She had to figure out what she—
“Mom?”
She looked up and saw Lori standing in the doorway. The sight of her middle daughter with her too-tight suit and hangdog expression annoyed her more than usual.
“What?” she asked, her voice tense.
“I heard what happened with Mackenzie,” Lori began.
“Of course you did. God forbid I have one second of privacy in this damn place. Fine. You heard. Now keep the information to yourself. No one needs to know until I decide what to do next.”
“Maybe I can help.”
“How, exactly? How could you possibly replace Mackenzie? She’s a master winemaker. Your little foray into that side of the business was a disaster and cost me thousands of dollars. You have the taste buds of paint. So if not that, what other brilliant ideas do you have?”
Lori’s lower lip began to tremble—a telltale sign that she was about to cry. Barbara deliberately turned away from her and opened her lower desk drawer. Behind a box of envelopes was a small bottle of tequila she kept for emergencies.
She unscrewed the top and took a long swallow. The liquor burned the entire way down her throat. When she set the bottle on her desk, she saw her daughter had left. Thank God. She couldn’t take one more thing.
She sat there, sipping tequila, staring at the wall until Giorgio walked in.
“What happened?” he asked, holding open his arms.
She rose and ran into his embrace, letting his warmth and strength give her a false sense of security.
“It’s Mackenzie,” she said. “She’s betrayed me. She’s a horrible, lying, awful person and I never saw it until today.”
The tears returned. Giorgio held her tight, murmuring soothingly until she had a little more control, then he led her over to the sofa in the corner.
“Tell me everything,” he said.
She told him about the divorce and how she’d assured Mackenzie that it wouldn’t affect her position at Bel Après. He listened attentively, holding her hands in his.
“It’s just such a slap in the face,” she concluded. “What is she going to do? Work somewhere else?” She stared at him. “What if she steals our secrets? What if she steals our customers? She’s going to try to destroy us and I don’t know why. We’ve been her family, her life. To act like this tells me there’s something fundamentally wrong with her. Do you think I could get her committed somewhere?”
Giorgio smiled. “I love how you try to see the humor in such a difficult situation.”
Barbara didn’t bother pointing out that she hadn’t been kidding. Getting Mackenzie into a mental institution was probably a little far-fetched, but it would certainly suit her purposes.
“I’m sorry about their divorce,” he said. “It’s always tragic when love is lost. Did you know they were unhappy?”
Why in God’s name was he asking about that? She didn’t care about their feelings or their marriage. Bel Après was at stake! But she understood that Giorgio was much kinder than she was, and while she might find that tedious at times, it was one of the reasons she’d fallen in love with him.
“Neither of them ever said anything,” she told him. “She said it’s a mutual decision and very amicable, so the winery is slightly more pressing. We don’t have a winemaker. I always meant to get around to hiring a backup, but with Mackenzie here, it didn’t seem necessary. None of the children can do it. I’ve stepped in before, but we were much smaller then. With how many gallons we bottle each year, I don’t think I’m qualified. I need a plan.”
“You need to talk to Mackenzie. Why is she leaving?”
“I don’t know. She’s a bitch. Isn’t that a good enough reason?”
He squeezed her fingers. “My love, she’s like a daughter to you. You’ve worked together so closely. But maybe her decision to leave is about being unhappy. You and yours are the only family she has. She wouldn’t give that up easily, so there must be something else. Has she ever said anything to you about what she wanted from her life that she doesn’t have?”
Barbara quickly tried to suppress the memories, but they were too strong. She recalled years ago when Mackenzie had asked if she would ever have a part of Bel Après. Barbara had explained about the will and how only blood relatives could inherit. Mackenzie had been desperate to somehow buy in or work hard so she could be one of the owners, but Barbara had told her that would never happen.
“What are you