One Foot in the Grape

by Carlene O'Neil

  “Here, Penny, try this Zinfandel. It’s Stephen’s favorite, and he’s convinced Antonia to plant another ten acres of it. It’s another example of the good ideas he’s implementing. You know, I really can’t get over last night, can’t get over the nerve of Francesca saying Stephen wasn’t right for this job. Every time I think of it I get angry all over again.” Her hand trembled on the neck of the bottle.

  “It’s obvious how much help you are to Stephen.” I twirled the glass and studied her face. “You didn’t know much about wine before you married, did you? You were a nurse up at the hospital, right?”

  Veronica looked confused then nodded. “I didn’t know a thing about wine back then, but after Stephen and I married I made a point to learn as much as possible. Before that, yes, I was a nurse for a good many years. I started as a candy striper.”

  A taster joined us and Veronica poured Zinfandel into his glass. When he’d walked away, she once again turned to me. “Don’t you think nursing is such a noble profession?”

  “Actually I do.” I took a sip of the wine. “Do you ever miss it?”

  Veronica smoothed the front of her skirt. “I still find time to volunteer at the hospital, you know. Plus I’m involved with a number of other charity organizations the family supports. It all keeps me very busy.”

  I wasn’t going to learn anything this way. I tried a different tactic. “Everything worked out so well for you.”

  Veronica eyed me. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I’m sure as a Martinelli you’re quite active in charity and social events.” I leaned in over the counter and offered what I hoped was an innocent smile. “But let’s be honest: this is a whole lot better than dealing with bedpans, isn’t it?”

  Twenty-seven

  WHATEVER response Veronica made was lost behind Stephen’s arm as he reached for the bottle in front of her.

  “Now, Veronica, we can’t hoard all of Penny’s time. Surely she wants to go try what some of the other wineries are offering.”

  Stephen led Veronica to the other side of the booth, where a number of tasters had gathered. I walked away feeling unsettled. Stephen’s arrival hadn’t been a coincidence. He didn’t want her talking to me.

  Distracted, I turned and walked smack into the group of judges still tasting the wine from Martinelli. I bumped the glass of the judge closest to me. Wine landed on his lapel and yellow judge’s ribbon.

  “Oops, sorry.” I backed away.

  One of the other judges leaned over. “Careful. That just might eat through your sash.”

  Through quiet laughter, I heard the response: “That’s okay. I don’t want to be a judge if I have to drink any more of this.”

  It’s hard to become invisible when you’re five-foot-ten and just managed to run into the group you wanted to avoid. Nonetheless, I did a full turn and popped into the nearest booth, Jammin’. I picked up a jar of pomegranate jam to examine. Yup. That’s me. Very slick.

  The judge that I’d splashed continued. “A shame, really. Can’t understand what the trouble is.”

  Another judge spoke up. “You know, I’ve stopped drinking Martinelli wines altogether. This is the first taste I’ve had in ages.”

  “Your first and my last, if I can help it.”

  The clerk came up to me. “Would you like to buy that?”

  “Sure.” I handed her the jam. By the time we were finished, the judges had moved on. I returned to our booth and put the jam next to my Christmas ornaments.

  Connor came up behind me. “Shopping and snooping at the same time?”

  “It’s a perfect cover.” I told him the short version of the judges’ conversation.

  “I don’t get it. You tasted the wine. What did you think?”

  “It was terrific, but it was from a different bottle. The judges finished one and Stephen opened a new bottle. That’s the one I tasted.”

  “They need to find out what’s going on before the damage to their reputation is permanent.”

  “The big question is whether or not Todd had figured it out and if that had something to do with his death. Or Marvin’s.”

  Connor rubbed his eyes. “I need a break. Meet me under that oak.”

  I walked back to where I’d seen Brice earlier and took a seat in the shade.

  A few minutes later Connor swung his leg over the picnic bench next to me. “So what happens now?”

