Miles woke up at first light. He always did, no matter how late he stayed up. He looked over at Ana, still asleep. He decided that getting up might wake her - and she looked so relaxed. He leaned back and tried to map out this week's picking schedule. He kept looking back at Ana. Seeing her laying there, her wavy reddish hair glinting in the morning sun, he wanted to make love to her again. Ana made a small sound, and Miles watched to see if she'd wake up. She opened her eyes. Seeing Miles awake, she asked, "What time is it?"
"Just about seven," he replied.
"Early," she said, with a yawn. "Too early."
"It's a curse with me. I just can't sleep in."
"I thought Sunday was your day off. Your day of rest." Ana closed her eyes and rolled her head back on the pillow. Miles imagined wrapping his body around hers. He wondered what it would be like to kiss Ana in the morning. 'She'll think I'm a sex maniac if I start all over again,' he decided.
"Go ahead and sleep, sweet. I'll wake you up later," Miles said. He got out of bed and shivered. It was a cool morning. He hadn't used the furnace that fall, instead building the occasional fire in the evenings. In fact, he often slept on the couch or the rug by the fire. 'Bachelor ways,' he thought. 'Going to have to change.' He imagined for a minute being married to Ana, introducing her as his wife. And this is my wife, Ana, he said in his mind. To his surprise it didn't seem awkward, or impossible either. Something about being with her made him believe that anything was possible. Just a week ago, he literally chased her away rather than tell her the truth, and now, after she heard the whole story she was still here, making love and staying the night with him. He regretted now the loss of even a week with Ana. 'Be grateful for what you have,' he told himself. 'And don't screw it up!'
Miles looked around the bedroom and found his bathrobe, tucked in the bottom of one of the metal cabinets he used for closets. He put it on. He almost tripped over something. It was Ana's overnight bag and it was open. He didn't want to seem nosy, but his curiosity got the better of him. He began looking through the bag. Close to the top, he saw the light green silk robe she'd worn Friday. He took it out and held it up to his face, smelling it. Sure enough, there was a faint odor, lightly sweet, and by now, recognizable as the smell of Ana. He took the robe and carefully laid it across the bed, where she'd be sure to see it. He would have preferred that she walk around nude, but it was a little too chilly for that. Maybe he could warm things up.
Miles went down the steps. Deciding against the furnace - it was loud and would spend an hour warming up - Miles instead worked to rebuild the fire - there were still a couple of hot coals at the bottom. The weather forecast another warm afternoon, so Miles just needed to counteract the morning's chill. He went outside to get wood - the pile next to the door. He shivered as he went outside. It was cool this morning. Not yet frosting, but it would be soon. Miles thought about the grapes. This will be the last week, he thought. I need to go check them in a little bit. Miles remembered that his main goal today was to spend some time with Jack Formby. He smiled at the thought of Jack meeting Ana. Jack would be impressed. He knelt and picked up the newspaper. The weekday papers were delivered to the winery entrance, but with a few tries and some extra tips for the carrier, Miles managed to get the Sunday edition dropped off on his doorstep.
Miles rebuilt the fire, than started looking through the paper. His thoughts kept returning to Jack Formby. More than anyone, even Miles' mother, Jack pressed Miles to deal with his past. Jack insisted that the only way for Miles to escape his demons was to confront them. Jack continually nagged Miles to find Em, and confront her in person. Jack thought that was the only way that Miles would feel closure and be able to move forward. Miles thought about that now. 'I am moving forward now,' he thought. 'Finally.' But, he still held onto some anger, and guilt. He remembered how he began to experience those things Friday night, when he told Ana the story. Maybe he did need to face Em so he could face his feelings. There was also going to be the difficulty of obtaining a divorce. Miles had no idea how to do it, but he knew that he must. He regretted not taking care of it years ago, but there was nothing he could do about that now. Except keep moving forward.
