Page 47 of Drunk on Love

The other two erupted in laughter as they all sat down.

“Look, you were the one who decided to do a spa getaway in Wine Country when you were four months pregnant, okay?” the third one said. “We’re just trying to be polite and keep the wine away from you.”

“Mmm, polite,” the pregnant one said. “That’s not a word I usually use to describe you, Maddie.”

Luke smiled at the three of them. He could already tell they’d be a fun group.

“Let me get you your first glasses of wine,” he said. He nodded at the pregnant one. “And some sparkling water?”

She grinned at him.

“Please. Thank you.”

By the time he got them set up with wine and snacks and water, the other noon appointment had arrived. And as soon as they walked in, Luke knew these people were exactly whom he’d been dreading.

Two white couples, male-female pairs, all of whom looked to be around his age or a little older. He could tell a show-off from a mile away—probably because he’d been one for a while there, until the even bigger show-offs he’d worked with had made him see the error of his ways. One of these guys was definitely here to show the world, and especially the people he was with, just how much he knew about wine. Great.

“Welcome to Noble Family Vineyards,” Luke said. “Do you have a reservation?”

He hoped the answer would be no, that they weren’t the Christopher, party of four, on the schedule, and he could turn them away. But he knew he wouldn’t be so lucky.

“Christopher, party of four,” the show-off said. Luke almost felt bad about mentally labeling him the show-off until his next words. “You must be Elliot Noble, the winemaker.”

Luke could feel the frozen smile on his face.

“Nope, I’m not that fortunate,” he said. “I’m Luke Williams, I just work here.”

“Oh.” He looked taken aback that there were apparently two Black men in Wine Country. “Well, is Elliot here to talk to us? And can we sit at those couches in the corner?” He gestured to the corner where the three Black women were sitting.

“Oh, unfortunately, there’s a party already sitting there,” Luke said to him in an even voice, like maybe the three women laughing and talking ten feet away from them were invisible tothis dude in some way. “I’ll see if Mr. Noble is available. Why don’t you all sit down here, and I’ll get you your first glasses of wine?”

He’d noticed both Taylor and Margot do this, refer to Elliot as “Mr. Noble” around annoying guests who asked to talk to him in that demanding way, like they were summoning him to an audience. To normal guests, they just called him Elliot. No matter what, though, it was rare for Elliot to drop into the tasting room to talk to people—he was usually too busy working.

He saw the irritated expression on the face of the know-it-all and tried to smile at the rest of the party as he poured their wine, and then went over to check on the fun table in the corner, who were, yes, at the best table in the house.

“We were wondering,” the know-it-all said when Luke came back to their table with the second bottle of wine. “Are all of your grapes grown here in Napa Valley?”

At least he’d started with an easy one.

“Yes, all of the Noble Family Vineyards’ grapes are grown right here in Napa Valley,” he said. He might as well answer the guy’s next question before he could ask it. “Some—most, actually—right here on our estate, and then a small percentage of our grapes are grown elsewhere in the valley.”

It had surprised him, how quickly he’d started saying “our” in relation to Noble Vineyards and everything they made. It was silly, probably. But he already felt like part of this place.

“Where else in the valley?” the guy asked. Of course he did. Luckily, Luke had memorized this.

“A few small estates in Calistoga, one up in the hills in St. Helena, and one large estate in Napa. All of the wines that use one hundred percent of the grapes grown here on the Nobleestate are clearly labeled as estate wine. Would you like a pour of our Napa Valley blend? It’s the next wine in your tasting—you’ll be able to compare it to the estate blend, which you’ll be tasting later.”

They all nodded, the guy triumphantly, the people with him with some relief that finally he was going to stop talking and they were going to get to drink wine. Or maybe that was just projection, since that’s exactly how Luke would have felt.

He knew the guy thought he’d gotten Luke to give him something extra because of all of the questions, when really, they almost always offered people a taste of the estate blend at the end of the tasting.

He stopped over at the table in the corner to move the fun group on to the next wine. Because they were so nice in contrast to Question Dude over there, he gave them—or the two who were actually drinking—heavy pours.

“This one is my personal favorite,” he told them. He lowered his voice. “But also, don’t rely too much on that—I started working here less than a month ago.”

He walked away from the table as all three laughed at that, even the one who wasn’t drinking.

The grin on his face faded as he dealt with Know-It-All again.

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