Page 208 of Taken Away

"He was a good friend. Nothing more."

Vanessa held Aubrey's gaze.

"I thought you should hear that from me instead of from Sylva."

Silence settled between them.

"He's one of the good ones," Vanessa said. "Don't let this meeting make you forget that."

She offered a small, professional smile.

"Good luck, Ms. Langford."

Then she walked out, closing the door behind her.

Thursday Afternoon

The Hallway

Walter Grady was nearly halfway to the back offices before he realized someone was behind him.

The light scent of expensive floral perfume hit him a split second before a soft hand settled against the crook of his elbow.

"Walter," a voice purred, smooth and warm as low-country honey. "Slow down, sugar. You’re walking like the building’s on fire."

Walter froze. He adjusted his glasses, his fingers clumsy against the frames, before he turned around.

Anne Langford stood beneath the low hallway lights, looking like she’d stepped directly off a country club veranda. Her cream linen dress was immaculate, her blonde hair caught the glare of the skylight, and she looked up at him with a gaze so intensely focused that it made his breath catch.

Thirty years vanished in the space of a heartbeat.

"Anne," Walter managed, his throat tight. He cleared it. "I was just... heading back to the ledgers."

"Oh, forget the ledgers for five minutes." Anne stepped closer, well into his personal space. She reached and gently brushed a speck of lint off the lapel of his sport coat. Her touch was familiar, lingering. "You always were working, Walter. Every time I think of you from the old days, you had a pencil tucked behind your ear and that serious little frown on your face."

Walter’s heart thudded against his ribs. "Somebody had to keep Mabel’s books straight."

"Mabel never appreciated you," Anne said softly, her blue eyes narrowing with a look of pure, undivided sympathy. She let her hand drop to his forearm, squeezing lightly. "None of them did. Harold, Mabel... they took all the credit, but I always knew who the real brains of this operation was. You were the smartest man in this valley, Walter. Still are."

A flush crept up Walter's neck. He knew her history. But standing this close to her, feeling the absolute weight of her attention, none of it mattered. It never had.

"We do our best," Walter murmured, looking down at her hand on his arm.

"Well, your best looks exhausting," Anne sighed, her expression shifting seamlessly from admiration to deep, maternal worry. She let out a soft, theatrical breath and looked toward the closed conference room door. "I saw Aubrey walk out of there looking like she’d seen a ghost. Walter... please be honest with me. Nobody tells me anything around here. I’m her mother, and I am absolutely sick with worry. What happened in that meeting?"

Walter hesitated. The board meetings were strictly confidential, especially with an outside entity like Mercer Distribution involved. "Anne, I shouldn't⁠—"

"Walter." She leaned in a fraction closer, her voice dropping to an intimate whisper that excluded the rest of the world. "It’s me. I’m not asking for the winery. I'm asking for my girl. Is she getting in over her head?"

The final defense crumbled. Walter swallowed hard. "She... she overrode us, Anne. All of us. Vanessa Mercer brought in a massive expansion proposal. Contract fruit from outside growers. Lowering our quality standards to pump up the volume and expand the distribution footprint."

Anne’s hand went entirely still on his arm. The warmth in her eyes flashed into something sharp, then disappeared. "An expansion? With outside growers?"

"Yes," Walter said, "Lockwood hated it. I told her it would ruin our reputation. Even Bennett wouldn't champion it. But Aubrey... she wouldn't listen. She stood right up and greenlit the whole thing. She's talking about a twenty-year roadmap."

"Twenty years," Anne repeated. The words were quiet, but they carried a hard, brittle edge.

"She's acting like she's never going back to Philadelphia," Walter muttered, shaking his head. "She's laying down roots."