break and let this thing heal.”

  “All right, I’ll stop the pity party.” Deb jabbed Riley’s shoulder. “Look at my leg and let’s get this over with.”

  Riley took a closer look at the injured knee and whistled softly. “Damn, that is swollen.”

  Deb sighed. She touched it gingerly and then leaned back on the pillows. “I need to stay off it, don’t I?”

  Riley nodded. She had brought in a duffel bag of her things. She got out an ice wrap, placed pillows under Deb’s knee and elevated the leg, then positioned the wrap over a towel on Deb’s knee. “Twenty minutes on the knee every two hours, all day. At least six times a day. And no walking unless you have to pee for the rest of the weekend. Are you taking an anti-inflammatory?”

  Deb nodded. “And a muscle relaxant. But it makes me too sleepy.”

  As Sharon watched from the hallway, Riley went through exercises that Deb could try while still on her back. When she was finished, she noticed that Deb’s eyes were half closed. “Try and take a nap. I’ll take off the ice pack when your time is up.”

  Sharon had her arms folded. She turned back to the kitchen and Riley followed her.

  “I know it’s probably nothing, but seeing her lying on the sofa like that brings back all of these memories of Cherie.”

  “She’ll be fine, Sharon. She likely tore her meniscus and maybe the ACL as well. But there’s surgery for that, and she’s tough, as you know. With the right rehab, she’ll be hiking up those canyons again in no time.”

  “Yeah, I know I’m overreacting. I almost called you back to tell you not to come, but she found Cherie’s old cane and was using it to hobble around and I just about lost it.” Sharon’s voice faltered. “Cherie used the cane when she’d gotten too weak.”

  Riley placed a hand on Sharon’s shoulder, then pulled her into a hug when she shook with soundless tears.

  Sharon convinced Riley to stay for dinner after they got Deb upstairs to the bedroom and situated with her leg up and the television in view. It started to snow not long afterward, and Riley agreed to spend the night in one of the guest rooms. Sharon only had four guests for the weekend and clearly wanted the company. Deb had spent most of the afternoon napping and was soundly snoring after they’d brought up her dinner.

  Sharon made tea and handed Riley a cup. They sat in the sitting room with the fire crackling and Sharon’s jazz music playing on the lowest setting. “Ana is serious about the winery.”

  Riley sipped her tea. “Do you think it was mismanaged or that it just didn’t fit here?”

  “Mismanaged. No question about it.”

  “I think Ana can turn it around, but I keep thinking that she’s making a mistake. I don’t think this town is really the best spot to invest in at all, not after the past two summers anyway.”

  “You know how I feel about that. We had a tough time after the fires and then the flood, but the tourists won’t stop coming. Give it five years and this place will be better than it was before. We’ve had more publicity in the past two summers than we’ve ever had.” Sharon paused. “Of course, the more important question is, should she invest in this relationship with you? She picked this winery mainly because it’s within commuting distance of Denver.”

  Riley nodded.

  “I would trust Ana to get any place up and running at its full potential. And I do think that this town could use a little more class. She’ll bring that.” Sharon took a sip of her tea and grimaced. “I let the tea steep too long. It’s bitter.”

  “And then there’s her ex, who will be part of the deal.”

  Sharon eyed her over the mug. “And you aren’t ready for her to be taking this on with her ex? She told me that she was getting a loan but needed his name on the paperwork and his money to back up the loan, of course. How involved do you think he will be?”

  “That’s what I don’t know.”

  “And you didn’t tell her that you have money, did you?”

  Riley shook her head. “I considered it. But then, how would that sound? ‘I’ll invest in this winery of yours, not because I think it is a good idea, but because I’m jealous of your ex’s involvement in it.’”

  “And she’d ask questions you aren’t ready to answer.”

  “Maybe that is the main reason I didn’t say anything. You might have caught me.” Riley shrugged. Sharon knew about Riley’s finances only because of the troubles the inn had run into after the floods. Sharon had so many cancellations afterward that she hadn’t made her usual numbers for the late summer and fall season. And she’d gone into the year on a tight budget because of the prior year’s fire. Riley had figured things would be tight and had asked Sharon if she needed any help, short term. Sharon had refused but asked enough questions to finally get Riley to discuss her financial situation.

  “Maybe she wouldn’t care.”

  “The problem is, it gets in the way of everything else. We barely know each other. I’m not ready for that part of my life to change how we go forward.”

