31. James
CHAPTER 31
JAMES
I had a fleeting thought on the plane ride home yesterday that maybe things wouldn’t be as perfect between me and Hallie once we were back in the so-called real world. What if the amazing week we shared was mostly due to the fantasy we were living in—already pretending we were a couple, staying at a high-end lodge on a beautiful dude ranch in Wyoming. It occurred to me that when we were home and returned to our small apartments and day-to-day existence, we might not feel the same way about each other as we thought we did.
This concern ended up being fleeting and completely nonsensical because waking up next to Hallie in her apartment is even better than it was at the hotel. It feels safe and reassuring, like everything that happened wasn’t just a dream. Being spooned up against her in her full-sized bed, wrapped in the sheets that smell like her body lotion, looking around the room at her family photographs, waiting for the day Fred learns my name, it feels like I’m truly part of someone’s life, instead of just being adrift and alone. And there is something so special about waking up next to the woman I love—something I never thought I’d experience again. It’s true, though. I am madly, undeniably in love with Hallie.
I tighten my arm around her waist, nuzzling my nose against the back of her neck as she yawns and stretches out her legs.
“Hi,” she says, still sounding half asleep.
“Good morning,” I reply softly.
With a grin, Hallie rolls over to face me, running her hand up and down my arm.
“It’s a very good morning,” she says.
Hallie leans in and kisses me softly at first, letting her lips graze against mine, but then she lingers for a moment longer until I can’t resist her any longer. Pulling her into a deeper kiss, I wrap my arms around her body and roll her on top of me. She’s still naked from last night and the feeling of her warm body on mine quickly stirs my arousal.
“Hold that thought,” Hallie says with a sigh. “I have to get ready for work. I can’t be late.”
“I can’t believe they didn’t give you the day off,” I groan as she moves off of me and gets up out of bed.
“Well, technically we just had a week off,” she responds. “The vineyard doesn’t run itself and it can’t stay closed for too long.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I nod.
I roll onto my side, enjoying watching as Hallie stands naked in front of her closet, picking out clothes for work. Her long hair hangs down her back in tousled waves, stopping a few inches above the curves of her bare waist and ass.
“Are you sure you don’t have a few minutes,” I ask as I climb out of bed and move up behind her.
Hallie leans back against me, her hand reaching around to touch my thigh as I kiss the bend of her neck.
“I’m afraid not,” she says. “I still need to shower.”
“I can join you,” I tell her, already thinking about the water dripping down her body.
“I don’t think so,” she laughs. “But I’ll take a rain check.”
She breathes in deeply, closing her eyes as I kiss her neck again, and then she reaches into her closest to pull out a pair of pants and a sweater.
“Do you know what you’re going to do about Chase?” I ask, searching for my boxers as Hallie lays her clothes down on the bed. “Are you going to tell the Winters what you overheard between him and Annette at the airport?”
“I don’t know,” Hallie says with a long exhale. She looks up at me, her eyes tortured with indecision. “I know that if the situation was reversed, Chase would have already gone to the brothers by now.”
“Oh, one hundred percent,” I agree.
“But I don’t want to be like Chase and that’s not how I want to get the promotion,” Hallie says. She looks down at the outfit on the bed and then heads back to the closet, returning with a white button down to wear under the sweater. “As badly as I need the extra money, I’m not going to lower my standards and stoop to Chase’s level.”
“And as much as I’d like to see that asshole put in his place, I think you’re doing the right thing,” I tell her.
Hallie looks up at me, nodding for a second.
“Thanks,” she says. “I just couldn’t live with myself if I got the promotion only because I used Chase’s personal trouble against him. I want this job because I earned it, and because I’m the best person for the job.”
“Good for you,” I reply, pulling her into one more kiss. “Now go get in the shower before I can’t restrain myself any longer.”
With a laugh, Hallie heads to the bathroom while I finish collecting my clothes from around the room. As I think about our conversation, I’m amazed at how genuine Hallie is, how she refuses to tear someone else down just to get what she wants. She’s kind and compassionate but also firm in her moral compass. I know how much she needs this promotion to help her family, but she’s not willing to sell her soul for it. It makes me want to help her even more. Hopefully I can do just that.
Trey isn’t at the restaurant yet when I arrive for lunch, so I take a seat in a booth facing the door. He walks in a few minutes later and I wave from my seat to get his attention. As he walks towards me, I feel oddly nervous, something I haven’t experienced around my brother, or anyone, in a long time. But it makes sense, of course; I haven’t cared about anyone or anything in a long time, the way I care about Hallie, and I need my brother on my side if I’m going to help the Evans family keep their summer camp.
