Page 12 of Kisses Sweeter than Wine

Merlot chuckled. “I work for the family business. While my mom keeps telling me that I’m going to be the one in her shoes with Zinny at my side, my role is more undetermined at the moment.”

“How can that be?”

“It’s an incredibly convoluted long tale, but I’m happy to tell you if you want to hear it.” He lifted his bottle.

“Sure. Why not.”

“I originally went to college to become a viticulturist and vintner, like my mom, older brother, and sister. But thanks to a family feud and decades-old secret, Malbec and Chablis quit my sophomore year. I decided if they weren’t doing it, neither was I. So, I became a parole officer until last year.”

“That’s quite a career switch.” Talbot lifted her drink to her plump lips. “Why?”

“Malbec had a buddy who got a raw deal. I had an ex-girlfriend who screwed me and my brother over.”

Talbot jerked her head.

“That’s a long and gross story, but in a nutshell, I ended up going out with my brother’s ex and it turned out to be hands down the worst decision of my life.”

“What made you decide to return to the winery?”

“When my brother and sister came back, I wanted to do so as well. I also missed the wine business. The only problem is all the training I had as a teenager is dated. I have to relearn how to make wine and grow grapes.” He lifted his finger. “But Malbec’s wife is also a talented vintner and there is something to be said for too many cooks in the kitchen. I also don’t have the same passion as they do and my dad has it in his head that I have better management skills than anyone in the family.”

“What does all of that mean?”

“I spend some days learning new processes. Going over blends with Malbec and his wife. Or checking on the grapes with Chablis and my mom. Other days I help out my baby sister in the office with the books. I give tours. I do tastings and pairings. I do classes. I run the gift shop. Help make decisions on what we carry or which vendors we will work with. Whatever my mom tells me to and when I told her this morning that you needed help, she gave me the day off.”

“Just like that.” Talbot snapped her fingers. “She let you go spend the day moving furniture for a stranger.”

“It was Brad who called and my mother adores that man as if he were family. She also has an odd affection for Lyra ever since she moved back into town.”

Talbot covered her mouth, shutting down a laugh.

Merlot enjoyed the sound of Talbot’s voice and the way it slid over his eardrums and landed in his brain like a warm blanket. If his memory was correct, it differed slightly from Daisy’s.

He’d spent the day searching for similarities. He’d found a few. The way she tilted her head or toyed with her hair. But so many people did those things. However, three things reminded him he couldn’t bring anyone back from the dead.

Daisy had a scar on the side of her face from her father’s ring and on her hip from when she’d fallen off her bike as a small kid.

And then there was her nose, which her father had broken, making it visibly crooked.

Talbot had none of those things.

“What’s so funny about that statement?” Merlot asked.

“Lyra mentioned that she thinks Weezer hates her.”

“That’s because Lyra is afraid of my mom.” Merlot examined his beer before taking another slow sip. He was at the halfway mark. Maybe he’d ask for a second. “Anyone who acts that way with my mother gets herangry, I don’t like youside. Deep down, my mom is the kindest, sweetest woman there is. She’ll lay down her life for you when you have her as a friend. But she enjoys messing with you.”

“Sounds like she was an interesting mom.”

“That’s an understatement.” Merlot moved from his chair to the step to be closer to Talbot.

He felt a pull to this woman he hadn’t felt in years. There had been a couple of girls he dated who had taken hold of his heart, but none of them gave him a sense of being grounded. That feeling of being home.

Sitting on this front porch with Talbot, drinking a beer, looking out at the sun lowering in the sky, gave him this warm tingle in his skin that this is where he belonged. It wasn’t just his surroundings that sucked him in, but Talbot as well. “This piece of property is amazing,” Merlot said.

She glanced over her shoulder. “I don’t know about that. The house is run down and needs a lot of work.”

“If I owned it, I’d tear it down and build a new one.”

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