Sweet, Sweet Wine

by Jaime Clevenger

  “She isn’t my park ranger.”

  “And?”

  “Deb did call my cell while we were over at Edie’s, but that doesn’t mean anything. We’re friends, Riley.”

  “She wants to be more than friends.”

  “I know. Anyway, she won’t be able to go up to the canyon for a while. They’re still moving boulders off one lane of the pass.” Sharon looked over her shoulder at the park behind them. “This town is going to be cleaning up for weeks. If we don’t get another flood first.”

  As they neared the main street, volunteers splattered in mud passed them carrying shovels or pushing wheelbarrows. Most appeared to be heading home. The sidewalks were now scraped clean of the muck. Piles of it had been pushed to one end of the downtown plaza, along with at least a ton of branches and rocks. “Maybe this place will be cleared sooner rather than later,” Riley commented.

  Ana was coming out of the wine shop as they passed her building. She waved to them and then quickly crossed the bridge to meet them. Under her breath, Sharon said, “Someone looks happy to see you.”

  Ana was nearly clean. Her pants were splattered with mud only at the cuffs. She smiled when she joined them, then gave Riley a once-over. “Did you crawl through a drain pipe?”

  “Don’t take a deep breath. She smells even worse than she looks,” Sharon added.

  “I’ll take a long shower. With extra soap.”

  Sharon winked at Riley and then said, “I’ve got to stop in at Cheddar’s to pick up cookies to go with my tea. Drop by the dining area if you want a treat later.”

  “Sharon, before you go, I need to stay a couple days longer. Any problem with me not checking out tomorrow?”

  “With the floods, I’ve had nothing but cancellations. You’re welcome as long as you like.” Sharon crossed the street at the next intersection, waving over her shoulder as she went.

  As soon as Sharon had gone, Ana stepped closer to Riley. “I want a real date tonight,” she began. “I’ve been thinking about it all afternoon. It helped me get through several hours of painful meetings. I finally had to leave so I wouldn’t strangle Joe. Personally, I think he and his wife should throw in the towel. I am, however, being paid by a company that wants him to stay in business. Anyway, I’ve already got a few ideas for where we could go for dinner.”

  “A real date, huh?” Riley wanted desperately to ask why Ana had changed her plans and decided to stay longer. She guessed the answer had nothing to do with her, however. “I don’t know, appetizers and a bottle of wine in your room worked pretty well before.”

  “Not tonight. Did you bring any nice clothes?”

  “No, this was supposed to be a hiking trip. I had no intention of hooking up with anyone.” They had reached the gate for the back path leading up to the cottage. Riley gave the gate a kick and then held it open with one hand and waited for Ana. She had her arms crossed and was staring directly at Riley.

  “What’d I say?” Riley asked, though she already knew the answer.

  “‘Hooking up’?”

  Riley shrugged. “What do you want me to call it? Our two-night stand?”

  “Nice. That’s classy,” Ana said, with obvious sarcasm. “Come on, Riley, I want to go on a real date with you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because. We need to talk about things and not just…get distracted.”

  “‘Get distracted’? Is that what classy people call it?” Riley grinned. “Well, I guess saying ‘have sex’ out loud might be uncouth. It’s true, someone might hear.” Riley glanced over her shoulder. In a quieter voice, she said, “We could call it screwing. Banging? Definitely not fucking…” She paused and saw Ana shake her head. “Truth is, I’d be fine if you called it any of those. But maybe I’m not high class.”

  “Maybe not. Good thing I like you anyway.” Ana pushed Riley toward her side of the cottage. “Go take a shower. And put on something that doesn’t stink. This is not just a hookup.”

  * * *

  The restaurant was up on a ridge above the town, nestled among a forest of evergreens. It was built into the side of the mountain with a stone front that looked as if the architect had been trying to camouflage it among all the other boulders. Ana led the way inside as if she’d been here before. The waiter directed them to one of the tables near the kitchen entrance, but Ana quickly interceded with, “I’d really like to sit outside if you have a table on the patio available.”

