The women, young and tan, were laughing together. Louisa had just gone to their table, and they’d ordered another bottle of wine and more cheese and crackers. Liz waited for Maddie to look back at her. “You’re one of my very best friends...”
“Oh, this is going to be bad,” Liz said. “Gabe is up to something. I can feel it in my bones.”
“He just bought the Mattuchi vineyard.”
Shock hit her like the thunder rolling outside. “What? That’s impossible. First of all, the Mattuchis don’t have a vineyard. They have a farm. They grow a few grapes every year and make grape jelly and some horrible wine that my grandfather says even Boone’s Farm wouldn’t buy.”
“I know.”
“So what is he thinking?”
“He told Nate it’s good business,” Maddie explained.
“The Mattuchis have owned that land forever. I can’t believe Gabe would deprive them of their livelihood. This is just monstrous!” Liz exclaimed. “You know, if anything happened to me and my grandfather was left here all alone and some man-eating shark like Gabriel Barzonni came to steal his land away from him, I swear I would haunt these hills until the end of eternity to make sure the creep suffered the fires of—”
Maddie grabbed Liz’s arm and squeezed it. “Liz, honey, don’t you think you’re getting a little carried away? I mean, Gabe just bought part of their farm. We don’t know that he swindled them or hurt them.”
Liz was practically hyperventilating. She could see Gabe’s handsome, wicked eyes gloating at her.
“I’m just not believing this. The Barzonnis own enough land in this area to create a new state! They don’t need more land. And poor Mr. Mattuchi. I’ve known him since I was born. He and his wife are hardworking people, but he’s not a farmer. Never was. He’s repaired my equipment here for years. Best mechanic I’ve ever seen. Grandpa really likes him. Oh, I just can’t believe this!”
Maddie eyed her friend suspiciously and released her hand. “You know, Liz, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this. What’s really going on?”
“I’ll tell you. I caught Gabe Barzonni two weeks ago,” Liz replied breathlessly. She felt flushed, and her heart was tripping inside her chest at a mile a minute.
“Doing what?” Maddie asked.
“He was stealing from me,” Liz answered self-righteously.
“Stealing what?”
“Dirt.”
Maddie stared at Liz for a moment, then broke into laughter. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not.” Liz lifted her chin.
“Okay. Why is that important to you?”
Liz slapped her forehead. “Now I get it. It was never about a vial of dirt. It was about the components and the structure of the soil. Gabe was already thinking of buying the Mattuchi farm. Once he got his hands on my soil samples, he knew he could possibly have a gold mine over there.”
“Oh boy.” Maddie’s eyes narrowed. “If he planted grape vines in similar soil—”
“And with the Barzonni millions to back him up, he could put me out of business.”
“Dirty rotten scum.”
“The rottenest,” Liz agreed.
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