Chapter 5: The Woman They Called Confused
My bank card was declined at the vineyard’s front desk twenty minutes later.
The clerk pushed it back toward me.
“I’m sorry, Mrs.
Emerson.”
Amanda stood behind Jacob with her veil folded over one arm.
“Now do you understand?
Your mother can’t even access her own accounts.”
“You caused that,” Conrad said.
“I reported a vulnerable person being pressured into handing out money.”
“Pressured by whom?” I asked.
Amanda looked at Jacob.
“Her grief has made her unstable.
Jacob told me she still talks to Harold.”
My fingers tightened around the card.
“I talk about my husband.
That is not the same thing.”
“You leave his place set at Christmas.”
“One plate, on the first Christmas after he was gone.”
Jacob stared at Amanda.
“I told you that in confidence.”
“And now you see how concerned I’ve been.”
She held out her hand to me.
“Give me the ledger.
I’ll speak to the bank tomorrow and end this.”
“No.”
“Then you’ll have no money until they finish their review.”
Tessa moved to the desk and placed her own card on the counter.
“Charge Mrs.
Emerson’s transportation to me.”
“You don’t need to do that,” I said.
“Yes, I do.
Tonight she is leaving with someone who treats her like a person.”
Amanda gave a small smile.
“A ride home will not restore her accounts.”
Conrad raised his phone.
“No, but this might.”
He dialed and waited.
“Marian?
It’s Conrad.
I need you at Hollow Creek Vineyard with Amanda’s grandmother’s old file.”
Amanda stepped toward him.
“That file was destroyed.”
A woman’s voice came through the speaker.
“No, it wasn’t.”
Amanda knocked the phone from Conrad’s hand.
It struck the carpet and went dark.
Jacob caught Amanda’s wrist.
“Stop.”
“Let go of me.”
“Not until you explain why you’re afraid of that file.”
She pulled free.
“Because my father will use anything to make me look guilty.”
“You filed a report against my mother during our reception.”
“She was about to freeze our future!”
“It was never our future,” Jacob said.
“It was hers.”
Amanda’s expression softened instantly.
“Jacob, listen to me.
We can still leave for France tomorrow.
Once we’re away from them, I can explain.”
“With what money?”
She glanced at the bouquet.
Tessa reached into it before Amanda could move.
Beneath the flowers was a second phone.
Amanda lunged.
Tessa stepped backward and held it out to Jacob.
“Give that back!” Amanda shouted.
Jacob pressed the side button.
A message preview glowed across the screen.
NATHAN: Is the old woman’s transfer clear?
The landlord wants the full six months tonight.
Jacob read it aloud.
Amanda’s shoulders dropped.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then help me understand.”
“Nathan was helping me get away from all this pressure.”
“You were planning to leave me?”
“I needed options.”
“On our wedding day?”
“After everything your mother put me through, yes!”
I looked at her.
“You met me four times before asking for forty-eight thousand dollars.
Which part exhausted you?”
“You watched me.
Judged my dress, my flowers, my family.”
“I approved every choice.”
“That was worse.
You stood there acting generous so everyone would owe you.”
Conrad picked up his phone.
The screen was cracked, but Marian was still on the line.
“I heard everything,” she said.
“And I’m bringing the original checks.”
Amanda grabbed the second phone and ran into the corridor.
Jacob followed.
“Amanda, stop!”
A service door slammed at the far end.
Tessa hurried to the security monitor above the desk.
“That door leads to the office and the loading area.”
The manager entered a code.
Grainy camera images appeared.
Amanda was inside his office, pulling papers from a filing cabinet.
“She’s looking for the signed contracts,” he said.
Conrad pointed at another screen.
“No.
May you like
Look at her hand.”
Amanda held a silver lighter beneath the corner of Judith Emerson’s original payment agreement.
