Shelter from the Storm (Perfect Storm #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

T heo Storm rubbed his tired eyes, then leaned back in his office chair and closed them.

He’d been staring at the computer for too long and it was giving him eye strain.

Maybe it was time to finally break down and buy a pair of those blue light glasses his cousin Nora raved about.

Glancing at the keyboard, he considered opening a tab to shop for a pair online, but even that felt like too much effort at the moment, so he closed his eyes again.

He’d been burning the candle at both ends the past few months—not that that was unusual for August and September, but today, he’d slammed into a brick wall.

His energy level was nil, which was unusual.

His brothers called him the Energizer Bunny, insisting he didn’t possess an off button.

Usually he agreed with them, but lately, it felt as if he’d not only found the off switch, he’d also lost his on button, which bothered him more than he cared to admit.

Maybe he should skip the blue light glasses and go to the doctor for a checkup.

He sighed, rejecting that idea the second it came to him. He was healthy as a horse.

Maybe he was getting too old to keep burning the midnight oil, working long hours.

He dismissed that idea too. He was only thirty-four, for God’s sake.

Which left him with only one answer. The right one. Sadly, it was also the one he didn’t want to confess, not even to himself.

Because the truth was, he was stuck in a rut, one so deep he feared he’d never find his way out. The worst part was, he hadn’t even realized he was stuck until his oldest brother, Levi, fell in love with Kasi Mills.

Theo was one of seven Storm sons, all of whom shared a farmhouse on Stormy Weather Farm.

Well, he supposed he couldn’t say they all shared it anymore.

Levi had one foot out the door as he made plans to move in with Kasi.

Although, considering Levi had spent every night on the Mills’ farm for the past week or so, maybe it was more correct to say his brother had both feet out the door.

And while Theo was genuinely happy for his brother, Levi’s newfound love had shone too bright a light on his own lacking love life.

“Knock knock.”

Theo looked up. “Hey, Sam.”

“Got a minute?”

Theo gestured to one of the chairs across from his desk. “Of course. What’s up?”

Sam released a long, slow sigh, a sure sign his brother was struggling with something, as he dropped heavily into a chair.

He, Sam, and Levi were the oldest of the Storm sons, Theo number three in line.

He was close to all his brothers, but he felt a stronger bond with Sam.

Probably because in addition to living together, the two of them had both spent almost every single day for the past ten years working tirelessly in this brewhouse, building the Rain or Shine Brewery brand and making it a success.

There were precious few people Theo could spend pretty much every waking hour with, but Sam was at the top of that sparse list.

“What’s wrong?”

Sam grimaced. “Just wanted to give you a heads-up about how much time I’m going to be away from the brewhouse this fall. It’s more than I thought.”

Theo leaned back in his chair. “We talked about this before you even threw your hat in the ring, Sam. We’ll be fine here.”

This past weekend, Sam had announced his intention to run for mayor of Gracemont, Virginia.

Theo had been one of only two family members to know he was even considering it.

Sam had called a meeting with him and their kid brother, Jace, to let them know he was thinking about running and to get their opinion, since it would mean a heavier workload for them.

Jace had come on as brewmaster last fall after their cousin, Lucy, gave up the job, opting to hit the open road with her boyfriends.

Both of them. Theo was still blown away by the fact their sweet little cousin had found love in the middle of a real-life menage.

While it had taken a couple of his brothers a little longer to get accustomed to the fact Lucy was in love with Miles and Joey, Theo thought it was one of the coolest relationships he’d ever seen, and Lucy’s happiness these days shone so bright it was almost blinding.

“I know you guys said it would be okay, but I don’t think I realized how much time I would have to take off from work,” Sam said, concerned. “I hate to leave you shorthanded because that means you and Jace will be picking up the slack for the next couple of months. And if I win?—”

“You will win,” Theo interjected.

Sam ignored him because he never put the cart before the horse, considering it serious bad luck. “This campaign is coming on the heels of harvest season. You and Jace have already been busting your asses to help with that. Now I’m asking you to?—”

“Bro. Take a breath,” Theo said, raising his hand. “We’ve got this. Seriously, man.”

