Page 64 of Red Mountain Burning
This was quite possibly the most interesting piece of news Emilia had ever heard, and she couldn’t wait to hear what variety he’d planted.Nothing like this happens in New York, she thought.
In the silence, Otis sipped his wine. “I’m serious now, both of you. You must take this secret to your graves. I feel slightly guilty clueing you in on my crime, but I couldn’t keep it to myself any longer.”
“Muscadine?” Brooks asked.
Otis shook his head with a devious grin.
Brooks tapped the table. “Something like Petit Verdot?”
“Oh, c’mon. You can do better than that.”
Emilia searched her memory, revisiting the pages of the books she’d been reading. There were so many varieties out there. “Dornfelder? Or Mouvedre?”
Brooks lit up. “Look at this girl. I don’t even know what Dornfelder is.”
“A good guess, indeed,” Otis said, “but I’m afraid she’s not quite there. Let’s see if we can get it out of her. Emilia, it’s new world. It’s prevalent in only one region. And it’s been the butt of wine jokes for as long as I’ve been alive.”
Emilia wanted to say shiraz, but she was pretty sure that was the same as syrah, which couldn’t be the answer. Brooks and Otis were deep believers in the greatness of syrah on Red Mountain.New world, she thought.South America. North America. Australia. New Zealand, but that’s mostly pinot noir. Oh, South Africa,she thought. “Is South Africa new world?”
Otis smiled. “It is.”
Emilia had the variety on the tip of her tongue. “It’s starts with aP, right?”
“Someone’s been studying,” Brooks said.
“Pinotage!” Emilia almost shouted.
Otis clapped. “There are now thirty pinotage vines sprinkled in Bellflour’s precious little vineyard.”
The three of them burst into the kind of laughter you might hear among thieves after a successful robbery.
Brooks eventually asked, “Where in the world did you find pinotage?”
“At the nursery in Prosser. Leftovers from a South African woman trying to get a little taste of home.”
Otis told them the dirty details of his mission, and Emilia couldn’t stop smiling at the idea of him sneaking out of bed and trespassing while Joan slept peacefully through the night.
Once the food came, Otis and Brooks regaled Emilia with war stories from the different harvests over the years. The cold, the hot, the wet, and the dry—each presenting new issues. Emilia couldn’t wait to get a few harvests under her belt.
* * *
For Margot and Remi,the days with Carly ticked off like slashes of a blade. What made it all the worse were the moments when Carly would seem to be coming around, like the day she’d laughed at Margot smoking. Then Carly would come back twice as vicious.
Remi had, for the most part, done a good job of holding back his anger in the two weeks since Carly had arrived. But no one could keep his emotions bottled forever, and he’d occasionally snapped. Hearing Remi and Carly yelling at each other was the saddest symphony of sounds Margot had ever heard. Carly could be ruthless, and her tone grew deeper when she yelled, revealing her teenage fury at its most animalistic. Remi’s voice was so deep at normal levels that when the yelling came, he roared.
Today was one of the worst fights Margot had heard yet, and she was tempted to go upstairs and intervene. If Remi and Carly yelled at each other any louder, the guests at the inn might hear them. Thank goodness Jasper was spending most of his time hanging out with Emilia and playing music with Jake.
Finally, Margot heard Remi coming down the stairs; his footsteps were easy to discern. He plopped down onto the couch next to her and rubbed his temples. “I’m just about at the end of my rope.”
Margot put her hand on his upper arm. “I’m sorry.”
He sat back and sighed. “Apparently, I’m the least of two evils between her mother and me, which is why she’s up here. This guy Amber’s been dating for a few months sounds pretty awful, and Carly says Amber always takes his side.”
“Well, that sheds a lot of light on things. Both her parents are being pulled away from her.”
Remi nodded. “Poor girl.”
Margot took his hand and patted it. “This isn’t forever, Remi. She’ll come around.”
