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"Are you awake?"

Greg blinked and realized he was lying on the floor Edward knelt beside hilanced away "What happened?" he asked, still in a daze

"You passed out"

"I did?" Abruptly Greg sat upright He would have fled, but the roo fashion

"Take it slowly," Edward advised, then helped him stand up "I’ve asked one of the nurses to take your blood pressure Tellto eat?"

"I’" It was a lie He wasn’t fine and he hadn’t eaten breakfast "I just don’t happen to like needles"

"Then it’s a brave thing you did, co repeated with a short laugh "I’est coho ever lived"

Seven

On Monday nized that he had no other options left to him It wouldn’t be easy to apply for a loan at Pacific Union Bank, but he had nowhere else to go He’d never been a person to beg Never needed to beg until now, but if begging would help him hold on to Bennett Wines, he’d do that andto his own brother Phil, who’d like nothing better than to call hi felt like a failure

Despite hishis best suit He was about to head out the door when his phone rang Caller ID told hi"

It was Tess, his almost ex-wife Ex-wife number three "What’s the matter? Are you after another pound of flesh?" he sneered The last thing he needed right noas to deal with spoiled selfish Tess

"I heard about your , too"

He heard her intake of breath "I don’t wish you ill, Greg"

He didn’t believe her for aan unpleasant task that demanded all his attention, and he didn’t want to be waylaid by an even more unpleasant one

"I called because I didn’t realize the extent of your money proble

"I wish you’d told me earlier If I’d known, perhaps--"

"Would it havebefore the fan leaf virus had destroyed his vines Long before he’d been confronted with one financial crisis after another He knehen he and Tess gota mistake Still, that hadn’t stopped hi ether, but at thefor theet used to it eventually

She didn’t answer his probing question right away "If I’d known about your troubles, I like to think it would have changed things"

All woht cynically "Think what you like," he , do you hate ht him up short "I don’t hate you at all," he said, and realized it was true He was sorry to see the e end, but he hadn’t been surprised and, in fact, had anticipated their divorce long before Tess moved out

"You don’t?" She sounded surprised, but recovered quickly "Good, because I was thinking we should both do aith these attorneys and settle matters on our own I can’t afford three-hundred dollars an hour, and neither can you"

Greg wasn’t sure he should put too e of heart "Do you ht, naerness that crept into his voice, but he wanted the attorneys out of these divorce proceedings asup ani for unreasonable concessions--he and Tess had a chance of ht?" she suggested

Greg noted the tied on friendly, they ended the call

Well, well Life was full of surprises, and not all of them unpleasant

The drive into the city, however, could only be called unpleasant Traffic was heavy and Greg soon lost his patience, particularly when it took hi, and that wasn’t even close to the financial district The cost of parking in San Francisco should be illegal, he grumbled to himself This was his third trip into the city within ten days; he hadn’t been to San Francisco three ti preferred his role as lord of the manor--a role that was about to be permanently canceled if he couldn’t secure a loan

The sidewalks were crowded, since it was almost lunchtime A brisk wind blew off the bay and he hunched his shoulders against it, ignoring the expensive-looking decorations on the bank buildings and the tasteful Christ out from well-appointed lobbies as doors were opened