Ana found getting back to sleep difficult. She kept her eyes closed while Miles wandered around. After he went down the steps, she looked to see what he had laid on the bed. Her bathrobe. 'How considerate,' she thought. But her mind was whirling with the things he said last night. The thought of Miles spending the night was comfortable enough, or even the idea that she spent some time here with him. She had thought that their sex was great. Then she thought again. Even though they'd had intercourse a few times, Miles had not spent a total of ten minutes inside her, making love to her. Every time, Miles stopped foreplay and he didn't deliver during intercourse. Ana remembered how Greg Romano would, sometimes, make love to her for an hour. So much for copulation with Miles...and Miles had even stopped her from using her mouth in the shower. No man had ever stopped her from doing that before. But, the other things he suggested - marriage, a life together, going forward starting his own winery - each of those thoughts concerned Ana. Was she ready for marriage? After all, she knew how to be married to Greg - and she finally decided that she didn't want that anymore. What would it be like, being married to Miles? For one thing, he was constantly pursued by women. 'I guess Greg is, too,' she reasoned. She barely noticed when women came on to Greg, after all, she had lived through a years of his affairs when they were married - but with Miles, she had to admit, she got a little jealous. Even in a situation involving Miles' work, like the time spent with Cassy. There was also that temper she'd seen a couple of times. What if Miles was prone to fits of anger? And, what about a new business venture? Creek Valley was obviously a success, could Miles repeat the success somewhere else? How long would it take? This business required far more than a forty-hour work week commitment. What kind of stress would that add to a relationship? There was still the subject of Ana's own ambitions. Was she supposed to just throw them aside in order to help Miles with his dream? What if she wanted to go back to work? Did Miles think that she would throw away her career to drive tractors and split logs? And dig holes, she thought. A lot of planting would be required. While the work might be fun for a while, Ana had trouble visualizing herself as some sort of rustic farm worker. She liked drinking wine, being around the winery, even picking the grapes, but would it ever become a passion for her like it was for Miles? Those thoughts kept her from going back to sleep. She could hear Miles moving around, going out the door, working with the fire, then over to the kitchen, starting a coffee maker. She looked down at the clock on the floor. Seven-forty-five. Might as well get up, she thought. I'm not getting any rest. She felt a little apprehensive. What if he started talking about all of that again, marriage, future, and the like? I can tell him that I'm not ready to make any serious plans at this time of my life; after all we've only been intimate for a few days. But, she thought, what if he thinks I mean I'm not serious about him? I don't really want to date other people, at least not now. And, I certainly don't want him to date other people. She was confused. Maybe I'm just scared of the idea of change, she thought. Things had been the same for so long, the job loss had been really traumatic. Maybe that made her afraid of any other changes. She thought again, and decided instead not to say anything about any of this, whether Miles brought it up or not. She needed to spend some more time determining what she really wanted before she and Miles could make real plans. For now, there was today. She knew she had to go home tonight and wondered if he would come with her. We'll see soon enough, she thought to herself. Just try to relax and enjoy being with him.
Ana got out of bed and put the robe on. It was a little chilly, but as she went down the stairs, she could feel the heat of the fire. Miles was sitting on the couch, looking at a newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee. Seeing her, he put the paper down and got up. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry, I wanted you to get some more sleep. Can I make you a cup of coffee?"
Ana assured him that he hadn't woken her and that she could get her own coffee. "Thanks, anyway. Where are your cups?"
"Cabinet on the left. Milk or crème in the fridge. I don't use sugar, but I have some in you like."
"No, I take milk only."
Ana found the assortment of cups and mugs. She chose a medium sized cup. She poured the coffee, adding some milk. She took a drink.
"This is good. What kind of coffee do you use?"
"I change around, but right now its Kona. I like to buy whole bean and grind up a little at a time. But, Jimmy ground extra on Friday, and I wasn't here yesterday. It's been in the freezer, so it doesn't taste bad."
"No, its great. " She walked back toward Miles. "You know, sometimes, I get so lazy living alone that I make instant."
Miles confessed. "Me, too. Once in a while. In fact, I have to constantly remind myself about things like that. I mean, I'll go for days and not eat any good food - cans of soup, frozen food, convenience stuff. Because its hard to get motivated to cook for one. One of the reasons that I made an effort to go out on dates was that I usually ate better at restaurants than I did here by myself." He looked up at Ana. "What about you? I mean do you eat at home alone?"
Ana sat in one of the chairs opposite Miles. "Yes. I like to eat in. And, I like to cook. And, no, I don't do frozen pizzas. I know what you mean about cooking for one. So, I make what I wan and eat leftovers for a few days. I don't mind that, if its good food." She had a sudden thought. "I'll cook for you, if you like. Even tonight!"
He smiled. "Yes, I would like." He added, "its not that I'm not capable. I don't want you to think that I'm the typical lazy single guy. In fact, I'd be happy to help. Maybe we can cook together."
"That sounds like fun. Where do you shop around here?"
"There's a small grocery in Creekboro. But, I thought we'd go visit Jack - if that's ok with you - " she nodded, remembering that was Miles' plan - "and he lives about 30 miles east of here, in Mount Union. And they have a nice big store there - it's an independent, not a chain - and they have lots of produce, fresh herbs, nice meats. In fact, we buy our cook out meats from the same wholesaler they use. The store also has a nice wine department, and they do stock some of ours. What food do you want to make?"
