Chapter 13
The last hour of the workday always passed like a sleepy snail crawling through maple syrup. Whether it was a weekday or Saturday, it was still the same. Ophelia had sold several bottles of wine, but after the last customer left, she was alone. She dusted. She swept the floors. She cleaned the inside of the door window. At five thirty she put away the leftover wine and the cheese and crackers from the tasting table.
She was staring at the clock when Jake came in from the back and leaned on the counter. “I sent the guys in the back room home. Want to close up a little early?”
“You are the boss,” she answered.
Before she could even nod, the door opened, and eight women pushed their way into the shop. They all appeared to be about Ophelia’s age. Four were blonds with blue eyes. One was a brunette. One had blue hair, and the other two were sporting a pink streak in their platinum hair.
“Hello, we’re here to taste a little wine, and maybe buy a lot for Darlene’s bachelorette weekend,” the brunette said, pointing toward one of the blonds.
“Y’all are welcome to look around while I set up a little tasting.” Ophelia hurried back to the kitchen area. She prepared the dome-covered crystal dish with cheese and crackers and carried it out to the shop, then went back and brought out the three half-empty bottles of wine and a sleeve of disposable tasting cups.
Most of the pack were choosing wine from the racks, but Miss Blue Hair had cornered Jake between the wall and the end of the checkout counter. Her right hand was splayed out on his chest, and she was looking up into his eyes. He took a step back, but she moved with him and leaned into him even closer. Poor man looked like he was the only bunny rabbit at a coyote convention.
“Darlin’,” Ophelia called out as she set the wine on the table. “We have strawberry, watermelon, and blackberry. Maybe you could get some sample bottles of red and white from the back.”
“Is this your man?” Miss Blue Hair slurred her words.
“That is my man,” Ophelia answered as she set the bottles in the tub of ice still on the table.
“After what happened to me, we don’t flirt with married men,” Miss Brunette growled. “Come on over here and pick out your bottle. We’re each buying at least one.”
“Thank you,” Jake mouthed toward Ophelia as he practically jogged to the back.
“Have y’all been out all morning?” Ophelia took her place behind the counter.
“Yep,” one of the pink streaks answered. “We started at nine o’clock in Saint Jo, hit two wineries there, and then drove over here. We each bought a bottle at each place. This is our last stop.”
Miss Brunette poured a small cup of blackberry wine. “We’re going to Dallas tonight to celebrate Darlene’s last weekend as a single woman.” She swirled it around a couple of times and then smiled. “This is amazing. I’m buying two bottles. One for the party and one to take home.”
The rest of the women gathered around the table. In just a few minutes, all the wine was gone, the cheese and crackers were gone, and more than a dozen bottles were on the counter ready for Ophelia to ring up.
“Hey, sorry I took so long, but I had to make up some samples,” Jake said as he returned with a wooden bowl filled with tiny bottles of red and white wine.
“Those are so cute,” one of the blonds said. “I’ll buy them all and we can all take one home to remember tonight.”
“If we don’t crack them open and drink all of them on the way to Dallas,” Blue Hair said with a giggle.
“Don’t worry about them,” Brunette whispered. “I’m pregnant so I’m not drinking. I volunteered to be the designated driver.”
Jake set the bowl on the counter and stayed on Ophelia’s left side while the women lined up to check out. “That’s good, but don’t speed. It’s the driver who gets the ticket and who will be fined if there’s an open bottle in the vehicle.”
“Even if it’s a little bitty thing?” Pink Streak asked.
“Yep,” Ophelia replied as she checked them out one by one.
“Are you speaking from experience?” Darlene asked.
“Possibly,” Ophelia answered. “That will be forty-three dollars and nine cents for you.”
Darlene whipped out a credit card. “Daddy says I have to give this back tomorrow before the wedding, so just charge it all to him.”
“Hey, this is our party for you,” Blondie Number Three protested.
“Y’all bought at the last places. This one is on me as a thank-you, and on my daddy for not letting me keep my cards after I’m married,” Darlene said.
“Girl, you are marrying the richest oil man in Texas. You don’t need your daddy’s credit cards anymore,” Brunette told her. “But that said, thank you, and now we can go on to the spa resort.”
