Alex
Nineteen
On Friday morning, I scroll through my patient’s chart on the tablet while Mrs. Hargrove sits on the paper-covered table.
Her hands are folded neatly in her lap, and she watches as I review her bloodwork. But when I look up, it becomes clear that her attention isn’t on the numbers in front of me.
“Quite a morning in court today,” she notes.
I pause. “Court?” I ask. That gets my attention immediately. Small towns tend to recycle gossip with impressive efficiency, but I hope she’s not talking about Josie’s grandmother’s case.
She gives a soft laugh and waves her hand vaguely. “That Evie Dempsey. Everyone’s talking about it.” Her expression carries the mild fascination people reserve for drama that doesn’t belong to them. “The judge threw out some of the evidence.”
“Is that so?” I ask, both intrigued and fighting the urge to squelch this as quickly as possible. Josie is in court this morning.
Mrs. Hargrove lifts her shoulders in a shrug. “Something about surveillance drives. Apparently, the police didn’t handle them properly.” She lowers her voice in a conspiratorial tone. “The judge said they can’t use them.”
“Does it matter that much?” I ask.
“Oh yes.” She nods firmly, seeming pleased to have useful information. “That footage showed when people were coming and going around the vineyards. The Crown was using it to build the timeline for the sabotage.”
Sabotage has always sounded dramatic when I’ve heard it mentioned related to this family feud. Hearing it attached to something specific makes the situation feel more concrete.
“So the footage is gone?” I confirm. How is Josie going to feel about this? Her grandmother’s trial is not something we’ve discussed in detail, but I know it’s a source of stress.
“That’s what the radio said this morning.” Mrs. Hargrove adjusts her sleeve and leans forward slightly. “And there were drone recordings too. Those might be out as well.”
“And that’s what tied her to the vineyard?” I ask.
Mrs. Hargrove nods again. “Exactly. It showed when equipment was moved and when the damage started. Without that, it’s much harder to prove who did what.”
I glance down at the chart again, and I’m almost surprised to see it, as if I’ve forgotten why we’re actually here. My thoughts shift to Josie again. This is a big deal to her and her siblings. The pressure and potential impact on the winery has been a stressor for all of them.
“So the prosecution just loses that evidence?” I ask again.
“That’s how the law works, apparently.” She shakes her head. “If the police don’t follow the rules, the judge can toss it. But we all know she did it, even if she gets off because of the technicality.”
I nod slowly, the explanation settling into place even as it creates a new set of questions. Evidence that tied Evie to the sabotage timeline is suddenly gone. The case doesn’t disappear, but the foundation under it shifts.
“I’ve never liked that woman,” Mrs. Hargrove admits. “She’s not very friendly, and she worries too much about what everyone is doing.”
Okay. Get your head in the game. “Mrs. Hargrove,” I say, shifting gears, “your bloodwork and the incision site both look great.”
“Oh, thank you, Dr. Spencer.” She smiles, the previous conversation disappearing into thin air. “When do I come back?”
“We’ll do another round of tests in six months.” I tear off a sheet the front desk staff will use to schedule her and hand it over. “Maybe by then this Dempsey thing will be all over,” I add.
She frowns. “Not likely. The new generation is already at it.” She waves goodbye as I leave.
I wave back as I close the door to the exam room so she can dress. I’m having lunch with Josie and her siblings today. I was so pleased to be invited, but this will likely change our conversation. I wonder if they’ll want me there after all. I finish my notes quickly and head over to Dot’s.
The diner is bustling when I push through the door. The smell of grease and apple pie bombards me as I scan the tables for a second before spotting Josie and the others gathered near the window.
The entire group is already here. I recognize Luc and Ric from the hospital, and I know Ryker well.
Josie introduces everyone else, and they’re exactly the way she’s described them.
Sera sits at the end of the table with a phone beside her plate, while Ric and Liz lean close together across from her.
Ginny and Ryder occupy the outside chairs, and farther down are Addie and Luc with their baby, Jacob.
Everyone has a full coffee cup and a vibrating phone.
I slide into the empty chair near Josie and nod around the table. No one looks like they’ve slept much.
Josie gives me a brief smile. “You made it,” she whispers. “We just ordered.”
“How did it go this morning?”
