Chapter 3

Delphine Renn called at 2:15 that afternoon, which was the first strange thing, because Delphine had been the family's attorney for thirty-one years and she did not call on the day of the Harvest Gala.

"Are you sitting down?"

"I'm in the tasting room with a clipboard. What is it?"

"Northgate Title called me an hour ago. They have two consents on file for the Meridian transaction." A pause. "Two, Cora. Both of them yours."

Cora put the clipboard down.

Delphine arrived forty minutes later with a slim black folder and the expression of a woman who had already read everything twice. She spread the pages across the tasting bar, between the spit buckets and the unwashed glasses.

"This is February eleventh. Your signature, your notary, your handwriting in the margin. Exhibit A lists the trademarks, the label, the distribution contracts - the brand only. And you added a clause in your own hand."

Cora knew the clause. She had written it standing at this same bar. The real property described in Schedule 1 - all 340 acres - shall not be sold, transferred, or encumbered outside the Whitlock family.

"And this is March fourth."

Same signature. Same notary block. Same date format. Exhibit A listed three parcels by assessor's number, the cave, the winery, the crush pad, and a purchase price with Meridian Beverage Group's name at the bottom.

Cora read it twice. Then she read the signature a third time.

"I didn't sign this."

"I know."

"I was in the cellar on March fourth. Six in the morning until nine at night. Barrel trials with Pilar, forty people in and out."

"I know."

"I haven't signed anything in March."

Delphine turned the page over and laid the two signature blocks side by side under the bar lamp. They were identical, down to the small break at the top of the C - the one Cora had carried since she broke her wrist at nineteen and relearned how to write her own name.

"Whoever did this practiced," Delphine said.

Cora stared at the two signatures for a long moment. "Desmond told me in September that Meridian walked away. He told me the deal was dead."

"Then he lied to you in September."

"No." Cora straightened. "He lied to me in September so I wouldn't look in March."

Delphine closed the folder and held it against her chest. "There's one more thing. The transfer you had me draft in February. The forty percent."

"I wrote the clause."

"Then you already know what a filing like March fourth does to it."

Cora looked at the folder in the attorney's arms.

"I know exactly what it does," she said.