“Hey,” Trey says as he slides into the booth across from me. “I was surprised to hear from you. I think I’ve seen you more in the last couple of weeks than the last five years.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” I say, prepared to show a little humility before I get to the reason I asked my brother to lunch. “That’s all on me, obviously. What’s going on between me and Dad should have stayed between us, but with you working for the company, too, I had a hard time separating you from the problem.”
Trey stares at me for a moment, his eyes slightly narrowed, his brow line furrowed.
“What’s going on?” he asks with suspicion. “Why did you want me to meet you?”
“I need a favor,” I admit without beating around the bush.
Trey sits back in his seat, his confusion and suspicion turning to amusement. A smirk plays on his lips as the server comes to the table.
“Hi, can I get you something to drink?” he asks.
“I’ll have a vodka club,” Trey replies.
“And you, sir?” the server asks me.
“Whatever IPA you have on tap,” I say. “Thanks.”
As the server heads off to the bar, Trey cocks his head to the side, still staring me down.
“Well, this is interesting,” he says. “You wouldn’t do me a favor and come to Dad’s birthday party, but then you call me up and ask me to lunch because you want something from me. Very interesting.”
“Come on, Trey,” I say with a long exhale. I was expecting pushback, but now I see he’s going to make this harder for me than I thought. “You know Dad didn’t want me there.”
“I don’t know that at all,” Trey shrugs. “Maybe he would have appreciated seeing his estranged son on his big birthday. The rest of the family was there. Mom was going to have a portrait taken and framed for him for Christmas, but she cancelled it because you were missing.”
“Don’t try to guilt trip me,” I say softly. “You know it would have been a mess if I were there. At best, Dad and I would have ignored each other the whole time and made everything awkward and uncomfortable. I actually did you a favor by not showing.”
“I guess we’ll never know,” Trey mutters as the server comes back with our drinks.
“Anything to start?” he asks. “Our appetizer special is a stuffed artichoke with tarragon and crab meat.”
“Uh, no thanks,” I shake my head. “I think we need a few minutes to decide.”
The waiter leaves again, but neither of us reach for our menu to decide what to order.
“I met someone,” I tell my brother.
“Oh yeah, the girl you were vacationing with to get out of Dad’s party,” Trey huffs. “Does this woman know you were just using her?”
“I love her,” I say bluntly, knowing that will get his attention.
Trey’s eyes widen slightly, and he leans in towards me from across the table.
“Are you serious?” he asks.
“Very.”
“Well…who is she?” Trey asks, shaking his head in amazement.
“Her name is Hallie Evans,” I say pointedly, waiting for him to connect the dots.
“Damn,” Trey replies. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
Trey pauses and takes a sip of his water. I can tell from the look in his eyes he’s holding back another question.
“Just say it,” I blurt.
“You’re absolutely sure you love her? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for you, I just… This isn’t just some infatuation gone a little too far?”
This was not the question I was expecting. I guess being thick-skulled runs in the family.
“Trey, of course I love her. I adore her,” I insist, getting a little too defensive.
“Okay, okay. I just don’t want to see you get hurt again. Sorry for asking. I’m happy for you. Really.”
An awkward silence falls between us. He’s not getting it.
“Anything else here that might raise a red flag to you?” I ask, cutting through the quiet. “Hallie Evans ?”
Trey’s mouth drops, finally putting the pieces together.
“Shit! As in…Mark Evans?”
“Yup,” I nod. “The one and only. I had no idea at first, but we discovered the connection between our fathers while we were in Wyoming.”
“How did that go over?” Trey asks.
“Not well at first,” I admit. “But I told her that I have nothing to do with the family company or what happened between Dad and her father.”
“Wow, man,” Trey shakes his head, sipping his cocktail. “Leave it to you to get involved with Mark Evans’s daughter. Of all the women, and all the time you swore off relationships…”
“I know,” I groan. “Trust me, had I known from the start who she was, I never would have gone near her, but I’m so glad that wasn’t the case because she’s amazing, Trey. I really do love her.”
“So does she have to do with the favor you need from me?” Trey asks, raising his eyebrow.
“Yeah,” I exhale.
I take a long swig of my beer before telling my brother about the Evans’s summer camp and how they’re going to have to close it down if they can’t buy Dad out of the lease. Trey listens silently, shaking his head every so often.