“The judge confirmed his decision,” she says as she picks up her ice water. “The surveillance drives are out.”
Ric rubs a hand across the back of his neck while he listens. “Both sets?” he asks.
“Both,” Josie confirms. “The police didn’t follow the correct warrant process.” She glances toward Sera before adding, “So the evidence can’t be used.”
Ginny shifts in her chair and folds her arms. “That’s good news for Evie, right?”
Ryder leans forward beside her. “And the drone recordings are under review now,” he adds. “If those go too, the case loses another foundation piece.”
The server arrives with lunch for most of the table and takes my order for a French dip.
The conversation is moving quickly, but the pattern is starting to form. Elements of evidence against Evie, things they all assumed were solid, are now unstable.
“The Crown still has witnesses,” Ric notes. “But those witnesses just became the center of everything.”
Sera nods, her attention shifting for a moment to the phone beside her plate. “And witnesses get torn apart during cross examination. Evie’s counsel will focus on every inconsistency.”
For a moment, the tension eases, but no one smiles. The Crown still has witnesses to call, and everyone at the table knows a trial isn’t won on a single afternoon of cross examination.
Ric sighs. “The ruling doesn’t end the case,” he says. “But it weakens it.” He glances down at his phone again, the screen lighting up with another message.
“And it gives her lawyers room to push harder,” Luc adds. “They’ll challenge everything now.”
Josie wraps her hands around her mug. She’s mostly listening and only picking at her food.
Sera opens a folder of documents that must have come with them from court and scans a page. “The judge made it clear this morning that procedural mistakes matter.”
Ginny rests her elbows on the table and studies the group. “This is very good news for Evie.”
Ric agrees. “She’s already declaring victory.” He holds up his phone. “I just got a text from her.”
Sera leans back in her chair. “The Crown still has a case,” she says. “But it’s a harder one to present.”
Addie nods beside her. “And harder means longer. And longer means more hearings, more motions, and more cross examinations.”
Josie lifts her coffee. “Which also means more documents being dragged into the open.”
Ric exhales slowly. “Whether Evie thinks this is good news or not, we need her declared innocent based on the evidence, not police failures.”
Sera closes the folder and rests her palms against it. “The legal costs will keep climbing,” she says. “And the longer this stays active in court, the more attention it draws and affects our business.”
The word attention hangs there for a second. That’s what makes this case complicated beyond just the outcome.
Ric glances toward the window. “And attention invites scrutiny.” He looks at Josie. “Did they mention anything about the co-conspirators this morning?”
Josie shakes her head. “Dylan, Scott, and Joey were there and paying close attention, though. Their cases are scheduled to start after Evie’s finishes.”
I look around the table again, taking in the mix of exhaustion and focus on their faces.
They’re talking about motions and rulings with the calm precision of people who have been living inside this fight for a long time.
The situation is clearly more complex than the brief gossip I’ve heard in town.
I set my cup down and address Ric across the table. “What exactly is Evie looking to get out of this?”
Ric shakes his head. “She wants Paradise Hill to fall,” he says quietly.
Ah. The words blanket the table, making the earlier legal discussion feel smaller. Until this moment, I’d been thinking in terms of courtrooms and evidence, not the destruction of a family legacy.
Ric lifts his coffee cup and takes a slow drink before setting it down again. “She has Black Bear,” he adds. “And it’s about making sure Paradise Hill pays for everything they’ve ever done to our family.”
“It’s not like our family has been innocent,” Sera says. “But Evie’s approach to the situation affects everything else.”
“If the prosecution’s case weakens, the story around the sabotage gets murkier,” Addie says.
Sera nods. “Exactly. And if Evie avoids a conviction, the narrative changes.”
Ginny shifts baby Jacob in her lap. “Instead of one clear explanation, we’ll end up with arguments and accusations that never fully go away.” She shakes her head. “Just like it’s always been.”
Ryder looks out the window. “Which keeps the feud alive, and keeps the vineyard tied to the scandal.”
“Wine businesses rely heavily on reputation, and it’s already having an impact,” Sera says, looking over at Josie. “Buyers, distributors, restaurants…” She pauses briefly before finishing the thought. “This will most likely make it worse—maybe for them, but probably also for us.”
