Chapter 8
eight
. . .
beau
She says she’s excited to work on this marketing plan with me, but her face doesn’t match the delivery. Most people wouldn’t be able to tell, but I know her expressions. The one she has right now says she’s agreeing under duress.
“You can say no.” I squeeze her hand. “It won’t hurt my feelings. But this is a way we can try the things you want with no budget and it’ll help both of us out.”
How we’re going to do it without her brother knowing is another story entirely. But she also doesn’t know that her brother gave me a warning about letting her go through with her ideas. I don’t want her to lose her job. At the same time, this is the perfect way to prove to him her ideas are solid.
There’s a boom in the distance and she scoots closer to me. Practically in my lap. As shocked as she was that I came, it’s probably a good idea I’m here. She shouldn’t be in the storm alone.
“I’ve got you,” I whisper into her hair.
“Just like always,” she replies. “And it’s not that I don’t want to do this whole marketing thing. I do, more than anything.”
“But?” If I don’t prompt her with questions, she’ll beat around the bush without actually getting to the point of what she wants to say.
“But,” she drawls. “Pierce is already mad about the stories I posted the other night. He hasn’t come out and said anything directly to me, though. Parker showed up at my house to let me know.”
“I can see how that would be a problem.” There’s no way that’s the only reason. She lives to test her boundaries with her brother. “Is there anything else?”
The rain picks up momentum. The drops are loud against the roof and I already know I’m going to be here for a while.
Piper moves away from me and picks up the lighter on the coffee table. One by one she lights the candles on the table, preparing for a possible power outage. She has more to say. This small talk is only so she can put it off a tad longer and gather her thoughts.
“Piper?”
She sets down the lighter but doesn’t face me. She’s hunched over so far, I’m worried her hair might touch the flames. My hand moves of its own volition to tuck the strands away, but I stop. Any sudden movement may break whatever she’s about to say.
“It’s just that things are awkward now…since the other night.” She doesn’t have to say when she kissed me. We both know what she’s referring to. “Spending that much time together could make things even more weird, and I don’t want anything to jeopardize our friendship.”
“So, you have been avoiding me?” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. At least I know I was right. Not that I doubted myself.
“Maybe?” She shrugs and leans back. “Ugh, I’ve ruined everything by kissing you.”
“Hey, I’m still here, aren’t I?” I wrap an arm around her shoulder. The same way I’ve done a million times before, and she sinks into the embrace. “You haven’t ruined anything. We will always be best friends. Kiss or no kiss.”
Another crack of thunder permeates the air. This time I can see sparks in the night sky. Seconds later the TV and every single light in the house goes dark. She must have a sixth sense with lighting the candles.
“Well, she leans her head on my chest. I’m definitely glad you’re here right now.”
“So, we’ll work the marketing plan?” Yes, I’m like a dog with a bone, but I need to know how to move forward. Pierce will be a problem. Hopefully, I can handle that without causing too much fuss. Who knows, he might not have a problem with it if it isn’t going to cost the winery any money.
“Yes.” I can almost feel her rolling her eyes. “We’ll do the marketing plan. It has to be under the radar as much as possible, though. Pierce will blow a gasket if he finds out I’m going behind his back again.”
She’s not wrong. He’s not much for giving people space to do their jobs how they see fit. He always has to have his finger in the process.
“We’ll figure it out.” That’s the one thing she doesn’t have to worry about. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure she doesn’t get the brunt of his disapproval.
“I guess this means you’re staying the night?” She lifts her head back to see my reaction.
“Won’t that be awkward?” Is it shitty of me to throw her words back in her face? Absolutely. Do I care when she’s this close to me and in my arms? Not in the slightest.
“Shut up.” She head butts me in the chest. “I mean you’re already here. There’s no power and I do not want to spend the evening alone in a dark house.”
“Still scared of the dark? I thought you outgrew that ages ago.”
She snorts and it’s the cutest sound. Most people wouldn’t agree. It’s a good thing I’m not most people.
“I did until I moved out on my own. It’s creepy out here with no lights or sound.” She glances out the window and shivers despite the heat. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think this whole piece of land is haunted.”
The laugh bubbles out of my chest. “How many times have we talked about this. Nothing is haunted. It’s just the trees making weird noises.”
“Doesn’t fix the creepy factor.” Her phone buzzes beside me and she reaches around to grab it before glancing at the screen. “My brother is an idiot.”
She shows me the text and I shake my head.
Parker: Hey scaredy cat. Need me to come down there and chase the ghosts away. Or at least bring a generator?
Piper: No. I’m good. Beau’s here.
Parker: Of course he is. Hi Beau. I know you’re reading this over her shoulder.
She locks the screen and tosses the phone to the other end of the couch.
“He knows us too well.” I chuckle.
“Or he thinks he does.” She argues. “So, what do you want to do? Whatever it is, it can only be done by candlelight, obviously.”
There isn’t really much we can do. “Do you still have the boardgames and cards in the closet?”
“Yeah. I don’t know if everything is there, though. Peter got mad when he was losing one night and threw a bit of a tantrum.”
I shift her to the side and leave the couch. “I’ll go get them. If anything, we can pass the time with card games, even if all the pieces aren’t there.”
Piper shrugs and pulls the blanket from the back of the couch, wrapping it around her. “It’s better than sitting in the dark bored.”
