Saving Grapes (Cable's Bend Book 1)

by Madeline Kirby

  “Yeah? Cool.” Ben took a taste, and Thom couldn’t tear his eyes away from the man’s throat, watching his Adam’s apple move up and down as he swallowed. “Oh, that is so good. Hoppy, but really well-balanced.”

  “Let’s go drink these outside.” Thom led Ben out to some deck chairs on the porch. They sat, both facing the railing overlooking the yard and neither knowing how to start up a conversation. “So,” Thom finally began, “you like microbrews?”

  “Yeah, I like trying lots of different ones. But College Station wasn’t exactly microbrew Mecca, you know? Most of the guys I knew drank light beer, and the rest wouldn’t drink anything but Shiner Bock. It’s getting better, though.”

  “Shiner Bock? I’m not familiar with that one.”

  “It’s brewed in Texas. It started out small, but now it’s available pretty much everywhere in the U.S. Maybe not in Oregon, though. Anyway, a lot of people still think it’s a microbrew. Alabama isn’t an easy place to be a beer aficionado, either.”

  “Guess I never thought about it. I wouldn’t call myself an aficionado really, but you won’t find any light beer in my fridge.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” laughed Ben, holding his bottle out for Thom to clink his against.

  “Cheers. So what got you interested in microbrewed beer?” I’ll keep him talking, Thom thought. This is a safe topic, right? I’ll distract myself and not think about how good those lips look puckered up around the rim of that bottle. Oh shit, why did I just think about that? I need professional help. And maybe keeping Ben talking wasn’t the best idea either. The man’s voice was a honeyed drawl with just a hint of the south, and a rich timbre that was doing disturbing things to Thom’s pulse.

  “I did have this one friend, Doug, who brewed his own beer. Once I tasted it I was never able to look at beer the same. We would go down to Houston on the weekends and look for new beers to try. He taught me about brewing and I was hooked.” He stopped, gazing into the darkness beyond the porch, and Thom wondered if his brewing friend was more than just a friend.

  “Do you miss him?” Thom asked, keeping his voice neutral.

  “Sure, I miss most of my friends. Oh, you mean…” He turned to look at Thom, to see if there was any judgment or condemnation there. Seeing none, he continued. “Uncle Chuck told you, of course. No, not like you mean. He was a friend, a good friend, but not more than that.”

  “Oh. Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” Thom apologized.

  “No, it’s fine. I don’t mind. I mean, if I’m going to be staying here we shouldn’t be tiptoeing around the elephant in the room, right? Does it bother you that I’m gay? Does it make you uncomfortable?”

  “No. Not at all.” Not the way you mean, anyway, thought Thom.

  Ben smiled, looking relaxed, “Hey, life isn’t going along exactly like I planned, you know? But maybe it won’t be all bad. I’m looking forward to working here. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot.”

  “And maybe you can teach me about brewing beer,” Thom offered.

  “Really? You mean that?”

  Thom smiled – the younger man was like a puppy, practically quivering with excitement. “Sure, why not?”

  Ben leaned back in his chair and took a long pull of his beer. “Awesome.”

  They sat on the porch, finishing their beers and talking, getting to know each other and discussing the next day’s work until Ben started yawning.

  “Sorry, long day,” he said around another yawn.

  “No, I’m sorry,” said Thom. “I should have thought about you being tired. Are you hungry?”

  “No, Aunt Lorraine stuffed me full before I came over. Just need a hot shower and some sleep and I’ll be good as new.”

  Thom showed Ben to one of the spare bedrooms at the front of the second floor, showed him where to find the towels in the guest bath, then went back downstairs to lock up and tidy the kitchen before heading back upstairs. As he passed the closed guest bath door on the way to the master suite at the back of the house, he could hear the shower running and tried not to imagine a wet, soapy Ben standing under the spray from the showerhead. It was going to be a long summer.

