“Without hiding bad harvests from me.”
“Yes.”
“And without using the vineyard to become someone you think strangers will admire.”
Jacob looked at the photograph of Samuel and Judith.
“Who do I become, then?”
Judith reached up and straightened the crooked frame.
“Someone your father would recognize.”
That night, the wedding guests left with quiet apologies and wrapped gifts. The musicians packed away their instruments. The flowers were carried into the chapel for anyone who wanted them.
Martin gave the investigators the final key and agreed to testify.
Before leaving, he approached Judith.
“I don’t expect you to forgive me,” he said.
“I don’t.”
He nodded.
“But I will tell the truth,” he said. “Even if it costs me everything.”
“That is where truth begins.”
He accepted that and walked into the rain.
Daniel remained until midnight, answering every question Jacob asked about Samuel’s final year. When he finally prepared to leave, he placed the brass key in Judith’s hand.
“Samuel wanted you to have this.”
“I already have the deed.”
“This is not for the deed.”
She looked at him.
“It opens the greenhouse,” Daniel said. “The old one behind the east field.”
Judith frowned. “That greenhouse collapsed years ago.”
“Not all of it.”
He left before explaining.
Jacob watched the door close.
“What is in the greenhouse?”
Judith held the key between her fingers.
“I don’t know.”
For the first time since the ballroom doors had opened, something other than pain moved through the room.
