Happy Hour (9 page)

Guess it was a good thing that, unsatisfied, Al had cheated and left her
for Stacey—Stacey the vixen—who’d evil-eyed Danielle at that charity event over
three years ago, as if she were the witch. Now the twentysomething luscious
redhead had to keep up
the
image for good old Al these days—an image
that took a big hit when his
big
news wove its way through the valley.
Stacey could have Al’s money, and the paunch around his waistline, as well as
his lame sense of humor.

Al had been
unsatisfied.
That one stupid word brought Danielle to
tears many times over the last few years, wondering if she’d really aged all
that badly. She didn’t think so. At forty-five, she thought she was still
attractive. Men glanced her way and even smiled at her. Her friends told her
she looked a lot like Julianne Moore. Not a compliment to turn down. Granted it
came from Jamie, Kat and Alyssa, but still.

Now when the word unsatisfied entered a conversation or crossed her mind,
all she could do was laugh.
Unsatisfied
. Yeah, well how about now, Al?
How satisfied are you with two toddler girls in diapers running around whining
and crying all the time, and a baby on the way? She doubted Al was getting much
satisfaction
these days from Stacey. The woman had to be exhausted.
After seeing Stacey and babies in the grocery store the other day, she’d
actually felt sorry for her. But thoughts of Al, Stacey, and babies needn’t
take up residence in her head.

This was her time now, and in some ironic twist of fate, Al’s
unfaithfulness and aftermath turned out to be a good thing. There were moments
when she wondered what it would have been like to be married to someone for
fifty some odd years or more, share all those memories, and know everything
about each other. Sweet little old people holding hands out on a stroll and
such. At forty-five, with no love life and no prospects, growing old alone
looked like a possibility, and interestingly enough that didn’t scare the hell
out of her like she thought it might.

She held the bottle of wine in her hands and closed her eyes for a
moment. This had to be the one. Taking it into her office, she grabbed a
corkscrew out of the drawer and inserted it. Twisting it down into the cork,
she slowly pulled it up out of the bottle. She took a glass from the cabinet
and wiped it out, making sure it sparkled clean. After all,
this
merited
a special occasion. As she poured, Danielle watched the dark purple and red
colors of the wine blend together. Setting the glass down on her desk, she
allowed it to breathe for a few minutes. They were some long minutes.

A new white candle on her desk seemed to be waiting for this moment like
the winemaker herself. Yes, a bit of ambience. Why not? She opened her desk
drawer again and rummaged around for matches. Finding some, she lit the candle
then sat down in her chair. Her fingers wrapped around the glass stem, she
swirled the wine, and with a satisfied sigh studied its color. The color of
wine always amazed her, and no matter what anyone said, it was never the same.
Even with the same type of wines, the color would differentiate by a smidgeon
of a shade. Some reds were deep purple, black almost, some as light as a
strawberry color. This wine she held in her hand was a dark blood red. How
fitting.

She brought the wine up to her nose and breathed it in.
Gorgeous.
Stunning.
The fight for these vines was obviously well worth it.

The seductive scent of black currant, ripe plum, and what could be none
other than dark chocolate, hit her nose, easing the knot in her stomach. She
twirled the glass between her fingers again and then brought it up to her lips
and took her first sip. Her taste buds awakened to layers of luscious cassis,
dried cherry, sweet tobacco, and anise that coated her palate and lingered. A
warmth spread throughout her body and she couldn’t help smiling. Her toes
curled in utter satisfaction. The wine finished with subtle nuances of earth
and spice. Danielle waited a few seconds and took another sip to be sure she
hadn’t been fooled, because God knew she’d prayed this moment would come. This
time after she swallowed the wine she set the glass down, flopped back into her
chair, and started laughing.
How sweet, how sweet, how sweet!
She raised
her hands in triumph. And that was when she came up with the name for the wine;
Revenge
. It was perfect. This bottle of wine was her revenge. Combined
with the name of the winery, Déesse, which meant Goddess, she had the name.
Revenge of the Goddess. She hoped oenophiles from all over the world would
score it high, and after that she would make a killing. Who knew that her
husband leaving her for a younger woman would lead to this? She even thought
about picking up the phone and calling Al to thank him. No. She’d do that after
her wine had been touted from the West Coast to the East Coast. But she did
silently toast him.

