Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Darcy
I couldn’t be happier that I’d decided to join Avery and Ashley on this yacht party cruise. I’d met a ton of incredible people and was given a priceless opportunity, which had presented itself two nights ago after James Mitchell walked by a group of us ladies as we stood in lively conversation.
He kissed Avery sweetly on her cheek and greeted the rest of us. After the usual general pleasantries, Jim asked me how things were going at the winery, most likely because he already knew all the dirty details about what Sebastian had found wrong with everything .
Jim seemed concerned by how much money was needed to be invested just to reopen and relaunch the business, and I used it as my opportunity to strike while the iron was hot. I couldn’t blame Mr. Mitchell for being apprehensive that his investment was costing him more money than he’d imagined, but what did he expect when the man overseeing the project insisted upon purchasing a twelve-thousand-dollar espresso machine?
It seemed Jim frowned upon Sebastian’s ridiculous spending patterns, so I felt there was no better time than the present to come up with an idea to put Sebastian’s antics to an end. If my plan stuck, I would walk away with pride.
This party was a perfect opportunity for me to share my ideas and simultaneously give Sebastian a taste of the discomfort he’d been spreading around the winery. So, with everyone on the yacht sharing a healthy and happy buzz, Jim pressed everyone for ideas for a quick fundraising event. He wanted something to get the word out about Burke Wines and help bring in money for the monumental costs Sebastian was incurring for the remodeling.
The thing about savvy people in business, James Mitchell in particular, was that they never spent their own money on their developments. Instead, they were creative in finding ways to have money funded for them, whether through charities, donations, or people in their circles needing tax write-offs. Whatever the case, they found ways to market themselves so that people wanted to invest in them for reasons that would help everyone involved.
I was half drunk when I threw out my idea of the Billionaire Bachelor Benefit, auctioning off eligible bachelors to women in their circle of wealth who would pay anything to date them. I didn’t expect the outcome to be what it was—an idea that Jim and his VP, Spencer, loved, which kept contagious, excited smiles on their faces for the rest of the evening.
The only reaction that made me a bit nervous when he learned about the plan was that of Dr. John Aster, Sebastian’s younger brother, who fatefully happened to attend this party. I couldn’t tell if he was amused or disturbed that his brother would be the face of this auction, knowing there was no one on the market that a woman of their status would pay more for, but he had a certain glimmer in his eye every time it was mentioned.
“You’re going to get burned if you lay out by this pool for another second. Here’s some sunblock,” Avery said in her scratchy and playful voice, rousing me from my thoughts about how much Sebastian Aster would hate me when I returned home tomorrow.
“I just put some on,” I said, lifting my head from where I lay on a lounge chair face down, allowing the sun to tan my back. “I haven’t been out in the sun like this for a while, and trust me, I’m not a fan of nursing second-degree burns.”
“No shit,” Avery said, opening the umbrella for shade as she prepared to join me on a lounge chair to my right. “Are you ready to return and face Sebastian’s new reason to stress?” She chuckled and sprayed on sunblock even though she was perfectly shaded.
“If I’m lucky, he’ll be consumed by work and have nothing to say to me for the rest of his time there,” I grinned.
Avery arched an eyebrow at me, “Oh, babe. That man will not keep quiet about that, especially when he finds out you had everything to do with it.”
I rolled my eyes, “Hopefully, you’re wrong about that.”
“I’m not,” she offered me a cute grin. “Men can be such babies sometimes, especially the entitled, immature ones.”
“True,” I answered as the poolside waiter brought us cucumber water and stepped away. “By the temper tantrums this man has thrown about the winery, I can bet his immaturity will take over, and he’ll be barking complaints once he learns I was behind all of this.”
“Do you think he’ll find out?” Avery asked, sitting back and allowing the warm breeze from the harbor to wash over her as we soaked up our last couple of hours on the yacht.
“Well, Jim was concerned about going through with the idea because he was afraid it might make my life with Sebastian more hellish, but I told him I could handle the man.”
She pulled her sunglasses down and looked over at me. “It really is a great idea,” she said with a laugh. “Jim and I were talking about how we’d heard of benefits like this, but Jim never imagined hosting one for any of his investments.”
“Well, it’s obvious this is Jim’s first time investing with an Aster. Maybe it’s just me, but he doesn’t seem thrilled about it.”
She reclined back again, closing her eyes behind her sunglasses. “The Asters are no different from any other investor Jim has worked with. I’ve met the parents a couple of times. The mom’s a bitch, but she pretends to be nice.” She smirked over at me, “Not my type of person. The dad is just as stiff as you say Sebastian is. They’re just a typical, ultra-wealthy family that thinks they’re better than the next stupidly rich family.”
