“Jerk.” Antonio spat onto the ground.
“On the bright side, at least Jose won’t be around for few days,” Trina said.
The two brothers were as different as night and day. They had tried to avoid each other, communicating instead by calls and texts through Trina. If not for that, things would have come to a head sooner.
Antonio kicked at the dirt. “Betrayed by my own brother. We’ve never been close, but I thought we were both willing to work hard to make our family winery successful. We have our differences, but I never dreamed that he would surrender our family business for mere pennies on the dollar. Then again, Jose always puts his own needs ahead of anyone else’s.”
Trina patted his arm reassuringly. “There must be other options. What if you sold this year’s grapes and the wine to Desiree instead, rather than giving up the vineyard? You know she’s wanted to buy grapes from you for years. Forget about that stupid contest.”
Antonio shook his head. “I’m not selling. Not to Desiree or anybody else. I’ve worked all my life to make the Lombard wines what they are. Desiree’s Verdant Valley Vineyards label will never ever go on a bottle of Lombard wine. She can buy other estate wines to pass off as her own, but she’s never putting her label on mine. I won’t be a part of her cheating.”
“But if she ends up buying the winery, that will happen,” Trina said. “She can buy it now, or wait till the bank seizes it. Either way, she’s got enough money to buy it. She’s probably going to be the new owner. Richard will make sure of that. At least this way, you can have some say in it.”
“Trina’s right,” I said. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. Just sell her the grapes and wine for a year or two till you’re back on your feet again.” Of course, that meant having actual wine to sell, but one problem at a time.
“I’d rather kill myself,” Antonio said.
Trina’s eyes widened. “You don’t need to do that. We’ll figure something out.”
Officially, Trina was only a dedicated, long-term employee. But on closer examination, she was so much more. Despite the complications of Aunt Pearl’s spell, she obviously cared deeply for Antonio and had his best interests at heart. And she was practical and business-oriented. At least the attraction spell increased the chances that he would listen to her well-meaning advice.
“I know what to do,” Aunt Pearl said brightly as if the idea had just occurred to her. “I’ll buy out Jose’s share and I’ll be your partner. I’ll mortgage the Westwick Corners Inn, take some equity out of our property, and inject a bunch of cash into this place.”
I gasped. “You can’t mortgage the inn. You co-own it with Mom and Aunt Amber, and they would never agree. It’s too risky.” While it was nice of Aunt Pearl to help Antonio, our boutique bed and breakfast was our bread and butter, so to speak. We couldn’t afford more debt and possibly suffer the same fate as Antonio.
“You think Antonio here is a credit risk? Geesh, Cen, that’s not very nice!”
“I never said—”
Aunt Pearl turned to Antonio. “Honestly, I don’t know where she gets it from. Cendrine has zero empathy for other people.”
It was all I could do not to fall for Aunt Pearl’s bait. I took a deep breath. “Even if Mom and Aunt Amber agreed, you could never arrange the financing in time.”
Aunt Pearl rolled her eyes. “Geesh, Cendrine, why do you have to split hairs over everything? We’ll find the money for Antonio, come hell or high water. But first things first. We need to get this wine bottled for the wine festival. It’s not going to bottle itself, so let’s get back to work.”
Trina smiled. “I’ll get more corks.”
“I’ll go with you,” Antonio said.
We watched them disappear behind the large stainless vats.
Aunt Pearl sighed and looked pointedly at me. “Look at those two lovebirds. He’s about to go bankrupt and she still adores him. If that isn’t true love, I don’t know what is. For richer or poorer, they were meant to be together.”
Chapter 7
Almost ten minutes had passed by the time Antonio and Trina returned. Judging by their disheveled appearance, they had been searching for much more than corks on a shelf.
Aunt Pearl cleared her throat. “Ahem…Antonio. I have a new proposition for you. If you don’t want me as a partner, you can hire me as a consultant instead. You know I’m a hard worker, and I have some very special skills that could speed up production.”
“A fine wine can’t be ready before its time,” Antonio said. “It can’t be rushed. It needs time to grow, ripen, and age. I’m sure you can appreciate that, Pearl.”
Aunt Pearl’s eyes narrowed. “Are you calling me old?”
He shook his head. “Of course not. I only meant mature, like—”
Trina interjected. “Wine is like love. Winemaking is just like making—”
Aunt Pearl held up her hand palm out. “Cut the sentimental crap. You’re making a big mistake, Antonio. You need me if you want to turn this place around.”
Trina shrugged. “Antonio knows what’s best for the winery.”
Aunt Pearl rolled her eyes and mocked Trina with a silently mouthed Antonio knows what’s best.
My pulse quickened. If Aunt Pearl lost her temper with Trina, her magic would get even more irresponsible. I couldn’t let that happen.
I said, “Jose promised to make the deliveries, so let’s focus on what we need for the wine festival. We’ll bottle as much as we can and worry about everything else later on.”
Trina smiled. “We’ll get everything back to normal again.”
Aunt Pearl shook her head. “No, you won’t, Trina. Nothing’s ever going to be the same again. Jose’s a loser, your Lombard wine is crap, and I
