Chapter 19 Kinley
After lunch, I took another look at the festival website. There wasn’t much to it, just a street festival in the La Jolla area. I looked up the participating labels. As Wyatt said, they were our strongest competitors. I couldn’t wait to check out what they were up to.
At three thirty, Wyatt came into my office, knocking on the open door.
“Busy?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Should I pretend for the boss that I am?”
No idea why I used such a flirty tone. I couldn’t help myself.
He crossed his arms over his chest, which made his pecs and biceps stand out. Yummm. “If you’re free, we could leave earlier.”
“Oh yeah, sure. Of course.”
“My parents’ store is in La Jolla too. I want to drop by and check on them.”
Oh, that was sweet. “Sure.” I closed my laptop and unplugged it, placing it in my bag.
Wyatt tilted his head and said, “You can just leave your laptop here.”
“Oh?”
“It’s something I tell everyone on the team. The easiest way to disconnect from work is to not have it with you all the time. And not to upload our work email onto your phone.”
My eyes bulged. “You actually want your employees to do that?”
“Yes,” he replied, his expression earnest.
“But you don’t. You have your email on your phone.”
He shrugged. “Do as I say, not as I do.”
“I might follow your advice eventually, but right now, I have all sorts of ideas at inconvenient hours. I’d rather note them down as they come.”
“As you wish.”
I walked in front of him as we left my office. “Aren’t we taking the staircase?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder.
“Hell no,” Wyatt exclaimed with so much passion that I shuddered. “One floor is one thing, but not the whole way down.”
“Oh, right.”
“Besides, there isn’t a line for the elevator this time of the day.”
He was right. There was clearly a traffic lull, because the elevator came in seconds, and we were alone in it.
As we stepped out, Wyatt asked, “You drove today?”
I nodded.
“We’d better Uber so we can taste all the wine we want.”
“Good idea.”
Wyatt ordered one from his phone, and as we got in, I had a flashback of our day at the beach, along with the ride back to my house. It had been all flirty and full of innuendos, which was decidedly not going to happen now. No, sir. We were coming from the office and heading to a work event.
In the car, he asked, “Mind if I call my mom?”
“No, not at all.”
He pressed the number, putting it on speakerphone. Then he shook his head and immediately turned the speaker off, putting the phone to his ear.
“Force of habit. I always call hands-free in the car.”
“How responsible of you.”
“I’m always very responsible. I think I got in the habit because when Jeremy is with me in the car, I want to set the right example for him.
Should have seen him the first time I made a call off speaker.
I think he was, like, five years old and reprimanded me: ‘Uncle Wyatt, we’re not allowed to do that. ’”
I laughed. “Oh my God. Kids are hysterical.”
“Exactly.” He cleared his throat. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hello, Wyatt,” a woman’s voice said. I could hear it very clearly even though it wasn’t on speaker anymore. Either the volume was loud, or her voice was. Maybe both.
“Listen, I’ll make this quick. Are you at the store?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to drop by for a minute.”
“Of course. Do you need something?”
“No. I’m going to an event in that area, and I have some time. By the way, my new head of business development, Kinley, is with me. We’re going to the event together.”
“Oh, you’re coming, now? Oh my goodness, I don’t have any snacks or anything.”
He chuckled. “Mom, we don’t need anything. We’re going to grab something to eat after we drop by.”
“Nonsense. I’ll whip something up.”
“I won’t hear of it.”
The call disconnected the next second.
I turned to him. “Your mom hung up on you?”
Wyatt nodded. “Yep. Just so I couldn’t try to convince her not to cook something for us.”
“Bossy. Definitely runs in the family, huh?” I teased him.
“Definitely.” He laughed.
“So, how come she can cook if it’s a store?”
“It’s complicated.”
For the first time since I met him, he didn’t seem inclined to share anything. I was curious but didn’t want to push. “Then let’s not talk about it.”
“It’s actually not that complicated,” Wyatt said after a few seconds as we sped through the city. “When we were kids, my parents owned a general store of sorts in the same building.”
“Right,” I murmured.
“Until the divorce.”
“Oh.” My heart broke at that.
