Chapter 20 #2
His hand automatically shot to his crotch, and she laughed, a low, wicked sound that made him want to get personally naked with her right here in the car.
“C’mon. If it’s too painful, we can leave in an hour.
” She hopped out of the car and pulled something from the backseat.
Something that looked like the platter that had been sitting on his fridge’s top shelf this morning.
She hadn’t run back inside to use his bathroom.
She’d ripped him off. She caught his look over the car’s roof.
“Hey, it’s a potluck. I had to bring something. ”
He followed her to the covered area, trailing behind her a step to appreciate the way her hips swayed when she walked. Greer moved through the crowd of people with ease, smiling and waving, and he slipped through in her wake.
Until he happened upon Cal Maddox. “Villanueva.” He pointed to a nearby table. “Why don’t we sit a spell?”
They sat and Cal scooted a red plastic cup toward him. “Good news is Henry McCormick always brings a keg in the back of his truck. Usually some cheap, weak shit, but beer’s beer.”
Alex had never been so happy for a cup full of what looked like watered-down piss in his life. He took a long swallow, hoping it would unstick his dry tongue from the top of his mouth.
“So,” Cal said, looking down into his own cup, “I think it’s time we talked about exactly what you’re doing with my little sister.”
Alex’s fist clenched around his cup, making a popping sound with the plastic. “She’s an amazing woman.”
“And are you an amazing man? Because that’s what my sister deserves. Someone who will treasure her. Take care of her.”
Greer could more than take care of herself, but Alex understood what Cal was saying, that his sister deserved a man entirely different—better—than him.
But that didn’t mean he’d give the guy the satisfaction of agreeing with him.
“My papá used to say that a self-made man was worth a hundred who’d been given a leg up in this world. ”
“And do you consider yourself a self-made man, Villanueva?”
“I’m working on it.”
Cal made a gesture toward the others at the picnic. “Prophecy is Greer’s home. You can’t even think of having one without the other.”
“I think…” Alex sat back and considered before continuing.
“I think Prophecy is the kind of place where history means something to people. Where intention is often the measure of a man or woman. The kind of place where a parent is happy to see his children come back and settle down to raise their own families. The kind of place where folks will give their own the benefit of the doubt but make an outsider prove himself.”
“And what about Wild Card?”
“Greer is insanely smart, doing something for this town it hasn’t been completely able to do for itself.
Yes, in part, she’s creating that village for herself and for the artists, because she believes in the power of art.
” Alex sat back, stared at his cup, turning it in restless circles.
Then he lifted his gaze to pin it on his lover’s brother.
“But she feels like she needs to prove something to you. And to the entire town of Prophecy.”
“She doesn’t need to prove a damn thing to me.”
“You do realize she’s been trying, all her life, to create something that’s as important as what she believes PBC does.”
“Why would she think she could compete with a craft that defies explanation?”
Even though Greer’s sheer belief about prophecy boots was slowly chipping into Alex’s skepticism, people needed to understand what she was doing out at Wild Card was just as magical.
“Because maybe she gets what the rest of us don’t understand, that there’s a little magic, possibly a hell of a lot of impact, in simply making things happen.
Have you ever considered that PBC might’ve tanked somewhere along the way if it weren’t for Greer being the smart businessperson she is? ”
Cal rubbed his chin. “Dad was incredible with a piece of leather. With ledgers, not so great. Greer just stepped in and took care of it.”
“She loves art but can’t accept her real gift isn’t creating it—although she’s plenty talented at that too.
But where she shines is organizing and motivating others.
You should see some of the talent she’s attracted out there at the competition.
Every day, these people are producing better and better work.
And a lot of it has to do with the way Greer walks around encouraging them, helping them make a plan, giving feedback on designs.
Hell, sometimes she goes so far as to bring them food and make them eat. ”
“I’m not surprised. And you don’t have to defend my sister to me. I just want her to be happy.”
“Then maybe you should encourage her to really build Wild Card and continue to oversee it, not get it up and running and then let some office jockey take over. It’s her baby. She deserves to raise it. And it deserves her care and love.”
With that, Alex pushed back his chair, saluted Cal with his empty cup, and threaded through the crowd to find the woman who had no idea just how fucking amazing she was.