  “Let’s go over the motives.”

  Before he could say anything, Annie came up. “I can’t believe you and Antonia found Marvin dead last night.”

  Connor looked at Annie. “I’m surprised you weren’t there.” He claims Annie and I get into more trouble when we’re together than when we’re apart. He’s usually right.

  “I know. Me too.” Annie didn’t always catch Connor’s sarcasm. Then again, neither did I.

  “Did I hear you say you were going over motives? Maybe I can help.” Annie took a seat beside Connor, who started to rub his temples.

  “Isn’t the clinic open? Aren’t there any dogs and cats that need emergency attention?” Connor asked.

  “Nope. I hired a part-time doctor. I get weekends off now.” Annie took a pencil and writing pad from her bag. “Okay, we can do this. Look, I’ll be the note-taker. You just let me know what you want me to write.”

  Connor was about to say more.

  “Motives,” I said. “Let’s just go over the people who benefit from what happened.”

  “Okay, good,” Annie said. “Who do you want to start with?”

  I looked around the festival. Most of the people who had any interest in Martinelli Winery were right there.

  “Let’s start with Francesca.”

  “That’s an easy one.” Annie tapped on her chin with the pencil then started writing. “The land from Todd’s mother. After he thought about it, Todd might have decided to fight for it. Now who?”

  “Well,” Connor said, resigned. “There’s Brice.”

  “Two motives,” I said. “One, the land deal. He isn’t running it, but it’s his wife’s. She might have convinced him to help. Or threatened him with a nasty divorce. Then there’s Chantal. Brice denies it, but what if Todd knew Brice was giving Chantal prescription drugs. Nice thing to do to a recovering alcoholic. Not to mention what the medical board would say.”

  Annie was writing away. “Okay, okay. Good.” She stopped and looked around the festival. “Who’s next?”

  “Well, we have to put Chantal on the list.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t see it, but there’s a motive. Everyone thinks she and Todd were just friends, but that comes from her, and if she was interested and he wasn’t . . .”

  “Uh-huh. That’s good. I like that one. The woman scorned.” Annie watched Chantal, still with Thomas in the center area of the grounds. “Look at the cleavage. She got a license to carry those things? They’re concealed weapons.”

  “Barely concealed.”

  Connor’s head pivoted toward the dancing.

  I punched him in the arm. “Pay attention. What else on Chantal?”

  “What about this?” Annie waved her arm in the air. “What if Chantal lied to you about how involved she and Brice were? What if it’s all an act and they’re still together? When Todd found out about the drugs Brice was giving her, maybe she killed him to protect Brice.”

  Annie bounced on the bench and waved both arms in the air. “Or, what about this! Maybe Brice got scared because Todd found out, and Brice threatened to cut Chantal off. If she really needed the fix, maybe it became more important to protect her drug source.” Annie waved the pad in the air. “Just look at this list. We’re good. We are so good. Too bad Marvin’s dead, ’cause he was our best suspect. Who’s next?”

  “First,” I said, “I have some questions.”

  “Go,” Annie said.

  I
counted the items off. “One, who made the improvements to the winery, Stephen or Todd? Two, who stood to gain if the improvements worked? Three, who wants Martinelli Winery to fail? Four, was that why Todd was killed, or was the motive something we don’t even know about? Five, Marvin was stealing. Did someone else know?”

  “Six,” Connor said.

  I stopped to look at him.

  “You need to be careful, Penny. If you come up with the right answer to the right question, somebody’s going to want you to keep it to yourself.”

  Twenty-eight

  THE sun dropped below the horizon. The restaurant booths were still busy with the last of the dinner crowd, but the winery booths were finished for the day. Hayley yawned and Connor told her to leave for the night.

  I looked around the inside of the booth. “Just these few cases left.”

  “I’m going to let them sit overnight. I doubt anyone will be along to take them and I’m not going to pack them up just to unload them again in the morning.” He stretched, arched his back and lifted his arms high over his head. “Want to grab a bite?”

