Chapter 18 #3
She sighed into it, the weight of carrying her unspoken dreams dissipating into Annie’s movements as they gently reassured her.
Max had spent the entirety of her adulthood believing that to pursue anything in life worth doing, she’d have to tackle it alone.
But now, lying here with Annie curled up in her arms, she let herself believe that, maybe, just maybe, doing life with someone else might be the right answer after all.
* * *
That afternoon, Max fidgeted with a pile of folders in the conference meeting room at Norwich Winery—the one usually reserved for the occasional business group tasting or staff meetings. Annie’s hand slipped into hers, squeezing three times, drawing Max’s attention.
“It’s all going to be okay,” Annie reassured for the one hundredth time that afternoon.
“You don’t even know why I called everyone here today,” Max countered.
Annie shrugged. “No, I don’t, but I know you and I know your heart and I know your vision, so I have my guesses.
Can’t wait to see if I’m right.” She toyed with the stack of gold chains hanging around Max’s neck, untwisting them so they lay flat against her sternum. “I’m so proud of you. You know that?”
A meek smile fought its way onto her lips, her hip bumping Annie’s. “I know.” Her words were soft as she inhaled deeply, basking in the heat of Annie’s pride.
“I love you, you know that too, right?” Annie stepped towards her, pressing up on her toes, brushing her cheek with a chaste kiss, the heat lingering even after it was over.
Max bit back her grin, rolling her eyes. “I kind of had a sneaking suspicion.”
The heavy conference room doors swung open, revealing a small group led by Jack filing in. Jack, Drew, Dani, and Lynn all took seats around the conference table.
“Okay, now I’m really confused. What’s going on?” Jack asked, pushing dark hair away from his eyes.
Max’s hand found Annie’s arm as she spoke softly to her. “You should sit; I think you’re going to like what I put together.”
Annie took the empty seat at the end of the table next to her brother, and Max watched as she leaned over to whisper something in his ear. Whatever it was was enough to draw out a wide, mischievous grin.
Max tapped on her laptop keyboard, bringing the screen to life, the projector showing a mirror image of the one before her. She reached for the stack of folders in front of her, passing them around to the group one by one.
“First, I want to start by saying welcome. I appreciate you all making time to be here for me, and now I’m sure you’re wondering what my big news is.”
Her eyes flicked over the group sitting in front of her.
Jack had his arms crossed, waiting expectantly while Dani looked rightfully intrigued.
Next to Dani was Lynn, who smiled encouragingly.
Annie and Drew sat side by side, both with matching smug expressions of accomplishment only confirming what she had suspected for weeks—that in her pursuit to help Max, Annie had indeed confided some identifiable details to Drew.
But it was fine. She really didn’t mind.
Max tapped the key, moving the presentation along, the screen shifting from a plain white background to a picture Annie had taken of her on their trip to Michigan, set atop the crest of the hill overlooking the rows of dormant vines.
Hills cascaded down in a criss-crossing pattern with piles of snow gathered here and there.
“Surprise.” She grinned, unable to contain her smile. “I’ve been keeping a secret. Welcome to my vineyard. Everyone, please open your folders.” She beamed, motioning to the packet of information she had prepared for the group.
“Be fucking for real,” Jack said, flipping through the paperwork. “A thirty-acre vineyard and you have the audacity to call me a nepobaby?” he scoffed.
Max grimaced. “Yeah, sorry about that,” she joked, not really sorry at all.
“To be fair, I only found out about this property a few years ago.” She tapped her keyboard again, trying her best to project a confident speaker voice.
“I’ve gathered each of you here today because you are my chosen people—my family—and I’m finally ready to share my dream with you in hopes that you’ll listen with an open mind.
To be very clear, this is an investment opportunity.
I’m seeking funding—how much, though, is entirely up to you. Any questions?”
The group shook their heads no as Max continued.
“Great. Let’s start at the beginning. On January first of next year, I take full control of these thirty acres.