  Chapter 3

  “Hey! Perfect timing,” Thom greeted Ben as he came into the kitchen the next morning. “Hope eggs and sausage is okay? Coffee’s made and there’s orange juice in the ‘fridge.”

  “Sounds great,” Ben answered. “I’m starving!”

  “After Lorraine stuffed you last night?”

  “Crazy metabolism I guess – sometimes it seems like I’m hungry all the time.”

  “Okay, looks like we’re going grocery shopping this afternoon.”

  “Don’t worry, I can chip in for food.”

  “Nope, room and board are part of the deal, plus minimum wage for now. I hope that’s okay?” Ben nodded. “Cool. We’ll see how it goes. I know this probably isn’t your dream job, but you’ve got a place here until you figure out what’s next, okay?”

  “Okay,” Ben said, “I appreciate it. I… well, for now I just want to work, clear my head, figure some stuff out. I don’t know much about viticulture specifically, but I think I’ve got some skills that should be useful, and I’m willing to learn whatever you’re willing to teach me.”

  Thom glanced over from where he was working at the stove. Ben was definitely dressed for a day in the field and looked ready to get to work. “You know it’s called viticulture. That’s more than most people. Let’s have breakfast, we’ll start with a quick tour, and then we’ve got vines to tie.”

  “Vines to tie?”

  Thom chuckled. “Lesson one: Tying vines, to provide support once the grapes start forming. It’s not hard, just tedious and time-consuming. Welcome to the glamorous world of viticulture!”

  * * *

  Ben was a quick study, and by the end of the second day he was tying vines like a pro. By the end of the first week they were working easily together and had fallen into a routine – up early for a quick breakfast, spend the morning working in the vineyard, then lunch, more vineyard work, and then dinner and a beer on the porch. When they weren’t working separately in the vineyard, Thom would fill Ben in on the workings of the business, spraying schedules, timing the harvest, pruning, and so on. It was a simple, no-frills life, but Thom was used to it. It was easier now, with Ben’s help, and he thought that maybe, if Ben stuck around for a while, he could start thinking about expansion again.

  “So,” Thom started, leaning back in his deck chair, feet on the porch rail and a half full bottle of beer sweating in his hand, “you’ve been here a week now. You’re doing good work – think you might be interested in sticking around for the summer, at least? I could use the help, and if I know you’ll be on board for a while I could start reviving some of my expansion plans.”

  Ben turned his head to study the older man’s profile. Thom wasn’t looking at him, but was staring out over the fields rolling away beyond the porch railing. Ben liked looking at Thom, he had to admit. He guessed Thom to be about thirty, maybe older, maybe younger. It was hard to tell sometimes, when someone spent so much time outdoors. He was lean, with a strong profile, straight nose, and the faintest hint of a dimple in his chin. His hair was almost black, and his blue eyes had a darker ring around the irises that gave his gaze a piercing quality, when Ben could get the other man to look at him. He wondered if Thom avoided eye contact because he was uncomfortable. Had he figured out Ben was attracted to him? Ben had been very careful to keep his distance – he needed this job, and was surprised to realize that he actually liked it as well. Of course, the longer he stayed the more troublesome his growing attraction would become. Staying would probably be a bad idea.

  “Yeah, I’m in.”

  * * *

  “Last night you mentioned expanding?” Ben asked at breakfast the next morning. “What did you have in mind?”

  “Yeah. It’s something my granddad and I talked about a lot,” Thom brought plates of bacon and eggs to the table while Ben pour
ed them both cups of coffee. “He always wanted to move beyond just growing and start making our own wine. That was why I went to UC Davis – to study viticulture and enology. We had started putting the plans together and experimenting with some small batches when his arthritis got too bad and he had to move. Since he’s been gone, and with just me here full time for a while, I haven’t been able to pursue the idea further. But with you here, maybe I can make it work.”

  “I guess I just assumed you were making wine. If not, then what happens to all the grapes?”