  Only one table was available on the patio and it was not yet cleared from the previous diners, so the waiter made a show of the effort it would take to get it ready. Ana shrugged off his attitude and repeated her request. Within minutes, they were seated with a perfect view of Pikes Peak, the washed-out canyon to the north and the swollen river coursing through the town below. The sun was low on the horizon and cast a golden glow on the valley.

  “The town looks beautiful from here. Surrounded by the mountains…it looks so peaceful. You never would guess what’s happened in the past few days down there.”

  “Yeah, you can’t see the uprooted trees, layers of mud and all of the folks who had their homes, cars and businesses destroyed,” Ana added.

  “Sounds like you had a hard day at work.”

  Ana nodded. “I don’t think I get paid enough to deal with people like Joe and his wife. I feel bad for them, but maybe they should have decided to carry flood insurance, you know? They did pick a spot on the river. Eventually every river floods.”

  “I thought you were supposed to be the optimist telling them to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get back to work.”

  Ana leaned back in her chair. “Sometimes I think I must be crazy for ever getting involved with wineries. The thought of getting out did cross my mind several times today. Everyone in this business seems a bit crazy.”

  “They all drink too much?”

  “I don’t think that makes them crazy, however. I think they are a little bit off before they even get into the wine.”

  A new waiter came to take their order and then left as quickly as he’d arrived. The tables on the patio were situated far enough apart from each other that the conversations couldn’t be overheard well. Riley gazed down at the town, thinking of Edie in her garage full of boxes and of the folks that Sharon had visited the day before whose entire first floor had been destroyed. She glanced over at Ana again. “Why are you staying longer?”

  “I talked with my boss this afternoon. He was pissed I missed our phone meeting this morning. Fortunately, he didn’t ask for an excuse.” She paused and took a sip of water. “He wants me to stay until I have things ironed out with Joe and the accountant that I’ve been meeting with. On top of everything else, Joe’s been in trouble with his bookkeeping. His numbers haven’t been adding up the way they should, so we hired an accountant to review everything. After my first meeting with Joe, I was convinced my job was only going to be to smooth things out with the finances and give Joe some tips on realigning his business plan. The flood threw off our schedule and everything else as well.”

  “Lucky for me, I guess. I was hoping you’d change your plans.”

  Ana shifted forward in her chair. “Okay, since you brought it up, what are we doing here?”

  Riley hesitated. Ana’s tone was too serious for her to make a joking response. “I’m not really sure. What do you think we’re doing?”

  “I don’t even know your last name. I don’t have your number or email or anything. I know you work as a physical therapist in Denver. That’s it. And I really want you to tell me if this is just your idea of a rebound.”

  “It’s Robinson.” Riley sighed. “And I don’t think this is a rebound.”

  “Mine’s Potrero.” She took a sip of water. “How long were you with her?”

  “Two years.”

  Ana tapped her fingernails against the water glass. “So, long enough for this to be a rebound.”

  Riley shrugged. “Things with Lisa have been off and on for a while now. The first t
wo months were good. But things went downhill as soon as I moved to Denver.”

  “You moved to Denver to be with her?”

  “At the time I claimed it was for a job. In retrospect, I probably should have taken the job in Seattle instead. But Lisa was moving to Denver, so…I got distracted by a girl and made a bad decision.”

  “You moved after how long?”

  “Two months. Do we have to talk about this?”

  “Two months?” Ana’s eyebrow arched. She took a sip of water and shook her head. “I’ve made some bad decisions myself, but…”

  “I think I realized it was a mistake even at the time. But you have to make those mistakes, right? Anyway, my point is, things weren’t great with Lisa and me for a long time. I feel like we’d been in the process of breaking up for a year.” Riley stared at Ana. “So, no, this doesn’t feel like a rebound. It feels like a really good…fling.”

  “I’m not sure I like that term any better,” Ana replied.

