Solomon’s Vineyard: Book Iii

By Roger Dixon and Sophie Woollven

Andrew Solomon, a young London bank clerk, is “let go” by the bank in the course of reorganization, whereupon his wife leaves him for a wealthy lover. But these are almost immediately killed in a car crash and with the compensation from the bank, and his wife’s insurance he suddenly finds himself a wealthy man.

He takes a Mediterranean cruise to get away from it all but falls off the boat one night and is rescued by some French fishermen. He buys a small car and on the drive home stops at a small town in the Avergne and finds himself looking in an Estate Agent’s window: For sale- established riverside B&B, with small vineyard.

He is hugely attracted to the idea-also to Sabine, then young Estate Agent, and with the help of her uncle Gabriel, puts his considerable funds into developing the Vineyard, and making their own wine instead of just sending their grapes to the local co-operative- which incurs the growing hostility of some of their neighbors-George Cortou, President of the Co-op in particular. Despite this, the reputation of the vineyard continues to grow until some decide they have to get rid of “The English” at all costs…

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jul 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781728353432

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© 2020 Roger Dixon and Sophie Woollven. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/16/2020

ISBN: 978-1-7283-5344-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-5343-2 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

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CONTENTS

PART III

Rousanne

Chapter One: Ten Years Later

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Six

PART III

Rousanne

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CHAPTER ONE

TEN YEARS LATER

Mel refreshed her lip gloss; took a final look at herself in the aircraft’s wash room mirror, and after running her hand through the dark curls which had appeared again when she had it cut short, opened the door and resumed her seat.

Her mother had tearfully seen her off on the overnight f light from LA to Paris, where she had left her car two weeks ago, and Mel had promised to visit again. But she had lived in France now for ten years. At twenty-four, she was a fully qualified vet having passed her final exams at the end of June, ranked second in her year at Clermont Ferrand, and following in the footsteps of her adopted grandfather Marcus, who had done everything he could to encourage her.

When she was home, she stayed with her father Dale and his wife Holly at their house on the Wine Estate of Poussin le Bas, but she had little interest in the Vineyard, apart from the fact that with its gentle, south facing slope down to the river Truyere, where she had learned to swim as a child, it was a beautiful place to spend her vacations. She had plenty of friends locally, including one or two young men who she knew would have been only too happy to form a closer relationship with her, but as she was away at College most of the year, and when she was home, far preferred to go out with Marcus on his rounds - apart from some mild ‘making out’ in the back of a car after a party -there had never been time for anything to develop.

‘Perhaps that would change now’ she wondered as she strapped herself back into her seat and tried to get comfortable enough to sleep a little.

The crew turned the cabin lights down low and Mel closed her eyes. She wondered if she would ever see her mother again whose fear of f lying had meant contact had only been maintained by Mel making the long journey. But when she got back, she would begin to take over Marcus’s practice full time. He had only kept it going as long as he had to keep the door open for her. In fact, he had retired for the first time fifteen years ago, but the man who had taken over his Practice contracted bovine TB and had asked Marcus to come back until he recovered, but he never had. She was really looking forward to assuming the main responsibility, but it had been agreed that her grandfather would continue to help out part time until she found her feet.

Mel had not enjoyed her recent visit. Her Mother’s husband, having had no time for her until recently, had taken too close an interest this last time for her liking, winking at her behind her Mother’s back with an expression that filled her with disgust, and he had taken to resting his hand on her shoulder when passing a chair in which she was sitting. She had never said anything for her Mother’s sake and certainly never did anything to encourage him.

Apart from lip gloss and some mascara, Mel used no makeup unless she was going to a party. With wide set brown eyes and a f lawless complexion she had inherited from her Italian grandmother, she had little need or inclination to bother with anything else, not even with her eyebrows, unfashionably thick for a girl.

Spending so much time in the open air, her face, arms and shoulders were permanently sun tanned and her father teased her that she was like a good looking schoolboy - apart from a well developed bust, whose difficulty to discipline was something Mel felt she could have done without, but which had fascinated her male fellow students!

*

Holly glanced at her watch as she got out of the car, having managed to leave the Clinic on time for once, and started to walk into the house. Dale’s car was not in the yard but Anna had evidently arrived in time to get the Twins their usual snack when they got back from school before they started on their homework. It would be nice to be there when the school bus dropped them off in the lane outside the house for a change, and be the one to help with their homework if need be, a task, she thought guiltily that normally fell on their father’s shoulders - not that he ever seemed to mind.