” She gestured to the screen behind her, the photo of her on top of the hill still showing.
“Presently, my entire crop is sold to other wineries in the area at wholesale price. Thanks to Annie’s audit, we’ve deduced that keeping everything running as is brings in enough money to keep things operational each season, but that doesn’t account for the growth I have in mind.
” She glanced at Annie, looking for reassurance, finding it instantly in her smile, which said, You’re doing great.
She inhaled, mentally preparing herself as she clicked the presentation forward once again. The photo dissolved into thin black text spaced evenly across the screen.
“Welcome to Chimera, my impossible dream that I hope we can make a reality together.”
Max walked through each of her talking points in the presentation, first setting the scene for present-day operations then seamlessly flowing into the longer-term vision of a fully operational estate winery, complete with large-scale event space and multiple revenue-generating opportunities.
“Now I know what you’re thinking. Max, you need a lot of fucking money to make that happen.” Dani snorted in laughter while Lynn suppressed a small chuckle. “That was my first thought too.”
She clicked to the next slide, which showed an outline of her plan for the next three years.
“I’m not looking to solve for the long-term vision.
Right now it’s about the next step. Year one is all about learning as we get up and running.
Drew, I have a feeling this one was your doing, but Dave and Kit have generously agreed to partner with me and cover the costs next year to custom crush seven acres of my best grapes under my own new label. ”
“Wait, you knew?” Jack shot Drew a look of utter indignation.
Drew chuckled. “I deduced.”
“Jack,” Max cut back in, “if you’re up for it, I’d love to talk to you about developing blends. I have a target goal of selling fifteen hundred cases under the new label by the end of year two, with the profits from the remaining crop sale padding overhead.”
“Is it only grapes on the property?” Lynn asked, scribbling something in the margin of the packet on the table in front of her.
“Fifteen acres of vines, ten acres of cherry orchards,” Max answered matter-of-factly.
Jack picked up his pen as well, a scratching noise against the paper following his movements.
“Cherry wine, now we’re talking. Oh, wait, you probably have the perfect conditions for ice wine, too, yeah?
” he asked, his excitement getting the better of him.
She could practically see the ideas churning exactly the way she had hoped.
“I do, but that’s a year four exploration.
” Max grinned, jumping back into her presentation.
“Year two’s focus is build. I’ve worked with an architect—thanks, Drew, for the connection—to draw up plans to convert one of the old barns into a micro-tasting room.
It’ll be a relatively sizable undertaking, but not impossible.
This leads right into year three—grow—when all the groundwork we’ve laid starts to flourish.
By this time the tasting room will be fully open and operational. ”
“So what exactly are you looking for in terms of investments?” Dani asked, taking a sip from her water bottle.
The big question—to someone as independent as she preferred to be, the idea of needing people—of needing help—had always made her uncomfortable. At least it had, until Annie changed that, until she showed her how a dream could come into focus simply by sharing it with someone who believed in her.
“All of you are incredibly important to me,” she said, her voice dropping slightly as she scanned the room full of faces of the people she loved most. “I want to be one hundred percent transparent—I’m looking for a collective three hundred thousand dollars in outside equity to fund the barn restoration and renovation.
I can handle everything else through agricultural lines of credit while we get things up and running.
Your buy-in would give you an ownership stake in the winery, proportionate to your investment, and I expect to start seeing tasting room profit sharing by the end of year three.
Everything is outlined in your packets, so please take those with you and read through my full business plan.
If this is something that interests you, let’s talk.
If not, I will not be offended in the slightest.”
Her gaze flicked to Annie, where a proud smile waited for her.
Max straightened her posture, feeling more confident than ever that this was exactly the move she needed to make in her life right now, and that these were exactly the right people to help her make it all happen.
“This land has been in my family for generations; I’d love to continue that legacy by building something I’m proud of with the people who mean so much to me.
” She tapped her keyboard for the final time, the screen fading to black, the word CHIMERA flashing in a glint of gold before bursting into flames.