Cowboys and Cabernet. Margot Dalton

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      “About following the example of your old friend J.T. McKinney and bringing home some woman my own age to be my stepmother.”

      “Not likely,” Don told her with a wolfish grin. “Bear in mind that you’re almost thirty, my girl. I’d want somebody a lot younger and fresher than that, if I were to get involved again.”

      Ruth chuckled and her face lightened a little. “Isn’t this salmon just the most wonderful thing you’ve ever tasted? By the way, Dad,” she added, reaching for the salt, “why did you suddenly start thinking about visiting the McKinneys?”

      Don cleared his throat again and tried to look casual. “Well,” he began, “actually, J.T. called last night, and we talked for quite a while.”

      “Really? You didn’t tell me.”

      “I didn’t see you. It was after midnight when you got home, and then this morning you were already up and out in the yards before I left for Sacramento.”

      “I just felt so restless,” Ruth confessed. “After last night, all I wanted this morning was to get out there and work with the vines for a while.”

      “Even in the rain?”

      “Even in the rain,” Ruth said. “Besides, if I waited for it to stop raining,” she added bitterly, “I’d be in the house for a month. I’d have to take up knitting or something.”

      “Knitting is a fine womanly art,” Don said cheerfully, toasting her with his wineglass.

      Ruth gave him a lopsided grin, her delicate face animated by a flash of the old sparkle. “Yeah, right,” she said with amiable contempt, sipping her wine.

      Don smiled back at her, encouraged by this welcome change of mood.

      “About J.T.,” his daughter prompted. “What did you two discuss last night?”

      “Well, let me see. Apparently his honeymoon is progressing well, the staff and family are all finally adjusting to his new wife, young Cal is still deeply involved in rodeo, Lynn’s shocked the whole countryside by getting interested in Thoroughbreds rather than quarter horses, and Tyler’s still thinking about opening a winery on the Double C.”

      Ruth choked and took a hasty gulp from her water glass, then stared at her father in stunned amazement.

      “Your mouth is hanging open,” Don told her gently.

      Ruth closed her mouth and continued to gaze at him, her clear brown eyes wide with shock.

      Don smiled and foraged thoughtfully among the scattered remains of fish and rice on his plate, looking for mushrooms.

      “I don’t believe it,” Ruth said finally. “You’re making it up.”

      “Why wouldn’t you believe it? This is not a completely new idea, you know. Texas has been developing a wine-making industry for years.”

      “Chateau Bubba,” she said scornfully.

      “Come on, Ruth. You know perfectly well that Texas Cabernet—”

      “Has been served at state dinners at the White House,” Ruth interrupted wearily. “I know, I know. It just seems so…rotten, somehow.”

      “Rotten?” Don gave his daughter a curious glance. “Why?”

      Ruth shifted restlessly in her chair, gazing out the dark, rain-smeared window. “I don’t know,” she said at last. “I mean, Texas already has everything, right? They have oil, gas, beef, grain, textiles…every primary industry you can think of. Why do they have to horn in on our thing? Wine making is practically all we have out here.”

      “Ruth, the domestic wine market is expanding at a tremendous, unheard-of rate. There’s room for everyone, you know. We’re certainly not going to suffer from the competition.”

      “I know,” Ruth said, her eyes dark with rebellion. “But it still doesn’t seem right to me. People shouldn’t go into the wine industry just to make a whole lot of money. They should do it because they love it.”

      “That’s a pretty idealistic attitude.”

      “Well, how are the McKinneys planning to go about this? Just buy the best equipment, pay all the best people to come work for them and then, every time there’s a problem, throw a whole wad of money at it?”

      “That seems to be the Texas style, all right,” Don said with a grin.

      “Maybe so, but it sure won’t work in this business. You’d better tell your friends that, before they get in too deep.”

      “Why don’t you tell them?”

      “Me?” Ruth asked blankly.

      “That’s what I was thinking. Why don’t you just fly out there for a little visit, see how advanced their plans are and what advice you can give them about the business?”

      “Did J.T. ask for me to come?”

      Don hesitated, recalling his old friend’s troubled voice on the phone. “Not exactly,” he confessed. “Actually, I invited Tyler to come and stay here with us for a few weeks, have a look at our operation.”

      Ruth shook her head. “That’s crazy, Dad. There’s nothing to look at at this time of year but a whole row of casks. And he’d get awful weary,” she added with a fond teasing smile, “of listening to that boring lecture you give the tour groups six times a week.”

      “It is boring, isn’t it?” Don said cheerfully. “But the tourists seem to enjoy it.”

      “Oh, pooh. They just enjoy the wine tasting. They’ll suffer through any dry old lecture to get their hands on those free samples.”

      Ruth was silent a moment, obviously deep in thought. Her father waited for her to speak as he cleaned his plate with care.

      “What’s the climate like in Texas?” she asked finally.

      “Which part? Texas ranges from tropical seacoast and eastern woodlands to grassy plains and western desert. Take your pick.”

      “I mean where the McKinneys live. Near Austin, isn’t it? I can hardly remember anything about the ranch, it’s been so long since I was there.”

      Don nodded. “The Hill Country. It’s a nice area. Close to a region four, I’d say.”

      Ruth looked at her father in surprise. “Really? They have a heat summation that high?”

      “Oh, I’d think so. There’s a lot of hot sunny days in Central Texas.”

      Ruth frowned in concentration. “If they’re region four,” she said slowly, “then with some hybrid plants along with vinifera they could choose between table wines or dessert wines, right? That degree of sugar content gives them a lot of options.”

      Don nodded again. “A good portion of the Texas industry seems to be centered farther west around СКАЧАТЬ