Ch1 Milford Wine Tasting Party

The Farmington Vineyards of west Kentucky are beautiful and lined with row after row of lush grape vines.  As Willa drove past them she thought back to her childhood days spent with her best friend Kaysea Milford running down the grape laden rows.  Today Kaysea's family was throwing a wine tasting party to celebrate the launch of their newest red wine.  It was sure to make a grand mark amongst the nation’s red wines.  After college Willa and Kaysea both went back home to join their family's prospective businesses.  Neither of them were lacking for anything as both families were very well off.

Willa's family owned a large dairy farm just to the east of where the Milford's land was situated.  The Stockholm Farm spanned thousands of acres and many grocery stores in the state as well as others in the country were being supplied with filtered milk from their dairy.  Two generations of the Stockholm family had been working the dairy farm and making the business a billion dollar entity.

The day Willa went to the Milford's wine tasting party she encountered Grey Langly.  The real estate tycoon from Frankfort who was an architect by trade.     She accidentally bumped into him while carrying a glass of red wine in her hand and spilled the contents down the front of her dress.  "Oh my!"

"Pardon me miss" exclaimed Grey!  "Let me get you something to wipe up that mess."

When Willa locked eyes with Grey she instantly fell silent and couldn't speak.  His dark eyes and handsome face rendered her speechless.  She couldn't move and her heart raced.

"Are you ok?" Grey asked.

Kaysea immediately walked over to rescue Willa from the embarrassing situation.  “Grey, let me introduce you to my best friend Willa Stockholm.”  Willa put out her hand to greet Grey as she turned her head slightly away.  She felt shy and awkward standing in front of him looking like a mess.  His grasp was strong and his hands were firm.  He smiled and his teeth gleamed.  He had dimples when he smiled.  Any woman who looked at him would surely melt under his flashy smile.  He was tall and powerful looking.  His voice sounded strong too.  “Hi, pleased to meet you Willa.”

Willa felt her cheeks turn red and she replied “Nice to meet you as well Grey.  Did I spill any wine on you?  Sorry about bumping into you like that.  I need to watch where I am going.”

“No worries.  As long as you are ok.  Maybe Kaysea has something for you to change into?  You two look to be of similar size.”

Willa was stunned that he took in that they were close in size.  She retorted, “It’s ok.  I just live across the valley over there and I can go home if needed.  I don’t need anyone making a fuss over me.  Not on a big day like today.  Right, Kaysea?  Kaysea, if it’s ok with you I will just go in and see if you have something that I can wear.  Otherwise I will head home.”

“Grey, why don’t you help Willa into the house and make sure that she doesn’t have any more mishaps on her way to finding a change of clothes?”

“Sure” he drawled.

He turned and led Willa towards the house by her elbow.  He kept step with her steps but didn’t speak a word.  He stood a few feet taller than her so looking at him would have been obvious.  When they arrived at Kayseas bedroom she turned the knob and entered.  He said “I’ll leave you to it then.”

Willa hurriedly went to the closet and searched for something suitable to wear.  She didn’t know if Grey would be waiting in the hall for her or not so she thought she better not keep him waiting.  Just then her phone buzzed and she saw a notification from Kaysea.  After checking herself in the mirror and being satisfied with her look she opened Kaysea’s message.  “Grey is so handsome isn’t he?  Did you see how he was fawning over you?  Sorry about sending him into the house with you.  I just thought you two might want the chance to get to know each other better.”

“Yes, he is indeed quite the specimen.  I didn’t really notice him looking at me.  I was too busy being embarrassed.  He didn’t speak to me on the way to the house.  Is he shy?  I’m done dressing so I guess I will head out now.”

Just as soon as Willa opened the door there stood Grey in the hallway.  He was looking at his phone.  He put it in his back pocket and looked at Willa up and down.  “Nice dress,” he said.  “How about I take you back to the party?”

“Sounds great!  I promise not to spill any more wine on myself.”

“Ha, ha, I hope not.” 

As they were walking out of the house Grey stated, “I didn’t know that Kaysea had a close friend living just next door.  Our family’s have been friends for quite some time now.  Strange how I haven’t met you before now.”

“Well you see I went to university out of country.  I have not been around for the past four years and I recently got back to help with the family business.  I have been studying animal science.”

“Oh, I see.  Then welcome home.  Are you planning on staying here for the long haul or are you headed off to greener pastures?”

Willa thought he was bold in asking such strainght forward questions when they had just met.  She went ahead and gave him an answer though after a short pause.  “I’m here to stay.  My parents want me to take over the family business.  We own a dairy farm.”

“That’s impressive.”  Just then his phone rang and he had a concerned look on his face.  “Sorry I need to take this call.  It was nice chatting with you.”

Willa nodded and walked away to look for Kaysea.  She spotted her amidst a group of local wine owners who had their glasses raised as if making a toast.  Kaysea was smiling and looked stunning as ever with her golden hair and fair skin.  The pale blue dress she had on made her eyes sparkle.  When the toast was over Kaysea looked at Willa and motioned her over and the two walked away from the crowd.

“You look great in that dress!  I forgot I bought that when I went to Memphis in the spring.  Where did that rascal Grey run off to?”

“He had to take a phone call.  It seemed like it might be something serious so he took his leave from me.  I’m not sure if he left or not”  Willa explained.

“Well now that you are home there will be plenty of more chances for the two of you to meet again”  Kaysea winked.  Willa didn’t know if she should be flattered or scared at the way Kaysea seemed to want to get them together.  Willa was home and she only had one thing on her mind and it certainly wasn’t to try and land a man.