Page 74 of The Very Virile Viking

Sex, sex, sex! "Yea, 'tis one of the best things about us Vikings… but you won't find it on any of these documentaries."

"The best-kept secret?" She giggled.

He loved it when a grown woman like Angela giggled. It made her appear girlish and not so lofty. Plus, it must mean sex . "Only our special women know about it," he proclaimed.

"And I am special?"

"Oh, lady, you are more than special… to me." And we are, for a certainty, going to have sex now .

As it turned out, they never got a chance to take their combined shower, or to eat the steak dinner, or to engage in sex. The tell-a-phone rang just then, and it was bad news from Grandma Rose. There was a huge fire at the Blue Dragon in one of the grape fields, and it had been deliberately set.

Chapter Twelve

When life kicks you in the grape cluster…

It was the middle of the night by the time they got back to the Blue Dragon, and Angela was frantic with worry.

The fire trucks were just leaving when they arrived, and Grandma was waiting for them on the porch as they drove up. All the lights were on in the house, and spotlights illuminated the fields in the back.

"Is anyone hurt?" Magnus asked.

"No, thank God!" Grandma said. "Except for Jow. The dirty rotten scoundrel kicked the dog in the ribs pretty bad. Jow must have followed him into the field."

"Oooh! I could kill the guy, whoever he is, for that alone. Anyone who hurts an animal is lower than low." Angela grabbed her grandmother and hugged her hard. She knew how much she and the whole household loved that damn dog.

"Where is Jow now?"

"Miguel tied his ribs up real tight with Ace bandages and took him home with him for the night."

"Boy, I am going to give Jow the biggest, juiciest marrow bone when I see him tomorrow."

"One tenth of the crop is lost," Grandma told her right off as soon as she finished hugging her. "Not as bad as it could have been, but devastating just the same." As an indication of her concern, Grandma was back to smoking furiously. But then, the children were probably off in bed by now.

"Don't you be worrying about how devastating anything is," Angela told her grandmother. "We'll survive this, just like we have everything else."

She noticed that Magnus was studying them both closely, his forehead furrowed with puzzlement. As the three of them began to walk toward the ravaged field, he asked, "Why is the loss so devastating to you?

And what do you mean about 'everything else' you've had to survive?"

"Well, it's not the first time we've had suspicious arson or vandalism here at the Blue Dragon. We suspect it's either someone who wants to buy the place at a bargain price, or a competitor who wants to lower the price of our products." Angela shrugged. "We've never had any proof. And it hasn't happened for several years now."

"But each one of these events puts us further in the hole, financially, and we've never been able to crawl out," Grandma explained. "That's why Angela's job in the city is so important. Her pay helps to keep this place going."

"Now, Grandma. I only do a small part. You work hard here, too, in your own way. Your contribution is immense."

Grandma blew out a huge cloud of smoke and nodded. No false modesty with her.

"I hope this won't interfere with Darrell and the film crew coming here," Angela mused aloud.

"It shouldn't matter. We can always let them use the south fields, far away from the devastation,"

Grandma said.

"Why… ?" Magnus started to say, then shifted gears. "It has always puzzled me why you would invite Dare-All and his crew to come here, when you so clearly are not fond of him."

"Money, honey." Grandma patted Magnus on the shoulder as if she spoke to a small child, which Magnus was not. She had to reach up to pat him. "It all boils down to money. Darrell is going to pay us up to seven hundred thousand dollars just to use the Blue Dragon vineyards as a backdrop for one of his movies."

"And if I decline to participate in one of his move-hes?" he asked Angela. "Will that jeopardize his agreement to film here?"