Once Upon a Wine Read Online Free PDF

Kat, then back at sign. “No.”
    â€œToo bad. Here we go.”

chapter 4

    â€œO h my god. It’s the Chateau of Woe.”
    The pine trees and tall grass gave way to sloping hills lined with neat, orderly rows of staked plants that Cammie assumed must be grapevines. At the end of each row, there was a short, scraggly bush.
    Across the field, she could see a weathered red barn with a crooked metal roof, and a small white clapboard house with green shutters and a sagging porch that looked as though it might collapse at any moment. Huge wooden barrels were stacked into pyramids alongside the barn. In the midst of all this quaintness, Aunt Ginger’s gold sedan gleamed in the sunlight. Kat parked her car next to her mother’s.
    â€œThis is . . . not what I was picturing.” Cammie made no move to get out of the car. “This looks like an abandoned summer camp.”
    â€œA
haunted
abandoned summer camp,” Kat added. “And the crazed killer is still hiding out in the hayloft in the barn.”
    â€œThere’s no central air, I’m guessing.” Cammie gaped at the house’s peeling paint and ancient windows. “How much did she pay for this?”
    Kat gripped the steering wheel tightly. “A lot.”
    â€œDefine ‘a lot.’ I’m going to need an actual number.”
    Kat shook her head. “You don’t want to know the actual number.”
    â€œYes, I do. Come on, I can take it.”
    Kat sat back and took both hands off the steering wheel.
    â€œJust tell me,” Cammie said. “I’m a grown woman.”
    â€œFine. But remember, you asked for it.” And then Kat named a figure so impossibly high that Cammie actually felt dizzy.
    â€œOh no,” she murmured. “Oh no, no, no, no, no.”
    â€œSee? I told you you didn’t want to know.”
    â€œI had no idea she even had that much.” Cammie covered her mouth with her hands.
    â€œMe neither. Apparently, all those years she was brown-bagging lunch and using old jelly jars for water glasses, she was socking money away. Very
Millionaire Next Door
.”
    â€œThe millionaire next door doesn’t spend forty years hoarding money and then blow it all on a whim,” Cammie said. “How could you have let her do this?”
    â€œMe? How was I supposed to stop her?” Kat sputtered. “You know how she gets!”
    â€œCouldn’t you get power of attorney? A legal guardianship?
Something
?”
    â€œOn what grounds?” Kat demanded.
    Cammie gazed at the dilapidated barn, the farmhouse, the rows and rows of grapevines that she had no idea how to care for. Then she glanced down at the wine magazine by her feet and started to laugh.
    Kat scowled. “I’m glad this is amusing to someone.”
    Still laughing, Cammie tried to explain. “We are so far past
Wine & Spirits
magazine. It’s time to pray for a meteor and a good insurance payout.”
    Kat bowed her head, clasped her hands, and prepared to lead them in prayer when the screen door of the house banged open.
    â€œGirls! You made it! Welcome to paradise!”
    Ginger had always been a bit eccentric. She felt it was more important to be true to herself than to follow trends, which resulted in wardrobe choices that could be best described as bohemian and hair colors that changed with the seasons. Today, she was wearing threadbare navy leggings and a billowy purple and turquoise caftan, and had honey-colored hair shot through with a bit of silver. Her neck, ears, and wrists were heaped with gold and silver jewelry, and she appeared to be almost vibrating with energy.
    Cammie turned to Kat. “What’s wrong with her?”
    â€œAsk her.” Kat glanced away. “I’m not allowed to say.”
    Ginger yanked opened Cammie’s door and literally dragged her out into the sweltering inland humidity. “Let me give you a hug, sweetie! It’s been