Saving Grapes - Madeline Kirby Page 0,6
label. It’s decent money, and part of the deal is that they provide help with the harvest, but making wine, putting something out there with our name, our label, on it – that was always the plan.”
“Okay. So what needs to happen next? What do I need to do?” Ben asked as he started on his eggs.
“Well, today we start trimming. I’ll show you how, but it should be easy for you. Once you know what needs to be done, I’ll turn you loose and then I need to put in some time in the office and online, reviewing the plans and schematics, checking out updates to the regulations, ’cause I haven’t looked at those in a long time, and lining up some contractors to get some bids. And that’s just for starters. I’m going to have to update the business plan and figure out how much I’ll need to borrow. Ugh, and insurance. There’s so much to do.”
“Maybe I could help with some of that, too? In the evening, I mean. Or some of the office stuff, anyway. I took some small business and accounting classes.” Ben crossed his fingers under the table – he really wanted Thom to start thinking of him as more than just a field hand. He had skills, and smarts, and wanted to put those to use too.
Thom looked at him for a minute, then nodded. “Good idea. Let me go over everything today, get it in order. After dinner I’ll walk you through the plan – it would be good to get fresh eyes on it.”
Ben smiled and tucked into his eggs. Thom watched him for a few more seconds, soaking up that smile. It was the dimple that got to him every time. He would be so much more comfortable if he could keep some distance between them – Ben in the field, himself in the office – but his common sense won out. He really did need help in the office, and fresh input on the expansion plans. Involving Ben made the most sense, business-wise. He just needed to keep it all business.
“Okay,” Thom rolled out a sheaf of plans and surveys on the kitchen table after dinner that night. “Here’s what we’ve got now. House,” he pointed to a square near the center of the survey, “tool shed,” another square, near the house, “and the vineyard itself goes out here, and here.” He swept his hand out to cover the areas where Ben had been working the past week.
“Right,” Ben nodded. “What about up here, above the house?”
“We’ve got about 30 acres there. We were getting ready to start planting when Granddad got to where he couldn’t work anymore. Then we lost time when we were trying to figure out what to do for him. After that it was just me for a while and something had to give.”
“So getting that planted will be next?”
“Nope, not yet.” Thom grinned. “This is where it gets exciting.” He put the survey aside to reveal a plan of the property, showing the house, vineyard areas, and an additional structure on the highway, near the property drive. “The winery and tasting room.”
“Excited much?” Ben asked with a chuckle.
“Hah! Yeah. Here’s the detailed layout.” The next schematic was a floorplan of the proposed winery, with areas for crushing, pressing, fermentation tanks, bottling, storage, and so on. Thom traced the outline with his index finger, “Granddad and I went to Europe after the harvest one year. We toured Spain, France, and Germany, visiting wineries, figuring out what we wanted to do. The next year we did the same thing in California, then drove to New York and back, stopping at wineries all along the way. We even visited some distilleries and breweries to get ideas for the tasting room and branding.”
“Sounds great,” Ben said, looking up to see a wistful expression on Thom’s face.
“Yeah,” Thom said. “We had a blast. Even if we weren’t able to put it all into practice before he left, it was worth it.”
Thom was still smiling, gazing into the middle distance, and Ben stayed quiet, letting the other man enjoy his memories for a moment. Thom looked more open and relaxed, and Ben was enjoying that, too. “So,” he finally started, “what’s your timeline for all this?”
“I’m hoping to break ground by the end of July.”
“That soon? I thought there was a lot more to be done first. Like permits and so on?”
“There is, but Granddad and I had