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As we dig into our late lunch—or early dinner in her time zone—I contemplate what to say. Ultimately, this is a partnership. She deserves to know what I know.
“I have some, uh…information I’d like to share with you.”
Her brows dip as her eyes lift to mine. “Everything okay?”
I nod. “Yeah, it’s just…it’s a lot, so I want you to brace yourself.”
“It’s a lot for me?”
“It might be.”
She sets her fork down and takes a gulp of water. “Okay. Hit me with it.”
“Your dad sent me Maggie’s will last week. He asked me if I could review it because he didn’t like the idea of reading about his mom’s final plans, but he was fed up with you two and your fight over the vineyard.”
“Well, that fight’s over, so I guess he can rest easy now.” She picks up her fork to keep eating as if that’s the end of my story. She spears some of her chicken with her fork, and then she glances up at me. “Is that it?”
I shake my head. “That’s the beginning.”
“Oh.” She sets her fork back down. “Okay. Go ahead.”
“There were several clauses regarding the vineyard, one being that whichever of her granddaughters is married for a year and free from infidelity will inherit the vineyard.”
“Free from infidelity?” she echoes. “So…Amelia’s out?”
I lift a shoulder. “There’s more.” I draw in a breath. “It also says the vineyard must continue to operate, so even if she does somehow get it because you withdrew your name, she wouldn’t be able to break it up and sell it off.”
She gasps.
“Still more,” I warn, and she sits back in her seat like I just physically struck her. “That clause about the vineyard in Temecula—it’s not exactly what you think. There were a few clauses—yes, it could be whichever granddaughter produces the first grandchild, or it could go to whoever is married for five years first or to just whoever is willing to move to Temecula to manage the vineyard there. And if neither of you want it or meet those conditions, she wills it to the man currently managing it.”
Her brows dip. “The land in Temecula is currently operating as a vineyard?”
I nod. “Newman Winery.”
“Who’s running it?”
“A man named Theodore Monroe.”
She shakes her head. “Never heard of him. Why would Nana keep it a secret?”
“I wanted to know the answer to that, too, so I drove out there this morning.” Was that really just this morning? It feels like weeks ago at this point after everything that’s happened. “Asher came with me. And this is where things really get wild.”
She sits forward as she waits for the bomb.
“Nana’s mother had an affair that produced a younger half-brother,” I say, and she gasps at the pronouncement. “She didn’t find out about him until after both her parents passed, but she wanted him to feel like he was a part of the family. He’s been managing the Temecula winery for the last two decades.”
“Oh my God,” she murmurs. “That’s why fidelity is part of the clause. But it’s also what’s going to keep Amelia out of the running.”
I nod. “We just need to prove she’s sleeping with Pete, and both vineyards are yours. If you still want them.”
She sinks back once again as she contemplates that heavy bombshell. She stares out over the bay, and then she glances at me. I can see her wheels turning as she thinks through everything I just laid on her.
She sucks in a breath, and then she asks maybe the one question I’m not expecting. “What do you see out of our future?”
One side of my mouth lifts in a smile as I shake my head. I feel like I’ve been in a daze since she showed up today, but this single question is all the proof I need that she really means it when she says she’ll walk away from the vineyard.
I just told her she’s on track to inherit two of them, but she’s not clinging to either until she hears what I think.
