AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We did have a bad batch of grapes. Like, a lot of grapes. They’re our proprietary cabernets, but a while back, Dad told me we couldn’t sell them under our normal label because they won’t pass organic certification. He wasn’t making sense, talking about trademarks. But they’re our proprietary grape variety, our biggest seller.”
“What if they’re not?” I ask. Four pairs of eyes lock on me.
“Meaning?” Archer asks, head cocked. Curious, hesitant.
“What if someone convinced Dad they own the trademark rights to the grape variety we’re producing? What if we’re being sued for it, and Dad has been quietly paying people off? Explains the losses.”
“Anyone try getting our lawyers on the phone?” Dash says.
“I did that weeks ago. They don’t know about it. This was just between Dad and whoever he was paying into an offshore account.”
“But we’re good, right? Our organic practices are still in place. Our grapes are good? We do have a proprietary cabernet that we own, right?” PJ asks.
I know what she’s asking—how much of what our father built is real?
Archer looks down and swallows. “As far as I know, but… Wind could carry seeds from another farm. It’s the risk we run when we grow organic, and other farmers are doing it differently. It always happens to some degree. This year, apparently, it hit a big part of our crop.”
I exhale an aggravated breath. “Were you planning on saying anything?”
“Wereyou?” he asks pointedly.
“Stop it, you two,” PJ says. “This isn’t about pointing fingers. The reason we’re here now is to get consensus. If Dad’s condition doesn’t improve, we need to communicate. I know we’re all in charge of separate domains, but they’re related. We need to work together.”
“She’s right,” Dashiell says. “I’ll share everything I know on the peopling end. There’s no way to know what’s relevant unless we talk.”
There aren’t enough pastries to go around, and my stomach feels like it might reject the one I’ve already eaten. I don’t like sharing information. I don’t like talking. There’s a reason I sit up here alone doing my job.
But…this organic grape thing is interesting. Maybe it could explain a few things our dad can’t. So I grudgingly sign on to the sibling plan to talk more often. Even if it gives me an ulcer.
“Okay, okay, as long as you’re all singing kumbaya in my office, I might as well get your permission on something.” I outline the plan to borrow money based on all of our assets to cover the company losses until we can right the ship and pay back the loan.
I expect questions. I expect pushback.
Instead, my four siblings agree, “For the good of the company.”
Each of them says yes.
ChapterThirty-Two
Ruby
“Fi!” Jackson shouts as soon as he walks in the door.
We’re up in her room working on a Lego Harry Potter castle, and the pieces fly as she gets up and races toward his voice.
I follow as Fiona goes bounding down the stairs so fast I’m worried she’ll trip, and she does, flying off the bottom step and into Jackson’s waiting arms. He swings her in a circle, and she giggles.
“Put me down, Daddy.”
“No way. You’re the one who came crashing into me. That earns me one more circle.” He swings her around again, and I feel the corners of my mouth pull into an undeniable grin. Impossible not to fall for him. Impossible not to look at him and see a future, even if we can’t define what it is.
Fiona races into the kitchen, Harry Potter Lego all but forgotten because earlier this afternoon, we baked cookies. “Daddy, I made cookies in the shape of a heart for you.”
“I’m going to eat them all before dinner. Okay, Fi?”
“Nooo. Not before. After dinner,” she instructs. He pouts and she decides he can have one now. Same ritual every time.
The door to the yard flies open, and Fiona is out like a flash. Jackson slips his hand into mine, and we’re about to chase after her when my phone rings. My sister’s face fills the screen, making me frown. Normally, she texts unless it’s urgent. I don’t like the idea of urgent.
