by Jan Moran
Chapter 13
The crew had rallied, with more than enough people to harvest the grapes. Pete had recruited all of his buddies from the vets group, and they’d all brought a few people. Pete’s parents Chuck and Deb seemed eager to help and he appreciated them taking time out of their day. Jill and her son Eric had arrived without Austin, who had business to take care of, but would be there to help when finished. Aiden was surprised when Cyn, Cat, Clarissa, and Maddie and her new husband had shown up. It was obvious Courtney had done some recruiting.
Amber had rallied all the waitstaff who weren’t on duty for the grand opening that night, and a few who were on duty also volunteered.
Aiden’s mother had even come dressed ready to harvest, a first as far as he could recall.
The only person missing was Courtney.
Aiden wanted to call, to make sure everything was all right, but first he had to get things moving here. He couldn’t leave two dozen people hanging around doing nothing when the grapes were ready for the next stage in their path from fruit to wine.
“I just want to thank you all for coming out today. As you already know, the winery is struggling, but with this harvest, the re-opening of the restaurant, and the forging of new partnerships,” he said, thinking of Austin, “I know we’ll have a successful autumn season and be the bustling winery this place was when my grandfather was alive. You’ve all got your numbers, right?”
It had been Pete’s idea to break them up into teams with an experienced harvester leading each crew, so they’d had everyone take a number upon arrival. When they ran out of numbers, because Aiden hadn’t anticipated how many people would volunteer, he just started writing a number on the back of their hands.
When everyone nodded or spoke up in agreement, he continued with the instructions. “Pete will take crew one down to the Concord vines, Chuck will lead crew two to the Seyval vines, Deb will take the threes to the Vignoles vines, and I’ll take the fours to the vines Vidal with Amber as my co-lead since I also have some last minute preparations for tonight’s opening.
“If you have any questions, please ask your crew lead. Remember to stay hydrated. The weather is pretty mild today, but I still don’t want anyone passing out on my watch. We’ll rally at four o’clock and based on how much we tackle today, come up with a plan for tomorrow.
The army guys gave a collective, “huah,” making Aiden chuckle as the teams set off. He stopped Cyn when she passed him. “Do you know where Courtney is?”
Her eyes went wide, “Uh, she had something she needed to take care of this morning, but she’ll be here.” Then she scurried off before he could ask any more questions.
Courtney knew how important the harvest was. The peak picking time was short and they only had a window of a few days to get the grapes in before they turned. Overripe fruit fermented differently than the ripe stuff and every aspect of the wine proved a poorly timed harvest.
He wanted to know what was going on with Courtney, but he had to focus. The grapes had to come in this weekend and the restaurant had to open tonight, so Aiden had to put his priorities on the winery and Courtney out of his mind, at least for now.
At ten o’clock, everyone took a break. Aiden met up with each crew lead to find out how things were going and by the time he made it to the rally area, he found all the women hovering around a teary-eyed Courtney.
He pushed his way through the crowd, gripping her arms, but she wouldn’t look up at him. “Honey, what’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing, sorry, it’s stupid. I don’t usually get like this. I mean, I’ve fostered more than a dozen animals. I’ve never once cried.”
“What do you mean? Where’s Humphrey?”
“He was adopted. I handed him off to his forever family this morning.”
Aiden pulled her against him, his own eyes stinging with the pain she was feeling. The dog might be a little weird with his little humping tendencies, but he’d grown on Aiden, had become a sort of mascot for the winery. “We’ll get another dog,” Aiden assured her, “one just as adorable as Humphrey.”
“I’ll be fine,” Courtney insisted. “This is dumb. I don’t know why I’m so emotional about this.”
He knew why, she loved that dog. They were two peas in a pod, Humphrey always by her side. The dog made her happy.
The fifteen-minute alarm sounded from the phone in his pocket, reminding him it was time to get back to work. The leads rallied their crews and Courtney swiped at her face, pushing the tears away. “You don’t have to be here,” he said, even though he didn’t want her to leave. “If you need to take some time, you can.”
“Thanks, but I need to be busy. What team am I on?”
He wanted her with him, but Deb’s team had fallen behind since Austin was late, so they needed the extra hands. “You’re on crew three,” he said, pointing toward Deb. “I’ll see you at lunch?”
She kissed him. “Yes. I’ll be fine, I promise.”
Aiden kissed her one more time before watching her run off to her crew. After a couple deep breaths, he headed off to his own crew, doing his best to focus on the task.
Picking grapes wasn’t difficult work, just time consuming, but with everyone who had volunteered, by lunchtime they’d made it twice as far down the vineyard as Aiden had expected.
He met up with his chef, Maria who had come in early to prepare for opening night, and checked to make sure the wine racks were stocked. His mother had hired a four-piece string ensemble to perform from six to nine and when Aiden checked the reservation book, he was surprised to see it was more than half filled. While he had hoped to fill the book, his realistic expectation had been thirty percent. A quick calculation showed they were at about seventy percent. He hoped walk-ins would fill the bill.
