CHAPTER 6
The following morning, the front gates opened to admit a single vehicle: a sleek black luxury sedan bearing the crest of Montgomery Holdings.
Richard Montgomery stepped out alone, wearing an expensive grey business suit, his expression cold, calculated, and devoid of yesterday's visible panic.
I met him on the broad front porch of the farmhouse, sitting on a wooden rocking chair while holding a ledger from the 1994 harvest.
"Mrs. Collins," Richard began, standing at the base of the stone steps without being invited up. "I believe we got off on the wrong foot yesterday."
"Did we?" I asked, not looking up from my ledger. "I thought your son made his position perfectly clear on my back patio last week."
Richard took a deep breath, smoothing his silk tie with practiced corporate charm.
"Greg is young and headstrong," Richard offered smoothly. "He makes careless jokes, but he is a talented young man with ambitious plans for this valley."
"He called my life's work an unrefined farm, Mr. Montgomery," I replied, finally closing the ledger and looking him dead in the eye. "And he convinced my daughter that her own mother was too embarrassing to sit in the front row of her wedding."
"We are prepared to offer you a generous financial arrangement," Richard said, pulling a folded document from his briefcase. "A complete buyout of the Willow Creek estate, plus a permanent consulting fee for you to remain involved in the vineyard's public image."
I let out a soft laugh that caught him completely off guard.
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"You think this is about money, Richard?" I asked quietly. "You think you can purchase the dignity I spent sixty-five years building with your corporate contracts?"
"Every asset has a price, Andrea," he sneered, dropping the smooth charm as his real character leaked through. "If you fight us, we will drag your daughter through a brutal public legal battle that will ruin her reputation across Northern California."
