Page 31 of Bit's Bliss
“No. Not when you’re this upset.”
“I’m not asking,Trev.”
He sighed and looked up at the sky. “There are things I need to tell you. Would you please just come with me?”
“I have zero interest in hearing about Priscilla or any other woman?—”
When he silenced me with a kiss, I didn’t bother struggling or trying to move my mouth away; I clung to him as tears streamed down my cheeks.
“It’s all too much,” I whispered when he released my lips but brought my head to his chest and stroked my hair.
“I know it is.”
“I’m sorry.”
Trevino kissed the side of my face. “Let’s go.” Instead of walking in the direction of the bank, Trevinotook my hand and led me across the street to the town park. Thankfully, it was mostly empty at this time of day. My head was so full of noise that there wasn’t room for more. “Tell me what you found out,” he said after leading me to a bench, where we both sat.
“My signature was forged on the loan that’s currently in default. In order to avoid foreclosure, I have to come up with two million dollars. I’m not even sure the house is worth that much.”
“It is. The next question is, do you have access to that amount of money?” he asked.
“Not by the end of the day.”
“May I?” he asked, motioning to the envelope. I removed the documents and handed them to him.
“The last page, where the notary would’ve signed, is missing.”
He raised a brow, then continued skimming the pages. “Other than the page you referenced, the rest appears to be in order.”
“That isn’t my signature.”
“Earlier, I said there are things I need to tell you.” He returned the documents to me, and I put them in the envelope.
I looked off in the distance, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “Go ahead.”
“When I stepped outside at the bank, it was to return Decker Ashford’s call. I asked him to look into several things, including your former fiancé, along with the woman who was your father’s date Saturday night. The other thing I asked him to do was see what he could find out about your father’s sale of the winery to the consortium. And finally, what information there was about the public offering. He doesn’t have an update on much of that yet, but he was able to piece together a chain of events leading to your father’s current financial issues.”
I turned to face him. “How bad is it?”
“Curious as much as concerning.”
“In what way?”
“According to Ashford, it appears your parents went through a great deal of money in the time leading up to your mother’s death.”
“Neither of them ever discussed finances with me, outside of my trust, and that was set up when I was a baby.”
“In his defense, I’m sure your mom’s illness took a big toll on him. Then, the following year, the wine industry took a significant hit due to the global pandemic.”
“I remember.”
“As of eight months ago, his reserves, including investment accounts, were depleted.”
I knew the time was significant, but how? “Wait. Is that when he arranged for Eberly Winery to merge with the Wine Consortium?”
“That’s right,” Trevino confirmed.
“Where did all the money go, though?”
