Between the Vines (34 page)

Edward studied Noelene's poker face. “Maybe.”

“I've asked Taylor to come up with a business plan for Wriggly Creek.”

Edward snorted. “We've got a business plan.”

She waved her arm at his office. “Gathering dust in a pile somewhere I'd guarantee.” She stood up. “I want you to come with me now. I've asked Taylor to set up in the cellar door where no-one will disturb us.”

“Us?”

“You, Peter, me.”

Edward opened his mouth but she cut him off.

“I'll be there as the arbitrator and to make sure you boys give Taylor a chance and behave yourselves.”

Edward shook his head. “We're not little boys anymore, Noelene. Peter and I are grown-ups now.”

She glared at him, one hand on the door handle. “Behave like it then.” She threw open the door and walked out.

Edward stared after her a moment then with a sigh he stood up. “This could be amusing,” he murmured.

Pete slid his key into the lock at the back of the cellar door and the door swung open. He stepped inside. Noelene mustn't have locked it when she left last night, unless she was already inside. She'd said there was something urgent they needed to look at here. He glanced at his watch. He didn't have a lot of time to spare. He heard a sound from the front room, like papers shuffling. He stuck his head through the joining door. Taylor looked up from the other side of the counter, a sheaf of papers in her hands.

“I thought you were Noelene,” he said.

Taylor smiled. It was a soft crinkling around her eyes, a small upturn of her lips. He looked away.

“She should be here soon,” Taylor said.

Pete glanced around the cellar door. A couple of bar stools had
been placed on the other side of the counter but otherwise everything looked the same. “So do you know what she wants me to look at?”

“I do.” Taylor straightened the papers in her hands. “But I'd prefer we waited for Noelene…if you don't mind.”

Once more Pete looked at his watch. He felt embarrassed if the truth be told. Taylor had every right not to be here, not to be talking civilly, not to be smiling warmly at him.

“Pete.”

He lifted his gaze to meet hers. He should look away but he couldn't.

“Can we talk a moment before the others get here?”

“Others?”

“Noelene.” She looked down at her papers. Her cheeks were pink. “This was her idea but I wanted to help.”

“What was her idea?”

“I'm sorry, this is coming out all wrong. It's not at all how I imagined.”

Pete shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Taylor wasn't making any sense. “What's Noelene put you up to?”

Taylor sighed. “We're both worried about you…and Ed. Noelene asked me to come up with a business plan. I know it's crazy 'cause you're bound to have one already…” Her voice trailed away.

The confident woman who'd welcomed him was replaced by one with uncertainty spreading across her face. He stepped up to the counter. She was just a metre away on the other side. Her worried gaze met his.

“Is Noelene bringing Ed here?”

She nodded but didn't look away.

“Damn, Noelene.” Pete ran his hand over his hair. He paced to the end of the counter then stopped. There was a photograph lying there he hadn't noticed before. It was the picture from the wall in the back office of him with his dad and Ed planting the new cabernet canes. He looked back at Taylor. “What's this doing here?”

“My idea,” she said gently. “To remind you of what's important.”

Pete gave a soft snort. “It's Ed who needs reminding. He's the one who wanted to sell the grapes.”

She moved down the counter to stand opposite him again. “What else do you see?”

He rested his hand on the frame and peered at the photo. He was holding a bundle of canes and Ed had a shovel, they both leaned in towards their father who was bent over a cane he'd just planted. They were all smiling.

“Dad had just made one of his silly jokes. I knew Mum had been hovering nearby with the camera but I didn't know she'd taken this photo until…one day…after they died, when we were going through their things, I found her camera and scrolled through. Ed and I decided to have this photo enlarged.”

“Had you made a business plan together, as a family?” Taylor's voice was gentle.

“No. It was something Dad was going to do. We had to get legal advice after the…after they died but we still didn't end up with a proper business plan. Somehow we've bumbled along till now and it's worked. Or it did.”

