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I was pleased with her too.
“Tell me.”
“The owner went to school with my father. When he and Mom came back from Napa in '83, having decided to turn the farmland into a vineyard, this was their first stop.”
Thayle looked up at the sign. J. Saunders Vineyards. “I’ve definitely heard of them.”
“My dad may have mentioned Jay.”
We walked up the stairs and onto the large wraparound front deck. “Is he the former prison guard? Super nice guy who everyone loves?”
“That’s the one.”
“Interesting,” she said, unsuspecting.
Even more interesting? I knew this winery like the back of my hand. It was the one we’d visited most as kids, though less frequently in the last ten years. My parents had come after they retired, staying nearby for the weekend.
“There he is.” A bald man with the widest grin known to man approached us and pulled me into a hug.
Then, though he didn’t know Thayle at all, Jay did the same to her.
“Who is this beautiful young woman?”
“You’ve met before, I think,” I said.
We stood in the main tasting room, which was on the smaller side since Jay never expanded. If you wanted a quintessential Finger Lakes experience, this was the place to come. Understated, but some of the best wines on any of the lakes. And nearly every customer would be greeted by Jay when they entered.
“We have?” Thayle seemed surprised.
“Do you remember the vineyard anniversary party when Marco took a woman’s purse and handed out the contents to everyone at the bar?”
“I do,” she said. “We had a good laugh, but she wanted to kill him. He’d even handed out her, um, intimate items.”
“The purse was my wife’s.” Jay continued to smile. “I’m sorry you won’t get to say hello,” he told me. “She and her sister are spending the night at Belhurst for her niece’s birthday.”
“Nice,” I said as we drifted over to the tasting counter.
As Jay and I drifted over, we tasted wine, and Thayle jumped right into the thick of it. A half hour after we’d come, the two of them were laughing and joking like old friends. With her attention on Jay, I let my left arm drop as we stood on the other side of the bar from him. Pretending to reach for a scoop of peanuts in the bowl in front of Thayle with my right hand, I hiked up the back of her dress, just enough to make the back of her more accessible without it being noticeable. Then I splayed my fingers against her bare lower thigh, and ran my palm up as far as possible without attracting attention from anyone who might be behind us.
So soft and smooth. But the best part as I leaned back was Thayle’s expression. As Jay turned to look for a wine he called “the best we’ve ever made,” I whispered, “That was just round one.”
With that, we tasted an excellent wine, Thayle peeking at me periodically. She was waiting for round two. And once all the wines were finished, it was time.
I reached for the phone in my pocket and looked at it. “Jay, there’s a slight issue at the estate we should take care of. Something about the club shipment,” I said, turning to Thayle.
She was rightly confused. The wine club shipment went out on the fifteenth of each month, so there shouldn’t have been any problems. But I gave her a pointed look and she apparently caught on, saying nothing.
“Do you mind if we go somewhere to take care of this? Is the reserve room in the cave open? I’d love to show Thayle anyway. It’s a great room,” I said, casting Thayle a wink.
“I’m sure it is,” she said, but she was looking at me as if she actually meant, I’m onto you.I’m sure it is.
“Absolutely. I can take you down there.”
“No need, you have other customers.” A small group of latecomers had just walked in, and I knew Jay liked to personally greet every guest. “I know the way.”
Jay dug into his pocket. “The caves are open, but you’ll need this to get into the reserve room. Light switch is inside, on your right.”
“Thanks so much. We’ll be just a few minutes.”
