and desire. I knew I’d met the man of my dreams. We blended in every way.
Tony skimmed more pages, his stomach taut with regret and pain. He stopped when he came to a chapter titled “Corked.”
He knew what that meant. He forced himself to read on.
Wine that is “corked” has been contaminated by its cork stopper, causing a distinctly unpleasant aroma. The wine is ruined for life. It’s spoiled and will never be the same. Fortunately for wine lovers, only seven percent of all wine is considered corked or tainted. A sad fact if you’d invested time and energy with that bottle.
Wine shouldn’t let you down. And neither should someone you love.
Tony ran his hands down his face, unable to read any more. But a voice inside told him he had to know the extent of Rena’s feelings. He had to find out what happened to her after he’d left her. He continued to read, sitting stiffly in the chair, woodenly reading words that would haunt him.
“Rod called today, after his first big sale. It killed me to talk to him, I felt selfish for wishing he’d flop in his high-powered position in New York. I was dealing with my mother’s terminal cancer, needing him so badly.”
After reading Rena’s story, which ended abruptly when Rena’s mother died, Tony slumped in the seat. Drained, hollowed out by what he’d learned, he simply sat there, reliving the scenarios in his mind.
Eventually Tony logged off of his computer, leaving the disk behind, but Rena’s emotions and her silent suffering while he was winning races and pursuing his dreams would stay with him forever.
He met Joe at the office at six o’clock as planned, his disposition in the dumps. “Did you find anything unusual?” he asked his brother.
“No, not unusual. Dad did screw a lot of people over, but I’ve never seen it so clearly as now.”
Tony groaned, his mood going from gray to black in a heartbeat. “I was hoping I was wrong.”
“No, you’re not wrong. Your instincts are dead-on.” Joe shuffled papers around, comparing notes he’d written.
“Looked to me like Dad deliberately undersold cabernet and merlot to the retailers to drive Purple Fields out of business. We make five kinds of wine, but he chose the two Purple Fields are famous for to undercut them. From what I’ve found, he sold for a slight loss for at least ten years. He knew he could sustain those losses without a problem, while Purple Fields couldn’t compete.”
Tony winced, hearing the truth aloud. “I’d asked Dad to leave Purple Fields alone. To let them make a living. But I’m betting he did it to spite me.”
Joe’s brows rose. “You think he singled them out because you chose a different career?”
“He’d never approved of my choices. He didn’t want me to succeed. He wanted to dictate the course of my life, and it pissed him off that I wouldn’t listen to him. I chose racing over him.”
“Yeah, Dad was angry when you took off. He wanted to hand down his business to his firstborn son. Hell, he wasn’t too fond of me not sticking around either. I’ve got a head for business, not grape growing.”
Tony’s lips curved halfway up. “You’re a computer geek, Joe.”
“And proud of it,” Joe added, then focused his attention back on the subject at hand. “Dad was an all-around brute. I bet he used the same tactics on half a dozen other small wineries to drive them out of business.”
“Doesn’t make it right. Hell, he made millions. He didn’t need to shut down his competition.”
“Apparently, he didn’t see it that way.”
Tony let go a frustrated sigh. “At least there’s something I can do about it. I’m going to renegotiate those contracts. We’ll sell our wine at a fair price, but we won’t undercut anyone, especially Purple Fields.”
Joe nodded and leaned back in his chair. “That should make Rena happy.”
“Yeah, but it won’t make up for all the past pain this family put her through.”
“You’re not just talking about Dad now, are you?”
Tony took a steadying breath and shook his head. “No. But I plan to make it up to Rena. Whether she likes it or not.”
“Those sound like fighting words, Tone.”
Tony rose from his seat. “They are.”
“Oh, before I forget, someone called for you today.” Joe shifted through a pile of notes, coming up with one. “Something about your racing contracts. They’ve been calling the house and couldn’t reach you.”
He handed Tony the note, and when he glanced at the name, he