  “That is one problem I’ve never had to deal with, for better or worse. You don’t usually tell your girlfriends?”

  “Well, not right away. I never told Lisa.”

  “She didn’t ask?”

  “No. I paid the bills and kept my investments to myself. It never came up. She never even met my parents. There was a lot Lisa never asked about. But I think she suspected I had extra income…How would it sound to Ana if I brought it up now? I’ve never figured out how to casually mention a trust fund. And I don’t know if I want to fund the winery just so Tom isn’t part of her life.”

  “You definitely need to find a different way to word that if you do decide to tell her.” Sharon laughed. After a moment, she said, “Ana is a risk for you in other ways already.”

  “What risk am I taking with her if I don’t get involved in the winery?”

  “Don’t try and cover up for me, Riley. I know you already love her. You fell in love that first weekend you two were out in the cottage. She is easy to love, isn’t she? And this isn’t like your feelings for Lisa, who might have hurt you, but you could have taken that or left it and she probably knew that all along. Ana isn’t someone to be with so you can pass the time. Once you really have Ana, you aren’t going to want to lose her.”

  Riley considered Sharon’s comments about Lisa. It was true that she already had more invested in Ana than she had ever had in Lisa. “Maybe I’m in too deep already. Maybe it’s too late to consider the risks. What about Deb? You made the leap you thought was too much of a risk after all. She moved in.”

  “I’m glad Deb is here.” Sharon glanced up at the stairs. “We’re good for each other. This business with her knee makes me realize that all the more. But she’s convenient. I like her company and she seems to like mine. Neither of us are taking a big risk with this. We both gave our hearts away a long time ago. With Ana, you have more to lose.”

  “What would you do?” Riley stood up and stretched. She went over to the fireplace and felt Sharon watching her. “Would you step aside and let her go into a partnership with her ex? Would you try and argue her out of the winery deal? Would you tell her your dirty little secret, that you’re a trust fund kid? Or would you just let her go now, before she gets bored and moves on to someone else?”

  “You’re not really asking that last bit, are you? She likes you, Riley. You don’t have to question that part.”

  “Am I crazy to worry about how the winery will change things?”

  “I think it’s
up to you how it all plays out.” Sharon finished her tea and leaned back on the sofa. “When she was here in November, Ana stood just where you are right now, telling me how upset she was that you’d left that day. I gave her your address, but I knew she wasn’t going to drop in on you. She has too much pride.”

  Riley let this last thought sink in. “I’m going to go for a walk.”

  “You realize it’s snowing. And probably minus eighteen by now.”

  “But you have a hot tub.” Riley was already going to the coat closet to get her jacket and mittens. “I need to stretch my legs. I’ll jump in the hot tub when I get back.”

  “I’ll leave a towel at the back door.”

  Riley walked outside. The wind swirled the snow and the porch lights reflected off the flakes, making each one shimmer. The air was too cold to breathe; Riley pulled the collar of her jacket up to her nose to create a buffer. She’d borrowed a wool cap from Sharon and pulled this down over her ears.

  It wasn’t a long walk to the winery. There were cars parked along the main street, but no one drove past and the sidewalks were empty save for the rapidly falling snow. The wind erased any footprints that may have been left by other pedestrians. The restaurant by the winery had a small crowd of diners, none of whom appeared to be in a hurry to leave.

  Despite the Closed sign hanging in the window of the winery, lights were on inside. Riley could see Joe at one of the tables. He was typing on a laptop computer and had a bottle of wine uncorked by a pile of papers. He took a sip from the bottle and then went back to his typing. Riley went up to the window and knocked on the glass. She doubted he would recognize her, but he squinted for only a moment and then went to open the door.

  “It’s a little cold for a stroll,” Joe said. Wine was thick on his breath.

  “I’m on my way to a hot tub. Taking the long route. I don’t know if you remember me?” Riley paused, waiting for Joe to nod. He did so and she continued, “I heard the flood did you guys in. Ana told me you’re looking for a buyout.”

  He sighed. “It was the last kick. Thank you for your help that weekend anyway.” He sat back down at the table. “I’m ready to be done with this mess. We’re moving out of the flat upstairs next weekend. I’ve got a couple keeping this place open four nights a week until Tom takes it over. Between you and me, I don’t think he’s going to run the place any better.” He took a gulp of wine. “Ah well, let him try. Do you want something to drink?”