The Vineyard
- 3 years ago
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In The Vineyard Ch. 06 free porn video
Miles stopped for a cup of coffee at a convenience store before returning to the winery. He tried to remember how much of a mess was left from the poker game. It didn’t seem like it was that bad. Most of it could be removed with generous use of large trash bags. And, the windows had been left open to clear the air.
As Miles pulled into the winery, he saw Todd’s big, black luxury car. Can’t be good news, he thought. He parked in the public lot and went up to the winery building. It was locked, but Miles had a set of keys. He went into the front, locked the door behind him, and started looking around. He saw some print outs of register receipts in a pile. Todd was nosing around about the missing cases, he surmised. He heard the sound of voices in the upper room and went up to find Todd and a woman he didn’t recognize. They had a spread of bagels and crème cheese, with foam cups of coffee like the one Miles had just bought. Todd barely glanced up at Miles.
‘I see you decided to come back. We missed you last night.’
This early, Miles thought, Todd already had him steaming mad. He kept his temper in check – after all, he had no idea who this was with Todd – obviously not his wife, Carol, who Miles generally found pleasant. ‘You know, Todd, I don’t usually work on Friday nights anymore. I’m sure that Jimmy helped Brandon with any overflow.’ Miles felt some need to explain himself. ‘I went out of town and I was too tired to drive back. I found a place to stay.’ He hoped that implied that he had stopped at a motel. He looked at Todd’s companion. ‘Hello. I’m Miles Delong. I’m the wine maker and general manager here.’ He knew that it would annoy Todd, who always made more of his own role at the winery.
The woman looked up and smiled. She looked vaguely familiar, Miles thought. She had dark brown hair, in what Miles considered a fussy style, curled and sprayed in a face-framing way. She had an open, interested face, big dark eyes and neatly shaped eyebrows. She was dressed in a pants suit of bright teal, with a red top under the jacket. Miles found it amazing that she was also wearing shoes and carrying a handbag each also teal with red trim. She had the air of someone who is accustomed to being the center of attention. She rose, and held her hand out.
‘Cassandra Combs, known as Cassy Combs. I’m the food and wine writer for the Messenger. We’re doing a series on wineries in the Midwest, and Todd was kind enough to offer to spend the day here with me, give me a behind the scenes look.’ Miles remembered now seeing her photo in the daily newspaper. He read her column regularly, but found it upsetting that she focused on wines from California and other parts of the world.
‘Great! I’m glad to see that you’re going to give some coverage to the local products.’ Miles said, trying to look excited. He’d just made plans with Ana, now what? He couldn’t possibly let Todd run this, he didn’t have a clue about so many of the operations of the winery. He had to tactfully extract Cassy from Todd, but he also planned to try to keep Todd away from Ana.
‘If you’ll excuse me, I need to take care of some things. ‘ He looked at Todd. ‘What’s your itinerary with Ms. Combs?’ Without waiting for an answer. ‘I’d like to show her through the vineyard.’ He knew that Todd wouldn’t want to risk getting dirty. Or show his total ignorance about the growing of grapes.
She cut in. ‘Call me Cassy, please. That sounds great. And, before you worry, I did bring some boots to change into for tramping around the vines.’
‘OK. I’ll meet up with you again in, say half an hour.’ Todd didn’t look happy, but couldn’t seem to think of an argument. ‘Todd, you might go through the cellar operations until then.’ Todd knew enough to bluff his way around for a short while, but Miles knew he’d better hurry.
‘That was my plan, of course. Take your time, Miles.’
‘I’ll see you soon, Cassy’ Miles purposely ignored Todd. He went down the stairs, through the halls and home. He needed to change, to clean up his place, and to try to call Ana.
Ana heard the phone ring as she was going out the door. She was carrying an overnight bag. After much agonizing about what would be just right, she had settled on a long sleeved, button front light green dress for this evening, and two possibilities for tomorrow – a loose cotton skirt with a brown and gold print, or a pair of off white cotton slacks. She had a beige crocheted sweater set that went with either. She might stay tonight, but she would have to come home on Sunday. Things were moving fast now, but she relished the thought of spending another night making love with Miles. There would be time later to think about her other worries – Miles wife, her parents, even Greg. What if Miles wanted her to move in? Ana, she chided herself, don’t jump the gun.