  “Sure, but it needs to be here. Antonia’s going to give a talk on the history of winemaking in the region. I want to stay and watch.”

  “Hmm.” Connor glanced at his watch. “Not sure how you’re going to take this, but I’m going to say it anyway. I don’t want you here alone after dark. I can get to the winery, pack what we need for tomorrow and come back.”

  “You don’t need to do that. Annie’s still around somewhere. I can get her to stay.”

  “That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

  “Stop it. How much trouble can we get into?”

  Connor raised his brows.

  “Okay. Forget I said that. I just want to watch Antonia’s presentation and then Annie and I will pack it in for the night. There’ll still be lots of people around when it’s over. It isn’t like we’ll be the only ones here.”

  “I’m not crazy about the idea. If you don’t want me coming back, you two need to stay together.” Connor walked away and I followed. “Let’s get something to eat. I still have to load the truck with what I want to bring back tomorrow, and I sent Hayley home . . .”

  “I’m just staying here at the festival and not going anywhere else. It’ll be fine.”

  He turned to me and tension tightened the lines in his face. “How long have I known you? I can remember when you were a teenager, and even then things were never ‘fine’ around you. There was always a ripple effect. Even then.”

  “What are you talking about? You remember me?”

  “You’re a hard girl to forget.”

  I was hard to forget. I sort of missed everything else he said after that. “I didn’t know you’d even noticed me.”

  “Sure I did. Not that I would have said anything. You couldn’t wait to get out of here, and back then I was the boy who wanted to stick around and run a winery. Now you’re back. This place has changed. I’ve changed. Not you, though. You’re still the girl playing in the vines, even after Antonia scared everyone else off. You never worried about the consequences of speaking your mind, even when it got you in trouble.” Connor took a breath. “I bet that’s what you’re doing back here. Did you upset the wrong person at the paper and get fired? Did you lose your job because you didn’t know when to keep quiet, when to compromise?”

  He’d accused me of speaking my mind, and I wouldn’t disappoint. “Look, my editor wanted me to exaggerate on a piece. Make it appear that the turnout at a riot was larger than it actually was. I didn’t think it was right and I wouldn’t do it.” My voice cracked with emotion.

  Connor stopped and looked at me. “You should have told me the reason. For what it’s worth, you did the right thing.”

  “Thanks. Not that it changes the position I’m in.” I put my hands on my hips. “And for the record, I’m not staying here because I don’t have anywhere else to go. I’m here because this is where I want to be.”

  “Fine. And if we’re going on record, I still wish you’d stayed out of the mess over at Martinelli.”

  “We talked about this. Antonia asked for my help and I owe her.”

  “You don’t owe her enough to risk your life.”

  “Hey, I didn’t ask for all of this to happen.”

  “No, but you put yourself in danger when you agreed to help her. I tried to tell you.”

  “But I didn’t think anyone was going to get killed.”

  “That’s right. You didn’t think. You just dove right in, and now there’s someone out there that wants to hurt you.” He threw up his hands and turned away. “Let’s just eat.”

  He walked away from me and my focus shifted from him to the crowd. There were a lot of waves, mostly from the women. Conversations stopped and there were a fair number of over-the-shoulder glances. I knew he was attractive, but their reactions left me confused and irritated, perhaps even a little jealous, if I was being honest with myself.

  We waited in line at the Sterling booth without talking.

  As the silence lengthened, I looked over at Connor. “Truce?”

  “I suppose. You’re as stubborn as your aunt.”

  “Knowing how fond you were of her, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  I spotted Annie, waved her over and explained that I wanted to stay.

  “Perfect. You can give me a ride home. I came with friends, but there’s another joust, and they’re giving free fencing lessons afterward.”

  “That’s just what we need,” Connor said under his breath.

  “Order.” I pushed him up to the counter, told Annie I’d meet her in an hour and studied the menu.