“I want to help them,” I tell Trey. “That camp is much more than a business to the Evanses.”
“That camp is the reason Mark and Dad ended their partnership and stopped being friends,” Trey reminds me.
“I know.”
Trey studies me for a moment before leaning back against the booth.
“I’d like to help you, mostly so I can say you owe me one, but I don’t know what you think I can do,” Trey says to me.
“Get Dad to extend the lease,” I respond. “Or better yet, get him to sign over his half interest in the land to the Evanses.”
“Oh, come on,” Trey laughs. “We’re talking about Dad, here. You think he’s going to do something like that out of the goodness of his heart?”
“No,” I shake my head. “No, I know he won’t. He’s heartless; that’s why I left the company, remember? But there just has to be a way to get him to do the right thing here and you have his ear—I don’t.”
“Man,” Trey sighs as he sips his drink again. “You must really have it bad for this girl.”
“I do. I never thought I’d ever love anyone again after what Simone did to me, but no matter how hard I tried to fight it, Hallie managed to get into my heart. I need to do this for her.”
“I’m really glad to see you in love and happy again,” Trey says. “It’s been too long.”
He spins his drink around, the ice clinking against the glass.
“Look, I’ll see what I can do,” he finally tells me. “But no promises.”
“Thank you,” I nod. “I appreciate it.”
“And you owe me.”
Needing to lose myself in my work for a while, I spend the afternoon in my shop, working on a new piece inspired by the mountains and vistas in Wyoming. It helps to take my mind off my conversation with Trey and whether or not he’s actually going to be able to convince our father to be a decent human being. If I had any sway left with the old man, I would be on my knees begging him to let the property go, but I suspect that if I try to advocate for Hallie and her family myself, it will just make him dig his heels in even more. The fact is that my father doesn’t need the money from the camp; he’s just being a douchebag. He’s holding a grudge against Hallie’s father for breaking up their partnership and he’s not going to let go of the past easily, if at all. Having Trey talk to him is a long shot, but it’s the only shot I’ve got.
I didn’t eat much at lunch, so I’m starving by the time I get back to my apartment. I notice Hallie’s light is on next door and I slow my pace, thinking about knocking to see how her day went, but I’m not sure if I should give her some space. We haven’t talked about what our lives as neighbors who are dating will look like and it’s strange to know that she’s right next door, but she might need some time to herself. After some deliberation, I decide to go home and scrounge up something for dinner, then I’ll text to see how her day went. Hopefully she’ll suggest telling me about it in person.
As I’m pulling my keys from my pocket, however, I notice a piece of paper taped to my door and I grin when I see it’s a note from Hallie, telling me to come to her place. Right away, I slip my keys back into my pocket and retrace my steps to Hallie’s apartment, knocking on the door.
“Hi there,” Hallie says, flinging the door open with a smile.
She immediately wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me into a long, deep kiss. Swept away in the moment, I dip her backwards slightly, holding her tight and leaning close. I can feel the muscles in my back and shoulder relax and my lungs fill with a cleansing breath.
“Mmm, something smells good,” I murmur, bringing Hallie upright as I look around the apartment.
The oven is on in the kitchen and there’s a savory, herbal scent wafting through the room. When I take a look around, I realize there’s more than just food in the oven; Hallie’s apartment is decorated with votive candles and there’s music on, too. I look back at her and I notice that she’s not in the same outfit she wore to work but has changed into some tight jeans and a very low cut blouse.
“Are you seducing me with a sexy outfit and a home cooked meal?” I ask.
“Well, yes, except the food is take out; it’s just in the oven staying warm,” she says with a laugh. “I’m not much of a cook on short notice.”
“Shit!”
I spin around to see Hallie’s parrot squawking in his cage, his wings flapping out to his sides.
“Hey, watch your language,” Hallie shakes her head at the bird. “I hope you were on better behavior when Trevor was taking care of you.”
“Shit!” Fred replies. “Shit! Shit!”
“He’s been on a roll with that word since I got home from work,” Hallie sighs. “I think he’s just mad I left him for a week. He’s very possessive of me.”
“Uh oh,” I laugh. “Should I be jealous?”
“Don’t tell Fred,” Hallie whispers, “but as much as I love him, I think he’s been replaced.”
“Sorry Freddy,” I call across the room. “She’s all mine.”
“Shit, fuck!” Fred replies as I give Hallie another kiss.
“I think dinner can stay warm a little longer in the oven,” I say softly, feeling Hallie’s body pressed against mine.