The Villa

to use Mama here—Mama, Ty, me. We'll show the roots, the family involvement and concern. A hundred years of tradition, excellence and responsibility. I know how to do this."
    "She's right." No one was more surprised than Sophia when Tyler spoke. "Mostly I don't give a damn about publicity or perception, which," he added, "is why the two of you dumped me into it. And I'd as soon have a plague of locusts in my winery as reporters. I still mostly don't give a damn, but I know a little more about it. Enough to be sure Sophia will find a way to spin this around to damp down the worst of the damage, and probably find one to turn it around to benefit the company. She'll find the way because she cares more than anybody."
    "Agreed. So, we each do what we do best." Tereza looked at Eli, and something passed between them in that beat of silence. "But we do nothing else until we meet with James Moore. It's not only the reputation of the company that must be protected, but the company itself. Sophia, draft your release. David will help you with the details. Then we'll let the lawyers look at it. And everything else."
     
    It was a blow to the pride. That, Tereza thought as she stood at her office window, was the hardest to accept. What was hers had been violated, threatened. The work of a lifetime besmirched by one tainted bottle of wine.
    Now, in so many ways, she had to trust others to save her legacy.
    "We'll handle this, Tereza."
    "Yes." She lifted a hand to cover the one Eli laid on her shoulder. "I was remembering when I was a young girl and my grandfather walked with me down the rows back home. He said to me that it wasn't enough to plant. That what was planted must be tended, protected, cherished and disciplined. The vines were his children. They became mine."
    "You've raised them well."
    "And paid the price. I was less of a wife to the man I married here so long ago than I might have been, less of a mother to the daughter I birthed. I had the responsibility passed to me, and the ambition, Eli. Such ambition."
    It lived in her still, and she didn't regret it. , "Would there have been more children if I hadn't wished so desperately for my vines to be fertile? Would my child have made the choices she made if I had been more her mother?"
    "Things happen as they're meant to happen."
    "That's the practical Scot. We Italians, we tend to believe more in chance. And retribution."
    "What's happened isn't retribution, Tereza. It's either a terrible accident or a criminal act. You're not responsible either way."
    "I took responsibility the day I took Giambelli." Her eyes scanned the vines, the sleeping promise of them. "Aren't I responsible for pushing Sophia and Tyler together? Thinking of the company, never imagining what might happen between them on another level."
    "Tereza." He turned her to face him. "Realigning so that they work together doesn't trickle down and make you the trigger for shooting those two very healthy young people onto the office floor."
    She sighed. "No, but it proves I didn't take their health into account. We're passing our heritage into their hands. I expected them to fight. We both did. But sex can make enemies of people. And that I didn't anticipate. God, that makes me feel old."
    "Tereza." He pressed his lips to her forehead. "We are old."
    He said it to make her laugh, and she obliged him. "Well. We didn't become enemies. We can hope each of them took something from us."
    "I love you, Tereza."
    "I know. I didn't marry you for love, Eli."
    "I know, my dear."
    "For business," she said, stepping back from him. "A merger. A wise business move. I respected you. I liked you a great deal and enjoyed your company. Instead of being punished for such calculation, I was rewarded. I love you very much. I hope you know that, too."
    "I do. We'll weather this, Tereza."
    "I don't need you by my side. But I want you there. Very much want you there. That, I think, says more. Means more."
    He took the hand she held out to him. "We'll go down. James should be here soon."
     
    James looked over Sophia's proposed release, nodded. "Good." He slipped off his reading glasses. "Clear, calm, with a personal touch. I wouldn't change a thing, from a legal standpoint."
    "Then I'll go up, finalize it, alert the troops and get it out."
    "Take Linc with you." James winked at her. "He's a good general dogsbody."
    He waited until they'd left the room. "Tereza, Eli, I'll be consulting with your lawyers in Italy. At this point you're