first vineyard owner in the valley to do so. I hope Meredith doesn’t get her hooks into him. The poor man will be ruined.”
“If that’s the case, why does she continue hanging out here? Why not move out? She must have some cash from the divorce settlement. What does she get out of being here?”
“She’d like more, and she says that the bistro is important to her, claiming it’s her baby. Wait until she finds out that you’re her new boss.”
“She’s going to love that.”
“I don’t care. We recently signed the divorce agreement, after fighting for a couple of years over it. I agreed to keep her on, but her attorney didn’t read between the lines. My lawyer wrote in the final decree that Meredith could maintain her interest in the bistro, but it doesn’t say that she is to manage it. I’ve allowed her to do so because it’s never been a priority for me, until I started seeing the bottom line slip and got suspicious. I wish she wasn’t a part of any of my businesses. And before you ask, no, I didn’t have a prenuptial. At the time, I believed in everlasting love. Now I call myself stupid.”
“Sounds more like jaded to me.”
He laughed. “Anyway, Meredith would like to get a larger sum from me, but it’s impossible. We weren’t married long enough for her to collect alimony, and in this state, she can only get her hands on what I made during the year we were married, which I’m happy to say was the vineyard’s worst year in the last five. So the joke’s on her.”
“I think I get it. She hangs out with Patrice, because Patrice owns part of the vineyard. She buddies up with Patrice because, maybe somewhere, there is a benefit to her.”
“It’s got to be something like that. What I don’t get is what’s in it for Patrice. And trust me, after knowing that woman for about thirty years, Patrice is always in it for something. Those two aren’t Botox buddies because they love each other’s company. They’re up to something. I’d put money on it.”
“You weren’t kidding when you said it was like an insane asylum around here, were you?” And, now in some sordid way Nikki knew that she was contributing to it. She glanced down at her watch. “We’d better start back so I can clean up. Something tells me that workout attire covered in dust isn’t exactly appropriate for the occasion.”
“Why not? You’d make a scene. It’d be entertaining.”
“Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t think I want to be the butt of your evil step-mother’s and her protégée’s jokes.”
“We’ll head back in a sec. I want to show you something first.”
They walked down a row of vines and stopped.
“These quadrants of grapes will be harvested and bottled next year, and sold in our first Syrah. I am so excited about this crop, I can’t tell you how amazing it’s going to be. Vineyards are usually noted for one type of wine they do really well, whether it’s a Chardonnay or Merlot. It used to be, back in the day, that wineries did try to make as many varieties as possible. We do have a good collection here, but what I’m really working toward, is being known as the winery that produces big, bold reds.
“More and more, our reputation has been building with the reds, and we sell far more reds than whites. White wine became a big hit in the ’nineties because of the upswing of people watching their health, and nutrition starting to take priority here in America. People could pair the wine with fish or chicken. But now, the consumer realizes that red goes with everything. Like you did the other night. And folks aren’t so intimidated by eating red meats anymore. Steak is in again, especially with Atkins and the surge in popularity of protein diets. It also hasn’t hurt those of us who make red wines that the media has reported the positive health statistics among the French and other red-wine drinkers.”
There was something endearing and childlike about his passion for
“If that’s the case, why does she continue hanging out here? Why not move out? She must have some cash from the divorce settlement. What does she get out of being here?”
“She’d like more, and she says that the bistro is important to her, claiming it’s her baby. Wait until she finds out that you’re her new boss.”
“She’s going to love that.”
“I don’t care. We recently signed the divorce agreement, after fighting for a couple of years over it. I agreed to keep her on, but her attorney didn’t read between the lines. My lawyer wrote in the final decree that Meredith could maintain her interest in the bistro, but it doesn’t say that she is to manage it. I’ve allowed her to do so because it’s never been a priority for me, until I started seeing the bottom line slip and got suspicious. I wish she wasn’t a part of any of my businesses. And before you ask, no, I didn’t have a prenuptial. At the time, I believed in everlasting love. Now I call myself stupid.”
“Sounds more like jaded to me.”
He laughed. “Anyway, Meredith would like to get a larger sum from me, but it’s impossible. We weren’t married long enough for her to collect alimony, and in this state, she can only get her hands on what I made during the year we were married, which I’m happy to say was the vineyard’s worst year in the last five. So the joke’s on her.”
“I think I get it. She hangs out with Patrice, because Patrice owns part of the vineyard. She buddies up with Patrice because, maybe somewhere, there is a benefit to her.”
“It’s got to be something like that. What I don’t get is what’s in it for Patrice. And trust me, after knowing that woman for about thirty years, Patrice is always in it for something. Those two aren’t Botox buddies because they love each other’s company. They’re up to something. I’d put money on it.”
“You weren’t kidding when you said it was like an insane asylum around here, were you?” And, now in some sordid way Nikki knew that she was contributing to it. She glanced down at her watch. “We’d better start back so I can clean up. Something tells me that workout attire covered in dust isn’t exactly appropriate for the occasion.”
“Why not? You’d make a scene. It’d be entertaining.”
“Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t think I want to be the butt of your evil step-mother’s and her protégée’s jokes.”
“We’ll head back in a sec. I want to show you something first.”
They walked down a row of vines and stopped.
“These quadrants of grapes will be harvested and bottled next year, and sold in our first Syrah. I am so excited about this crop, I can’t tell you how amazing it’s going to be. Vineyards are usually noted for one type of wine they do really well, whether it’s a Chardonnay or Merlot. It used to be, back in the day, that wineries did try to make as many varieties as possible. We do have a good collection here, but what I’m really working toward, is being known as the winery that produces big, bold reds.
“More and more, our reputation has been building with the reds, and we sell far more reds than whites. White wine became a big hit in the ’nineties because of the upswing of people watching their health, and nutrition starting to take priority here in America. People could pair the wine with fish or chicken. But now, the consumer realizes that red goes with everything. Like you did the other night. And folks aren’t so intimidated by eating red meats anymore. Steak is in again, especially with Atkins and the surge in popularity of protein diets. It also hasn’t hurt those of us who make red wines that the media has reported the positive health statistics among the French and other red-wine drinkers.”
There was something endearing and childlike about his passion for
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