Ella noticed the guys immediately scattered.Ben was obviously the leader of the group.His friends were quietly talking amongst themselves while they picked through some of the shirts and hats the winery offered.
Once Ben and Ella were alone, she forced herself to act as normal as possible for someone whose heart was literally about to jump out and beat on the outside of her body.“Are you guys here for a tasting?Our last group is set to go off in five minutes if you would like to join it.”Ella was pleased with herself.Her voice was calm and gave nothing away.She had no idea the gleam in her eyes had already betrayed her raging interest in Ben.The pull between them was magnetic.
Ben liked that she was feeling it too.“Yes, we need a tasting for five.I am the designated driver, so I am not drinking,” he answered, still smiling like he was auditioning for a toothpaste commercial.
Nodding like a smiling robot, Ella quickly rang up the sale on the computer.“We charge five dollars for you to join your friends.That covers the cheese and chocolate we offer along with water.Is that okay with you?”She was doing her darndest to appear cool and unaffected.Inside, rockets were exploding in her brain.
Handing Ella his credit card, Ben said, “That sounds perfect.Why don’t you join us?Working here I bet you know everything there is to know about the wine.I’d love for you to teach us all you know.”
Did he just say, I’d love, not we’d love?He did, didn’t he?Ella almost crackled at the realization.The euphoria she had felt at realizing Ben wanted to spend time with her was doused by the reality that she could not join him.Once again, her age was going to be her downfall.She had been battling it her whole life.
At three, Ella was reading and adding and subtracting.She begged her mother to let her go to school with her cousin Julia who was in the second grade.Of course, Ella’s mother said no.When Ella was ten, she pleaded with her mother to teach her to drive so she could drive herself to the vineyards and not have to depend on rides.Of course Ella’s mother said no.Even then, Ella had been waiting on customers and running the cash register at The Depot for the breakfast and lunch shifts between doing her schoolwork.Right now, she would sell a kidney to be “of age to drink.”That was a joke because she had been drinking wine since she was a kid.Okay, maybe not drinking, but taking sips, testing the texture and flavor of the grapes and learning the nuances of them and how they grew and fermented into various wines.Sighing, Ella thought it was the same old song, different verse.No matter how old she was, she never seemed to be old enough to do all the things she longed to do.And what she longed to do was join Ben and his friends.But that was not to be.This time it would behersaying no, not her mother.
Shaking her head, Ella replied dejectedly, “Thank you for asking, but I can’t.I am not twenty-one.But the wine is excellent.You will enjoy it.”
Ben gave Ella a puzzled look.“Okay.I know it is not polite to ask a lady her age, but how old are you?Earlier today, you said you were Sophie’s older sister, yet you are not twenty-one.She looked every bit of twenty-two.How old are y’all?”
Ella’s heart sank.Here it was: the end of her Ben fantasy.Once he realized how young she was, he would lose interest.Sighing she said, “I am nineteen.I will be twenty in December.Sophie is seventeen.”
Whistling, Ben chuckled.“Seventeen, huh?I know two dudes who are about to be very disappointed.They are half a step off of asking your sister to start picking out wedding China.”
Ben’s joke brought light back into Ella’s eyes, and laughing she replied, “Well, I can see why you all thought Sophie was older.She got all the height and curves.It is the bane of my existence that I am built just like my tiny Hispanic grandmother.She was five feet tall but scary when crossed.Sophie’s lucky.She took after our mom’s dad, who is over six feet tall.But it does not matter how old she is because she has a long-time boyfriend and is very much off the market.”Oh my word.Ella was rambling.Shut up!Shut up!She silently screamed to herself.He already knows you are just a kid.Don’t make it worse.
Ben did not seem at all bothered by Ella’s long-winded response.In fact, quite the opposite, he seemed rather amused by it.“I will be sure to pass that information along.”Then giving her a look that made her want to squirm, he lowered his voice and asked seductively, “How about you?”
“What about me?”asked Ella, confused.What was he talking about?Her brain was doing that short-circuiting thing again.
“Are you off the market?”Then leaning in until he was almost touching her, Ben whispered, “Are you available?”
Available?Available for what?wondered Ella, looking into Ben’s beautiful twinkling eyes.
Somehow, although Ella was not aware of it, she must have spoken her thoughts aloud because Ben responded by purring, “Available to spend some time together?”
Mortified that she had spoken her thoughts aloud, Ella wanted to crawl under the counter and hide until the guys all left.Because that was not an option, she forced herself to carefully consider how to respond.When she did so, it was in the form of a question of her own.“Do you mean like a date?”
Nodding, Ben murmured in her ear, “Yea, sure.Like a date.”
Thank goodness, at that moment, the wine-tasting guide appeared and asked that all guests for the last wine tasting follow him because Ella was two seconds from grabbing Ben and claiming her first kiss ever.The warm feathery feel of his breath on her ear had almost been her undoing.Swallowing hard, Ella stared at Ben in shock.She had no idea how she was supposed to respond or react to any of this.
Pulling back at the guide’s announcement, Ben gave Ella a final smile.Disappointed that she would not be joining them, he tried to think of a way to prolong his time with her.“Will you be here when we are done?”
Ella shook her head.“No, I will be leaving as soon as you guys go back.I have to help cover the evening shift at the diner.”
Ben gave her a quizzical look.“More work?You must be exhausted.What time will you get off?”
“Well, actually, I have to close tonight.Sophie has plans, so I promised I would close for her.It is no big deal.I am used to it.”
Shaking his head in disbelief, Ben replied, “Wow.I am starting to think you are a workaholic.”This beautiful tiny creature continued to impress and amaze him.She was too young to drink but not to work three shifts in one day.Something about that did not seem right.Not knowing what else to say and seeing that everyone else in his tasting group had already left, Ben shrugged and asked, “Would it be okay if I come by the diner later tonight?”
Nodding, Ella smiled shyly.“Sure, I would love that.We are open until eight.”
Giving Ella a mock military salute, Ben pushed away from the counter.“Great!It’s a date.See you later.”Giving her a wink, he disappeared through the door to the tasting room.
Later that Evening
Napa, California
The tasting at the Henley had been fantastic.The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Ella could have joined them.Ben could not get over the fact she was only nineteen.She carried herself with the grace of a woman much older.As much as he hated to admit even to himself, she had dominated far too many of his thoughts all day.It was as unnerving as it was exciting.