  “I’m under contract with one of the larger wineries in the area. They buy our crop each year and use it to make wine under their own label. It’s decent money, and part of the deal is that they provide help with the harvest, but making wine, putting something out there with our name, our label, on it – that was always the plan.”

  “Okay. So what needs to happen next? What do I need to do?” Ben asked as he started on his eggs.

  “Well, today we start trimming. I’ll show you how, but it should be easy for you. Once you know what needs to be done, I’ll turn you loose and then I need to put in some time in the office and online, reviewing the plans and schematics, checking out updates to the regulations, ’cause I haven’t looked at those in a long time, and lining up some contractors to get some bids. And that’s just for starters. I’m going to have to update the business plan and figure out how much I’ll need to borrow. Ugh, and insurance. There’s so much to do.”

  “Maybe I could help with some of that, too? In the evening, I mean. Or some of the office stuff, anyway. I took some small business and accounting classes.” Ben crossed his fingers under the table – he really wanted Thom to start thinking of him as more than just a field hand. He had skills, and smarts, and wanted to put those to use too.

  Thom looked at him for a minute, then nodded. “Good idea. Let me go over everything today, get it in order. After dinner I’ll walk you through the plan – it would be good to get fresh eyes on it.”

  Ben smiled and tucked into his eggs. Thom watched him for a few more seconds, soaking up that smile. It was the dimple that got to him every time. He would be so much more comfortable if he could keep some distance between them – Ben in the field, himself in the office – but his common sense won out. He really did need help in the office, and fresh input on the expansion plans. Involving Ben made the most sense, business-wise. He just needed to keep it all business.

  * * *

  “Okay,” Thom rolled out a sheaf of plans and surveys on the kitchen table after dinner that night. “Here’s what we’ve got now. House,” he pointed to a square near the center of the survey, “tool shed,” another square, near the house, “and the vineyard itself goes out here, and here.” He swept his hand out to cover the areas where Ben had been working the past week.

  “Right,” Ben nodded. “What about up here, above the house?”

  “We’ve got about 30 acres there. We were getting ready to start planting when Granddad got to where he couldn’t work anymore. Then we lost time when we were trying to figure out what to do for him. After that it was just me for a while and something had to give.”

  “So getting that planted will be next?”

  “Nope, not yet.” Thom grinned. “This is where it gets exciting.” He put the survey aside to reveal a plan of the property, showing the house, vineyard areas, and an additional structure on the highway, near the property drive. “The winery and tasting room.”

  “Excited much?” Ben asked with a chuckle.

  “Hah! Yeah. Here’s the detailed layout.” The next schematic was a floorplan of the proposed winery, with areas for crushing, pressing, fermentation tanks, bottling, storage, and so on. Thom traced the outline with his index finger, “Granddad and I went to Europe after the harvest one year. We toured Spain, France, and Germany, visiting wineries, figuring out what we wanted to do. The next year we did the same thing in California, then drove to New York and back, stopping at wineries all along the way. We even visited some distilleries and breweries to get ideas for the tasting room and branding.”

  “Sounds great,” Ben said, looking up to see a wistful expression on Thom’s face.

  “Yeah,” Thom said. “We had a blast. Even if we weren’t able to put it all into practice before he left, it was worth it.”

  Thom was still smiling, gazing into the middle distance, and Ben stayed quiet, letting the other man enjoy his memories for a moment. Thom looked more open and relaxed, and Ben was enjoying that, too. “So,” he finally started, “what’s your timeline for all this?”

  “I’m hoping to break ground by the end of July.”

  “That soon? I thought there was a lot more to be done first. Like permits and so on?”

  “There is, but Granddad and I had put a lot of that into motion already. Some of them are still valid, and the others can be reinstated pretty easily. I called the architect who drew the original plans, to talk about some revisions incorporating some new technology. We’re meeting day after tomorrow, and he thinks he can have the new plans done by early next week.”

  “What about this land?” Ben indicated the area above the house they had mentioned earlier. “What’s planned there?”