  “I live in Denver. You live in Napa.” The waiter appeared with a bowl of freshly baked rolls. Riley waited for him to leave. She kept her eyes on Ana. “I’ve spent the afternoon trying to think of a way we could make something work, but I can’t.”

  “I fly in and out of Denver once or twice a month,” Ana suggested. “Were you even going to ask for my number? Or my last name?”

  Do last names matter in a fling? was Riley’s immediate thought. She kept this to herself. After a long moment, she asked, “Would something like that work for you? Where you only see someone once or twice a month?”

  “I’ve tried it before.”

  “And?”

  Ana didn’t respond. She picked out a roll and then handed the bowl to Riley. “How about tonight we agree to exchange phone numbers and figure out the rest later?”

  Riley nodded. She took a roll and set it on the edge of her plate. “And then we call for a long-distance hookup?”

  Ana shook her head. “Or because we want to talk, Riley. Anyway, I think I’ve changed my mind about wanting to have this conversation tonight. You broke up with someone last week. Somehow I keep forgetting about that.” She split open the roll and stared at it for a moment, the crusty tan exterior changed to a nutty white. She reached for the butter and then set the roll down and stared at Riley. “And maybe I am crazy. Even if this wasn’t your rebound, why should I think we could make this into anything more than a good weekend?”

  “Because we both like the possibility,” Riley replied. “Even if it’s completely unrealistic.”

  “I want to keep everything easy, just the way it’s been these past few days.”

  Riley lay awake in Ana’s bed long after they’d finished making love. Ana’s breathing was slow and even. Her arm was draped across Riley’s chest. Riley tried to imagine Ana coming to her condo in Denver for the weekend or for an afternoon between flights. In some ways, she thought, it would be nice to have her own freedom, but she knew she’d feel lonely on the days between Ana’s Denver trips. Probably too lonely. The thought of eventually moving to Napa crossed her mind but only long enough for her to confirm that it was pure insanity. She’d made that mistake before and knew she wouldn’t make it again.

  Ana shifted in bed and rolled to her other side, leaving Riley’s chest suddenly bare. Riley pulled the covers up to her chin. Maybe this was, in fact, only a rebound. In some ways, it was a perfect rebound. Ana was a beautiful woman who desired her, but having a relationship within the confines of real life was impossible. They fit together well only here, in a cottage in the mountains far from her real life. She decided that they would have to leave it as a fling, but the idea of this made her feel inexplicably lonely. She tried to push it out of her mind, considering every other possibility once more. Maybe a weekend with Ana every two or three weeks would work somehow.

  She fought with sleep until she set her hand between her legs and stroked her clit, replaying the scene of Ana’s head between her legs and feeling again the flick of Ana’s tongue.

  Ana nudged Riley awake. “I have a meeting at eight with Joe’s accountant.”

  Riley rolled over and looked up at her. She was dressed in a business suit again and had already put on lipstick and eyeliner. Her dark hair was pulled back with a hairband.

  “You look good. Really good.”

  “This meeting can’t wait. Not this morning. I’m not going to be able to explain away this one.”

  “Damn.”

  “Meet me for lunch?”

  “I need to get out of town and stretch my legs. I’m going hiking after I finish sleeping in.”

  “Then an early dinner? Why don’t you meet me at the winery when you finish your hike.”

  Riley nodded. She closed her eyes as soon as Ana left but couldn’t fall back asleep after all. She got up and dressed in her hiking clothes, then sat on her bed with the trail map spread out and ate a granola bar. Sunshine poured in through the window along with the noise of a street sweeper and some sort of bulldozer that had likely been brought in to remove the boulders and scrape out the mud. She quickly decided on a hike far from the rumbling machines. She scanned the map for a trail far enough from the river to be open and east of town so the roads going to it would be clear. Red Rock Canyon sounded promising.

