November 25th, 1999 - 3:00 PM
Kai and I were out in the vineyard today. The weather broadcaster had predicted frost so it was important that we accomplish winter preparations as soon as possible. Mother and I worked to prune down the vines while father and Kai worked to bury those that we'd finished trimming down. The air was uncomfortably still and no one dared breathe a word.
The leaves that had shed from the vines still lay on the ground, soon to become part of the protective padding that would shield out family's most precious crop from the freeze to come. Winter was always harsh, last year we'd lost two of our grape vines and it'd taken many weeks of careful nurturing for us to incubate new vines from old roots. These plants were our lively hood, they had meant everything to my grandmother and they meant a lot to me as well.
Tending to the grape vines was cathartic, in spite of all our financial issues, the fighting and the strain one thing unified us: Wine. It's what we worked so hard for, generation after generation, to make the best wine to ever grace this planet. In recent years our product had grown bitter but it didn't stop us from trying.
Piles of dirt covered the vines to my left and our new employee was patting down dirt around the vine at my feet, the last vine to be tended on the vineyard. Honestly, I hadn't liked Kai at first. Sure, he was extremely handsome: Tall, muscular, with a defined jaw line and expressive eyes. But he always struck me as the type who didn't take things seriously, but he'd been out here since late last night with the rest of us working as hard as he could for the one thing that mattered most. I've always believed that men should try their hardest at work! And here he was, sleep deprived and living on as little food as I was.
I snipped off the last few stray brambles from the vine and got down to help Kai cover the vine in a blanket of dirt. He looked-up at me surprised; his eyes were solemn but comforting. I smiled at him. He smiled back and together we finished our work for the day. We were both covered in dirt, from head-to-toe.
"Thank you…" I whispered to him, brushing his dark fuzzy hair away from his ear with a gloved hand, "This vineyard means everything to my family."
I stood-up to brush-off dirt from my favorite warm woolen sweater that I'd foolishly worn to work out in the field.
"Alright everyone, good work for the day!" Hollered my father, who'd gone from stern to boisterous once he'd realized we'd done all we could for vineyard.
"Thank you for all your help. Now we should all get inside and rest before someone catches a cold." He said, taking my mother by the shoulder comfortingly.
I headed straight up to my room and stripped down as fast as I could. The water heater was still not working so my bath was cold; I shivered as I slipped in to the cold water. All I wanted to do was drift off. I immersed my hair under the water and ran my fingers through loosening clumps of dirt, leaves and twigs. I could feel my muscles unwinding from all the hard work.
A knock came to my door and it creaked open.
"Miss Karen, you have a visi-" I screamed and hurled the object closest to me at the door Kai had opened, unknowing of my current state of being.
The bar of soap thumped heavily against the door, "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry Miss Karen! I didn't realize that you were-" He stammered as peeled behind the door, dodging the kamikaze soap.
"It's just that, well… um. You friend from the other day is here to see you." He stammered.
The realization dawn on me, today was Thanksgiving! Stumbled across the room to retrieve my soup. "Uh! Oh! Ummm…. Tell him I'll be down in a minute!" I shouted.
I bathed in a rush, and grabbed the first outfit I could find out of my drawer. I hadn't down laundry in days so I settled for a pair of cut-off denim shorts, a white tank top and a purple sleeveless vest. Summer wear, yes, but at the moment I didn't have the option of being choosy.
I combed my hair and hurried down the stairs as fast as I could all the while trying to pull-up the warmest pair of clean socks I had available. Thankfully they matched and the white tank top I was wearing but I obviously hadn't really dressed to match the season.
Down stairs by the door stoor my awkward childhood friend looking as red faced and dumb founded as ever.
Kai glanced my way as I slip out to meet with Rick. I wondered if he'd actually seen me in the tub… My face burned as I thought about it. What if he'd seen what I looked like naked?! I wondered if he thought I was attractive… I mean he was hot as fuck. With those thick muscular arms, tightly trained caves and supple lips it was hard to really argue that. My face grew even hotter the more I thought about it.
"Ah! Karen! It's so good to see you! I was almost afraid you'd forgotten our plans for today. Ann and Adam are both so excited to see you! The whole family is coming out for Thanksgiving this year." Rick interjected, helping me lose track of my less than appropriate thoughts about our new worker.
I laughed, "How could I forget! I've been excited about this all week; I haven't had a warm Thanksgiving dinner in years!"
My stomach growled just thinking about all the wonderful foods that would be there.
"Are you going to be warm enough dressed like that?" He asked suddenly, "Your face is all flushed, here, have my jacket."
He wrapped his thick fur lined jacket over my shoulders, I felt instantly warmer. "Thanks."
Author's Note: Gawh! I just realized how hard the rest of this day is going to be to write. We've got the old lady Ann, Adam's wife and their granddaughter Ann, Karen's other best friend who share's Ricks hair color. x_x But good news, a long awaited character will be introduced in person next chapter. ^_~