  “I’m still thinking about that. The original plan was to expand the vineyard, but it’s kind of at the tipping point now. If we put in more, I’ll have to take on more help, and I don’t want to get too big. Anyway, I don’t have to decide now.”

  “Okay, so where do I fit in? What can I do, other than keep working the fields? Research? Bookkeeping? Whatever you need – it would be good to put this education to use, you know?”

  “You’re right. How about tomorrow we both work out in the vineyard in the morning. After lunch we can work in the office. It’ll be kind of boring to start with, but I’ll need to get you up to speed on some of the legalities of the business – taxes and that kind of thing. Saturday we’ll do a little sightseeing.”

  “Sightseeing?”

  “I’ll take you to some of the nearby wineries, take a couple of tours so you can see how things work, get a feel for it. We’ll do some tastings, too. If you’re serious about signing on for this, you’ll need to learn about the end product, not just the process. What do you think?”

  “Sounds great.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. I want to learn whatever I can. I know I haven’t been here very long, but so far I really like it, and if you’ve got work for me and I’m not just in the way, then I’m totally on board for whatever you’ve got planned.” Especially if it means we’ll be working long hours in close quarters – but he left that thought unsaid.

  * * *

  Thom couldn’t get his brain to shut down enough to sleep that night, so he sat out on the porch, thinking about the day he’d had, and all the work ahead. Ben seemed committed to the project, and if he was sincere about wanting to stick around for a while, then this could really happen. He was torn, because he was still attracted to the younger man, and having him around, working closely with him, and seeing Ben get excited about the work that thrilled him was certainly not lessening those feelings. But at the same time, Ben was like a gift from the gods – someone with an education in agriculture, and business, who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty in the field or complain about doing paperwork and research. If Ben worked out, there was no way he was letting him get away. But Ben was young, and even if he stuck around to work, eventually he was going to want a social life, and that would mean dating, and Thom would just have to deal with that when it happened.

  Chapter 4

  Thom shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand and watched the big white pick-up come up the drive towards the house. This was the third and last builder interview, and he wasn’t looking forward to it. He had a sinking feeling it would have to be this one, though, because the first two hadn’t left the best impression. He watched as Ross O’Connor climbed down from the crew cab and did a slow 360, getting the lay of the land. Ross w
as a giant of a man, six-foot-five and solid muscle from working on job sites alongside his men. His shaggy red hair caught the breeze as he turned and started walking towards Thom, and the sun picked up bits of gold in his five o’clock shadow.

  “Hey, Thom,” he said, reaching out to shake Thom’s hand.

  “Hi Ross.”

  “Have to say I was surprised when your name popped up on my caller ID. Pleasantly surprised, though.”

  Thom didn’t like the way Ross swept his gaze down, then up again, lingering in places Thom didn’t want the other man thinking about. The fact that Ross already knew exactly what those places looked like made him blush. He stepped away from the larger man to lead him into the house. “It’s strictly business, Ross.”

  “I’ve heard that before,” Ross replied with a chuckle.

  “I mean it, Ross.”

  “They always mean it, at first.”

  Thom rolled his eyes and kept walking towards the office where the plans were laid out. He had to admit Ross was attractive, in a big, burly way. They’d hooked up a few times, but Ross liked things rougher than Thom was comfortable with, so it hadn’t been difficult to say no when Ross tried for a repeat. Problem was, Ross seemed to take that as a challenge rather than a rejection.

  Ross was also well known as one of the best builders in the area, with solid experience building and remodeling winery facilities, so Thom did have to get a bid from him if he wanted the bank to take his loan application seriously. They reached the office and Thom focused on the plans that were laid out. Ross was a professional, and once they got into the details he was all business. He had a good eye, taking notes and asking all the right questions.

  “Let’s go take a look at the site,” Ross finally said.

  “Sure.”

  They climbed into Ross’s truck and drove down to the empty patch of land near the highway. Ross looked over the space, up the hill, across the road, and nodded.