by Shea Balik
Red, White & Blue
Uncorked 6
Raise your wine glasses high to toast the men of Dahlonia while they discover the secret to happiness – LOVE.
Blue Moon tried to live a fairly ‘normal’ life. To him that meant working, paying bills and keeping as far under the radar as possible. He’d had enough of being the center of attention to last a lifetime. Although, to be fair, it usually wasn’t him that found a way to draw a crowd. That would be his mother, Apple Blossom. Blue was just the unfortunate person she used to gain the spotlight as often possible.
Lowen Delany loved his new job at The Twisted Vine as a Wine Tasting Assistant. His bosses didn’t even mind his multicolored hair and tattoos. It didn’t hurt that he got to try the vineyard’s new wines every year either. Best of all, he was able to meet new and interesting people every day, including a man who tried to hide behind a fake tree while wearing a colorful outfit that couldn’t have been missed in the dark from a mile away. Although, Lowen was fairly sure, even dressed in black, he would have noticed Blue.
But when Blue’s mother decides to butt into their budding relationship, thankfully, they both find that family is more than just about genetics. It’s about who is there for them when things get tough that matter most.
Warning: Many tastings of both red and white wine were consumed during the writing of this book. This author is far from being an expert, but it isn’t from lack of trying
Copyright ©2019 Shea Balik
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover by: Harris Channing
Edited by: Avril Stepowski
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
About the Author
We raise our glass to our family not bound by blood.
The ones who accept us.
But most importantly, those who would do anything to see us smile and love us no matter what.
CHAPTER 1
If there was a god, he would open up a hole right under Blue Moon’s feet and put him out of his misery.
“Blue, take a look at this wind chime,” his mother called out loudly enough to be heard from the other side of the home décor store. “With all the tiny rainbows, it would be perfect to brighten up that dreary porch of yours. Maybe if you put it out there, some nice man would notice you’re gay and ask you out on a date.”
Blue glanced down at his feet. Just like he thought. There was no God. That, or Blue wasn’t worthy of his time, which, since his mother reminded him that he wasn’t very interesting all the time, was entirely possible.
“Of course, you’d have to do something with those drab clothes you call a wardrobe to have any chance at a second date, so I guess the wind chimes aren’t worth buying.” His mother was still basically shouting across the store at him, ensuring anyone there could hear every embarrassing detail of his tedious existence.
“I thought, being gay and all,” his mother said as she continued to look through the store, moving further away from him, which only meant she increased the volume of her voice instead of allowing him a few minutes of not having to hear her criticisms, “would mean you had a sense of style.”
He looked down at the floor again, willing it to open up. Just once, it would be nice if he didn’t have to feel like a sideshow attraction whenever his mother was around. Of course, that would mean either having a mother that hadn’t named him Blue Moon – ‘cuz seriously, who does that to their child? – or him being someone who was as flamboyant and… well, out there, as she was.
Like now. His mother’s current name was Apple Blossom. One might think it was fortunate, or unfortunate, depending on the point of view, that her name happened to be Apple and she married a man with the last name Blossom. Except, that wasn’t at all what happened.
His mother had a tendency to change her first name to ‘fit’ her new last name. Blue blamed his grandparents, who were the quintessential hippies. Down to the long gray hair they kept in ponytails, to using only what the land provided, to living in a, sort of, commune, which was a whole other story.
The point was, they had named her, Truly Blessed. Blessed wasn’t even their last name. Not that it mattered, for they had changed their names long ago. His grandmother was now Star Shine and his grandfather was Noble Peace.
That his mother changed her name with each of her six marriages wasn’t exactly a surprise. Along with the names she’d been born with and the one she had now, she’d been, Honey Bee Queen, Lyrical Tone, Pepper And Salt – yes, her middle name had been And – Glory Day and Ocean Reef.
Considering her penchant for crazy names, it wasn’t exactly a surprise that she’d named him Blue Moon. It also hadn’t made it any easier to deal with the laughing and pointing he’d endured in school.
“I just don’t understand how any son of mine, especially with a name like Blue Moon and being gay, could end up so…” She peered across the store, looking him up and down, or at least the parts of him she could see over the displays between them. “Boring.”
Any eyes that hadn’t already been on him, now turned Blue’s way, as if judging her statement. What was worse? He could see it in their gazes that they agreed with her. Glancing down at himself, Blue once more wished to hell that hole he’d been praying for would open up.
