Chapter 21
Bianca
“ I t’s okay, buddy.” Jansen rubs Moose’s head. “You don’t need those bro globes.”
I spit out my coffee. “Those what ?”
“Bro globes.” Jansen gives me a “come on” look.
He’s about to take Moose to the vet to be neutered. I think it’s more worrying to Jansen than to Moose. Well, Moose has no idea.
“Don’t tell him that. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen.”
“He should know. He’s going to lose his manhood.”
“He’s a dog. They’ll put him to sleep and he’ll wake up and?—”
“He’ll be without his bo-jangles.”
I walk up to Jansen and slide my arms around his waist, tipping my head back. “Do you want to hear a joke about testicles?”
He looks at me doubtfully.
“Never mind. It’s scrotally unacceptaball.” I crack up laughing.
His body is stiff but one corner of his mouth drags upward. “That’s terrible.”
“Oh, come on. That was hilarious.” I look up at him. “I think you’re more worried about your own bo-jangles. Don’t worry, honey. It’s not you getting castrated.”
He winces. “Neutered.”
“It’ll be fine.” I squeeze him.
“I know.” He gives a crooked smile. “I’m just empathetic to what he’s going through.”
He loves that dog. If all the toys and treats scattered around Jansen’s house didn’t tell me that, taking him to get neutered definitely does. He already took Moose for his shots, but this is a major admission that he’s keeping Moose. Moose will also have a chip implanted while he’s under because Jansen doesn’t want him to get lost again. Even though he still says he’s not really his dog.
“What is this?” I pick up a card from his kitchen counter.
Jansen glances over at me. “It’s an invitation.”
“I see that.”
“Then why’d you ask, Bianca?”
I repress a smile. His humor is dry, but I’m getting it. “It’s an invitation that I didn’t get.”
“Ah.” He moves closer and peers over my shoulder at it, sliding his arms around my waist from behind. “It’s from Belmonte Winery.”
“Yeah. I can’t believe this.” I look over my shoulder at him. “Every year, Belmonte hosts this harvest dinner in the vineyard—a four-course meal with music, lights strung through the trees, and of course wine.”
“You have to buy tickets, so it’s not really an invitation,” he points out. “I assume anyone can buy tickets.”
I nod slowly. “But you specifically got a notice about it. There are limited numbers of tickets. We should be part of that, as family. We never used to need an invitation.”
“How about this? I’ll buy two tickets and you can come as my date.”
I turn in his arms to face him. “We’re not dating.”
We’ve been spending time together but mostly at his place, making dinner together, training Moose, and banging. We haven’t said anything to anyone, not even to Rosa, and during work we keep our distance other than when we need to discuss something.
“We can go to a business dinner together.”
Thoughts flit through my head. We agreed this was casual. What would people think if we show up together? But who cares? It could be a business dinner.
I lift my chin. “Okay. Sure. Let’s do it.”
He heads out with Moose, who I make a fuss over before he leaves even though he doesn’t know what’s going on, and then I go back to Caparelli.
Jake and Rosa are at the crush pad.
“Hi,” I greet them. “How are things going here?”
“You were gone all night,” Rosa says.
“I was.” I’m not going to be embarrassed about it, but I guess it’s time to come clean. “I was at Jansen’s.”
“Shock,” Jake mutters.
I widen my eyes at him.
He shrugs.
“What’s going on with you two?” Rosa asks in a low voice.
“We’re just, uh, intimate neighbors.”
They both choke.
“Oh my God,” Rosa says. “What does that even mean?”
“You know what it means.”
“I think we get it,” Jake says. He eyes me with concern.
“We’re adults,” I say quietly. “It’s fine. You know I’m only here for a short time, and he’s…not looking for anything either. So it’s just casual.”
She eyes me thoughtfully. “When you were sick, it didn’t look casual. He looked like he was terrified that you were on your death bed.”
I blink. “Well. He was probably worried, sure.”
Rosa scrunches her face up.
“What are you worried about?”
She doesn’t answer right away. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Neither do I.” I give her a big smile. “That’s why we’re not getting serious.”
“Oh, little sister.” She pats my shoulder.
I frown. “What does that mean?”
“You think you can have a fling with him or whatever you want to call it without catching feelings?”
“Of course I can.” Something shifts in my belly. I ignore it. “I was with Tomás for months and neither of us ever got serious.”
She studies my face, glances at Jake, then looks back at me. “Okay. You’re right. You’re an adult.”
I smile and nod. “Thanks.”
My phone buzzes in the back pocket of my shorts. I pull it out. “Ah! It’s Milenko!”
