Turn or Burn
Page 25
“Francesca.”
“Francesca who?”
“God, you’re a riot.”
“Haven’t we already established that? Anyhoo, what are you doing, little lady? How’s the prince and princess of Palermo?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him.”
“Why not?” I acted like this wasn’t the biggest news since the moon landing.
“Well…I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’m driving through vineyard country and it made me think of you. I wish I was drinking one of those Red Mountain blends you speak so highly of.”
“That right? You know that Chianti crap is rubbish, don’t you? The Italians make better cheese than wine.”
“That’s funny and not true. No, really. It makes me want to live on a vineyard one day.”
“Well, I’m sure Prince Poppycock could make that happen.”
“I was actually hoping you could.”
Right that second, I heard Roman growling. Then I heard a car swinging a left onto my driveway, just like Ted had days before. Roman started running. “That’s you, isn’t it?”
“Me? Where?”
I watched a little rental car start coming toward me, spitting up dust. And I could see her face through the windshield, and I felt her like a warm wind.
“You’re in so much trouble,” I said.
“I’m here, Harper.”
“For how long?”
“That’s up to you.”
That’s when I dropped the phone and started running toward her. She threw her car into Park and climbed out. When she saw me running, she started running, too, and it felt so damn right.
We embraced and held each other and I kissed her like I’ve never kissed another woman. Over the next few hours, I shared my wine with her and we spoke of the past and of the future. We watched the sunset and made love on the porch and in the dirt below the vines. Right there and then, we became part of the terroir of Red Mountain.
Right there and then, it all became whole.
Thanks for allowing me to share my art with you.
Please take a moment to leave a review and then come find me at:
boowalker.com
Acknowledgment
Mikella Walker, I am humbled and honored to call you my wife and best friend, and I will never stop chasing you. Thank you for your love, support, and presence. This book is as much yours as it is mine.
About the Author
Boo Walker spent his College of Charleston years and a few after in Nashville as a banjoist and songwriter for the avant-garde punchgrass band, The Biscuit Boys. Some hand problems knocked him out of the game, and he stumbled into a position with a short term equity trading firm based out of Charleston, SC. To feed his ravenous muse, he began writing his first novel, Lowcountry Punch.
Around that time, what started as a passion in wine became a neurosis.
After six years of the Wall Street thing, Boo decided it was time to end his sedentary, computer-driven lifestyle. He grew out a handlebar mustache and moved clear across the country into a double-wide trailer situated on 5 acres of Malbec vines just down the road from Hedges Family Estate on Red Mountain in Washington State. The Hedges family took him in and taught him the art of farming and the old world philosophies of wine. He now travels the galaxy peddling the family's juice, and chances are you can find him in an airport somewhere working on his next novel.