He was startled by the warmth of Taylor's hand covering his own. He looked up.

“Your parents are gone, Pete but not their legacy. It's not just the grapes, it's you and Ed – you're still family.”

Pete took in her tender look, the soft pink of her cheeks and the fullness of her lips.

“Why are you still here, Taylor?”

The tender look was replaced by a puzzled one. “What do you mean?”

“After everything that's happened and all you've done, we've not treated you so well, why have you stayed on?”

She pulled her hand away and straightened the mat beneath the photo. “I don't…I just–”

“It's Ed, isn't it?” He cut through her bluster. “You still love Ed.”

Taylor stiffened. “No,” she said firmly. “I might be confused about a few things but that's not one of them. There's no future for Ed and me. For a short time we…”

“Were an item?” The words came out a little more sharply than Pete had intended.

“No.” Her reply was equally as blunt. “I guess deep down I must have known he wasn't my type.”

Pete felt a mixture of relief and embarrassment. “I'm sorry, it's none of my business.”

He was surprised to see Taylor move swiftly around the end of the counter and come to a stop in front of him. She looked steadily into his eyes.

“Normally I would agree with you,” she said. “But in this case I think it's important you know. After the initial spark died there was never much between Ed and me. We didn't have any kind of a relationship. I still like him but as a friend. I don't – I never loved him.”

Pete held her gaze. If she felt nothing for Ed maybe she had room to think about him as more than her employer, more than a friend. They were less than a metre apart. Did she want him to cross that space? What would be her reaction if he reached for her?

They both turned at the sound of footsteps.

“Pete, I just need to say that my presentation today has been planned with both of you in mind. I don't want you or Ed to think I'm favouring one or the other.”

Pete opened his mouth to speak but the door to the back room opened and Taylor returned to the other side of the counter.

“Come on, Edward.” Noelene's voice carried into the cellar door.

Pete steeled himself for whatever was coming. He picked up a tea towel that was covering some glasses. He needed to keep his hands busy.

Edward paused as he stepped in behind the counter at the cellar door. Noelene was just ahead of him. Taylor lifted her head from the papers she was spreading along the other side of the counter. She was hesitant as if waiting for a reaction. Peter was polishing glasses on Edward's side, his jaw rigid.

“We're all ready,” Noelene said. “You boys come around here. I've brought some bar stools in so you can sit.”

Edward gritted his teeth. He still objected to Noelene speaking as if they were school kids. He let Peter go ahead of him. They took their places on the stools.

“You go round the other side of the counter.” Noelene put a guiding hand on Taylor's back.

Edward gave a wry smile. At least he and Peter weren't the only ones getting Noelene's mother hen treatment.

“Now you make a start, Taylor. Don't mind me. I'm going to make everyone a coffee.” She got as far as the door and turned back, her pointer finger raised in the air. “Remember you blokes both agreed to listen.” She left. They could hear her in the other room fiddling with the coffee machine.

Taylor cleared her throat and shuffled her papers. She looked terrified.

“You don't have to do this,” Peter said.

“No.” Edward gave Taylor a mocking smile. “I think she does. Noelene has spoken.”

Peter's glance showed his annoyance but he didn't speak.

“Go on, Taylor, please enlighten us with your vast knowledge of the wine business,” Edward said.

“I can hear that sarcastic tone in your voice, Edward Starr.” Noelene called out.

Edward slapped the bar. “Oh for f–”

“Let's get started.” Peter cut him off. “Taylor has done a lot for us and she's gone to a lot of trouble getting this organised.” He turned to Edward. “The least we can do is listen.”

Edward swallowed his simmering anger. He glanced from Peter to Taylor then he winked at her. “Please begin.”