My boss at Castillo Lorenzo. I answer the call. “Hi, Milenko!”
“Hello, Bianca. ?Cómo estás?”
I grin. “Estoy bien, gracias.” I learned a little Spanish while there, but Milenko speaks perfect English.
“Good, good. I am glad to hear it. How is your harvest going?”
I smile at Rosa and Jake and take a few steps away. I fill him in on how things are going at Caparelli, and also Bar Down.
Then he says, “I’m calling with news.”
“What kind of news?”
“Good news.” I hear the smile in his voice. “It’s about the Star Winemaker Awards.”
I blink. “What about them?”
“You, my dear, have been nominated for an award.”
I go statue still. I blink several more times. “I have? Really? What award?”
It can’t be a Star Winemakers Award. Those are top awards, celebrating the best winemakers of the year as judged by Elite Global Winemakers, a huge wine publication.
“Best cabernet franc.”
I shake my head in disbelief, then laugh out loud. “Are you shitting me?”
“I am not shitting you, as you so charmingly put it.”
“That’s crazy!”
“It is well deserved. I knew it was a remarkable wine.”
“I can’t believe this!”
“The awards will be given out in a black-tie event in Paris,” he says. “In January.”
“Wow.” I press my fingers to my mouth briefly. “This is wild.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“When are you coming back?”
“Oh. Jeez. I’m not sure. In a few weeks, I guess.”
“Okay. Let me know. We’ll talk about a promotion and pay raise.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Oh. Okay.”
I end the call and tip my head back to gaze up at cotton ball clouds in the blue sky. This is amazing!
“What’s up?” Rosa asks, approaching. “Is everything okay?”
I grin at her. “Yes! Everything is fucking fantastic!”
She laughs, eyes widening, and I tell her about the award nomination.
“Oh my God! That’s incredible!” She throws her arms around me and squeezes and for a moment, we sway back and forth, both of us laughing. Then she turns and calls out to everyone in hearing distance, “My sister is nominated for a big winemaker award!”
Everyone gathers around, cheering, congratulating me, hugging me.
I’m in a daze. Drunk on celebration. I want to tell Jansen.
I stop myself from rushing over to Bar Down. He’s probably not even back from dropping off Moose. I’ll see him at some point today. I can tell him then. I don’t need to make a big thing of it.
Even though I’m jumping up and down with excitement.
I can’t stop myself from bouncing up to Jansen over at Bar Down later. He’s in the cellar talking to Antonio and I hop across the floor to him, a smile stretching across my face.
He looks up and grins in response. “Hi. You look happy.”
“I’m so happy!” I squeal. I want to throw myself into his arms, but Antonio and others are around so I bounce on my toes in front of him. “I have news!”
“Yeah?” His smile is so warm and affectionate, my heart somersaults in my chest.
I tell him about the award, which of course he knows nothing about. I show him the website listing all the nominations on my phone. “There’s my name!”
Antonio and others congratulate me, and so does Jansen, but I can tell he’s holding back, too. We need to be alone to celebrate this properly.
“Come over later,” he says in a low voice. “We’ll have a little celebration party.”
More excitement fizzes in my veins. “Okay.”
When I get to his place later, he has a dopey Moose snoozing in his bed and a bottle of Billecart-Salmon Brut Réserve chilling. I clap my hands. “Oh my God. I love that wine.”
“I’ve never had it, but it came highly recommended.”
I hurry over to Moose to give him gentle cuddles before he attempts to jump all over me and hurts himself. “Are you okay, little buddy?” I stroke his back. “You’re a brave boy, aren’t you? Good boy.”
Jansen pops the cork rather expertly, then pours wine into pretty egg-shaped champagne glasses. He hands me one, picks up the other, and says, “Congratulations, beautiful. This is just the start of an amazing journey for you, I’m sure.”
His words touch me and make my heart trip. “Thank you.”
Our eyes meet and hold as we touch our glasses together then sip the sparkling wine.
“Mmmm.” I hold the glass up. “Fizzy. Citric.”
His lips tip up with amusement. “Light bodied.”
“Yes.” God, I…like him. So much. I take a big breath. “My boss says we’ll talk about a promotion and a raise when I get back.”
Jansen’s expression doesn’t waver, although his eyes dim slightly. “Good for you. Congratulations on that, too.”
“Thanks.”
I’ve known all along I have to go back to Argentina. Maybe I’ve had fleeting thoughts about what it would be like to stay here. To be truly involved in Caparelli. And see Bar Down flourish. But those were just musings. Not real. And now…I have even more reason to go back.