When he rejoined the harvesting crew near the end of lunch, he spotted Courtney and Austin talking away from the group. He headed over, figuring he could check on Courtney and assure Austin he’d have an agreement ready next week.
“I appreciate it, Austin. Thank you. If you want me to start before November first, just let me know. I need to give Aiden at least two weeks’ notice, though.”
There was no mistaking the meaning behind those words and the initial fear surged into anger. “You’re quitting?” he demanded.
Courtney spun around, her eyes wide with surprise. “Aiden, God, you scared the hell out of me.”
“Two weeks notice, Courtney? You’re quitting?”
She sucked in a deep breath, her eyes narrowing. “Yes, Aiden. I’m quitting. Austin offered me a job as marketing director for the Lilac Ridge Coop.”
Chapter 14
This was not how Courtney had intended Aiden to find out. She’d run the scenario through her head a dozen different ways just in case she was offered the job, but none of those pretend scenarios involved him eavesdropping on a private conversation.
“This is great. We’re fighting time with the harvest and the grand opening tonight and you just up and quit,” he bellowed.
“I didn’t just up and quit. Austin doesn’t need me until November first. That’s five weeks. Plenty of time for you to find a new receptionist.”
Because that’s all she was despite every effort she made to be something more. Aiden said it time and time again, the winery was in dire straits and he couldn’t afford to hire a marketing person. The catch was, without good marketing, the winery would never succeed. Courtney was willing to help, wanted to help, even, but Aiden was determined to do it his way, on his own. She understood his need to prove himself to his mother and she wanted to be there to help him. She thought for sure he’d be more receptive to her suggestions if she offered them over dinner, a trusted girlfriend, not a paid employee.
Aiden turned his attention to Austin. “This is how you operate? Shaking my hand and talking about doing business together, then you steal my employees?”
Austin’s posture stiffened. “I posted the position and Courtney applied, as did half a dozen other pe
ople. I finished interviewing the applicant’s this morning and made my final decision. No one came close to Courtney’s skills.”
“I didn’t tell you because there was nothing to tell,” Courtney cut in. Had she known Austin was going to offer her the job during their lunch break, she would have talked to Aiden sooner, but if she’d told him and nothing came of it, he would have had an issue with it for no reason. “You should be happy for me, Aiden. This is what I want, what I thought you were hiring me for. Since you plan to handle all the marketing for the foreseeable future, I need to take this job. It’s a career decision.”
“Career? It feels personal. You’ve had an issue with me being your boss from day one. You obviously can’t handle what’s happening between us.”
“Don’t you think maybe that’s a driving factor in the decision?”
“I think you’re using it as an excuse to run again. You may be good at marketing, but you’re a master at running.”
“I have not been running. Do you think sex on your desk in the middle of the day is running?” When she heard chuckles behind her, she realized they had an audience. She closed her eyes, trying to grapple with just a little bit of control. When she opened them again, Aiden was still scowling at her. “This is not the place to have this conversation.”
“You’re right. We’re losing time by arguing. The harvest is my top priority, and the opening tonight. I don’t have time to deal with this.”
He stormed off into the vineyard, leaving Courtney spinning.
“I’m sorry, Courtney,” Austin said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “I should have waited to say something, but I do think you’re the perfect fit for the coop.”
“Thanks. We’ll all laugh about this when Aiden calms down.” She’d learned his reaction to anything threatening was to go on the offensive. Courtney understood because it was her tendency as well, something she was working hard to overcome.
She and Austin joined their crew, which had already set off toward their part of the vineyard. They had started at the bottom of the long hill, working their way from Starlight Lake to the winery buildings. Aiden’s crew was just rows over, but working in the opposite direction, so by mid-afternoon, she could spot them through the rows of vines. She never did catch a glimpse of Aiden though. If he was still pissed off, he might be avoiding her. Or maybe she was being paranoid and he was just getting ready for the grand re-opening.
Courtney had planned to stay for the opening, to help the hostess and waitstaff if needed, and to mingle with diners as they waited for their tables. She hoped to gain some insight into what they wanted to see at the winery. She had ten days before she had to present her marketing project to her class, and if she did well, she planned to provide all the information to Aiden. Now she doubted he’d be receptive to her ideas.
When the day finished, Aiden was nowhere to be found. Pete gave the end of day wrap up, stating where they were at and what needed to be finished. He estimated another full day if they had the same number of volunteers. Several people stated they wouldn’t be able to return tomorrow, but offered their services if the harvest continued into Sunday.
“Do you know where Aiden is?” Courtney asked Pete when everyone dispersed.
“Neck deep in restaurant stuff, I assume. You might want to give him some space. Last I saw him, he was still fuming.”
She could give him space, but she wasn’t about to abandon the winery on opening night. She had ninety minutes before the first seating at six, plenty of time for a shower.
Avoiding the reception desk so she didn’t get sucked into something while she was sweaty and dingy from a day in the vineyard, she headed straight through the doors and down the granite steps, double-timing to the other end of the parking lot where she always parked. After a quick drive home, a short as basic training shower, dressing in black slacks and a black blouse, with black heels to give her a little extra boost in the super power department, she was back in the car and heading to the winery.