She decided to show up ready to work today, and was wearing a pair of old jeans that her father had given to her one time when she was helping paint a room in the lake house. They were a couple of sizes too big, and had a few spots of different colored paint. She pulled them snug with a belt. Over a white cotton tank top, she wore an old light blue workshirt, also her father’s. Her hair was in a ponytail and she had on an old blue baseball cap, also with some paint stains. She applied a touch of moisturizer, a clear lip gloss and, after scrutinizing her face, a light touch of mascara. She decided that she should place practicality over attractiveness. Besides, Miles had already seen all of her that there was to see.
The cell phone was in the car, and just stopped ringing when she opened the door, loading her overnight bag. If its important, they’ll call again, she told herself. Or leave a message. She went back for a final check of the condo. She left a light on, as she did when she went up to the lake house. She grabbed her work coat and her denim jacket. She picked up a pair of cotton gardening gloves she had used repotting plants that spring, and rejected them – the look was too amateurish, she thought. She could buy some brown jersey gloves at the gas station on her way that would look more serious. She thought of one last thing, grabbed the partially finished bottle of wine and put it in a cooler. She’d buy some ice. She locked the door, got into the car, and started down the road, listening to Car Talk on National Public Radio as she drove down the road. It seemed today that everyone had problems with trucks. She wondered what it would be like to ride with Miles in his truck. She had never dated anyone who drove a pick up before. But, she decided, its not that different than Uncle Chesters SUV, just has more room to carry things. Ana stopped after a few miles for gas – it was usually cheaper at the next interchange beyond hers, and today was no exception.
Miles waited a couple of minutes, then tried the home number again. He began to think that he didn’t know what he’d say – tell her to stay home? That would be a mistake. All he had to do was keep her occupied for a few hours while he showed Cassy Combs around. By that time, Brandon would be here, and he could charm Cassy through a wine tasting. What he needed was some help – Jimmy would know what to do.
He called Jimmy and let the phone ring 12 times before a sleepy voice answered.
‘This better be important, Miles,’ Jimmy had caller id.
‘Jimmy, my friend, my best friend..’
‘Cut the bullshit,’ Jimmy sounded more alert. ‘By the way, how’d it go with Ms. Ana Palmer last night? Or are you calling me to come and pick you up after she stole your truck and robbed you?’
‘it was fine. I mean, it was great. That’s the problem. Or, not really a problem. But I have one now.’
Miles explained about Cassy Combs. Jimmy immediately understood that it was important that Cassy be exposed to the winery through Miles and not Todd, if they had any hope of a favorable and accurate story. But, there was Ana. And, there was work to be done for the cook out.
‘All I need is for you to keep an eye on her – have her help you get ready – just for a couple of hours, then I’ll pass the reporter off to Brandon. ‘
‘He’s still asleep.’
‘Well, please ask him to come in early today – no later than noon, if he can handle that.’
‘You’re going to owe us, big time.’
‘That’s ok. We’ll deal with that later. ‘ While he was talking, Miles was walking around his home – other than the bed, which showed signs of yesterday’s restless sleep, the place was pretty clean. ‘Thanks for cleaning up, too.’
`’No problem, man. After you left, I just scooped everything into trash bags. We didn’t use any actual dishes, except a few wine glasses. I put them in the dishwasher.’
‘Thanks, again.’
‘So, she’s ok.’
‘She’s great. Beautiful, intelligent…’
‘Great in bed?’ Jimmy cut in.
‘I didn’t say that.’
‘But you were thinking it, I could hear you.’
‘Let’s just say that it’s going well, considering that was our first date.’
‘And you spent the night.’ A comment not a question.
‘I was too tired to drive home.’
‘Whatever. I’ll be there in a few. Take care of Cassy Combs. Her picture in the Messenger looks pretty cute.’
‘She is. I’ll be showing her through the vines. Can you watch for Ana, and grab her? And, whatever you do, don’t let Todd get control of her either.’
‘You can count on me. What? ‘ he said, away from the phone. ‘And, Sleeping Beauty has awoken.’ He yelled away from the phone again. ‘Its Miles, and he wants you to come to work early. ‘Miles could hear a muffled reply, then Jimmy laughing. ‘I won’t tell you what he said. Don’t worry, we’ll be there for you!’