Ophelia rang up the total and handed Darlene the receipt to sign. The woman scribbled her name across the bottom and pushed it back across the counter. “I’m so ready for a mud bath and a massage,” she said as she started toward the door.
Blue Hair looked over at Jake and sighed. “Maybe another time.”
Ophelia followed them to the door and locked it behind them. “Well, that sure helped today’s sales.”
“Thank you,” Jake said with a smile. “Not only for the sales, but for helping me out with that woman.”
“You can’t tell me that women don’t flirt with you,” Ophelia said.
Jake came out from behind the counter, removed his glasses, and wiped them. “Not like she did. Did that really happen?”
“Yes, it did, and you are welcome.” She glanced up at the clock shaped like a wine bottle. “It’s five minutes after six. Are we ready to go now?”
“Definitely!” He crossed the floor and opened the door. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“I could just drive to your place,” she suggested.
He shook his head and followed her out onto the porch. “This is a date. I will treat you with respect, knock on your door, and meet the parents even though I’ve met them before now. My mama would come all the way up here just to give me a tongue-lashing if I let you drive over here, or if I honked and expected you to come out to the truck.”
“My dad will appreciate that. I’ll see you soon. Are you sure you don’t want me to bring dessert?” Ophelia took a step off the porch out into the bright sunlight.
“Positive,” Jake waved and went back inside to lock up.
She waved back, hurried over to her truck, and grabbed her sunglasses from the passenger’s seat. She glanced down at the dashboard. Day: May 19. Time: 6:13. Temperature: 89 degrees. The weatherman had said they could be in for a storm that night, but all the numbers she was looking at said he was wrong.
Ten days ago, she had met Jake for the first time, and even after such a short time, she felt like she had known him for years. From day one on the job, she had been comfortable, not only with what she was doing, but with Jake and the guys who worked for him making wine. When she went home at the end of the day, she didn’t feel like pulling her hair out like she did when she had battled children or teenagers all day.
“Thank you for meddling, Aunt Bernie,” she muttered as she drove away from the winery. She had just turned down the lane toward the Paradise when she saw Bernie and Pepper walking toward her. “Speak of the devil, and she shall appear,” she whispered. Bernie usually took Pepper for his afternoon walks out to the back side of the property so he could chase squirrels. Could she be planning to cross the road and confront Noah?
Ophelia braked and rolled down the truck window. “Where are y’all going? Need a ride?”
“Nope,” Bernie answered. “We’re going up to the end of the lane, and…”
“And what?” Ophelia’s thoughts went to all kinds of horrible things.
“I don’t plan on burning down Noah’s house,” Bernie snapped. “I don’t want to be in prison when you and Tertia are finally settled like Ursula and Luna.”
“Sure you don’t want a ride?” Ophelia asked. “Endora probably has supper on the table.”
“Thank you, but Pepper and I will finish our walk,” Bernie said. “Supper is on the bar, not the table, and I’ve already eaten.”
“Okay, then, see you at home.” Ophelia drove slowly to keep from throwing dust back on Bernie and Pepper. She kept an eye on the rearview mirror to be sure that her aunt didn’t cross the road and have a showdown with Noah, and then parked in front of the Paradise. When she got out of her vehicle, she saw that Bernie had turned around and was coming back toward the house.
“Whew!” She removed her sunglasses, wiped a few beads of sweat from her forehead, and then tossed the glasses back into the car through the open window. She was on her way across the yard when she saw a movement in her peripheral vision.
“Hey,” Tertia yelled as she came around the end of the house with all three cats trailing behind her. “Clam chowder is in the slow cooker on the bar.”
Ophelia stopped at the bottom of the steps. “Thanks. Are you on your way over to Noah’s?”
“Nope,” she answered. “Why do you ask?”
“Aunt Bernie is headed this way,” Ophelia answered.
“You don’t think…” Tertia gasped.
“No,” Ophelia answered, knowing exactly what was in her sister’s mind because she had thought the same thing just minutes ago, “but she might stand on this side of the road and make demands that the Universe send him another woman to talk to about the café business.”
“I’m glad that things are going well with you and Jake, but I wish she would put her powers, as she calls them, more to work on Melody and Quinton and leave me out.” Tertia sighed and sat down on the top porch step. Sassy crawled up in her lap, and the orange kittens snuggled up together at her feet.