“So strange. I’ve interviewed a lot of elites, and I agree with you. They are all laser-focused on their money and status. But being out here with all of you guys hasn’t felt like I’ve been hanging around one-percenters.” I glanced around at the luxurious pool area on the top floor of this yacht and laughed, “Well, maybe Jake and Ashley’s family yacht makes it feel a little that way.”
Avery laughed. “Make no mistake, honey,” she said with a hint of sassiness, “we all might be doing well, but everyone here puts their pants on one leg at a time, you know?”
“Does it ever get to you?” I questioned. Avery’s story was exceptional because she wasn’t born into the level of wealth that she has now. She was a nearly homeless single mother when she met and fell in love with Jim, and you could see from a mile away that they were deeply in love. It was a Cinderella story if I’d ever heard one.
“Does what get to me, having more money than Jim and I will be able to spend in a million lifetimes?” she chuckled, then sighed. “I suppose the answer is yes. Sometimes it’s overwhelming, but Jim does an amazing job keeping me grounded if I get overwhelmed.”
“How so?” I asked.
“More often than not, it’s the lifestyle that can be uncomfortable, like being expected to interact with certain types of people I have nothing in common with. I didn’t go to prep school, and I didn’t get a Porsche for my sixteenth birthday, so a lot of the people we are forced to rub elbows with at certain functions make my anxiety go through the roof. Like, no, Helen, I don’t know the celebrity dog groomer you’re talking about.”
“Oh, my God,” I laughed loudly. “I can’t imagine those conversations.”
“They take some weird twists and turns, let me tell you,” Avery laughed. “I’ve learned how to deal with those weirdos, though. It took some time, but I’ve gotten good at suffering the foolishness, if you know what I mean. The things that still get to me are simple, though. Sometimes, I will walk through our beautiful home, and when I look around at everything, it seems surreal that it’s mine. I’m so grateful for it, but it can be intimidating if I stop and think about it.”
“Do you feel like you don’t deserve it?” I asked after hearing a hint of sadness in her tone.
“Yeah, sort of. You interviewed Jim and learned about how he and I fell hard for each other. It was never about his money or my lack of money; we truly couldn’t live without each other. Still, I have my moments. Finding the love of your life, someone who loves you as intensely as you do them, is beautiful, and having all these luxuries to go with it sometimes makes me think it’s not normal to have it all. I get afraid that I’ll wake up one day and realize it was all a dream.”
“You have a hard time accepting that you deserve love and happiness?”
She pulled her sunglasses down and looked over at me. “You know, I guess I do. My ex, Addy’s dad,” she said, referring to her daughter, whom Jim wasted no time in adopting and making his own after they were first married, “he love-bombed me like hell, and I thought he was the perfect man. That mask and dream faded when I got pregnant with Addy, and then the nightmare of who he was began. I dealt with that bastard for far too long, and because of his bullshit, we lost everything. I finally left because I didn’t want my daughter to grow up and think life should be that way.”
“It takes a strong woman to do what you did.”
“Yeah, well, I’m still healing from a lot of that shit because if I weren’t, I wouldn’t have these little insecurities hit me now and then. And like I said, Jim keeps me grounded, reminding me of his love and my worth through that.”
“A beautiful happily ever after,” I smiled.
“Well, it’s not always sunshine and rainbows,” she chuckled. “Jim knows how to love me but also how to get under my skin.”
“Doesn’t every husband?”
She glanced at me. “Of course, yet—forget it. You’ll hate me for it. It’s stupid,” she trailed off, and I grew instantly curious about what was going through her head.
“No, you can’t do that. Why would I hate you for anything? What were you going to say?”
She did this adorable cringe expression, then pinched her lips tightly in humor.
“Okay,” she sat up and crossed her legs where she sat, “Jim knows I hate over-spending with a passion. In fact, I still won’t buy name brands because I think it’s ridiculous to buy overpriced shit because of a label.”
“I’m the same way,” I laughed. “If you visited the winery, you’d see I get that from my parents.”
She offered me a knowing grin. “So, you understand when I say that when Jim brought the same twelve-thousand-dollar espresso maker that Sebastian bought into our kitchen a while ago, it infuriated me.”
I couldn’t help but laugh in response. “You heard how I felt about that the other night when I told you about Sebastian’s.”
“Right. Well, it was one of our worst and silliest fights. I was determined to prove that we didn’t need the damn thing and that it worked the same as a cheap one would.”
“Exactly,” I answered her.
“Well, Jim is a businessman, and he won’t let shit go when he believes he’s right. I, too, am immune to letting shit go when I know I’m right.”