  After a stop at Cheddar’s to pick up lunch, she headed out with a book, a bottle of spring water and a sandwich packed in her bag. She drove to the trailhead and spotted one of the park service vans among the half dozen or so cars in the lot. Deb was pacing on the driver’s side of the van and talking on her cell phone. Riley parked next to the van. She watched Deb for a moment, then gathered her pack and put on a baseball cap.

  Deb held up her hand when she spotted Riley. She ended the phone call and then looked up at Riley. “Taking a well-deserved break from the flood relief work?”

  “I am trying to pretend I’m on vacation today.”

  “Good for you. Have you hiked here before?”

  Riley shook her head.

  “Try Inspiration Trail. It’s one of my favorites.” Another park service van pulled into the lot and Deb waved to the driver. “This is our meeting spot. All the trails west of here are closed until the water recedes. We’re going to try and see if we can get a crew in to the lower ravine later this week so a couple of us are going to check out the flood damage.” She started toward the other van and then looked back at Riley. “By the way, I think I owe you a thank-you.”

  “For what?”

  “Sharon invited me to come over tonight. I have a feeling you might have said something to help things along.” Deb turned back toward the van. “Have a good hike, Riley,” she called over her shoulder.

  Riley shouldered her pack and headed out. The trail, mostly a red gravelly sand, was little more than damp despite the heavy rains. It weaved between towering red rocks for a half mile and then the hike began in earnest as the path steepened. A sheer cliff dropped off on one side of the trail and evergreens were thick on the other side. She reached a stream crossing and stopped to catch her breath. The stream was full, but there was no evidence of any flooding or trail damage. One deer and then several more came out of the clearing on the other side of the stream. They eyed her with suspicion, then one by one sprang over the water and trotted down their own path crisscrossing the steep side of the slope.

  She continued on until she found the start of Inspiration Trail and turned to follow this new route. After enjoying a dizzying number of gorgeous vistas overlooking the Front Range, she came to a bench with another remarkable view, this time of the mountains kissing up to the range, and decided to stop. She was in no hurry and the sun and the climb were warming her up. She took out her book and sat down to read, feeling more relaxed than she had in months. Thoughts of Ana and the question of a continuing relationship eventually distracted her again. She had to close the book several times before the characters in the story and the thickening plot finally swayed her mind to pay attention to their plight.

 
By midafternoon, she’d looped around the canyon twice on different trails and made it back to the parking lot. She had finished all of the food in her pack, including a ration of trail mix, and was out of water. She called work to check in and her receptionist, Laney, chastised her for calling at all. Laney insisted that the relief therapist was doing fine and that she should get back to her vacation. Riley knew they would be fine without her, but it was Monday. She drove back to the inn, downed a bottle of the spring water Sharon had put out for the guests, then cleaned up and went to find Sharon.

  “I ran into Deb this morning,” Riley said.

  Sharon was in the laundry room folding towels. “It’s a small town.”

  “Why are you so hot and cold about her? She told me you invited her over tonight.”

  “I did. It was a moment of weakness. Or insanity maybe. Now, of course, I’ll have to find some way to entertain her, then convince her to leave in time for me to watch my favorite Monday night TV shows.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Riley wasn’t at all certain that she was joking.

  Sharon looked up from the towels. “I was lonely last night. So I called her. Maybe you are right. Some nights, maybe, I could use some company.”

  “She’s excited about seeing you.”

  “I want to be excited about her. I’m just not that excited about anything, Riley. Then I got to thinking about Edie, alone in that garage full of wet boxes of memories, and I decided I wanted company.” Sharon shrugged. “Who knows? I might remember why I had a crush on her years ago.”

  Riley smiled. “She’s cute, in that rough park ranger sort of way.”

  “Yeah, I know we have different types. Although I guess I don’t really know what your type is, since I can’t imagine how Ana and Lisa are similar.”

  “They both look good in a skirt?” Riley wondered at this. Sharon had hit on something she hadn’t thought of at all. She couldn’t think of any traits that linked Ana and Lisa. Nor Blair, for that matter.