Chrissie, aka Christine, rarely needed much help. At eight years old she and her twin brother Andrew were already as different from each other as it was possible to imagine twins could be. True, they were not ‘identical’ but almost from day one each had developed in their own way: Andrew was already several inches taller than his sister and big with it. Despite this, he had a gentle nature, and was liked by almost everyone. In a class lower than his sister, he showed little enthusiasm for academia, preferring sport, at which he was outstanding, particularly soccer, and enjoyed working with his father on the Estate. He was a push-over for his clever sister despite her being so much smaller and who, although she adored him, rarely hesitated to manipulate him when it suited her. Andrew was no fool, nevertheless, and always knew perfectly well what she was up to, but he loved and admired her in return and was usually happy and amused to go along with whatever her current plan seemed to be.

In return, Chrissie, in the occasional absence of their father, helped him with his homework and often actually did it for him, leaving him free to meet his friends for a game or drive the tractor when Phillipe, the Estate Manager, was there to supervise. In contrast, Chrissie loved school. She worked hard and was always winning prizes She longed for the day when she could start to follow in her mother’s footsteps in becoming a doctor.

They both got on with Mel, their half sister, although she had been away most of the time, and although Chrissie had no wish to become a vet herself, her own ambition was a bond between them and they talked for hours about their respective callings. Chrissie was not as popular at school as her brother, attracting the envy inevitable from the less gifted, but she had one or two close girl friends and the presence of her brother ensured that rarely did any hostility towards her manifest itself openly.

Dale, who was an American, and Holly, who was half English, always spoke to them in English at home so they were bi-lingual, and Holly laughed that this did not do her own English any harm either.

After a word with Anna, Holly walked through the house and out onto the terrace with its view down the rows of vines to the river and across to the woods on the other side, which in turn gave way to open country rising to the ridge crowned by the Pic du Midi some twenty miles to the south.

It was late spring and already the vines were coming into bud; the pruning was finished, and although sales and administration continued apace there would be little to do on the Estate itself apart from keeping the Refrigeration Plant in the Winery, installed five years ago, ticking over.

Holly sat in one of the chairs to wait for the children to come home. It had been a favourite place for her mother Ellie to sit, and of her grandfather, Andrew Solomon, who had bought the then run down estate nearly fifty years ago, before her. Having chosen to become a doctor, and fully occupied as senior partner of the Clinic in Les deux Demoiselles Holly had had little to do with the running of the estate apart from a period after her mother and brother were killed in a motor accident and before her husband Dale had assumed full responsibility. Dale had been an expert from the University of California who had originally been sent when there was a legal dispute about the ownership of the Estate following the accident, but after a period of hostility, they had fallen in love and Holly had been more than willing to hand over everything to him so she could return to her own chosen profession.

Thanks to him, the improvements that her mother had initiated had been carried forward. Holly still owned forty per cent of the Estate in her own right and controlled a further forty per cent on behalf of a Trust set up by Lisa, the American fiancee` of her brother Billy and to whom he had willed his share of the Estate just before he died. The balance was held by the Estate Manager Phillipe Meuse under an arrangement entered into when Holly was totally dependent on him.

Lisa had put her share into trust for the benefit of her son Gus, now ten years old who continued to live with her mother in New York.

Despite these complications, the arrangement had run smoothly enough once it had settled down. The profits were not inconsiderable, and with her income from the Clinic and Dale’s earnings as Estate Director, much of it was reinvested in the Estate together with the share accruing to the Trust after setting aside a sum each year towards Gus’s College Education. Phillipe had also agreed that his share could be reinvested and this had avoided still further complications. However, he had told them that after the next vendange he wished to retire as manager. He would still like to continue to occupy the house on the other side of the estate where he lived with his wife Lorraine, and perhaps help out on a part time basis, but he had asked that his job be offered to his son Stephane, who had earned a considerable reputation for himself working on two of the Premier Grand Cru Estates in the Margaux Region of Bordeaux and was, his father suggested, uniquely qualified to help Dale carry the estate up to the next level.