“They sold the store and split what was left after paying off the bank so they could start over. Then a few years ago, my brother Chase found out that the building was up for sale. Took some convincing the owner to sell it to him, though.”
“How come? I think it’s beautiful that they wanted it back in the family.”
“That’s the thing. My brother didn’t share that with the seller, so he thought Chase was just some businessman trying to snap up a property in a hot location.”
“Oh. Yeah, I could see him having a problem with that.”
He nodded. “Luckily, he went to the meeting with his now wife, Hannah. Between the two of them, they convinced the seller. My parents are now retired, so they decided to do something else instead of just a general store like when we were kids. Dad sells fishing supplies. Mom offers pottery and yoga classes. She mixes things up from time to time.”
“Interesting. So, your parents had an amicable divorce?”
“Fuck no! They were at each other’s throats when we were kids,” he said, matter-of-factly, and my heart broke even more. “But things have changed now. I mean, if I’m honest, things started getting better once Jeremy was born. These days, my parents are very close.”
“Why do you sound so incredulous?”
“Because they’re dating.”
My eyes widened. “You’re joking!”
“I am not.”
“Wow. What a way to a happy ending.”
“I expect them to have a falling-out again. Time will tell.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “It’s not like you to be such a pessimist.”
“I’m just being realistic. There’s too much bad blood between them.”
His lack of hope was sad, but I tried to put myself in his shoes. It had to be confusing. Who knew what he’d experienced as a kid?
“I am curious about her yoga classes. I’ve never been able to do as much as a sun salutation without feeling like I’m breaking a hip.”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t start Mom on yoga. She’ll try to convert you right away.”
I laughed. “Thanks for the warning.”
We arrived in front of a two-story building a few minutes later.
At first glance, you couldn’t tell there were two separate businesses inside.
There was a Fishing Supplies sign right above the main entrance, but you had to look really closely to see a smaller Yoga and Pottery Classes sign on a window on the upper floor.
“Dad is probably upstairs with Mom,” he said as we stepped into the foyer.
“You drop by often?”
“When they need help. They’ve made quite a few changes since taking over the building again, but now they’re almost done with the renovations. I mean, Dad is probably done. Mom always finds something to update.”
“That’s a female thing,” I assured him.
“Mom says the same.”
Wyatt smiled as we walked farther in. A delicious scent filtered through the air. “Mom is baking,” he confirmed.
“Oh yeah.” It smelled wonderful.
“In the kitchen,” a voice called out.
Wyatt led the way. This place was very Zen, and aside from the aroma coming from the kitchen, I also detected a hint of jasmine. We entered an old-fashioned kitchen. It felt very warm, like a home instead of a business.
A woman turned from the oven to face us. “Well, hello there. I’m Susan.”
“And I’m Bruce,” the man next to her said.
Bruce’s sons looked very much like him.
“Hi, I’m Kinley McGuire.”
I shook their hands as Wyatt said, “Mom, you really didn’t have to bake anything.”
“Oh, those look delicious. How did you even have time to make cookies?” I asked as she opened the oven.
“I always keep a stash of dough in the freezer so I can pop it in at a moment’s notice when someone drops by.”
Wyatt whistled. “Damn, when did you start doing that?”
“When I spoke to your employee Sage, and she mentioned freezing her stew. She sounds like a fabulous cook. Anyway, they’re ready. Just don’t touch them yet. Give them a few minutes to cool down.”
I almost laughed. It sounded like something you’d say to little kids.
The next second, I realized Susan was right to warn us. Wyatt had reached out to grab one, then pulled back after her warning.
“Everything okay?” he asked Susan. “Planning any changes around here?”
Bruce snorted. “Son, you know your mom. She’ll have new ideas soon.”
“You know I’m creative.” Susan smiled at Bruce playfully.
Wyatt looked between his parents with an odd expression on his face. God, I couldn’t even begin to understand how bizarre this had to be for him.
“And no, I don’t plan any changes for now. But enough about us. Kinley, do you like yoga?” she asked, her eyes bright.
