Crushing (The Southern California Wine Country Series) Read Free Page B

down at her hands and rubbed them on her thighs to get the clamminess off. “Whew. Do you need any help? I’m all set on the bar until customers arrive.”
    Julie said, “Sure. You could run the kneading machine to mix up the dough for the baguettes.” Amanda followed Julie into the kitchenette. “Here’s the recipe card.”
    Amanda pulled down a bowl and started mixing ingredients. She needed to distract herself from the images of Kyle that jumbled around in her head, “Hey Julie, you said you’re taking college classes? What degree?”
    “Archeology. My parents hate it – they think I won’t make any money, probably true, but I like it.”
    “Dinosaurs?”
    “No. Human artifacts. There’s this dig, if you can call it that. It’s not the typical dig in the sandy Fertile Crescent or the jungles of Brazil.” Julie cropped the stems off lettuce that she sectioned into large salad bowls. “This one is more challenging. They found a thirty-eight gun British Frigate locked in the Antarctica ice.”
    “As in the bottom of the world, Antarctica?”
    “It will be an adventure. I’ll need to get a parka and big mittens. Nothing like I’ve ever seen here in California. And they go in the middle of summer down there. Anyway, the whole project is early. Dr. Cooper, the lead scientist, and his staff spent months already working on grant proposals to salvage it for research. So far the expense of getting scientific teams down there compared with the possible business value has not enticed many. Except for a Chicago pharmaceutical firm that expressed interest, thinking they could get biological organisms that might still be viable after such long-term freezing. Perhaps the study will uncover long extinct viruses, molds, or tiny organisms. They believe they might extract new medicines, antibiotics, or something. But they are only mildly serious so far.”
    “A trip to Antarctica could be cool.”
    Julie laughed, “Wouldn’t it?” Then she sighed. “Such looks on that guy. What’s on your list?”
    “What list?”
    “Who are you looking for? Handsome, wealthy, what?”
    Amanda tapped another scoop of flour into the bowl. “I don’t know. Love. True Love . That’s what I want.”
    “Not money or a rocking body?”
    “Those are perks. We can choose anyone we want right now.”
    “You can. I am plain. My thirties frighten me,” Julie shuddered. “I’ll be old then.”
    Amanda tipped her head, “Thirty is nine years away, that’s like forever. And you are pretty.”
    “Maybe.”
    “About your question, great looks makes me pay attention. But I’ve seen some guys that under normal conditions are toads but with the right haircut, clothes, and cologne they can be quite handsome.”
    “You want a fixer-upper?”
    “Depends. It’s just a lot of guys can be handsome if they’d let themselves be.”
    “So you’re still after looks.” Julie teased.
    “After you notice him then it’s a matter of keeping your attention. That’s the hard, er, difficult part.”
    Julie laughed. “How about a hot guy wearing droopy sweats and unshaven for days –”
    “– Oh, a little unshaven can be sexy.”
    “– a little unshaven is sexy. That guitar player Kyle? Fantastic. I bet he doesn’t even try, it’s just the way he is.”
    “Thanks for the reminder. I was trying to forget.”
    Julie said, “I can’t wait to see them play tonight. Maybe I’ll get someone to cover and I can just be out there to watch the whole night.”
    “I think the staff is thin on help to find subs. Especially since I want to get someone to cover too.” Amanda grinned.
    “Oh, you’re right.” Julie poured crumbled feta cheese and sliced cherry tomatoes into the salad, “When I’ve seen the hottest Hollywood actors play homeless or downtrodden character bits they are pretty. It’s hard to hide good looks.”
    “I don’t know. Some let themselves go. What about money?”
    “A hot Hollywood actor probably has a big pile of