He wasn’t sure what was wrong with khaki pants and a blue polo, but he just knew it was the wrong thing to be wearing at the moment. Not that he had any chance to compete with his mother, who was wearing the shortest pair of damn hot pink shorts.
They were so tiny, he was afraid if she bent even a little, the whole world would see a whole lot more of her than Blue was comf
ortable with them viewing. Not that his mother would care. If anything, she’d make sure to bend over and touch her toes just to see what kind of reaction she could get.
Then again, with her hot pink tank top that Blue was fairly certain could pass for a bra, it wasn’t like she needed to do a thing to get people to look at her. She dressed more like she was in her twenties than he did, and Blue was twenty four.
She did just get divorced a few weeks ago, which meant she was on the prowl for husband number seven. Her current status was one of the reasons they were ‘hanging out’ together. Well, that and the fact that they were attending his cousin’s engagement party this evening at The Twisted Vine. There would be a wine tasting at four, followed by dinner at six.
“I just hope that’s not what you’re planning on wearing tonight,” his mother said critically.
Well, not anymore. Even if he still intended to, he was fairly certain by the end of their shopping, she would have something else picked out for him. That was how it always with his mother. She was a force of nature that was impossible to withstand.
At least when she was around. Thankfully, as soon as she found her next victim – husband – she’d leave Blue blessedly alone – mostly. He would still be required to show up for holidays, assuming she hadn’t decided it was time for her husband to take her on a much needed vacation.
“The invitation said summer casual but no shorts or tank tops.” He waved a hand up and down to indicate his clothing choice. “That’s exactly what this is,” Blue said, although why, he wasn’t sure. It wasn’t as if his mother ever listened to him.
In typical Truly…Honey Bee…Ocean…Apple – it was getting harder to remember what name she was using with each new husband – fashion she waved away whatever he said and did as she pleased. “I noticed a new clothing store upstairs. We’ll start there, since I’m sure you don’t even own anything appropriate.”
“New clothes aren’t necessary,” Blue tried to assure her.
He knew he lost when a woman, about his mother’s age, patted him on the arm. “You should listen to your mother. She has a great eye.”
Had this woman lost her eyesight? No way did too short jean shorts that had holes placed in key areas and a pink tank top mean style. As far as he was concerned it was like wearing jeans and a t-shirt for a guy. There was no real thought put into what she wore that he could tell.
“I mean, those shoes alone…” The strange woman fawned over his mother’s shoes.
Blue didn’t get it. They were basically sandals nearly the same shade as her top. But the only thing holding them onto her feet was this thin gossamer fabric that he thought for sure would tear at any moment. A strip of it went across her foot, just below her toes, with a jeweled chain of some sort that ran up the middle to another piece of the same fabric that wrapped around her ankle.
It defied physics in Blue’s opinion. Not that he knew anything about physics. Then again, he did know something about fabric. Well… yarn, but still, he knew when it was strong enough to be worn and those shoes should have fallen apart within ten steps. Yet, somehow, they were still on.
With his luck, she’d find that exact same material as a shirt for him to wear. So not happening.
But his mother’s smirk told him she heard every damn word the woman said even though she was across the quirky store. They had a little bit of everything. Inspirational and funny signs, along with windchimes, they even sold pastries from a local bakery, Sugar Daddy’s. It was why his mother loved this place so much, it had nothing practical, yet everything odd.
“Blue,” Tina, the store’s owner and one of his best customers said. “Are you still having the knitting party tomorrow afternoon since today’s was cancelled?”
Even across the store, he could see his mother roll her eyes at the mention of his passion. “Yes,” he answered Tina. “Tomorrow at three. I have a terrific pattern for anyone looking to try something new.”
Tina’s eyes brightened as she clapped her hands together in glee. “I can’t wait. Knitting is the only thing that helps me…” She glanced around to make sure no one was too close and whispered, “Deal with all these summer tourists. I swear, they ask the dumbest questions.”
As if on cue, the lady who felt the need to give Blue advice about listening to his mother came up with a set of frog chimes. “I don’t suppose you have this in yellow, do you?”
Tina blinked at her for a moment. “Since frogs tend to be green, we keep them that way. There are a set of chimes with yellow flowers,” she kindly told the woman.