Oh! I wasn’t expecting this question. It felt like a trap, and whatever answer I gave wouldn’t be the right one.
I glanced at Wyatt quickly, but he just kept a stony expression. Thanks for nothing, mister.
“I’ve tried it a few times, but I’m not really good at it.”
“Nonsense. You should drop by for one of my beginner classes. Free of charge, of course.” She winked at Wyatt.
“Thank you, but yoga isn’t my thing.”
Susan put her hand on her chest. “My darling girl, you simply haven’t met the right teacher.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied.
“Excellent.” She smiled warmly. “So, tell me, how was Napa? Kinley, what did you think?”
“It was lovely. Wyatt generously showed me around in the evenings so I could get a feel for the place.”
Susan looked at her son furtively. “Did he, now?”
Wyatt reached for a cookie, and so did I. Susan was looking at me with a funny expression, so maybe if I was eating, I wouldn’t have to answer her questions.
“If you’re all good, then Kinley and I will be going,” Wyatt said after downing his entire cookie in two bites.
Susan smiled. “Since you asked, I am thinking about changing the lamps in the yoga room.”
“Want me to help pick new ones?” Bruce asked.
“Yes, please.”
Wyatt shrugged. “Let me know when you’ve got the new ones, and I’ll drop by.”
“I can handle lamps for you, Susan,” Bruce said.
“Hmph. Last time you tried, you almost fell off the ladder. Your sense of balance is... Well, I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I won’t,” he replied, and they bickered for a few seconds.
Wyatt cleared his throat. “My offer stands, Mom. Just let me know.” He glanced at me. “Ready to go?”
“Yes.”
Susan and Bruce kept on talking instead of bidding us goodbye. Wyatt laughed and motioned me to the door, apparently wanting to make a clean getaway.
After we stepped out, I commented, “Your parents are so funny.”
“Yes. They have an interesting dynamic.”
“Her cookies are amazing,” I said after popping my last bite into my mouth.
“She used to make them often when we were kids. It’s the smell I most associate with this place.”
“But you didn’t live here, right?”
“No, but we were here after school a lot. Our grandparents weren’t in the area, so there was no one else to supervise us. That’s why we came straight here after school and did our homework. After the store closed, we would all go home.”
“That makes sense.”
“We can walk to the festival from here. It’s not far away.”
“I was going to suggest that as well. I’m not even very hungry, so we don’t have to grab anything more to eat before. There’ll probably be finger food to go with the wine anyway.” I licked my lips.
He smirked. “Thinking of that cheese back in Napa?”
“Yes! It was really great. I swear, the cheese was even better than the wine.”
“That doesn’t say much for the wine.”
I smiled sheepishly. “Well, I want to be honest with you.”
“Always, Kinley.” There was a very interesting twinkle in his eye.
We arrived at the festival only a few short minutes later. It was already chock-full of people.
“Wasn’t this supposed to start in twenty minutes?” I asked. It was good that we’d arrived early. If it was this crowded already, I couldn’t imagine how it would be later on.
We headed straight to a young guy with a white hat who was checking everyone in. Wyatt showed him our digital tickets on his phone.
The guy nodded, then murmured, “Tickets for two. Go on. Damn, why are all of you so early?”
Wyatt and I both started laughing.
“Where should we start?” he asked me, looking around.
“Let’s see who has cheese first. Everyone else is not worth our time.”
Wyatt and I talked a lot about tasting wine, but we were here for other reasons—mainly to check out our competitors’ branding. Once we got the distribution in place, this would be a great forum to promote our wines.
Our first stop was a stand that served mini cheese bites as well a couple of delicious whites.
As Wyatt and I sipped a chardonnay, I looked intently at the bottles and labels.
This was one of our largest competitors, and they were doing a great job.
The design was crisp and clean, and their slogan was “Napa’s best wine.
” They’d actually received an award, so it wasn’t just empty words.
“All right, I’m done here,” I told Wyatt. “Let’s move to the next.”
As we headed toward the stand, I froze. The CEO of BuzzPage, Joe Sony, was hard to overlook. He was extremely tall with natural bright red hair. I was about to turn around when he noticed me.