  “The grilled vegetable tart is to die for,” said Thomas from behind the counter, still dressed as the town fool.

  “Done.”

  “Two tarts,” Thomas said to Ross, who nodded from behind the grill.

  “Tart all right,” Ross said. “Just like that one you were dancing with earlier.”

  “Oh, please,” Thomas shooed away the comment. He leaned toward us over the counter. “He’s upset because I was dancing with Chantal. I can’t believe he still gets so jealous after all this time. And over a woman. Can you imagine?”

  “Who’d be jealous over Chantal?” Connor slipped a look at me.

  “Hmm.”

  We took the tarts and two glasses of Cabernet and found a bench still warm from the setting sun. From somewhere on the grounds a flute and harp played, and the soft music drifted through the air. A few bites into the tart, the fatigue I’d been fighting all day rolled over me. I put down the remaining tart and brought my legs up, hugging my shins as I rested my head on my knees. I stayed that way until Connor tapped my shoulder.

  “I needed to close my eyes for a minute.”

  “You must be tired. Look, about earlier. I don’t have any business asking, but I’m going to anyway. Promise me you’ll stay with Annie. I wish we got cell coverage in the valley. I’d feel better if you could call me from here.”

  The concern in his eyes was real, and I nodded. “I promise I’ll be careful and stay with Annie.”

  Annie stood where we’d agreed to meet, at the bottom of the low presentation stage. Antonia was there, directing where the podium should go.

  I grabbed Annie’s hand and pulled her away before Antonia saw me. It wasn’t the place to talk, and I didn’t want her asking for an update.

  Antonia’s presentation was interesting but uneventful. I used the time to scan the crowd. Stephen and Veronica sat right in front. Veronica leaned forward in rapt attention, while Stephen slouched and tapped his foot with nervous energy. In spite of Veronica’s claims, I wondered if he could handle the responsibility of running a large winery, even with Antonia’s continued input. At that moment, Veronica whispered something in his ear. He pulled himself up in the cha
ir.

  Antonia continued to expound on the virtues of the region as a wine growers’ paradise. From the sidelines Ross waved me over with a chocolate éclair as an incentive. I whispered to Annie I’d be back and made my way to the edge of the audience.

  “I saved the last one for you,” he said.

  “Glad I was good at dinner. I just had one of the vegetable tarts.”

  “Interested in knowing how much butter I use in those tarts?”

  “Not remotely.” I took a big bite of the éclair.

  “It doesn’t matter. Haven’t you heard? Chocolate is good for the soul.”

  “Hmm.” I rolled my eyes in agreement as the warm fusion of cocoa and cream invaded my senses.

  I stood with Ross through the end of the lecture, then we gathered up Annie and made our way to the center area. The dancing was over and the fencing instructors glided through the space as they pursued imaginary opponents.

  “Going to give it a try?” Annie asked Ross.

  “Only if I get to wear Thomas’s suit of armor.”

  “They pad you up. I promise not to hurt you.”

  “Tempting, but no. I need to get back to the booth and help Thomas put things away for the night. Come by before you leave.”

  I nodded and watched as Annie mimicked the instructor. She was getting the hang of it, heaven help us all. When she was in range, I told her I’d be back and wandered over to the silent auction. The items ranged from bottles of wine to weekends skiing in the mountains of British Columbia. There was even a mystery dinner hosted by our resident mystery writer. I wrote down bids for the skiing and dinner. Maybe tomorrow I’d be betting against myself, but it was for charity. The children’s home and hospital did a tremendous amount of good. Scrape back the surface of affluent communities and you found the same cracks and the same people falling through those cracks that you find everywhere else.

  I walked back to find Annie. The lesson was over and she leaned against the fence, wiping her face.

  “I didn’t know it would be such a good workout.”

  I looked around the grounds, surprised at how quickly the booths had emptied out. “I’d get you something to drink, but everything is closed.”