Thankfully, Tina ushered her toward the chimes so Blue didn’t have to hear the rest of that strange conversation. Not that he didn’t get his fair share of the weird and strange at times, but, for the most part, people who came into buy yarn knew what they wanted.
“I swear,” his mother said as she came up behind him, nearly causing Blue to jump like he’d just seen a snake. Then again, when it came to his mother, he’d do better with the snake. “You need to sell that stupid yarn shop.”
She shook her full head of hair, that was currently dyed teal, and let out one of those disappointed sighs Blue had come to hate because it always meant she was about to say something derogatory about Blue. “It’s embarrassing when people ask me what you do and I have to tell them you knit, of all things. I mean, seriously, are you trying to be an eighty-year-old woman?”
As insults went, he’d heard worse from her. Hell, that insult was one she’d used on him repeatedly as he fell in love with knitting. And, again, when he decided to open a yarn shop. And, yet again, during the first week of it opening.
No matter how many times he tried to tell her, and show her for that matter, whenever she came into his store, she wouldn’t believe that knitting had become quite popular among the younger generations. Tina, who was one of his best customers was twenty-four. How did that equate to being eighty?
“I happen to love knitting,” he argued instead. Mentioning his younger demographic never seemed to help. Then again, neither did telling her it’s what he was born to do. “I’m not about to stop because it embarrasses you. Plus, I’m making a good living.”
Really good, if truth be told. The sales he received from his shop were only a small portion of his actual income. Thanks to a few of his favorite customers, they’d helped him design a web page allowing his yarn to be sold all over the world. But more importantly, Blue happened to have a talent with new designs as well as teaching techniques. He had a podcast for both, that brought in nearly half of his earnings.
Who would have thought people would pay someone to teach them more than just the basics? He was finally making enough after only being open for two years that Blue was considering buying a house instead of living in a small apartment just off the town square.
“It’s criminal,” his mother declared loudly enough to cause everyone who was still in the shop to once more look at them with avid interest. He wanted to hate them for making him feel like a circus side show, but it was diffcult to deny them their guilty pleasure when his mother’s dramatics were hard to ignore.
“I did everything in my power to raise you to be fun and outgoing,” she chided. “I even threw you a coming out party when we realized you were gay.”
Yeah, that was horrifying. “Mother, I was ten. Yes, on some level, I probably knew I was gay, but since I had no interest in anyone at that age, throwing a party was extremely premature and humiliating.”
Once more, in true Apple fashion, his mother’s hand went to her ample chest, which one husband had enhanced to ridiculous proportions, as if she were wounded. “I was only trying to be supportive.”
He didn’t know how she did it, but a single tear tumbled down her cheek, causing several of their viewers to look at him as if he were an evil villain. After all these years, Blue was used to his mother turning people against him.
“Yeah, well, you weren’t the one who had to go to school and listen to the taunts from the other kids,” he to
ld her. “This is Georgia, Mom, and where we lived at the time wasn’t exactly accepting of anyone being gay. I got beat up six times that year.”
He hadn’t meant to yell that at her, especially since he knew she had cried more than he did whenever he came home with bruises and cuts. But she just had a way of pushing his buttons. The only good thing to come out of his burst of temper, was the customers were now doing their best to get as far away from them as possible.
Discussions of gays being beaten tended to cause everyone around to be either ashamed for their own intolerance or uncomfortable for not doing more to bring equality into their own lives.
The really bad thing about what he’d just said, Blue knew he was screwed when it came to the outfit he’d end up wearing to the winery. Guilt was a powerful motivator. It was why he tried to never enter into debates with his mother, for even if he won, he’d feel remorse for what he’d said and he’d end up doing whatever it was she wanted anyway.
If he was lucky, she’d meet someone soon and not require him to keep hanging out with her. Right. Cause life was usually that kind.
CHAPTER 2
“You have got to be kidding me.” Brogan Lynch, one of the owners of The Twisted Vine, scowled at Kaylee Meadows. “Isn’t this the third time this month?”
“The fifth. Sir.”
Instantly, the ache in Lowen Delaney’s feet and shoulders melted away as he overheard his boss’s conversation. They could only be discussing one thing, well, person. Paul Madison. Lowen had been hired to be a wine tasting assistant a month ago and in that time, only Paul had called in that many times.
Okay, so technically, they could be discussing just about anything, but Selena, who had been training Lowen, had told him Paul called in, so he was fairly certain that was who his bosses were discussing. Or, at least he hoped so.