Before agreeing to this, however, both had insisted on raising the matter with Mel:

Iit had been twelve years since Stephane had had to leave the estate where he was then working as his father’s assistant because of something which had happened with Mel who was then twelve, although looking older. Whatever the details which led up to the incident, the fact of the matter was that he had sex with her - he insisted, at her request - and was lucky to have been allowed to leave without the police becoming involved. Years later, Mel had said to Holly that it had been her fault and she did not blame him; but there had been no question of his coming back until now. Stephane himself had been hesitant at first to agree to his father’s suggestion, but Phillipe had offered to transfer his shares to him, and the prospect of being part owner of a prestigious estate - something he had no hope of achieving anywhere else, was a powerful incentive. And although Mel would be coming back to live in the main house until she could move Marcus’s Practice to a building on the other side of town, which had already been earmarked for that purpose, they would see little of each other, Even so, Stephane had also insisted she be asked how she felt about seeing him again.

In the event, Mel had appeared untroubled; and as a result, he would be coming back to live with his parents in time to familiarise himself with what would be expected of him before his father retired, and certainly in time to help with the forthcoming vendange.

Holly had become fond of Mel over the years, but despite her ready agreement to Stephane’s return, found it difficult not to wonder what she really must be feeling. If a young woman was lucky, her first lover would be just that - loving, kind and considerate. She knew it rarely worked out that way, but to have your first sexual experience amount to statutory rape, no matter what the explanation, was something she could not imagine. Time would tell.

*

It had been a great party - held in the apartment of colleagues of Lisa’s husband Harvey on the other side of town in honour of the visiting speaker from Oxford, England, who had held the f loor at the recent Legal Symposium at Harvard, and was paying a f leeting visit to friends in New York before f lying home.

Lisa had dazzled the mostly vintage gathering. Unlike some of the wives, who recognised her from their expensive fashion magazines, the men simply envied their younger colleague the gorgeous woman at his side and tried not to stare until their own wives helped by digging them in the ribs.

It was not late when the party broke up, and Harvey had not thought there would be any problem finding a cab, but as they left the building they saw it had started to rain, which invariably emptied the New York streets of cabs. They were about to turn back to go inside and phone when one drew up and Harvey gratefully snatched open the door for Lisa and followed her inside before they realised there was a second person in the front and that they were not in an official licensed vehicle. The second man seemed pleasant however and asked politely if they minded if the driver dropped him off first, and it was not until they crossed the Washington Bridge into New Jersey that Harvey glanced at Lisa and frowned, but before he could say anything the car drew up beside some waste ground and the other passenger got out. But instead of paying the driver, he opened the door next to Harvey and told them to get out, having produced a revolver from somewhere in the mean time, to encourage them to do so

They had no choice but to hand over Harvey’s phone and all the cash and credit cards he was carrying, as well as Lisa’s sapphire necklace and matching bracelet before the car drove off leaving them in the middle of nowhere.

Harvey apologised for not taking more care, but Lisa gave him a hug, then tucked her arm through his and they began to walk through the largely deserted side streets in the direction of the river hoping to find a phone box; there were still some, ‘though increasingly few and far between.

A passing police car eventually found them lying by the road side. An ambulance was called but Harvey was already dead. It was several hours before the woman with him was able to tell them that they had been cornered by a gang of youths who on finding they were carrying nothing of value, raped her in turn while holding her companion, then shot him before they ran off.

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CHAPTER TWO

As soon as she got back, Mel plunged into the task of taking over the reins from Marcus. Having spent so much of her vacations going round with him, she knew most of the Clients and their usual problems and she was also already licensed by the Ministry of Agriculture to carry out the routine inspections required by anyone raising animals for sale or slaughter. Only a small part of the Practice was concerned with domestic pets and the owners of these brought them to Marcus’s old surgery which he had set up in the renovated old lambing shed at Pousin le Bas, and Holly had said she was happy for Mel to go on using this until the building in town was ready. Work connected with farm animals, however, needed visits and the one she looked forward to most was to Marcus’s old friend Lucien Bertrand at Charollais de Amain des Cote and the gigantic white bull Caesar, whom she had befriended ten years ago and who, Bertrand swore, always knew when she was coming. She was pleased to see that a visit to the farm had been scheduled in the appointments book by Marcus while she was away and she invited him to come with her.

They never failed to bring sandwiches for a snack lunch on the way to Amain down by the river several miles up-stream from Pousin le Bas and where Marcus had brought Mel the first time he had taken