“How did you guys end your fight?”
“Well, tasting from the two separate machines and discovering I was right, of course,” she laughed. “The difference was that Jim wanted the fucking thing, no matter the cost. For some silly reason, he was obsessed with having it, and then I brought money into play and dismissed his feelings.”
“Well, that’s easy to see why you would. You didn’t come from money like he did, so you see it differently.”
“Right,” she smiled, “but that doesn’t make it right to treat him like an indulgent asshole for not living how I used to live. The thing is, Jim and I might as well have grown up on two entirely different planets, but we both have flaws and imperfections and somehow, it still works.”
I began to remember her mentioning that I would hate her for this story, which made me wonder what the underlying point was. “Where are you going with this?” I asked.
“It’s probably nothing,” she said. “But the other night— when you were drunk —you said the same thing about Sebastian. Then you brought up your irritation with your mom for pointing out the kind of back-and-forth, argumentative, bantering relationship you two have.”
“Yes, and I don’t remember much of that conversation,” I said, wishing I had never gotten drunk on tequila and not because of the hangover I suffered yesterday morning, either.
“I just see how adorable you are when you talk about him and everything that infuriates you about him. It reminds me of Jim and me. We’re from two separate worlds, and the same things that piss me off about Jim are the things that piss you off about Sebastian.”
What the hell was wrong with everyone? Was Cupid shooting everyone in the ass on my behalf these days? Why would Avery come to such a conclusion after all the ranting I’d done about the guy? How could anyone look at two people who are constantly fighting and think it’s a good idea for them to be together? If ever there was a recipe for misery…
“For one, I was drunk,” I reminded her, “and two, from what I know about Sebastian and what I can see from being around Jim, they are two entirely different men. Jim is a good and decent man; Sebastian is a dick.”
“But you’re dealing with the business side of the guy. I find it very interesting that he even includes you in conversation about his plans when you have nothing to do with them. You don’t even work there. And make no mistake, the businessman side of these men are always dick-ish.”
“I don’t see that in your husband, though,” I said, honestly.
She laughed loudly. “Oh, honey. Be grateful you haven’t had to deal with that guy. Would it paint a clearer picture to tell you how I used to work for him, and he fired my ass? Left me hanging in the breeze with no job and a five-year-old little girl to take care of.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. He thought I’d lied. He dumped me soon after.”
“Wow. Well, that sort of makes Sebastian look like a saint.”
“It’s what I’m trying to tell you. There’s always a soft side if you’re willing to look for it.”
“This is the thing,” I said with a smile. “I’m not willing to look for it. I truly do not find the man attractive, not in the way you found yourself with Jim. I have no idea what you smoked before you came out here, and I know that even if I were piss drunk at the time, I didn’t talk about the man like I wanted a relationship with him. I want his ass on that auction block and extremely uncomfortable, just like he’s made me and my family since he arrived at the estate.”
She laughed, “You may not see it now, but give it time, and I guarantee you’ll remember this conversation.”
“Shit,” I rolled my eyes and sat up. I had to pack my shit and head back to the miserable bastard that everyone seemed convinced I had a love connection with. “I thought Ashley was the spiritual hippie out of everyone,” I said, referring to Avery’s sister-in-law, “but apparently her incense has gotten to your head.”
“Hey, when I hear someone talk about a person the way you speak about that man, I pay attention. Maybe nothing comes of it, and I’m out of my mind, and maybe not. Time will tell.”
“What will come out of it is this: if the man didn’t hate me before I left for this mini vacation with all of you, he will when I get back, and he finds out this auction was all my idea,” I said, knowing that I’d sealed the deal on our destiny of never being together even if hell froze over.
“We shall see,” Avery chuckled.
“You wait patiently on that,” I started, “and I’m going to finish packing my stuff. I’ll meet you all for lunch before we get off the yacht.”
With that, I left Avery to continue thinking crazy thoughts about me and Sebastian and chose to focus and prepare myself for coming face-to-face with the man who would undoubtedly want me skinned alive.
Though I disagreed with what Avery said, I had to smile at her fairytale way of thinking. I couldn’t and wouldn’t fault anyone for trying to find the good in the bad, but sometimes enough was enough.
I didn’t want to date anyone these days. I was very happy being alone, as I’d been for the last couple of years. I wasn’t looking for a relationship, nor did I want one. So, no matter what anyone thought about a handsome, very eligible bachelor living with me and my parents, I would be the first to crush those dreams. The only thing I wanted from him being an eligible bachelor was to pimp his ass out and use other women’s desire to rake in a shit ton of money.