“Aaron Gentry. You stop this.” He was starting to feel awkward. I could tell as the blush traveled up his neck and cheeks. He was not quite irritated, and he seemed more at the amused stage. I needed to give up the truth before he got to the angry stage.
“I looked in the drawers.” He looked at me, shocked. “Hey, he has a dragon! There is a picture right here on the desk.”
River walked over to where I was. “Really?” I picked up the picture and handed it to him. “Wow. That looks like Daisy.” He squinted his eyes. “I mean, that could be Daisy.” He had moved close enough to see my framed diplomas on the wall and needed to read the name. He looked around the room and then landed on an award I got from Food & Wine magazine.
His mouth moved as he read. He then looked to the left, where I had my master’s degree framed. He slowly turned and looked at me, and his mouth hung open. “You manage Sun Harvest?”
“Own,” I said and smiled at him. His eyes got wide.
“What is even happening?” He just stood there looking at me.
“What?” He started to laugh. “You have got to be kidding me.” He walked over to where I was sitting and straddled me. His lipsmet mine. “You are full of surprises. When you said companies, I always assumed you meant a branch of Gentry that maybe bought and sold buildings.”
“I have that, too. As we’ve discussed.” I said and waved that away. “This here. Sun Harvest is my baby, my passion. We put our first bottles of wine out one year after that asshole left. I am so glad he was never involved because I want to share it with someone who makes me feel whole.”
“Who is that?” He looked down.
I kissed him gently. “I’ll let you figure it out. Taste wine with me. We are about to bottle new batches. I’d love for you to taste them. I have a proprietary red blend, a small batch, and one that will go to local restaurants. Then I have a couple of whites that I have been bottling, but there is a new one that I would also like your opinion on.”
“I would be honored to join you. Winemaking is what you want to do?”
I nodded enthusiastically. “More than anything. I love the entire process. I like trying different things and seeing how they turn out. You have renewed my desire that I had allowed to stagnate. I am proud of Gentry Construction and its subsidiary companies, but this is my passion. I want to make wonderful wines.”
“I can see how this makes you light up.”
“I hope maybe you will want to share this with me. Even if you don't, I want to put more effort into this dream. Rodney will be able to pick up more work, and I can even promote more people to help free me up to work on Sun Harvest.” I was so excited to share this with the man I loved. I stopped myself short and let that roll around in my mind. I did love him. I knew it without a doubt.
Jose knocked on the door. “Are you ready, Mr. Gentry?”
“Yes, we are ready, Jose, and you don’t have to call me Mr. Gentry. Call me Aaron. Before you bring us the flights, come meet my boyfriend.”
I introduced them and explained that he managed the entire facility. “I will spend more time here at Sun Harvest and less time at Gentry soon.” Jose looked at me, surprised.
“That would be amazing, Aaron. You have so many dreams you want to fulfill here.” I surprised myself with the revelation that River inspired me to be a better version of myself. I wanted to make Sun Harvest known throughout the country, not just within five hundred miles of the winery.
Jose brought in four flights of wine. All of it had come right out of the casks. I tasted everything before it was bottled. Quality was essential to me and my brand. I was most excited by the exclusive blend. I had picked the grapes I wanted and which quantities I hoped it turned out like I wanted. I was saving that until the end.
We sipped the whites. The whites were dry and velvety. The new one was more of a chardonnay. Both were exceptionally good. I was satisfied with their flavors and would give the go-ahead for bottling. I sold most of this batch already. We then tried the red wines. The Sun Harvest red that all the restaurants carried had great flavor and was ready for bottling.
“There will probably be ten thousand bottles of this red. We could expand to 100,000 bottles, but I haven't given the winery the attention it deserved.” I had said this too often. It was time it changed.
We then tried the small batch. “These will be our reserve stock. It is a slightly different blend and fermented longer than our standard. There will be about three hundred bottles of this total.”
“This is so good. I like that you have a reserved blend. It feels special.”
“Exactly! Iwant people to enjoy it and feel like they are getting something exceptional.”
“This next wine will also be limited. I planned to take it to restaurants and offer it as an exclusive. The first place to jump at it was going to get it. I was waiting to bottle it before I even approached anybody. I’ve changed my plan for it, though.”
“I am so excited that you are sharing this with me. I can’t believe I get to see behind the scenes at Sun Harvest. Stone will be so jealous.”
I took my first sip, and everything tingled. It wasn’t as fabulous as when River touched me, but it was fantastic. Now, I had one more surprise for River regarding the exclusive wine.
“Wow. It’s so full of flavor. All I can think of is all the Italian dishes it would enhance.”
I smiled. It was perfect. There would be about five hundred bottles. One restaurant would get all of them.
I turned to Jose. “These are all perfect and ready to bottle. Can you bring in the bottle art we worked on? You can then head home. I'll lock up. We will be around sometime tomorrow to tour the whole winery. I will see you then.”
