EPILOGUE
“Angie. Hey, Angie! You in?”
The house was rustic with a flimsy wooden screen door, the kind that’s always crooked or warped so it never closes flush. Out here, with the cool breeze coming from the delta, even when imperfect, the screen door was a godsend.
“Angie!” I called again and gently knocked on the doorframe.
“Coming! Coming! Quit your hollering,” replied the voice inside. “Oh! Richie! I wasn’t expecting you ’til this afternoon.”
She approached the door and unlatched the handle, swinging it outward.
“I had some free time this morning. Hope that’s alright.”
“Oh, absolutely. You can bring them in right over there.”
“Thanks,” I said as I turned to the dolly I left on the porch, six cases stacked on its foot.
“You know, I can just as easily bring these to the restaurant,” I said as I wheeled them in and placed them by the kitchen.
“I know, but call me a creature of habit, I’ve just grown accustomed to bringing them in myself. Besides, this lets us sneak a bottle or two for ourselves,” she chuckled, then her face took on a shade of sadness. “Funny, your father used to say the same thing. He was a good man.”
I smiled softly and tried to keep the knot of sadness down.
“Oh Richard, I’m sorry. I know how much you miss them after all these years,” she said, eyes awash with concern.
“It’s okay, and thank you,” I said. “I’m just grateful you’ve stuck with us.”
“That is my pleasure. You and your sister have been doing a marvelous job over there. Fred keeps raving about your Cabernet to anyone who’ll listen.”
“Well, I’ll be sure to throw in an extra bottle as a ‘thank you’ next time.”
“Oh, you don’t have to,” she said. “But we won’t turn it down.”
“Noted,” I said. “Well I hate to just dash off but I got a couple more stops to get in before it gets too hot.”
“Of course, of course! Don’t let me keep you,” Angie replied and walked me to the porch. “When will be seeing that Dani again? It’s been a while since you both came to the restaurant?”
“You know what, you’re right. I’ll run it by her and maybe swing by tomorrow.”
“You do that! I’ll tell Fred. I’m sure he’ll cook up something extra special!”
“Can’t wait,” I said with a smile.
Daisy sat waiting for me in the driveway, the bed filled with crates of wine still waiting to be offloaded. It took me the remainder of the morning as I drove around town dropping them off. Sure, we could have hired a delivery service, but the small-town charm was part of our brand and gave a personal touch that people have grown to love over the last fifteen years. We didn’t even need to add any decal to Daisy. We sold to the locals and they knew we were coming when they heard Daisy’s purring from down the road.
It was just past noon as I pulled into our driveway, a long stretch of paved road lined with birch trees. I pulled Daisy into the carport and made my way inside.
“You back already?” Dani called out from the other room.
“Just wrapped up,” I replied, taking off my shoes and hanging up the keys. My eyes stopped for only a moment as I looked in the mirror and noted the light peppering of grey at my temples. “I don’t know about you, but I am ready to do nothing this weekend.”
“God yes, that sounds amazing,” she called back.
“What have you been up to?”
“Just reading.”
“Where you at?” I asked as I popped my head into the kitchen.
“The office,” she called out, voice echoing down the hall.
“Okay,” I began to make my way to her. “Oh! Hey, how do you feel about grabbing dinner at Sapori Proibiti tomorrow? I think Angie and Fred miss us.”
“Sure! That’d be fun.”
“Perfect. Anything you want to do tonight?” I asked.
“Hmm, now that you mention it…” I heard her say as I rounded the corner and stopped dead in my tracks.
There, sitting naked on the sofa was Dani, my dear sister, with a hungry look in her eye.
“… I have some ideas.”
The End.
* * * * *
Thank you for taking the time to read my story, and thank you to Todger65 for their incredible assistance in editing.
For this tale, there are no current plans for a sequel, but we will see if inspiration ever changes that. If you enjoyed, please leave a comment and vote.
– Scribbleskillz