Like Theo, Jace had encouraged Sam to run for mayor, both of them convinced he’d be incredible in that role.

It would be hard to find someone who loved their small hometown more than Sam.

The only two people Theo could think of were their dad, Rex, who’d been a member of the town council for close to twenty years, and Edith Millholland, the unofficial first lady of Gracemont.

At eighty years young, Edith had been born in the house she still lived in, and there was very little that happened in town that she didn’t know about.

Perhaps that would be an annoying attribute in another person, but Edith had a heart as big as the state of California and a sense of humor that was unmatched.

“Yeah, but you’re about to have a new employee to train as well,” Sam added.

Most of the year, Theo spent the majority of his working hours in the brewhouse or brewery, either in his office or the tasting room, but whenever harvest time rolled around, he split his time between those two places and the vineyards, helping his family pick the grapes that would be used to create Lightning in a Bottle wine, one of the other major businesses on his family’s farm.

While it was backbreaking work, he enjoyed harvest time because sometimes it was good to get back out into nature after spending too many hours riding a desk.

By now, he should be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, as most of the grapes were picked—but he and his family had decided the time was right to expand by opening an event barn on the property and hiring a coordinator to run it.

It meant more work for him, as he and his cousin Nora had taken lead, working with the contractor as they designed and built the barn the past six months.

Not that he minded. The truth was, Theo loved his job, loved working on the same farm where he’d grown up with his brothers and cousins.

There wasn’t a day that passed that he didn’t feel truly blessed.

“And Jace is still pretty new at the brewing.” Sam and his anxiety had made quite the list.

“Jace might be new in the big chair, but he’s been working in this brewery since high school, helping you and Lucy every chance he got.

He knows the job, and, while he probably wouldn’t admit it to you, I think he’s looking forward to the opportunity to put his own spin on things for a bit.

You cast a big damn shadow around here.”

Sam was one of the few Storm brothers to leave the mountain for four years to attend college. He’d graduated with a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Virginia Tech, then went on to earn his brewing certification.

“Not that big.” Sam rubbed the back of his neck. His brother was shit when it came to accepting compliments, one of the humblest men Theo had ever known.

“Besides,” Theo continued, “you can’t drop out of the race or we’ll have to endure four more years of Scottie Grover as mayor. I swear to God, I can’t deal with that douchebag strutting around Gracemont like he’s all that and a bag of chips for five more minutes.”

Gracemont’s current mayor, Scottie Grover, had been running unopposed—for a second time—before Sam entered the race.

Theo felt confident his brother was a shoo-in, but Sam, crazy guy, genuinely thought he had a serious race on his hands.

Simply because Scottie had experience. It wasn’t in Sam’s genetic makeup to phone anything in, always going the extra mile on basically everything.

So it made sense he would feel strongly about taking the campaign seriously.

Sam frowned. “After all the shit Scottie pulled with Lucy and Kasi, I’d like to see him knocked down a peg or twenty.”

A year earlier, Scottie had come on way too strong with Lucy, pissed off when she’d started dating Joey and Miles. Levi had been forced to intervene when the mayor got physical with her.

Once Lucy left town, Scottie turned his attention to Kasi, using threats and intimidation to try to get Kasi to marry him.

Again, Levi had stepped in. It was those actions that had encouraged Sam to pursue the office now rather than wait.

His brother had always planned to run for office—either mayor or town council—but he’d pushed it off, claiming it would take him away from the brewhouse too much.

Scottie’s poor behavior and overweening sense of self had forced Sam’s hand.

Theo leaned forward. “Exactly. So you’re not dropping out of the race. Send me a list of the dates you know you’ll be out shaking hands and kissing babies, so I can get some extra help in here for Jace.”

Sam nodded. “Will do. I appreciate your support, bro. Gonna owe you big-time after all this.”

Theo shook his head. “You don’t owe me a damn thing. This is what family is for.”

His brother gave him an appreciative grin. “So what are you working on?”

Theo gestured toward the open document on his computer. “Compiling a list of job duties for Gretchen Banks, the new event coordinator.”

“She starts Monday, right?”