Finishing off the glass, she corked the bottle and headed up to the
house. Now that she’d savored her time with the wine, she knew she needed to
share it with one of her best friends. Hands down, she knew she’d call Jamie.

The winery, a good walk from the house, up and down small hills, might be
great for toning her legs, but it still winded her. Sometimes she drove the
golf cart down to her office and the lab, but today her manager Raul was using
it out on the vineyard, and she needed the exercise anyway.

Coming up the driveway, she spotted a car. It had to be one of Cassie’s
friends because it was parked next to the brand new Audi her father and Stacey
had gotten her.

When she made it all the way to the top of the drive, she saw that the
car was Shannon’s. The kid had made it a day early. But she was supposed to be
flying home tomorrow and Danielle had planned to pick her up at the airport.
Why had she driven all that way? Danielle had told her that she could use her
car over the summer.  She wished her daughter had let her know that she was
driving across the country alone. She could have been hurt, or kidnapped, or
worse. What had she been thinking?

She opened the front door. “Shannon?”

“In here, Mom.”

Cassie bounded down the stairs, her long strawberry blonde hair swinging
with her gait, a huge grin across her face. “Have you seen Shannon yet, Mom?”

“I just walked in the door, honey. I’m heading into the kitchen to see
her. Could you move out of my way? I want to give her a hug.”

“Sure. No problem, Mom. I love a family reunion.” She rubbed her hands
together, moving to the side but right at her mother’s heels.

Danielle would have to make sure the kid’s pupils weren’t dilated because
she was sure acting funny. No way was she this happy to see her sister.

Danielle couldn’t help smiling as she entered the kitchen, Shannon’s back
to her. “Hey, kiddo. We need to talk. You’re in trouble.”

“That’s for sure.” Cassie smirked.

“What’s wrong with you, Cass?”

Cass shrugged, still wearing that shit-eating grin. “Nothing at all.”

Drug testing for sure. “Shan? Aren’t you gonna turn around and give me a
hug?” Danielle went to set the wine down on the counter as her oldest daughter
turned around. Danielle missed the counter and dropped the bottle. Glass
shattered and wine went everywhere. Her mouth dropped open and she shook her
head. “Oh, my God.”

***

Danielle called an emergency happy hour the night after Shannon came
home. Her news was too much to handle on her own. She’d thrown together a
Mexican-style quiche and at that moment wished they had tequila, not just wine.

“Pregnant?” Jamie’s mouth hung agape just as Danielle’s had the night
before. If that moment hadn’t been surreal, then what was? Her twenty-one-year-old
daughter had stood, belly protruding, flashing solemn green eyes that were the
only apology. But Jesus Almighty! How was she going to handle this?

Danielle nodded. “Almost seven months, too. The baby is due the beginning
of August.” She set out a plate of stuffed mushrooms, plopped down on her
butter suede sofa, and poured herself her third glass of the decent Cabernet.
She was hitting it harder than usual, but she was hosting and definitely not
driving, and drinking a third glass of wine and sharing this new chapter of her
life with her friends seemed to be the answer—the only answer.

“So she couldn’t even consider not having the baby now,” Alyssa said. She
reached across the glass coffee table for her glass of wine.

“No. This, my friends, is a done deal.” Danielle scooped some mushrooms
onto her plate. Food along with the wine and friends comforted her a little.
Soft jazz played in the background. Danielle’s house was a custom five thousand
square foot vineyard dream. Unlike Jamie, Danielle had done all the decorating
herself and both the inside and outside replicated a Tuscan hideaway.

“She’s been pregnant for all this time and never told you?” Kat’s eyes
widened.

Danielle shook her head. “Not a word. Not one word. I’ve talked to that
kid I don’t know how many times over the past several months. I talk to her at
least twice a week. Ask her about school, her job, if she has a boyfriend. I
don’t know why she didn’t tell me when she first found out.”

“What’s she going to do?” Jamie asked. “I mean is she planning on keeping
the baby? What about her last year of college?”

