“Earl! Get your butt out here,” Aunt Pearl whispered loudly but into the microphone so everyone heard.
Earl’s eyes widened, but he slowly shuffled onstage. He let out a heavy sigh and sat down in Richard’s empty seat between Carol and Reggie. He stared straight ahead, resigned to his destiny.
The other judges looked confused but didn’t object.
Desiree rushed up to the stage and stared up at Aunt Pearl. “You can’t do that!”
“I sure can. What’s the matter? Are you worried you won’t win without your boyfriend judging? Well, maybe you won’t. We just might end up with a different winner this year.” Aunt Pearl’s taunting made her sound like a schoolyard bully.
Desiree scowled as she pulled out her phone, presumably calling Richard. She placed it back in her pocket a moment later, frowning. “Where is that man?”
At this point nobody other than Desiree cared about Wine of the Year. People just wanted more booze.
Aunt Pearl clapped her hands together. “Okay, everybody, we’re going to start with the ‘Most Improved Wine’ category. Get your glasses ready and follow along.”
“Whoa…wait a sec, Pearl.” Earl said. “I’m having second thoughts about this. I don’t even drink alcohol. How will I know which wine is good and which isn’t?”
Aunt Pearl dismissed him with a wave of her hand. “It’s no big deal, Earl. Just follow the other judges’ lead. You’ll be fine.”
Earl would be judging sober, to start at least. As a nondrinker, he wouldn’t remain that way very long after sampling all the wines.
Carol and Reggie had already taste tested a little too much, judging by their flushed faces and slurred speech. Their drunken voices were so loud that they could be heard without a microphone. They were enjoying themselves a little too much. No doubt they would eagerly volunteer for next year’s contest too.
“This is a blind taste test.” Aunt Pearl held up a brown paper bag. It was clear from her grip that the paper bag held a bottle of wine inside. A large ‘#1’ was marked on the paper bag in black felt pen. She lowered the bottle and with it walked over to the judges’ table.
She poured a generous amount of wine into the empty wineglass in front of each judge.
She said, “Here’s the deal. You score each wine out of a hundred points, but no one ever gets that. Nobody scores lower than fifty either. So…come up with numbers between fifty and ninety-nine, okay?”
“Why don’t we just score zero to fifty points?” Earl asked.
Aunt Pearl shook her head. “Earl, don’t you know anything about fine wines? That’s not how it’s done.”
Earl opened his mouth to speak but was hushed by Aunt Pearl’s wagging finger.
She said, “We follow Wine Spectator rules. Nobody knows why they score that way, but I don’t make the rules, Earl. Just pick a number between fifty and ninety-nine, and let’s get this thing over with so we can get out of here. We’ll average out the three judges’ scores to come up with a final points number.”
Aunt Pearl stepped up to the microphone. “This is sample number one. Drink up, everybody.”
The two drunken judges happily obliged while Earl took a cautious sip. He grimaced, clearly disliking the wine. I smiled to myself. He went to such lengths to keep Aunt Pearl happy.
While the official score for each wine was determined by the three judges, the festival goers also tasted and scored alongside the judges. People won prizes for picking the same results as the judges, such as the winners in each category and winner overall.
The judges’ white tablecloth turned pinker as the tastings progressed. Soon more wine was spilled than drank. Earl conscientiously continued to sip the wine and even seemed to relax a little.
Aunt Pearl filled the three glasses and was now pouring a fourth. She placed the glass in front of herself.
“Hey—you’re not a judge!” Desiree pointed to Aunt Pearl. “You can’t judge Ruby’s wine. She’s your sister.”
Aunt Pearl rolled her eyes. “Of course, I’m not judging. I’m the control, and I’m randomly sampling the wine to make sure the correct wine is being blind taste tested. In case we have cheaters.” She stared pointedly at Desiree, who hovered by the stage. “People have been known to switch bottles, and I will not tolerate any taste test tampering.”
Desiree put her hands on her hips. “Exactly what are you implying, Pearl? That I don’t win fair and square?”
Aunt Pearl snorted. “You said it, not me.”
“You’re not even on the judging committee. You can’t just take over and run things however you want.”
Aunt Pearl’s eyes narrowed as she assessed Desiree. “People who sneak around in one way probably do it in other ways too.”
“You’re not in charge, Pearl,” Desiree shouted. “Richard is.”
“He’s AWOL, Desiree. Somebody had to get this show going.”
“But Richard—”
“Richard’s not here.” Aunt Pearl tapped her watch. “Our liquor license expires in an hour. Do you want the contest to go ahead or not?”
Desiree eyed her suspiciously. “Where is he? I keep calling him, but he’s not answering his phone.”
I had been standing next to Desiree as she shouted at Aunt Pearl, but neither had noticed my presence. It was just as well, because I had a secret too big to keep. My heart thumped in my chest. I feared I might accidentally reveal Richard’s death.
I didn’t have to worry long because Desiree was on her phone, presumably calling Richard again as she walked back to her Verdant Valley Vineyards booth.
I glanced back across the gym moments later and saw that Desiree was now busy talking to several customers. She was another person whose life had changed forever, though she didn’t know it yet. I wondered how Tyler would handle notifying Desiree. She wasn’t Richard’s wife like Valerie was, so she wasn’t considered family and wouldn’t be the first to hear about his death.
I certainly disagreed with extramarital affairs, but it still felt wrong for Desiree to find out about Richard at the same time as the general public.