Ophelia reached down and petted Sassy, then eased down beside her sister. “When are you and Noah…?”
“Supper tonight. We’re driving over to Nocona to a little café that is kind of like what he’s building. We’ve been talking about menus and specials, so we want to check out how they do things,” she answered. “You have a date with Jake, right?”
Ophelia nodded. “He’s cooking over at his place, and we’re watching a movie afterward. I’ll be home by midnight.”
“Ahh, a man that is sexy and cooks too. Do I hear your biological clock purring?” Tertia teased.
“Nope, that’s three cats,” Ophelia answered.
“I guess it is. Hopefully, Aunt Bernie will be asleep by then. I’ll wait for you on the screened porch,” Tertia whispered and then nodded toward the lane where Bernie and Pepper were coming toward the house.
“I’m going inside to get dressed,” Ophelia said.
“Some sister you are, leaving me to deal with her alone,” Tertia groaned.
Ophelia laid her hand on her sister’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You’ve got Sassy and the kittens. Maybe all the purring they are doing will distract her, or maybe Pepper will be in a bad mood, and she’ll have to chase him down when he goes after Sassy.” She took her phone from her purse and held it like a microphone. “In this corner we have the Ball-Busting Bernie and her ferocious animal, Red-Hot Pepper. And in this one we have the Terrible Tertia with three tigers ready to go to battle with the dog. I’m putting my money on four against two. Don’t let me down.”
Ophelia’s phone rang just as she was ironing the shirt she planned to wear that evening. The phone was in her purse across the room, so she rushed in that direction, stumped her toe on the rocking chair, and used enough of the colorful language she had learned in the service to almost melt the glass panels in the doors leading out to the balcony. She managed to grab the phone on the fifth ring, just before it went to voice mail. She figured it was Tertia and didn’t even look at the picture that popped up on the screen.
“Give me a minute. I’m not through cussing a rocking chair,” she gasped.
“O…kay…” Jake said. “What did the chair do to you?”
“It got in my way,” Ophelia answered.
“From your tone, I will remember not to get in your way.” Jake chuckled. “I’m calling to tell you that the electricity is out in my trailer. It happens pretty often when there’s a storm or high wind like what is whistling through the trees right now. Our supper plans will have to change. I thought we would drive over to Muenster and eat at a little German restaurant that I like. I can still pick you up in a few minutes if that works for you.”
“I love Rohmer’s,” Ophelia replied, “and I’ll be ready.”
“Great,” Jake said. “See you then, and I hope your toe gets better and you forgive the rocking chair.”
“Thanks, but I’m slow to forgive and even slower to forget.”
“I’ll remember that.” Jake said and ended the call.
Ophelia laid the phone down and turned to find her mother headed for the ironing board. “I came up here to put away some towels and smelled something burning.” She ran across the room and set the iron off of the shirt. “I hope you weren’t planning on wearing this tonight or ever again. I guess we could cut the sleeves out…” she peeled it off the board and it ripped across the back, “Nope, that won’t work either.”
“Dammit!” Ophelia stomped the floor, and then plopped down on the edge of the bed and grabbed her aching foot. “I should just stay home tonight and not even come downstairs for supper. The stars are lined up against me. First, I came close to breaking my toe, and now I’ve burned up my favorite shirt. And this rotten high wind has knocked out the electricity in Jake’s trailer so he can’t cook. We are going to drive over to Muenster instead, and I’d looked forward to just having an evening with him.”
Mary Jane unplugged the iron and then sat down in the rocking chair. “Darlin’ daughter, all relationships require work. You can’t expect things to be perfect. You have to overcome whatever obstacles get thrown your way to get to that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Quit your whining and choose another shirt. You will have the drive over there and back with just the two of you, and Rohmer’s is a special place. The coconut pie will make you forget about all these hurdles you had to jump over to get there.”
“But now I’ve got to choose a whole different outfit,” Ophelia huffed.
Mary Jane stood up and patted her daughter on the shoulder. “Wear that cute little sundress with the shamrocks on it, and your green sweater.” She headed out of the room and turned back. “And a pair of high heels.”
“But my toe…” Ophelia groaned again.
“Is going to hurt no matter what shoes you wear,” Mary Jane told her.