Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Boone leaned back in the chair, watching several of the Storm guys out on the dance floor of Whiskey Abbey, swinging around pretty girls.
He sipped his beer, regretting for the millionth time tonight that he’d accepted Maverick’s invitation to join him, Jace, and Everett for a guys’ night out.
Problem was this was at least the fifth time Maverick had extended the invitation since he’d started working on the farm, and he’d finally run out of excuses.
“Hey, Boone. Sorry I’m late. Where is everybody?”
Boone smiled as Theo joined him, pointing toward the dance floor.
“Taking advantage of ladies’ night. Good to see you.
You know, the guys were just taking bets on whether you’d show up at all.
Appreciate you coming. While they all said you’d choose Gretchen over them, I had faith you wouldn’t leave us hanging. I’m about to be fifteen bucks richer.”
Theo chuckled. “That was a brave bet on your part because, believe me, if it’d been up to me, I’d still be with Gretchen.
But she and Edith have this little romance book club of two, and tonight, they were getting together for dessert, tea, and book talk.
Though I think they’re also making plans to expand the group.
Apparently, Mila, Remi, Kasi, and Nora all want in.
Remi’s demanding they make it a dirty book club. ”
Boone had met Gracemont’s unofficial first lady, Edith Millholland, on many occasions, as she was a familiar face at Stormy Weather Farm.
The woman was quite a character, and he’d grown fond of her, despite her continual attempts at setting him up with local women.
Each of the last few times they’d run into each other, she’d slipped him a different woman’s phone number, signing the woman’s praises, giving him her backstory, and telling him he should call her.
Boone had politely taken the numbers, even though he had no intention of calling anyone.
He taken the fact Edith hadn’t suggested Mila as a potential date as proof that he’d been right to put the brakes on that train before it became a runaway.
Obviously Edith, who had a reputation around town as a matchmaker, could see they weren’t suited to each other, or else he had no doubt the woman would have started shoving him in Mila’s direction.
It had been two weeks since that ill-advised kiss in Mila’s foyer.
And two weeks since the woman had essentially dropped off the face of the earth, as far as he could tell.
While she’d taken his wishes to heart, avoiding him with the skill of a stealth bomber, she hadn’t cut Sadie out, something he was very grateful for. Even if it did mean he was subjected to all of the little “Mila tidbits” his daughter dropped without realizing he was hanging on her every word.
Apparently, Mila had encouraged Sadie to start coming to her farmhouse once she got off the bus, the two of them continuing the cooking lessons, though so far, they seemed to be focused on the baking end.
According to Sadie, Mila was in charge of making all the desserts served at the B&B—yet another duty Boone didn’t realize she’d taken on.
So every day, Mila put Sadie to work, the two of them baking up a storm.
Not that he was complaining, because Sadie’s payment for helping was usually a miniature version of whatever cake or pie they’d made, or a pile of cookies, always enough for two.
Boone was going to have to start running if the desserts kept rolling in.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Maverick said, slapping Theo on the back as he and the other guys returned to the table. “Look who finally decided to show.”
Then Maverick looked at Boone, sighing heavily as he reached for his wallet, recalling he’d lost the bet.
Boone chuckled as Everett, Maverick, and Jace each slapped a five-dollar bill into his hand. “Next round is on me,” he said, to soften the blow of losing.
Jace waved the waitress down to ask for an extra glass, filling it from the pitcher of Rain or Shine IPA for Theo. It was their second pitcher, though Boone was still nursing his first cup.
“I’m surprised the girls aren’t here,” Theo mused.
“They’re all obsessed with that cat that wandered into the stable the other day,” Jace said. “Remi and Nora are apparently setting her up with a comfortable spot to rest until the kittens arrive.”
Boone was up to speed on all the news on that front, because Sadie was just as crazy about the cat. Remi had adopted it on the spot when she realized the tabby was pregnant and the vet confirmed there was no microchip.
However, the cat news wasn’t enough to distract him from wondering why Mila wasn’t helping them create the cat’s new home. Sadie mentioned Mila and Kasi both wanted a kitten, and Remi was worried there wouldn’t be enough to go around.
That concern was proven valid when Theo said, “Gretchen’s hoping to take one of the kittens after they’re born and old enough to be weaned.”
