Page 63 of Kisses Sweeter than Wine

“Nope.” Corbin pulled his cell out of his back pocket. “I’ve been up most the night keeping an eye on things. I’ll probably take a nap while my buddy takes over.”

“When all of this is over, we’ll have to go out and celebrate properly.”

“That would be fun.” Corbin smiled. “So, did you and Mom have a fun night?”

Merlot blinked. “I’m not having that conversation with you.”

“Well, by the smirk on your face, I’d say you did.”

“Jesus, you’re worse than my mother.” Merlot turned and ducked his head into the fridge. “Sausage or bacon?”

“Both,” Corbin said. “What makes Weezer worse?”

“Again, not up for discussion.”

“Why? Did she catch you and Mom when you were teenagers?”

Merlot found the griddle and plugged it in. “No.” This kid was going to be the death of him.

“Then what?”

“My God, you are more persistent than I’ve ever been. You’re like a dog with a bone.” Merlot set two pans on the stove, heating them up for the meat.

“Come on. Tell me. It can’t be that bad.”

“You’ve met the rest of this family. Nobody has a filter, except maybe Uncle Malbec and Aunt Eliza Jane.”

Corbin slumped his shoulders and sighed.

There were times Corbin seemed so grown up, which he was, but other times, like now, he had a childlike quality.

“I missed out on knowing all of you for my entire life. I’m just trying to get to know you and everyone else better,” Corbin said.

The kid had him there. “Fine.” Merlot waggled the spatula across the island. “But you have to promise me you’ll never tell your mother because if you do, I can guarantee I’ll end up on the sofa for days to come.”

“I wouldn’t want that, so my lips are sealed.” Corbin lifted his mug, blew, and sipped.

“There’s this cottage on the winery near the river. It’s where I currently live. Malbec used to stay there when he’d come home from college, but your mom and I would use it as our hangout when he wasn't there. I wasn’t supposed to, but since my brother left me with a key, I figured if my parents never knew, who cared.”

“I take it Grandma knew.”

It fascinated Merlot how Corbin would swap back and forth between calling his grandparents by their first name and Grandma and Grandpa.

“You’ll learn that woman knows everything.” Merlot laughed. “Anyway, before your mom came over, I went out there and set everything up. I stole a bottle of wine from the cellar and got cheeses and crackers. I made it up real nice and romantic. We lied and told my folks we were meeting our friends for a movie in town. I parked the car on an access road by the alpaca farm and your mom and I hightailed it to the cottage. When we walked in, my mom had changed a few things.”

“Like what?”

“The first thing was she took back the bottle of wine and replaced with a six-pack of soda.”

“That’s a buzzkill,” Corbin said.

“No big deal, but on the center of the bed, where I had placed rose petals, she left a box of condoms and note reminding me to use them.”

“Sounds like Grandma and I have a lot in common.” Corbin laughed.

“My turn to make you squirm.” Merlot flipped the bacon and tested the griddle before pouring some batter on it. “One of them broke and it’s possible you were conceived that night.”

“Dude. I never needed to know that.”

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