Danielle shrugged. “I tried talking to her about it, suggesting adoption
might be a good way to go. My God, she’s at Yale on scholarship. She’s lined up
to graduate with honors, and wants to go to law school. Before she left for
school, she’d shared with me that it was her dream to become a Supreme Court justice.
This changes everything.” She choked back emotion. Alyssa touched her shoulder
and smiled sympathetically. Danielle tried to smile back. “I’m sorry. I’m a
little in shock. I can’t believe that my brainiac of a child could be so
fucking stupid as to get herself knocked up.”

“Is there a guy? Obviously there is a guy, right?” Jamie asked.

“No. No guy. My valedictorian is pregnant and who’s the father? He’s some
exchange student she met from Italy and he has now, of course, flown the coop.”
Danielle waved her free hand in the air.

“Ah, an Italian guy,” Kat said. “No wonder. Trouble. Regular Romeo, huh?”

“No shit, Dick Tracy.” Danielle shot her a dirty look.

“I’m sorry, Danielle. I don’t mean to make light of this. It’s got to be
difficult. Has she been in contact with him?”

“I haven’t gotten that far with her yet. Our conversation last night was
slightly tense and when I saw her becoming upset I did the only thing I could
do.” Her friends all looked at her. “I wrapped my arms around her, and told her
that I loved her and that I would support her.”

“Wow,” Alyssa said in a whisper.

“Where is she right now?” Kat asked.

“Meeting with her dad. You better believe it won’t be long before I get a
call from him. I’m sure I’ll be the one to blame. I’m sure he’ll be delighted.”

The sarcasm wasn’t lost on her friends. The Bastard blamed Danielle for
everything that had gone wrong in their marriage, anything that went wrong with
their daughters, and especially for the problems he’d recently acquired with
the IRS over his business dealings. The blame game there was that he claimed
that Danielle hadn’t taught him how to run the books. As if she were supposed
to sit him down and give him a tutorial on accounting after he’d screwed her
over!

Al’s
real
big problem was that Danielle had made out in the
settlement in a way he hadn’t planned on. She’d gotten half of the vines—the
best vines. She’d been able to prove that she’d been the brainchild behind
Bastillia Wines. Al managed to get the large distribution deals across the
country, but it had been Danielle who worked hand in hand with their employees
and helped to cultivate wine into art. Al liked to talk the talk and play big-man
winery owner, but it was Danielle who truly understood wine from the soil on
up, and she now had the means and was in a position to prove it.

“Screw Al,” Jamie said.

“Not my job anymore.” Danielle laughed and so did her friends. The mood
lightened a little.

“Do you know what’s next with Shannon?” Alyssa set her glass down and
leaned back into the sofa.

“She told me that she already scheduled an appointment on Thursday with a
doctor out here and planned to deliver the baby here. That’s pretty much as far
as we’ve gotten. Right now it’s like walking on eggshells with her. I guess I
kind of need to let it settle.” She sighed. “Enough about my drama. What’s
going on with you?” She looked at Jamie who sat stunned. “When we talked on the
phone the other night it sounded like you made the decision to take Maddie over
to check out the riding lessons, right?” More wine and another long sigh. “I
can see you all don’t want to change the subject, but humor me. I’m tired,
frustrated, and don’t want to think about my problems right now.”

Jamie nodded. “Okay. I did. I called and I’m taking her next weekend. In
fact, my sister-in-law called and they, of course, asked if they could have
Maddie for the weekend, but I told them no, that we already had plans. Then
Susan said that she wanted to take her to riding lessons. I was so happy to be
able to come back and tell her that
I
was already taking her to riding
lessons.” She smiled and smugly crossed her arms in front of her.

“Good,” Alyssa said. “Sounds like you’re moving forward, keeping your
daughter tuned more into you than her aunt and uncle.”

“What about you, Kat? Venus still coming to town?” Danielle asked.

“She’s coming all right. Three weeks and my dear beloved mother will be
here.” Kat emptied her glass, and stood. “Hey, hate to be a buzzkill, but looks
like your girls just pulled up.”

Danielle stood. “Jeez. They said they’d be home after ten, after everyone
went home. It’s only nine.”