Boone was pretty sure he was going to end up with one of the damn kittens as well, given Sadie’s off-the-charts excitement about the coming birth. “Sadie’s the same. Begging me nonstop.”
“Where is Sadie tonight?” Theo asked, probably because his daughter was his typical go-to excuse for not being able to join them.
“She’s having a sleepover with Piper McCoy,” Boone replied.
Tonight was Sadie’s first-ever sleepover, which was another reason why he’d said yes to coming.
He figured if Sadie decided she didn’t want to stay all night for whatever reason, he’d already be in town and close enough to call an Uber and pick her up.
He tried very hard not to be one of those helicopter parents, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t protective of his little girl.
He’d met Piper’s parents a couple of times at school events.
Mrs. McCoy was more than a little eccentric, with her flowy hippie dresses and flowered headbands, while Mr. McCoy was so ordinary and nondescript, it was easy to forget he was in the room.
However, they were both very nice and he trusted Sadie with them.
Jace muttered under his breath when a woman walked too close to their table, bumping into his chair and brushing her hand against his shoulder.
“Sorry, Jace,” she said, with a come-hither smile.
“No problem, Janice,” he replied, turning away from her, as Janice walked away dejected.
“Another one,” Everett said in hushed tones, once she’d moved on.
“Another what?” Boone asked.
Everett grinned. “Edith has been spreading tales about the Storm family.”
Boone frowned. “What tales?”
“Not sure you can call them tales if they’re true,” Theo said, correcting Everett.
Maverick rolled his eyes. “Dear Jesus. They’re tales,” he insisted, though Boone didn’t get the sense Everett or Jace agreed.
“Somebody wanna fill me in?” he asked, completely in the dark.
“Can’t believe you’ve been on the farm all of two months and haven’t heard the myth about the Storms,” Theo said.
“In his defense,” Jace piped up, “he spends most of his time with Maverick, a disbeliever, and Grayson, who’d have to actually open his mouth and speak words instead of grunts, snorts, and scoffs.”
Boone chuckled at Jace’s apt description of Grayson. Not that the man never spoke, but he was certainly a quiet one. Boone figured that was because it was hard for him to get a word in edgewise around Maverick at work, but it sounded like his quietness was also part of his nature.
“According to my dad,” Theo began, “he fell in love with Mom the first day he met her. They were introduced, he reached out to shake her hand, and boom.”
Boone took a sip of his beer, waiting for Theo to continue. When he didn’t, he prodded, “Boom?”
“Love at first touch,” Theo said, as if he didn’t sound completely insane.
“Ooookay,” Boone drawled.
Maverick laughed, but Theo ignored his younger brother.
“We all grew up hearing that story countless times, but we never really thought anything of it—until the same thing happened to Levi,” Theo said.
Boone had spent a good amount of time with Levi, especially at the beginning of his tenure as vineyard manager, the other man showing him the ropes.
Levi talked about his girlfriend a lot, something Boone accredited to the fact it was a pretty new relationship, not even a year old.
He’d been tempted to warn the other man about the dangers of getting too wrapped up in new love, because that had been Boone’s downfall with Lena.
He’d let himself be blinded to all her faults, thinking with his dick and heart rather than his head.
However, he’d held his tongue, aware he didn’t know Levi well enough to offer advice.
Of course, when he’d learned Levi and Kasi had known each other forever, he decided their relationship wasn’t like his at all.
“I thought Kasi basically grew up on the farm, best friends with Remi,” Boone pointed out. He’d learned a great deal about the Storm family during his weeks in Gracemont because they were all so open and friendly. They constantly pulled him and Sadie into the fold, treating them as honorary Storms.
“She did, but because there’s a big age difference between them,” Jace explained, “it wasn’t like they spent a lot of time together.”
“How big an age difference?” Boone knew Kasi was younger, but he obviously hadn’t bothered to do the math in his head because Levi and Kasi fit together perfectly.
“Thirteen years,” Everett replied.
That was exactly how many years separated him and Mila—and Boone’s thoughts detoured down a bad path, the part of him that still wanted Mila pointing out how age wasn’t a problem for Levi and Kasi.