The Vineyard at Painted Moon - Susan Mallery Page 0,54
them. “But only for this year. I’ve been thinking of selling for a while now and didn’t want to tie up my assets.”
They tasted more wine. She wasn’t happy with the whites, but all the reds had real potential.
“I had the business valued a couple of years ago,” Herman said as they moved down the rows. “A couple of guys came from Seattle and walked around with clipboards. I’m in the nine-five range.”
“Nine million, five hundred thousand,” Mackenzie said, trying not to faint.
“Yup.”
She looked at Bruno, who seemed unconcerned.
They spent the better part of the day looking at the facilities and a couple of the vineyards. By four, Mackenzie was exhausted and her head hurt from all she’d tried to absorb. She and Bruno thanked Herman, then they drove back to his hotel and went up to his room.
“What did you think?” he asked after getting them each a bottle of water and sitting across from her at the table.
“It was a lot to take in,” she said. “The land is incredible. I’d want to see the rest of it and I’m guessing you’d need to look at his books and stuff. Nine-five seems like a lot.”
“It is. I think we’d settle closer to eight. What did you think about the wines?”
“The white is crap. Honestly it was so bad, I’d want to dump it.”
Bruno winced. “Seriously?”
She smiled. “Yes, I’d want to, but I’m sure we could sell it to someone to bottle and distribute. The reds are great. They have plenty of fruit and tannin. They could be blended a lot of different ways. They’re money in the barrel.”
She leaned back in her chair. “How do you even start with something like that? We’d have to check all the deeds, look at the contracts, look at any liabilities. We have to confirm the water rights, because without them, we have nothing. All the equipment needs to be evaluated. The buildings themselves have to be inspected. What about liens and lawsuits and I don’t know what else?”
Bruno smiled. “You’ve been doing your homework.”
“It’s all I can think about, when I’m not feeling guilty for considering leaving Bel Après.”
“Is it still just a consideration?”
She thought about the divorce papers.
“No, it’s not just a consideration,” she said, reality hitting her in the gut. “But it makes me sad.”
“You still want to move forward with this?”
“Is it possible?”
“Us buying a business together? Sure. I’m good with what we talked about. You put in your two million, I take care of the rest. We’ll write up an agreement such that if we sell, I get a bigger cut of that. Until then, it’s fifty-fifty. I run the business side and you run the winery. Painted Moon will be your vision.” He finished his bottle of water. “You can have the house, if you want. It’s not really my style. I’m thinking of buying a condo on the golf course.”
“I’m interested,” she said, “but it’s a lot to take in. Plus I won’t have my money until the divorce is final. That’s three months from the day we file. What if we need the cash before then?”
“We’ll work out a bridge loan.”
“With a bank?”
His dark eyes glinted with amusement. “We’ll keep it in the family.”
Oh, sure, because he had an extra two million lying around. “How rich are you?” she asked before she could stop herself. “Sorry. Pretend I didn’t ask that.”
“There’s something of a family fortune and I’ve done well on my own.”
Must be nice, she thought. “So what happens now?”
“If you want to move forward, I’ll draw up the partnership agreement with the terms we’ve agreed upon. You get your lawyer to look it over. Once that’s signed, I’ll get a team going on appraising Painted Moon. I’ll have my finance people look over the books and you’ll head the team that will be responsible for the vineyards and the winery. Once we know what we’re talking about, we’ll make an offer.”
“Just like that?”
“Is there a reason to wait?”
“You’re making it really easy,” she said.
“I’m getting what I want. I have plenty of money, Mackenzie. What I don’t have is your talent. You’re the best and I want to work with you. Whatever I can do to make your decision easier is on my get-done list. Are you ready to move forward?”
He held out his hand. She thought about all that had happened in the past few weeks. Her life had changed in every way possible. If she wanted to keep her job