Organically Yours: Sanctuary, Book Five by Abbie Zanders (classic books for 11 year olds .TXT) 📗

be the first person she called once everything was official.

* * *

Tina and Doc made a quick stop at Maggie’s farm on the way back to Sumneyville. Maggie was thrilled; apparently, Lexi had already called her with the good news.

“I just hope I can pull it off,” Tina confessed.

“You can,” Maggie told her, her green eyes swirling hypnotically. “Everything is going to work out. I know it will.”

Tina wished she shared Maggie’s confidence, but she knew her brothers. Gunther, especially, had a nose for scheming.

“I took your advice and told Doc about my autoimmune issues,” Tina told Maggie as she accepted the bag of teas and herbs and pastes.

“And?”

“And he was every bit as supportive and accepting as you’d said he would be.”

“I knew it,” Maggie said with a wide smile. “Invite me to the wedding, okay?”

Tina laughed, but inside, her heart filled with joy at the thought. “If there is a wedding, you will definitely be invited.”

“Good. Listen, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but ... would you consider talking to Michael about your health issues?”

“Oh, I don’t know ...”

“I get it. I really do. But he’s not like other doctors, and I’m not just saying that because I’m sleeping with him. He’s a brilliant biochemist. He might be able to help.”

Maggie was so earnest that Tina was tempted to believe her. After all, Maggie had been right about everything else so far.

“I’ll think about it, okay?”

* * *

“You should go,” Tina told Doc after they arrived back at her cottage. “Aidan said he’d fax the offer over right after we left. Gunther must have received it by now.”

Doc’s mouth turned downward. “Maybe I should stick around, just in case.”

“That’s exactly what you shouldn’t do. Just seeing you will get their backs up. If my brothers think you’re influencing me in any way, it’ll just make them that much harder to deal with. Trust me, okay? I’ve got this.”

“I do trust you. It’s them I don’t trust.”

Tina stepped close and wrapped her arms around Doc’s neck. “I’ve got this. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“You’d better,” he grumbled.

“I will. And later tonight, after everything is said and done, I’ll thank you properly for being there for me today.”

“Thank me how?” he asked, the familiar heat lighting up his eyes, his big hands flexing just above her backside.

“How else? Sexual favors.”

Doc groaned and left reluctantly.

Tina had barely started unpacking Maggie’s bag of goodies before Kiefer showed up at her door.

“Rick wants you down at the office.”

Tina exhaled. She had to play her part. If she acquiesced too easily, her brothers would get suspicious. “Do we really have to do this right now?”

“Yes. Right now. He said to tell you the papers are getting signed tonight whether you’re there or not.”

“What’s he going to do? Forge my signature?”

Kiefer’s mouth twisted, suggesting that was exactly what he would do. Or more likely, Gunther would.

“Over my dead body. Let’s go.”

* * *

“Threatening me now, Rick? Really?” Tina asked, striding into the office with Kiefer in her wake.

Gunther was already there.

Rick shrugged unrepentantly. “It got you here, didn’t it? Did you finish reading the offer?”

Tina tossed the papers on his desk. “I did, and even I can see it’s a bad deal. They’re offering a fraction of what this land is worth, and you know they’re going to make a killing.”

Gunther raised his eyebrows. “Since when did you start caring about land value and profit margins?”

“Since I started my own business,” Tina shot back, rolling her eyes. “One that wasn’t on the brink of financial collapse until you geniuses decided to play fast and loose with the family assets.”

All of her brothers scowled at that one.

“What are you bitching about?” Rick muttered. “The Mill was insured, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, but rebuilding won’t do me any good if there aren’t any orchards to supply the product now, will it?” She dropped into a chair, disgusted. “The only reason I was able to make a profit was because my overhead was so low. If I have to contract with someone else for produce, I’ll barely be able to keep my head above water.”

Tina waved toward the desk. “It’s bad enough we’re losing the farm our family’s had for generations, but giving it away to a bunch of mobsters? That’s adding insult to injury.”

“Baby sister has some teeth after all,” Gunther murmured.

Tina ignored him. “Is that seriously the best offer we have?”

“It was,” Rick said slowly, sitting back in his chair. “But another offer came through this afternoon.”

“And?”

“And ... they’re offering slightly more than Tollino.”

“Let me see.”

Rick exchanged a glance with Gunther, who nodded. Rick picked up the paper in front of him and handed it to her.

It was Aidan’s offer. Tina scanned over it, verified everything was exactly as Aidan had said it would be, then tossed it back on the desk, and snorted. “EHI Properties? Never heard of them.”

“They’re based in Georgia,” Gunther said.

“So? What do they want to buy land up here for?”

“How the fuck do I know?” Gunther snapped. “They’re from Georgia. Maybe they have a thing for peach orchards or something.”

Tina shook her head, playing her part. “It still seems low to me.”

“Because you’re thinking with your heart and not your head. We’re never going to get what you think the land is worth,” Gunther told her plainly.

“Well, forgive me for giving a shit.” Tina crossed her arms and took several deep breaths to calm herself.

Rick exhaled heavily. “We have to sell. There’s no way around that. It sucks, but there it is.”

Long moments passed in tense, heavy silence.

When she figured enough time had gone by to be believable, Tina uncrossed her arms and exhaled heavily. “Fine. I guess I have no choice.”

Tina stood, grabbed the EHI offer, and scribbled her name and the date at the bottom. Then, she tossed the pen on the desk. She didn’t have to fake the shaking of her hands or the tears welling up in her eyes. Four hundred years of family history gone with a few