up at Renninger’s office in town yesterday.”
“How did you know about that?” Doc asked.
Ian’s grin was devilish. “Renninger’s office is under twenty-four-hour surveillance.”
Translation: Ian had hacked the feed.
“She’s got a colorful vocabulary,” Jake chimed in. “She’d get along well with my wife.”
“It sucks that she got sucked up in this,” Ian said, becoming serious once again. “If there’s anything we can do to help, let us know.”
“Thanks. I’m not sure what anyone can do at this point.”
Ian’s gaze turned thoughtful. “You might want to talk to Maggie.”
Doc remembered an earlier meeting where they’d mentioned something similar happening to one of their own. He didn’t know if that would help, but he filed it away for later.
“In the meantime, try to keep her as far removed from the situation as possible,” said Jake. “It’s not going to be long before people notice Renninger’s absence, and when they do, they’re going to start looking at who he was doing business with.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Tina
Leaving Sanctuary—leaving Doc—was hard, and it wasn’t just because she was dreading what she had to do. She liked his soothing presence and the fact that when she was with him, she didn’t feel so alone.
She wasn’t a damsel in distress, nor would she ever be. But it sure was nice to be able to feel like she could let go and have someone else take the reins for a little while.
Tina stopped at The Mill first. These were the people who she felt closest to, the ones who had been with her the longest and supported her when she first took over the orchards.
As expected, they’d heard the rumblings. She would have given anything to be able to look them in the eye and squash those ugly rumors, but that wasn’t possible. Instead, she did the only thing she could do. She told them the truth. Not the horrible, gory details, but the gist. That Obermacher Farms was in financial straits and would probably be sold to developers sooner rather than later, and when it did, The Mill was going to lose its primary source of fresh produce from which its products were based.
If there was a bright spot, it was that The Mill operated as a separate business entity from the rest of the farm.
Around the time Tina had started applying for patents, she’d tried to talk Gunther into buying the old mill and turning it into a cider mill. She’d seen similar places do well in upstate New York, particularly in the fall, and envisioned Obermachers doing something similar.
He declined.
Rather than be deterred, she became even more determined. A college friend suggested she create her own small business and incorporate. She did, and shortly after, she used her inheritance to buy the old mill and fix it up herself.
At the time, the mill had been in bad shape. Gunther laughed at her business plan, saying that he fully expected to be buying it from her within the year. Tina resolved to prove him wrong.
She got business loans and hired Amish craftsmen to bring the place up to par. She put in sixteen-hour days between the orchards and the mill, using her degrees to grow the highest-quality produce possible and then create superior and one-of-a-kind products.
It had taken nearly five years before Tina was able to pay off the loans and start making a decent profit, but she had done it, and as word spread, the demand for her unique products had grown substantially.
The bad news was, The Mill couldn’t continue to operate without Obermacher Farms providing the produce—at least not at its current capacity. There were other smaller farms in the area she might be able to source from but nothing on the scale she would need. For centuries, Obermachers had been the dominant force in the local fresh-produce industry.
Still, Tina would keep the place up and running and would continue to provide her employees with a paycheck as long as possible. However, she was also honest about what the future might bring and said she wouldn’t blame anyone who wanted to look elsewhere.
After that, Tina drove out to the orchards and had a talk with her crew. That didn’t go nearly as well. The orchards fell under the Obermacher Farms umbrella, which meant that they would be sold along with everything else to whoever bought the land, so there was little Tina could offer them.
Also, since their paychecks came from the OF corporate account, she couldn’t guarantee them a wage like she could her mill workers. They