I walked out onto the stone terrace in a comfortable cream linen dress, holding a warm porcelain cup of coffee in both hands.

The surface of the lake was still and gray, mirroring the deep sky and the tall cypress trees along the shore.

A gentle evening breeze stirred the leaves of the vines climbing the stone pillars, bringing the crisp scent of pine needles down from the mountains.

My shoulders were relaxed, and my breath came slow and easy in the quiet air.

I had reclaimed my late father’s sixty-acre estate in Valle de Bravo and his commercial property through careful legal enforcement of a trust that had been mine all along.