what this land is worth, and you know they’re going to make a killing.”
Gunther raised his eyebrows. “Since when did you start caring about land value and profit margins?”
“Since I started my own business,” Tina shot back, rolling her eyes. “One that wasn’t on the brink of financial collapse until you geniuses decided to play fast and loose with the family assets.”
All of her brothers scowled at that one.
“What are you bitching about?” Rick muttered. “The Mill was insured, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, but rebuilding won’t do me any good if there aren’t any orchards to supply the product now, will it?” She dropped into a chair, disgusted. “The only reason I was able to make a profit was because my overhead was so low. If I have to contract with someone else for produce, I’ll barely be able to keep my head above water.”
Tina waved toward the desk. “It’s bad enough we’re losing the farm our family’s had for generations, but giving it away to a bunch of mobsters? That’s adding insult to injury.”
“Baby sister has some teeth after all,” Gunther murmured.
Tina ignored him. “Is that seriously the best offer we have?”
“It was,” Rick said slowly, sitting back in his chair. “But another offer came through this afternoon.”
“And?”
“And ... they’re offering slightly more than Tollino.”
“Let me see.”
Rick exchanged a glance with Gunther, who nodded. Rick picked up the paper in front of him and handed it to her.
It was Aidan’s offer. Tina scanned over it, verified everything was exactly as Aidan had said it would be, then tossed it back on the desk, and snorted. “EHI Properties? Never heard of them.”
“They’re based in Georgia,” Gunther said.
“So? What do they want to buy land up here for?”
“How the fuck do I know?” Gunther snapped. “They’re from Georgia. Maybe they have a thing for peach orchards or something.”
Tina shook her head, playing her part. “It still seems low to me.”
“Because you’re thinking with your heart and not your head. We’re never going to get what you think the land is worth,” Gunther told her plainly.
“Well, forgive me for giving a shit.” Tina crossed her arms and took several deep breaths to calm herself.
Rick exhaled heavily. “We have to sell. There’s no way around that. It sucks, but there it is.”
Long moments passed in tense, heavy silence.
When she figured enough time had gone by to be believable, Tina uncrossed her arms and exhaled heavily. “Fine. I guess I have no choice.”
Tina stood, grabbed the EHI offer, and scribbled her name and the date at the bottom. Then, she tossed the pen on the desk. She didn’t have to fake the shaking of her hands or the tears welling up in her eyes. Four hundred years of family history gone with a few strokes of a pen. Up in the family cemetery, generations of Obermachers were probably turning in their graves.
“Are you happy now?”
Rick looked at the paper, verifying her signature. “You made the right decision.”
She nodded somberly and turned to go. Before she got to the door, she turned around, grabbed the Tollino offer, and put it into the paper shredder.
“What the hell, Bert?” exclaimed Gunther.
“Just so you don’t get any clever ideas about using the EHI offer to get Tollino to up theirs.”
The guilty look on Gunther’s face confirmed that he’d been thinking of doing exactly that.
She pointed at the EHI contract. “I want this over. Now. Sign it.”
Tina watched as each of her three brothers signed their names above hers. Then, she pulled out her phone and took pictures of it.
“Jesus. Is that really necessary?” asked Gunther.
“With you, yes. This ends right here, right now. I’ll expect notarized copies of the final sale papers by the end of business tomorrow. If I don’t have them, I’m going straight to a lawyer to file fraud charges. And then I’m going to call the ATF and leave an anonymous tip about what you have hidden in the root cellars.”
The veins in Rick’s neck pulsed. “You wouldn’t.”
“Try me. I’ll never forgive you for this. Any of you.”
Tina walked out of the office, her heart pounding like a jackhammer in her chest. She made it into her truck and climbed in, then leaned her head and arms over the steering wheel, willing the sick feeling in her stomach to go away.
The eerie feeling of being watched made her lift her head. Kiefer was standing by her driver’s door.
“Jesus, Kief! Are you trying to give me a heart attack or something?”