Miles took off his dress pants and put on a pair of double layered work jeans. He opted for brown high topped lace up work boots instead of his usual rubber boots. It had been dry during the last few days, but the rubber boots were still mud covered. The morning had been cool, but another warm and sunny afternoon was forecast. He put on a dark blue sleeveless tee shirt and a heavy cotton dark blue button down long sleeved shirt. He checked the clock – it had been twenty -five minutes since he’d left Todd and Cassy. He went out the back way, down the hall, and unlocked his office. There was a note from Todd, dated yesterday – ‘Must see you ref: missing wine. ASAP. TF.’ Miles crumpled it up and threw it away. There would be plenty of time to talk about a few cases of missing wine after the weekend was over. Now, he had to deal with not only a woman he felt himself becoming very interested in, but had the curve ball of the newspaper reporter thrown at him. Just like Todd, to plan something like that and forget, or purposely not tell Miles. Well, lucky he found them in time!
He picked up his refractometer – the reason for stopping at the office, and left, locking the door. He went down the hall toward the sound of voices in the outer portion of the cellar, and found Todd and Cassy. She beamed brightly at the sight of Miles.
‘Todd, thank you SO much for showing me around. I’ll find you again after we look at the vines.’ She looked at Miles. ‘I need to go to my car and get my boots. I also need to call Manny. He’s the photographer assigned to this and he’s late! Thanks, again, Todd. You were really full of information.’ She gave him a quick peck on the check. He reddened slightly and made a little motion like a bow. ‘Well, I must go look over some of the financials,’ he said, shooting a glance at Miles. Miles couldn’t resist. ‘if you see anything there you don’t understand, just ask me.’
‘I’m sure I’ll be just fine. Other than some anticipated…differences. Cassy, I’ll see you soon.’
The overhead door was open and Cassy walked out through it. Miles hit the button, and ran out, ducking as the door came open.
‘Thank god. What an absolute bore he was!’ She looked at Miles to see his reaction.
Miles knew better than to take any bait when talking to a reporter. ‘Todd’s ok, he’s just a little dry.’
‘Well, Miles I hope that you aren’t so…dry. I must say that you are certainly easier on the eyes!’ She said this without a hint of embarrassment. Miles was beginning to know what was expected – in addition to information, Cassy would do her best to see that they carried on a flirtation. He sighed internally. Why couldn’t the food and wine writer be a middle aged married man? Or even a middle aged married woman? Cassy was in her late 20s or early 30s, small with a slim body, and a somewhat exotic look. He bet she was hit on fairly often.
Cassy watched Miles, trying to read him. No ring, and Todd said that Miles lived here. No sign of a wife around, plus he had spent the last night away from home. Girlfriend, probably, but Cassy didn’t see that as a problem. She wasn’t looking for anything other than a good time, anyway. When she’d met with Todd at the winery that morning, she knew immediately that she didn’t want to spend the day with him. She phoned Manny and told him to plan on leaving about noon. She asked him to find the next closest winery and give them a call to see if it could be arranged. Now, she was thinking about changing her plans.
‘I’ll just get my boots on,’ she said. She opened the door of her all wheel drive station wagon and sat sideways on the seat. She reached the boots from the passenger side. A cell phone rang.
‘Cassy Combs. Manny! Where are you? No, cancel it. I know what I said, cancel it. I think I’ve found enough of a story here! Call me when you pull in.’ She smiled at Miles and clicked off, placing the phone in her jacket pocket. ‘He’ll be here in a few. I want him to get some pictures of you. And, the place of course.’ She smiled and pulled off the teal and red pumps. She rolled up her slacks legs a couple of turns and put on a pair of rubber boots with a suede top. She put her purse in the glove compartment, after extracting a small case. It turned out to hold a small sized recorder and spare tapes. ‘I hope you don’t mind,’ she said to Miles. It’s much easier than trying to write, especially when we’re outside. It is a beautiful day. All ready.’ She got out of the car and closed the door, clicking her key to lock it. ‘Lead on, Mister winemaker,’ she said to Miles, and linked her arm in his. Miles wanted to resist, but decided it was harmless. Besides, it was in his best interest to get a positive write up, both for Creek Valley and for himself. There would be a day, maybe soon, when he was ready to start his own winery. Good publicity for him would be good publicity for it.
Ana pulled up in time to see Miles walking arm in arm with another woman. She got out of her car and started to follow, when Jimmy came up to her, grinning. He was dressed in work clothes – jeans and a flannel shirt, and wearing a New York Yankees ball cap.
‘Ana!’ he said, as if he was waiting for her. ‘Can I call you Ana banana? It just seems to fit.’
She vaguely heard him and nodded. She was watching the figures. Jimmy followed her glance.