Taylor took a deep breath. She was wise to Ed's game now. He was trying to put both her and Pete offside, covering up for his own shortcomings. She also took strength from Pete's reaction to her declaration about her relationship, or lack of it, with Ed. Pete had looked like a man who'd been given a reprieve from the firing squad. She didn't have time to explore that further. She'd wanted him to be clear that she was about to present an unbiased proposal and that meant she could show no favouritism to one brother or the other.

“I want to preface this by saying this is not a business plan as such.”

Ed's breath whistled over his teeth.

“As you would know, Edward.” She took care to use his full name. His look met hers. “A business plan needs to have input from the key players and so far you haven't had that input.”

“I already know where our money is and where it isn't.”

“I don't,” Pete said.

“Just like I don't know where all our grapes have gone.”

“That's enough from both of you.” Noelene came back carrying cups of coffee. “We're not here for you to go tit for tat. Just shut up and listen.”

“I think that's the problem.” Taylor got in quickly while Noelene handed around coffees. “A business plan isn't just about money or wine production. It's a tool for both of you to understand how your business is put together. A good business plan will help you monitor
progress. It would make you both accountable and in control of your business's fate. And if at some stage you do look for an investor it's a useful tool.”

“I've got all the facts and figures we need on paper,” Edward said.

“Quiet, Edward.” Noelene took a big slurp of her coffee and nodded at Taylor. “Go on,” she said. “It's making perfect sense so far.”

Taylor glanced between the brothers. Ed's blue eyes had deepened in colour. Pete's were clear, full of concern. She went on. “I'm sure what you have is a good start, Edward, and I know you've got a plan for your grapes, Pete, but putting together a business plan forces you both to review everything from the value of your business, operations, marketing and finance to staffing. It helps you to spot connections you might otherwise miss. For example, Edward, if you were to buy the vineyard at Wrattonbully how will you manage that? What equipment will you need and if Pete is already busy here at Wriggly Creek who will oversee the vines in the new vineyard?”

She paused.

“Good point,” Noelene said and took another slurp of coffee. Ed glared at her.

“Pete, I know you focus on quality and that's very important but maybe you could up the yield of your entry-level wines. Give Edward more to sell to a bigger chain distributor. That might be a way to increase income without spending money.”

Taylor stopped. Both brothers focused their gaze on her now.

“I've been checking out your competitors,” she said. “You've got all the elements that the very successful wineries have. It's not necessarily about needing more vines or money, Edward. And Pete, I know you want an icon wine but you also need more bread-and-butter wine. Both of you have got what it takes. You just need to work smarter. I think developing a strong business plan will help you.”

Taylor stopped again. She was getting so little reaction from them she didn't know where to go next.

Noelene broke the silence with a clap of her hands. “You see,” she said. “I told you Taylor would come up with something useful.”

“This is all about why we need a plan,” Ed snapped. “Not an actual plan.”

Taylor tried to keep her face emotion-free but Ed wasn't making it easy for her. “I didn't have access to your information to mock up a plan and I don't want to put ideas in your head without you having a go first but I am more than happy to help you go through the process.”

She paused. Ed stared at her. She wasn't sure which way he was going to go.

“I'd like to try.” Pete gave her a quick smile but a troubled look stayed on his face.

“I don't see the point now,” Ed said.

“Perhaps it would mean you don't have to sell.” Taylor held his gaze. “Expansion at any cost isn't necessarily the answer. But if you don't expand, how could you generate more revenue?” Taylor warmed to her topic. “There may be things you already do that you could do better. Efficiency improvement doesn't have to cost you anything.”

Noelene stood up. “Edward, I can't believe you won't at least try.”

All four of them stared at him. Finally he threw up his hands. “Okay, okay. I'll give it some thought.”

“No time like the present,” Noelene said. “Tell them your idea, Taylor.”

“I've put some questions and suggestions on paper.” Taylor indicated the papers she'd set out on the bar. “If you'd both look at them, write what you can and I'll collate them.”

Ed gave a snort. “The old ‘where do you see yourself in five years' time' question.”