Strawberry Wine ✓

Chapter 15

*One Week Later*

I was going over the books again, something I had been stressing over for weeks. This didn't make any sense. How was the barn losing money? Our stud fees weren't any lower than normal, business was operating as usual and yet the money in the accounts wasn't reflecting what I was showing in our receipts.

The engagement ring that now adorned my left ring finger caught in the light of the desk lamp, momentarily distracting me. It appears that Daddy thought of everything. During his trip out here last summer, he had given Jimmy my grandmother's ring, stating one day he'd know when it was time to use it. Even in death, that man was a force to be reckoned with.

I sighed before getting back to it. "Are you ok?" Jimmy asks, making me jump.

"No. We're losing money, or something else is going on. Dad kept thorough records of every transaction, yet what is on paper is not what is in the bank."

"Could someone have messed up?"

"Are you meaning Dad?" He nods. "I don't think so. Grandpa had Dad doing the books since he was younger than me, preparing him for when he'd take over. Dad was a natural. I might have to go back to town tomorrow and meet with the accountant. See if they're showing something that isn't here."

...

"I'm sorry Miss Rhodes, but there isn't any discrepancies. I have kept very thorough records and it seems that your daddy just might have miscalculated." Damon Wilton, our business accountant tells me the following day.

"But by this much? You're showing me a practically empty business account and I can't help but wonder where that money might have gone."

"I'm not sure. There would be a paper trail if he was taking anything out so I'm not sure what to tell you." Damon was having shifty eyes and even though I grew up around him and thought he was a good guy, but his shift eyes were worrying me. What did he know? "I do know that your dad had been fielding potential offers to buy for years. Maybe it's time to seriously consider one of those offers." He says before I walk out.

...

I'm sitting in my dad's office later, going over the stack of offers when one in particular caught my eye. "Oh you've got to be shitting me." I say to no one. Jimmy took Jameson with him on his chore routine and then talked about taking him into town to meet his mom. I felt bad for not going but unfortunately, this was going to have to take priority. I could not let this one win. It had already cost me too much, I would not let it cost me my family's legacy.

A knock on the door forces me out of my inner musings. I open it, sighing when I see who's on the other side. "Mr. Hamilton, what are you doing here?"