“That’s not good enough.” Henri fumed for a moment, sniffing loudly like an angry bull about to strike. But one sharp glance from Felix had him gritting his teeth. He sat back in his chair, and his breath slowed. Was he trying to chill out? I hoped so. The man was a loose cannon.
But abruptly he stood again and focused on Guru Bob. “My friends think I’m wrong to direct my anger toward you, sir. But I look at you, and I see a man whose family has been in possession of our most precious heirlooms for several generations. All that time, we had nothing. So how are we to be made whole again? Will you simply return our trinkets and that will be that? No. You owe us more. Your family owes us more. Perhaps we should pay them a visit and see what appeals to us.”
Sophie grabbed hold of her husband’s arm. “Henri, no!”
Felix made a guttural sound of contempt, but Henri ignored both of them and continued talking. “I may not have the money or means to take you on personally, sir, but suppose I call the newspapers and tell them my story. How much is it worth to avoid negative publicity?”
Guru Bob was able to maintain his usual Zen-like calm throughout the diatribe, but Gabriel was seething and asked, “Are you talking about blackmail, Henri?”
Alarmed, I exchanged a glance with Derek, who was quick to address the cooler heads at the table. “You’re all free to seek whatever counsel you wish in this matter. However, I’ll caution you that the more publicity you seek regarding these valuable objects, the greater the possibility of break-ins and thefts.”
“Ah, écoutez, Henri,” Felix chided. “Réfléchissez avant de parler à nouveau.”
I leaned closer to Derek. “What did he say?”
He whispered in my ear, “He told Henri to listen and think before he speaks again.”
“Good. He’s a hothead.”
Guru Bob stood once more to address everyone at the table. “Again, I am very sorry to have caused you pain. All I can do to mitigate your years of suffering is to return everything as quickly as possible. I would ask that you each make a list of the items your families gave to my grandfather. As quickly as I receive your lists, I will see that your belongings are delivered back to you with all speed.”
“Merde,” Henri said with a guttural snarl. “You can take that freaking list and shove it.” He glared at his friends around the table. “How can we trust him? I say we go over there and take what belongs to us.”
“You need to mellow out, friend,” Gabriel said, walking up behind him. “You take one step onto Dharma winery property and you’ll be looking trouble right in the eye.”
Derek took my hand and nodded discreetly at Guru Bob. We stood, and Derek handed Monsieur Cloutier a business card. “Please call me if you need anything.”
“Merci, Monsieur Stone,” he murmured.
Guru Bob bowed his head briefly to Solange. “Thank you for your warm hospitality and wonderful food. I look forward to welcoming you into my home in the future.” He pulled Monsieur Cloutier aside for a brief, private word.
I thanked Solange, then turned and smiled at the others. “It was lovely to meet all of you.”
I could hear Henri grumbling still, trying to incite his friends to challenge Guru Bob. We were close to the front door when I heard footsteps pounding after us.
“You are the grandson of a thief!” Henri shouted. “Why should we take your word for anything?”
Two of the Frenchmen grabbed hold of him, giving us time to walk swiftly out of the house, slip into our cars, and drive away.
Chapter Seven
“We have to make sure Guru Bob’s okay,” I said, trying not to wring my hands as we raced away from Frenchman’s Hill.
Derek reached over and took hold of my hand. “I’ve already planned to follow them home.”
“You’re the best.”
“Yes, I am.”
I laughed as he knew I would. But he could tell I was still tense, so he squeezed my hand lightly. “Things will be fine, love.”
My jaw clenched. “That guy was so angry.”
“Henri has all the qualities of a real troublemaker, but you must’ve noticed that the others weren’t backing him up.”
“I did, and I was grateful for that. But even if Henri doesn’t incite any more discord, it was still difficult to watch him attacking Guru Bob.”
“Yes, it was,” Derek said with a pensive frown. “But Guru Bob handled it well.”
“He did. I just hope he won’t feel guilty about it.”
“He won’t,” Derek said. “He’ll take action.”
I squeezed his hand. Sometimes he said the best things.
Derek pulled to a stop at the curb, right behind Gabriel’s BMW. I jumped out of the car and followed Guru Bob halfway up the walkway leading to his elegant Queen Anne Victorian home at the top of the hill. “Robson.”
He paused and turned, looking surprised to see me. “Brooklyn, is something wrong, dear? You seem upset. What happened?”
“That man called you names and accused you of horrible things. I just wanted to make sure you’re all right.”
“I am fine.” He peered at me for a long moment. “You must not suffer on my behalf, gracious.”