With Humphrey now at his forever home, Courtney needed the distraction of opening night. Even if Aiden didn’t want to talk to her, she could help, needed to help, and there was nothing he could say or do to stop her.
~~~
Be careful what you wish for.
Aiden had hoped for one hundred percent capacity in the book, now he was scrambling to find tables and chairs to set up on the patio because he didn’t want to turn people away or make them wait too long.
There was a stash of tables and chairs in the barn, and Courtney got right to work cleaning them up, but there wasn’t enough room on the patio to accommodate everyone.
“You can put the smaller tables in the foyer,” she suggested, which he had to admit was a brilliant idea, except he wasn’t exactly speaking to her.
“Fine,” he agreed.
“There’s space in the function room too. The only thing left in there is your desk. We can throw a few candles on it, maybe some flowers, and use it as a serving station.”
“Great,” he said.
Courtney sighed and stomped off, or maybe it was her I’m on a mission get out of my way walk. “If you’re going to accommodate all these people with all those extra tables, we are going to need more waitstaff,” Jamie, his restaurant manager said. “I can wait a few tables, but that’s not my job and the rest of the waitstaff is stretched already with the additional patio seating.”
“How did I not anticipate this?” Aiden mumbled. He’d gone over waitstaff with Jamie and they’d agreed on a number, anticipating more than the reservations accounted for, but this turnout was so much more than he would have ever calculated.
“I’m sure the article in the paper yesterday got everyone’s attention.”
“What article?” he asked. No one had interviewed him or even contacted him for information.
“Looked like a press release. Talked about the restaurant, the harvest, the history of the winery, the new direction you’re going with the events and creating a place the locals can enjoy without breaking the bank.”
Aiden had no idea what she was talking about. He hadn’t drafted a press release, hadn’t even thought about.
Courtney. Of course she would have done that, because she didn’t just have the knowledge, she had initiative, and for whatever reason, she cared about the success of the winery — and he’d done nothing but grunt at her all night, while she continued to solve the problem of too many customers.
“Are we going to run out of food?” he asked, realizing Maria, the head chef, hadn’t planned for this many people.
“She’s got it handled. I’m not sure how, but when I tried to ask, she told me to get the hell out of her way.”
Another sassy woman. Aiden was starting to see a trend.
“Okay, I can wait tables.”
“So can I,” his mother said, coming up behind them. “I haven’t done it since I was twenty, but I’ll just dazzle them with my charm.”
“Mom, are you sure?” he asked, surprised she was even there.
“I can handle it Aiden, just like you can handle the winery. I know I haven’t told you, but I am proud of how hard you’ve worked since you came home. Your grandfather would be very proud. Your father, too, in his own, reluctant way.”
Aiden was stunned silent. His parents had never uttered any praise so he didn’t know how to deal with it.
“Tell me the specials and give me a notepad,” his mother said to Jamie. “We don’t want to keep customers waiting.”
While Aiden scrambled to think of who else he could call in, Courtney appeared from the function room. “Everything is set in there. What else can I do?” she asked.
“Can you wait tables?” he asked.
Her eyes widened. “You bet your ass I can,” she laughed.
“You and I have the function room. Mom and Jamie have the foyer. Hopefully, Lane and Tori can keep up as host and hostess. We could use someone to bus tables, though.”
“I’ll make a couple calls,
” Courtney said, pulling her phone from her pocket. She paused, looking up at him. “Is that okay? I don’t want to—”
Before she could finish, he pulled her against him. “Yes, Courtney. Do your thing, please. I need you.”
Her eyes widened again, narrowing only when she smiled. “So, you’re not mad at me anymore?”
“I’m an idiot,” he admitted. “We need to talk, but right now, we have people to serve.”
She nodded with so much excitement, it vibrated right through him.
Aiden hadn’t waited tables for a few years, but it all came back to him and people were patient, happy to see the winery offering a menu the locals could afford. He met folks not just from Lilac Ridge, but Sunset Valley and other neighboring towns, all saying how happy they were to read about the winery in their local papers.
Courtney made this happen. Aiden owed her, he owed her an apology for once again being an ass, and for not letting her handle the marketing for the winery. Most of all, he owed her his thanks. Opening night was a success because of the work she’d done, work he didn’t even know she’d done.
Chapter 15
Courtney was ready to crash. She’d been ready before Aiden broke out the champagne and thanked everyone for a successful night. She couldn’t believe the turn out, but was grateful they’d been able to think on the fly and come up with alternate seating arrangements to accommodate the over capacity crowd.
It was going to be a short night. They’d be up early tomorrow to finish the harvest, and based on the reservations already booked, they expected another busy night in the restaurant.
She was ready to hit the sack, but she and Aiden had unfinished business and based on his affection toward her while they waited tables in perfect sync, she couldn’t leave without talking to him.
Manning the reception desk until the kitchen staff was gone, Courtney made her way down the hall to Aiden’s office. The office was still filled with boxes, but his computer occupied the desk they’d christened just two days ago. Strange how it seemed like years had passed.