“You don’t need to physically destroy a vineyard to hurt it,” Ric agrees. “You just have to make people believe it’s unstable—or undesirable.”
His phone vibrates on the table, and he exhales softly before picking it up. “It’s the lawyer,” he says as he stands and steps away.
A second phone begins ringing, and Sera looks down at her screen, her expression tightening. “Media request.”
Around the table, chairs slide back as everyone checks their devices. Lunch conversation dissolves into short exchanges and quick decisions about who needs to be where next.
At one point the server darts around the table, delivering each of us our check, and everyone digs for their wallets.
With lunch paid for, Luc pulls on his jacket while Addie wraps up their son. Ginny rises beside Ryder. “I need to get back to the office.”
Within seconds, most of the group is moving toward the door. Conversations continue as calls are answered and schedules adjusted, the quiet tension that filled the booth now turns into steady motion.
I remain seated for a moment while the space empties around me.
Josie watches while the others disappear out the door. “Come on,” she says, and I follow her out of Dot’s.
She pauses near the edge of the parking lot, her attention drifting toward the street where the others’ cars are already pulling away. For a moment she simply stands there, her hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket.
The stillness here makes it easier to see the fatigue in her expression. “How serious is this actually?” I ask, keeping my voice low.
She exhales slowly, her gaze still fixed on the road. “Serious enough that everyone’s paying attention to every move we make,” she says.
A truck rolls past on the street. “Because Evie was accused of sabotaging Paradise Hill?” I ask. The question sounds simple, though the conversation inside Dot’s has already suggested the answer won’t be.
Josie nods and turns toward me. “Max Paradise was caught vandalizing, but he accused Evie of orchestrating it.”
“Are they prosecuting Max?”
Her expression softens slightly. “Not so far. We don’t know if he made a deal.
But Zach Paradise, Max’s son and our half-brother, is already in jail for the sabotage.
He took a deal and will be out in a few months.
I think we’re just worried that once the prosecution starts digging through things again, trying to reinforce their case, nothing stays private.
This feud has gone on for generations. I can’t even imagine the skeletons in the closets. ”
“Half-brother?” I’m confused.
Josie nods. “Turns out Max’s wife and my father had an affair, and Zach is our half-brother.
Max raised him, but they’re going to claim that Evie manipulated them because of the history.
The family has known about Zach for a while, but no one in town knows yet.
That’s going to hurt when it comes out.”
“I’ll bet.”
She looks off toward the mountains beyond town before continuing.
“It’s all just so tawdry. Our finances. The land.
Every decision we’ve made at the vineyard…
” She shakes her head. “Anything connected to the vineyard can get picked apart. And while I feel confident that Sera and Evie are accurate in what they give to the accountant, it seems like they can always find something that can turn into a gotcha moment.”
I nod, trying to make sense of all this. I’ve always thought of the vineyard as something permanent in Josie’s life. But listening to her talk makes it sound less like a firm family foundation and more like something that could slip through their fingers.
“After today’s news, it sounds like the Crown’s case is falling apart, though, right?”
Josie rests her hands against the car beside us. “Maybe? But I think we’ve all been here before and know things aren’t always what they seem, and they’re subject to change. When my grandmother is involved, you just never know, so we know better than to get too excited.”
I nod, sorting through that. “Why would the case affect sales of the wine? I get why it would maybe locally, but across the province and the country seems extreme.”
“Wine only sells when people trust the vineyard behind it,” she says.
“When the label comes with positive associations. That means restaurants, distributors, and customers who come back to the vineyard every year. Already we’re seeing the effects of the case on our reputation.
One distributor has changed their order, at least partially because Paradise Hill is taking advantage of the situation. ”
I do my best to stand strong beside her as that realization hits us both.
This morning the evidence ruling sounded like courtroom procedure, something separate from the rest of my day.
But here with Josie, it feels different.
The ruling isn’t just about evidence or even about the strength of this case.
It’s about whether the story around the sabotage ever ends—or whether it will keep tearing through Josie’s family and the vineyard they’ve built their lives around.
I look at her beside me, outwardly calm even though the ground under her has shifted. Whatever happens in that courtroom isn’t going to stay there, and I’m not sure there’s anything I can do to help.