AllFreeNovel
Share Us
So, I’d pulled on some clothes and headed over to her place, not really sure what I was going to say or how she was going to react to me just randomly dropping by. Only just as I’d gotten there, I heard her front door slam. Following her, I couldn’t stop the smile on my face as she wandered down to the fields, slowly walking a path through the vines. I’d been half-tempted to sneak up and tackle her for old times’ sake, but figured it was a shitty thing to do in the dark.
“Help yourself,” I say, gesturing to the packets of Tim Tams sitting on the kitchen bench.
Lu looks over at them, an audible “Holy shit,” falling from her mouth when she sees how many packets I brought over.
I smile as I grab the bottle of wine and two glasses before walking out to the back deck. Lulu eventually follows me out there and I hand her a glass and take a seat, propping my bare feet up on the rail. She takes a seat beside me, slipping off her shoes and mirroring my pose.
“Why’d you bring so many?” she asks.
I look over and grin. “Figured I’d look you up while I was here,” I say. “And they might be useful as a peace-offering,” I add. “Or at the very least, could be used for bribery,” I continue, winking.
She gives me a strange look. “You didn’t know I’d be here when you took the job?”
I shrug. “Your sister has a different surname, figured your folks had sold the business.”
“Never,” she says. “It’s been in our family for generations.”
I nod, but say nothing more. “Anyway,” I say, holding my glass out. “Cheers, Lu. Here’s to you and me, together again.”
Lulu doesn’t move, staring at me for a few seconds before she lifts her glass and clinks it against mine.
I watch as she smells the contents of her glass before taking a sip, slowly swirling the liquid in her mouth before swallowing it. In the low light, surrounded by nothing but silence and stars, the whole thing is strangely erotic and I feel my own mouth go dry just watching her.
“Wow,” she says, reaching for the bottle. “This is amazing. Is it one of your dad’s?”
I say nothing as she reads the back label on the bottle, the lighting only just bright enough that she can make out the small print.
“Holy shit,” she says, looking up at me. “You made this?”
I nod, giving her a smile as I take a sip of my wine.
“It’s…it’s really good, Jack,” she says, obviously shocked. “Like really good.”
My grin widens now. “Bet that was hard to get out,” I say, nudging her bare foot with mine.
Lu swallows hard, her eyes never leaving mine even as I leave my foot resting against hers on the railing. We’re barely touching, but the heat it’s generating between us feels like a furnace, as though it could combust at any second.
I have to swallow hard as she continues to stare at me.
Eventually she pulls her foot away. “Only you would say something like that,” she mutters, looking away.
I chuckle, taking another sip of wine as I slide lower in my chair and stare out at the night. “It is good to see you though,” I say, my eyes wandering over the rows and rows of grape vines. “Seriously.”
Lulu says nothing and when I turn to look at her, I see she’s also staring out at the night, a strange look on her face.
“How’s life been these past fourteen years?” I ask, genuinely interested.
She shrugs, still not looking at me as she replies, “Busy, hard work. But of course, I wouldn’t trade it…”
“For anything,” I finish off, smiling a little. “I know what you mean.”
“You ever think about getting your own place?” she asks, sipping her wine. “Instead of making wine for everyone else.”
“Yeah,” I admit, reaching over to top up her glass. She shoots me a look that says,what happened to only one drink?And I smirk at her. “There’s no way we are leaving this wine open and unfinished,” I tell her. It’s an eighty-dollar bottle, Lu.”
She raises her eyebrows in surprise and I can’t tell if she’s impressed my wine is worth that much or shocked I’m choosing to share it with her.
“Anyway,” I continue, topping up my own glass. “For sure I’d love to have my own place,” I confess. “But it’s hard breaking into the market in Australia. Plus, it would be a huge capital outlay and probably not something I want to do myself, especially from scratch.”
