Arianna was staring into the distance when Sophie found her. The view from the balcony was stunning, especially in the summer. Theirs was not a huge estate; they only bottled some Cabernet Sauvignon and some Pinot Noir, which they sold to a few regular buyers. Their regulars insisted their wine was better than some of the ‘bigger estates’ but Sophie had never let that praise get to her head.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Sophie said, taking the chair beside Arianna. That movement broke her thoughts and she looked to see Sophie for the first time since the big reveal. Arianna’s eyes teared, and she nodded.

“Tell me everything,” she said, sniffing. “When did thi….these threats happen? Why would someone want our estate? We’re not even in the main town and there’s nothing but grape vines for miles on either side.”

Sophie nodded and got a folder with all the threats. Arianna leafed through it all.

“It all started around Easter…” Sophie looked up to see Arianna glaring at her.

“What? I didn’t think it was serious. I would have done something…” Sophie looked ashen.

She sighed.

“Papa got this phone call one afternoon, asking him to sell the estate and move away if he knew what was good for him. He dismissed the call and went about with his life. But the calls continued. It would always be one sentence. ‘Sell the Estate and move away.’ And Papa didn’t mention anything until…”

Arianna narrowed her eyes. “Until what?”

Sophie leafed through the folder till she found a piece of paper with the following text.

‘FRANCO DOESN’T PARDON DEBTS’

Sophie’s eyes misted when she saw the paper. She swallowed. Arianna was confused. Who was Franco? And what debt was he talking about?

“Papa…Ana, he had a gambling addiction.”

“NO.”

Arianna stood up in shock. Every cell in her body screamed in protest. This was not the man she knew. The man she knew was honorable and loved the estate and his family.

“Why do I not know about this, Sophie?” she said, looking furious. Her sister looked away.

“It was....a long time ago. I remember him and Mama had vicious fights about it. I just..I thought this was over till he mentioned this debt that had been hanging over him for several years.”

Arianna couldn’t take it anymore. This was too much to bear. Was she even a part of this family? She stood up to leave.

“Ana, wait,” Sophie said, running after her. She caught up to her and pulled her back. Arianna’s furious brown eyes met Sophie’s deep blue eyes and cooled.

“Papa came clean about the debt and how he had tried to turn the estate around. A part of our profits always went to pay off the loan, but the last few years were hard, and I wasn’t able to do much. I...I planned things, I set money aside.” Sophie’s eyes filled with tears.

“Finally, one day, a couple of Franco’s henchmen came home and threatened Papa. That’s when we decided to send him away. The winery isn’t making enough to pay off the debt by itself. The Bed and Breakfast I planned will take a few years to get off the ground and that costs money. We just didn’t know what to do. We had to sell.”

Arianna paced around. It was a lot of information to take in. She had never spared one thought for the estate, the winery, and the costs. She had big dreams in her mind when she got out of town and somehow, the winery never featured in those dreams. She’d let that part of her life slip away, and now it was leaving her for good.

“How much is the debt anyway?” She frowned. Maybe she could pull in some money from her investments. She owed that much to the place she had grown up in. She owed that much to Papa.

Sophie’s shoulders sagged. “$500,000.”

Arianna’s eyes widened. That was a lot of money. “I…I can probably pay, Sophie. Can we push the sale somehow? I can raise some money from my investments, probably get you 20% in a few days.”

Sophie shook her head. “Papa decided. He decided to sell out. Whatever Franco had on him, it’s serious enough to make him comply.”

“Are you sure this is how much we owe Franco? Who is Franco anyway? Where is the agreement that says we owe him that much?” Arianna massaged her head. A headache had begun to form.

“Papa said Franco is someone he grew up with. He’s someone who lives over in Sonoma. I’ve....If Papa wants to sell, I’ve got nothing to say.” It was clear Sophie was defeated. Arianna’s mind whirred.

She leafed through the folder and found what she was looking for. There was an executed document dated thirty years ago with a lot of legal mumbo jumbo that she had absolutely no idea about. No, something wasn’t right. Every alarm bell in her mind was ringing. There was no way her father had put the estate on lien, and she couldn’t figure out anything from plain reading. She had to investigate.

A determined look came over her face.

“I’m going to fight this. There is something not right about this. I’m going to go to a lawyer and have someone explain this to me.”

There aren’t too many lawyers this side of town.

Sophie looked frightened. “No, don’t do that, Ana. Papa didn’t want to blow this any bigger. Don’t risk this. Please don’t. Papa isn’t here, and we’re losing the estate. I can’t risk losing you too.” Overcome with emotion, she hugged Arianna tight.

Arianna hugged back. Sophie was the eldest of them all, and she managed to control her emotions pretty well. But seeing her so distraught really put off Arianna. She was determined to save her home, no matter what it took.

I will do whatever I can to save the estate. There was no way she was letting someone intimidate her into selling her childhood home.