As much as I’d love to make things interesting as we play whatever games I can find, I don’t want to press my luck too much.
She’s on board with the marketing plan and hopefully doesn’t feel embarrassed about the kiss anymore.
Not that she should in the first place. Right now, everything feels like it did before that night, and I don’t want to ruin it.
Ugh. I’m too old for this shit. Sleeping on the floor never bothered me as a kid, but now…
it’s not so great on the back. If we would have gone to Piper’s room like I suggested, I wouldn’t be in this situation.
She refused to leave the living room because it was too dark in her room.
It’s a valid fear. Especially way out here in the country.
Actually, I probably would have still ended up on the floor.
She’s pretty insistent on the we’re only friends thing.
Sleeping in the same bed would not have been a good idea.
As much as I hate to admit it, she may be right.
With us working on this marketing plan together, we’ll be together a lot more.
Even though this project is work adjacent, I still need to treat her as if she was one of my clients.
Letting her know how I feel about her…how I’ve felt about her for years, would be a conflict of interest. My only course of action right now is to shove all those feelings deep inside.
I’ve managed to bury them for this long. How hard can it be?
First things first, I need to see if the electricity is back on. I cross my fingers as I get up and make my way to the light switch. Flicking it up, I wait for the light to come on…nothing. Piper won’t be happy about this.
Shuffling sounds come from the couch and I turn to find Piper stretching. Her t-shirt rises a few inches exposing the skin beneath. Stop it, Beau. Friends only. Remember That.
“Power is still out.”
“Ugh. I hope this isn’t an all-day thing.” She searches for her phone. “I’m sure if I’m out the rest of the family is out, too.”
Her phone is sitting on the coffee table next to the deck of cards. We may have been in an intense game of go fish before we decided to go to sleep. I pick it up and hand it to her. “Here you go.”
She taps on the screen to unlock it and groans. “Yep. Everyone on the land is out of power, including the winery. Apparently, there’s damage outside and Pierce wants us to help with clean up.”
“I hope it’s not a lot of damage.” I run my hand through my hair. If it is, it could set the company back months.
“Pierce’s text doesn’t sound urgent.” She shrugs and sets the phone down. “I’ll head over there in an hour or so. It’s too early to deal with all of them.”
“Did he close the winery for the day?”
“Yeah. At least we got all those orders out yesterday. Hopefully they made it to their destinations okay.”
“What orders? I thought y’all didn’t do a ton of shipments and most of it was walk-ins.”
“It was weird. When I came in yesterday the system had about ten online orders. I helped Pierce get them out the door since we were closing early.”
“Oh. That’s pretty cool.” A small part of me wonders if it’s because of the social media posts. In my gut, I know it’s true. She’ll wave it away as people wanting to wind down.
“Yep.”
I bend down to grab my blanket since it seems the order conversation is over. Just as I’m about to fold the corners together, my phone rings. I have no idea who could be calling me. I check the name and tilt my head to the side. Why the hell is Cole calling me?
“Hello?”
“Hey, man. I don’t know if you’ve checked your email yet, but Mr. Gardner said if you’re affected by the storms that came through last night, you can have a paid day off to take care of things.”
It’s cute how he says Mr. Gardner to sound like he’s equal to the rest of us.
“Oh, okay.”
“Just thought I’d let you know before you came into work. Is it bad your way? We didn’t get much here.”
“I’m actually not sure. I haven’t checked for damage yet.”
“Hopefully you didn’t. Just let Mr. Gardner know what you’re doing.”
“Thanks for the heads up.”
I hang up the phone and immediately check my email. It’s not that I don’t believe Cole, but I want to make sure.
Sitting at the top is an email from my boss. I tap out a quick response and shove my phone in my pocket.
Piper glances up at me. “Is everything okay?”
“Yep. Looks like I’ll be able to help y’all with the clean up today.”
“No work?”
“Not if we were affected by the storms. And since the Summers family is practically my own, I think that’s a good enough reason.”
“You don’t have to help.” She watches my reaction. “It’s not like you’re an employee.”
“I know, but the more hands you have, the faster it gets done.” I finish folding the blanket. “I’m gonna go check on my house and see if I can find us some breakfast. Surely someone in town has power.”
Her stomach picks that exact moment to growl, and she wraps her arms around herself in embarrassment. I don’t know why since I’ve seen her inhale an entire pizza by herself.
“Food is probably a good idea.” Her gaze moves toward the kitchen and she shakes her head. “Sorry I’m not better prepared for power outages.”
My laugh comes out loud and she jumps. “Let’s be real, Piper. You rarely have a stocked fridge. You’re used to eating out or bumming leftovers from your parents.”
“It’s not my fault I suck at cooking.” I raise my eyebrows at her, and she winces. “Okay, I have no interest in cooking. Is that better?”
“It’s the truth, so yeah.” I take stock of anything else that needs to be cleaned up in her house. Thankfully the sun is up and I don’t have to rely on her flashlight.
“I can clean up my bed mess.” She knows me so well.
“Okay. I’ll be back. If you head to the winery before then, let me know and I’ll meet you up there.”
“Sounds good.”
Leaving is the last thing I want to do right now, but we need to eat and I want to make sure my house didn’t sustain any damage. I can feel her eyes on me as I walk toward the door, and there’s not a single part of me mad about it.