‘We have a slight problem today.’ He put the emphasis on the word slight. ‘Miles got roped into showing this newspaper reporter around. But just for a couple of hours. ‘
‘Oh?’ said Ana, eyeing him suspiciously.
‘Seriously. Todd Formby, the a-hole – set this up without telling anyone. And Miles was afraid that a day with Todd would not make a good story. He asked me to entertain you, but he promises he will be with you presently. You look cute, by the way.’
Ana looked down at herself in the stained and worn clothes. She had noted the bright teal suit the other woman was wearing and her petite, slim figure. Mistake, she thought. I look like some sort of yahoo compared to that. Well, there was nothing to be done but change later as she’d planned.
‘Miles asked if we could do some of the work he does for the cook out.’
‘You might have noticed, I came dressed for it.’
Jimmy smiled. ‘Great. Have you ever dr
iven a tractor?’
Ten minutes later, Ana was learning to drive the old Ford tractor past the winery and toward the vines. Jimmy was riding in a cart hooked to the back. He occasionally shouted things ‘You can go faster than that!’ ‘Watch out for that rock!’ but otherwise seemed to be enjoying the ride. He signaled her to stop in the clearing at the middle of the vines. Jimmy took the driver’s seat and maneuvered next to a what Ana initially saw as compost but was in fact a huge pile of grape vine clippings, large and small. At one end of the pile was a pile of short but thick pieces of wood from some type of tree. Ana could see Miles some distance away, at the end of one of the rows of vines. He was holding something up to his face. He said something to the woman, then held the thing up to her eye. Ana could see her almost bounce with delight. She handed the thing back to Miles, then removed her jacket, showing Miles her very revealing red top. She was holding something up to Miles then back to herself, a tape recorder, Ana guessed. Jimmy interrupted Ana’s thoughts.
‘What we need to do, is to load up the cart with the big vines, like this.’ He held up a substantial piece, a couple of inches in diameter and about three feet long. ‘ Then, we’ll split some of these other logs.
Ana started rooting through the pile. In spite of herself, she began to enjoy the work. Jimmy was quick to laugh, quick to joke, and quick to make fun of himself. At one point, he pulled a vine from near the bottom of the pile and upset a load of smaller clippings on top of the two of them. After deciding that no one was hurt, he started to stomp on the cuttings, in mock anger, inviting her to join him.
‘Come on, Ana banana. Think of anyone you hate!’ Ana realized that she couldn’t’ come up with anything to be that angry about – the job seemed to be in the distant past, and she had barely given a thought to Greg. But she joined in, laughing along with him. By this time, the sun was getting hot, and Ana was as well. She took off the work shirt and put it over the tractor seat.
Miles heard the tractor pull up. He watched with some envy as Jimmy and Ana laughed and climbed through the pile of vines. He was supposed to be the one spending time with her, watching her laugh, teaching her how to do things. Instead, he was stuck doing public relations. Not that he minded Cassy, she was had done her research and asked all sorts of questions about why he did things a certain way. She, in turn, had been impressed when he quoted Pliny and Cato about the care of grapes. It also turned out that they shared a passion for an American wine writer, no longer living, called Philip Wagner. She had a great memory for Wagner’s theories and practices, and Miles, more than once became quite animated when agreeing or disagreeing with Wagner. But, he kept looking over at the two figures on the wood pile.
Cassy watched Miles eyes wander toward the female figure. She was taller than Cassy, with longish light red hair hanging down her back in a pony tail, lightly muscular and tan. Cassy herself avoided the sun – she didn’t particularly like the outdoors, working as much of the time as she could inside climate controlled buildings. In fact, she would have tried to beg off the winery story except that it was getting into the only time of the year she enjoyed outside, the autumn. This woman was much more of an ‘outdoors’ type, something she could see Miles attracted to.
‘Friends of yours?’ she asked.
He looked at her, seeing her gesture toward Ana and Jimmy. ‘Yes.’
‘She looks pretty. Girlfriend?’
He couldn’t suppress a small smile. ‘Not exactly.’
‘So, you’re available?’ Cassy was nothing if not forward.
Miles smiled again and looked right at her. ‘Not exactly.’
‘I see,’ she said. She wasn’t about to cut her time short, even knowing that Miles interests lie with this other female. ‘What’s next?’
‘Let’s do a more….thorough tour of the cellar than Todd had time to give.’
Oceana
- 04.09.2021
- 23
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