The Ashtons - Cole, Abigail & Megan

vineyardsfrom the narrow window was breathtaking. She could easily imagine herself staring out at the countryside somewhere in the south of France.
    When Mercedes returned carrying a silver tray with cheese and samplings from the Louret award-winning reserve cellar, she grinned. “The best part of touring a winery is tasting the fruits of its labor.”
    After her new friend spent several minutes schooling her in the use of her senses to appreciate the clarity, bouquet and body of the wine, Abby shook her head as she reached for a piece of cheese. “I didn’t realize there was such an art to tasting wine or that so much work went into the making of it.”
    Mercedes laughed. “It’s more than just picking a few grapes and squeezing out the juice, that’s for sure.” She swirled the chardonnay in her glass. “Things are fairly quiet around here in winter. The wine is aging and there really isn’t much going on beyond pruning the vines, maintenance on equipment and assessing which vines need to be replaced in the spring. Our busiest time of year is late summer and early fall, when the crush begins.”
    “Crush?” Abby was quickly learning that winemakers had their own language.
    “The crush is what we call the harvest,” Mercedes explained. “It starts when the grapes are picked and goes all the way through the process of making the wine. That’s when Eli and Russ really get a workout.”
    “Russ Gannon?” Abby asked before she could stop herself.
    Nodding, Mercedes gave her a curious glance. “You’ve met him?”
    “Briefly.” Abby shrugged and tried not to sound too interested. “He was in the stable this morning and I thought that’s where he worked.”
    “It’s a safe bet that’s where you’ll find him when he’s not in the vineyards or off competing in a rodeo somewhere,” Mercedes said, nodding. “But his official title is Vineyard Foreman. Russ is an absolute genius when it comes to growing things, and Eli relies on him for almost everything to do with the vines and during the crush.”
    “What’s his event in rodeo?” Abby loved the sport and had even competed as a barrel racer a few times when she was in high school.
    Mercedes looked thoughtful. “Russ doesn’t talk about it, but I think Eli said he rides bulls.” She paused. “But that’s Russ. He doesn’t talk about much of anything he does.”
    Abby grinned. “The mysterious type.”
    “Not really.” Mercedes sighed. “Poor Russ. Life hasn’t exactly been easy for him. His parents were killed in a car accident when he was only fifteen.”
    “Oh, how terrible,” Abby gasped.
    Although their circumstances were somewhat different,she knew what it was like to grow up without parents. Even before she’d abandoned her children, Grace Ashton had never been a mother to them, had never nurtured and cared for them the way a mother was supposed to. And, although her uncle Grant had loved her and her brother, and raised them as his own, it wasn’t the same as having a mother and father.
    “I feel so bad for him,” she said, meaning it.
    Mercedes nodded. “That’s when he came to live with us. Lucas and Mr. Gannon had been best friends since grade school, and when Lucas found out that Russ had no family to turn to, he and Mother took Russ in.”
    “That was very kind of them.” The more she learned about Caroline and Lucas Sheppard, the more she came to realize just how very special they were. “But that must have been devastating for him to lose both parents at the same time, and so tragically.”
    “I’m sure it was,” Mercedes agreed, standing up to place their empty glasses on the tray. “Being older, I didn’t become as close to him as my youngest brother, Mason. He’s only a year younger than Russ and they became best friends.”
    “I don’t think I’ve met Mason,” Abby said, rising to help clear the table.
    “He’s in France studying new wine-making techniques,” Mercedes said, laughing.
    Abby waited for her to carry the serving tray over toone of the uniformed attendants that Mercedes had referred to at the beginning of the tour as “wine educators.” When she returned, they walked out a side door and onto a path that led back to the mansion.
    “Did I miss something?” Abby asked. “I don’t understand what’s so funny about Mason studying in France.”
    Mercedes’s lips turned up slightly at the corners. “You’ve always heard the old saying about someone trying to build a better