Corkscrews and Camembert Ebook (#2)

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CHAPTER ONE
Brianna West sank onto her small couch and put her feet on the coffee table in contentment. Her friend Macy Jones reached forward to rescue a glass of wine from her friend’s errant toes.
“Research looks like the hardest part of your job,” Macy said with a sigh as she leaned back into the couch. “I don’t know. How will we ever decide which wine pairs with which cheese? There’s so much testing involved.”
Brianna chuckled and sliced off a wedge of Camembert from the round cutting board perched between them on the couch cushions. She paired it with a salted cracker and popped it between her lips then brushed her curly brown hair away from her face.
“So hard,” she agreed through her full mouth. “Pity me.”
“I would, except I’m in the trenches with you.” Macy took a sip of her wine. “This Camembert really does go with Merlot.”
“It does, but we’ll have to test it with the wines I want to serve at my wine and cheese night. Choosing Starberry Farm’s Camembert as the main representative of the cheese side of things was easy, and it pairs so nicely with wine, but every wine’s flavor profile is slightly different, and I want to get this right.”
“Such a food snob,” Macy said with a grin. “I guess you’re in the right business. Remember that stellar review of your café in the magazine a tourist brought over from Vancouver? What a boon for a foodie like you.”
“Trust me, I’m happy to pair anything with cheese.” Brianna chewed the last of her cracker and swallowed with a happy sigh. She had purchased her café, the Golden Moon, six months ago and had promptly started selling cheesy baked goods, something that had been a longtime dream of hers. “But if the whole point of this event is to showcase the best of our local industries, I want to do them justice. I’ll source out wines from our local producers starting tomorrow.”
“Do you have a list? There are only three on the island that I know of.” Macy brought her left hand up to tick off the fingers of the hand holding the wine glass. “Whimsical Wines, Orca Vineyards, and Duchess Row. Unless you want to start looking at the surrounding islands.”
“I’ll see where I get with those three. The guests might get overwhelmed with too many choices. I can try out Whimsical Wines when I next see Troy.”
As Brianna had expected, Macy sat up at the mention of Brianna’s new friend. “Troy Winchester? I know it’s still new, but you two are so cute together. Is it going well? Dish.”
Brianna laughed even as her cheeks warmed. “It’s good. We’ve only gone on a few dates, but he seems great. Really interested in me, caring, passionate about his winery.”
“Passionate is a trait we can work with.” Macy grinned at her.
Brianna rolled her eyes. “Let’s not move too fast. It still feels weird dating. Greg only died last year, and we were together for years before that. I haven’t done the dating dance for eons.”
“Like riding a bicycle.” Macy nodded sagely. “Go over there next time to sample wines. With a little mood lighting, some good music, his alcohol…” She wiggled her eyebrows at Brianna, who nudged her with her knee.
“All right, all right, I get the picture. Enough of my love life. What about—”
A knock on the door interrupted Brianna. She rose from the couch, only slightly wobbly from the wine, and walked through her float home’s main room to the front door. A sailor's knot hung in her window, and she smiled at it. She’d worked hard decorating her home when she’d moved in the spring, and now that autumn had arrived, she felt cozy and comfortable in her space. The door beckoned, and Brianna flung it open in welcome.
Alicia Marley, her float home neighbor and the only realtor in town, smiled brightly. Flaming red curls surrounded her face, and she wore a yellow and orange patterned sweater that made her look like a walking advertisement for autumn. If she’d rolled in fallen leaves prior to visiting, her colors wouldn’t have been brighter.
“Brianna, I’m glad I caught you.” She noticed Macy on the couch. “Is this a bad time? I can come back tomorrow.”
Brianna ushered her inside. “Not at all. We were just sampling wines and cheeses. Do you know Macy Jones?”
“Of course,” Alicia said with a wave. “Macy used to babysit my son Joel.”
“He and Oaklyn always played well together,” Macy said. “So cute. Now they’re big grumpy teenagers. Not sure how that happened.”
“Would you like some wine?” Brianna asked Alicia. “We’re taste testing wine and cheese pairings for a special evening event I’m planning at the café. Tomorrow I’ll source out wines from our local wineries, but today these bottles will have to do. Macy suggested checking out Orca, Whimsical, and Duchess.”
“I didn’t say to check them all out,” Macy said. “Just that those were the only wineries on Driftwood Island. Don’t bother meeting with Sebastian Merle at Orca Vineyards. He’s an absolute terror. Rammed into my car in the parking lot last year—my parked car, mind you—and then had the gall to yell at me.”
“And the ruckus he made at the town hall meeting when we were debating the new dock.” Alicia shook her head. “A highly unpleasant man, to be sure. But don’t let that stop you. He’s incredibly particular about his wines, and the product speaks for itself. Delicious stuff. He’s entering his wines in that big wine competition in a couple of weeks, and he has a good chance of winning, in my opinion. You’d be missing out if you didn’t serve it, and as grumpy as Sebastian is, he wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity to showcase his wines.”
“Right. I remember Troy mentioning the competition,” Brianna said. “Troy’s the owner of Whimsical Wines.”
“Troy Winchester?” Alicia asked. “Of course, he would certainly throw his hat in the ring. Whoever wins this competition gets to walk away with prize money, but more than that, a gold rating from the institute running the thing. That boosts sales big time, so I’ve heard.”
“Sebastian’s wines might be tasty," Macy said, "but I wouldn’t want to talk with him. Better you than me.”