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I assisted Amanda to connect her laptop to the projector and she clicked on a contact to dial for a video link. The name Michelle Atkins appeared on the screen.
“Wait a second,” James murmured. “No way.”
The pixels cleared to reveal a woman in her early fifties with short, blonde hair and black rimmed glasses.
“Well, look at you lot. James, good god! Could you be any more good-looking from last time I saw you? Robert, how is your gorgeous wife and the kids?” Michelle twirled a pen between her fingers and grinned at us. “And Stuart, resident Beast and still handsome as ever. How are you? Good to see you all. But most of all, how is Gran?”
Amanda looked between her boss on screen and me, bewildered.
James grinned as Robert laughed.
“Fuck, Michelle!” He turned to me, waving at the screen. “Beast, why didn’t ye tell us Michelle was on this too?
James interrupted me before I could answer. “Granny is good, Shelley. How long is it now since ye lot have visited?”
Michelle snorted. “Last Christmas, as you well know.”
“Amanda, apologies. I married one of their cousins, Marcus. I was powerless to his charms.” Michelle sighed wistfully. “Kept my family name though. Didn’t get a chance to tell you of the marriage connection before you had to leave for the train.”
Amanda’s mouth fell open. “You’re family?”
“Only by law,” Michelle smirked.
“How is Marcus going? Heard he had a new job with a whisky exporter,” Robert added. “And the kids are bonnie, as is Carrie.”
“You and Carrie make cute babies, Rob. Loved her last album of family photos on Facebook. And Marcus is loving it. He’s now looking after the accounts for exporting whisky and beer to the colonies, actually. Australia and New Zealand.”
I cleared my throat. “This isn’t a social call!”
Michelle leaned into the screen. “Right you are, Stuart. Now, I was contacted about the issues you were having with your accounts, I recommended two other firms, as well as my own. In terms of managing conflict of interest, Andrew Reedman was always going to be the lead partner on the project – until his appendix had different ideas. So now you’re stuck with me in the background but Amanda is your go-to for this audit. And make no mistake: this audit is a serious matter. You have one of my best accountants with you right now.”
Robert and James both glanced at Amanda and sat up straighter in their seats.
“Do ye have a background in what we do?” Robert asked.
“She’s familiar with wineries which are very similar to what we do at the distillery,” I blurted.
I shrank back into my seat. “Apologies.” Great. Now I’m mansplaining her to my brothers.
Amanda addressed Robert. “Stuart’s right. I’ve grown up around wineries my whole life however this is the first distillery I’ve worked for.” She hesitated before continuing. “What I do know, on a very personal level, is what it’s like to be on the brink of losing a family legacy. I am the seventh generation of our family who have worked the land known as Turners Flat at Ballydoon, a small town in Australia that no one has heard of, but … My brothers and sisters and I don’t want to be the generation that lost the farm our ancestors worked so hard to start and run. Turners Flats may not be as old as Gallanach but I assure you I know that feeling that you might be about to lose it all.”
I caught a fleeting moment of sadness in her eyes, so quick I could have missed it if I had glanced away.
“I’m your partner in this audit and bring determination and commitment to this job, as if Gallanach were my own.”
Robert and James nodded and smiled.
“Thank ye. Means a lot to hear ye say that.” Robert glanced at me and then James. “Tensions have been high since we were alerted to missing money and possible -” He swallowed hard. “Fraud.”
“A partner is exactly what we need to help solve this.” My voice had become deeper at the thought of Amanda as my partner.
Michelle shook me from my daydream. “Amanda’s the best, boys. I’ll now hand over to her to chair this meeting and go through the terms of the audit.”
Amanda seamlessly guided us through the audit process; telling jokes, asking questions, learning the names of staff she’d need to speak with. By the end, Robert and James were her firm allies, both promising anything she needed was hers.
Two nights ago, I’d thought she needed protecting. Now, seeing her in our boardroom, I really saw her: fearless, intelligent, methodical and determined.
It was I who needed her.
