Chapter 4 #2
Gretchen swallowed hard. There was a thread of dominance in his tone that should have had her running for the hills…
but it didn’t. Butterflies took flight in her stomach, but not the bad kind.
These were the ones she’d felt all those years ago, when Briggs swept her stupid, eighteen-year-old self off her feet.
“You okay?” Theo asked.
Shit. Way to keep acting crazy, Gretch.
She blinked and nodded her head, though it was another five seconds until she found her voice. “I’m fine. Just overwhelmed by how nice this office is.”
She couldn’t keep slipping into awkward silences, or she’d lose the damn job before she even officially started. Gretchen slid her sweaty palms down the front of her jeans. “I’ll let you know if I need anything,” she managed to say in a relatively normal tone.
Theo pointed to one of the walls, and Gretchen followed the direction of his finger, taking in the framed photos hanging there. “We hung some pictures of the farm, but you’re free to take them down if you want to put up something different. Family pics or whatever.”
“Okay.” Gretchen was aware the farm photos would remain.
She only had one family picture, and it never left her wallet.
It was a small snapshot taken by one of the foster parents at the residential home, right after Shaw’s graduation.
In it, Shaw was wearing the standard cap and gown, his arm slung around her shoulders.
She adored the photo because of Shaw’s face.
He’d been grinning from ear to ear, something that was rare for her brother.
She was smiling too—another oddity—but instead of mugging for the camera, like Shaw, she was looking up at her big brother as if he hung the moon.
It was one of her all-time favorite possessions, which was why she always carried it with her in a secret compartment of her wallet. She’d kept it hidden from Briggs, too afraid he’d destroy it.
Her chest ached with regret and sorrow when she thought of how she’d let Briggs drive a wedge between her and her brother, insisting Shaw was like her mother—indifferent, uncaring.
Deep inside, she’d known that wasn’t true, but during those bad years, she let all the evil, cold things Briggs whispered in her ear stick, and she’d pulled away from her brother, making excuses for why he couldn’t come to visit, claiming she was too busy at work or lying about Briggs whisking her away for a few days.
The fact was, he’d wanted to come home many times, but she’d rejected the suggestion.
Then she had the nerve to accuse him of deserting her.
She even said as much in a phone call—their last one—before she’d blocked his number.
Thinking of the hurtful, hateful things she’d said to him sent a sharp pain through her heart.
So much time had passed now…she wasn’t sure how to bridge that gap.
Wasn’t sure if she should even try.
Wasn’t sure if she deserved to ask for his forgiveness.
Surely, he wouldn’t want to hear from her after what she said.
Theo pulled her out of her heavy thoughts as he continued pointing out different things in her office. “Nora suggested we add the whiteboard. The woman lives and dies by hers.” Theo pointed to another wall. “She’s also the queen of color-coding, which is why you have every color marker ever made.”
Gretchen’s eyes widened at the unusually large pile of brightly colored markers in a basket hanging next to the whiteboard. “I’ll have to check out her system.”
Theo chuckled. “Believe me, I wasn’t saying you have to do what she does. Code breakers probably couldn’t crack her overly detailed system. We tease her about her OCD, but hey, whatever works, right?”
It was obvious Theo was fond of his cousin. Of his entire family, actually.
“Come on. Let’s go grab a beer.”
She followed Theo down the hallway, walking into a large warehouse space filled with huge vats and machinery and barrels. She didn’t have a clue what any of it did, but it was impressive.
Two men she assumed were Sam and Jace were bent over a clipboard, discussing something when they approached.
“Hey, guys,” Theo began. “This is Gretchen Banks, our new event coordinator. Gretchen, this is Sam and Jace.”
While she tended to agree Theo was the better-looking brother, that by no means meant Sam and Jace weren’t also hot.
Genetics had been very kind to the Storm brothers.
They all had brown hair, though Sam’s and Jace’s was darker than Theo’s, as well as shorter.
They also shared those dark coffee-colored eyes, and none of them were hurting in the muscles department, though she suspected their sexy builds were the result of farmwork rather than time spent in the gym.
“Nice to meet you.” Sam stuck out his hand.
Gretchen was a little better prepared this time, so she managed to shake both his and Jace’s hands without trembling or suffering that brief flash of panic over the memory of Briggs hitting her for daring to touch another man.
Progress…she hoped.
“Checking things out before you start?” Jace asked.
“I’m going to give Gretchen a proper tour of the entire farm on Monday,” Theo explained to his brothers. “Today, we’re going for a beer and to get to know each other.” He paused for a moment. “You want to join us?” he asked, though Gretchen got the sense he didn’t want his brothers to come along.
Both men—thank God—shook their heads. She was struggling enough to act normal in front of just Theo. Heaven help her if she wound up surrounded by three attractive men.
“No thanks. Levi asked for a list of things we want him to plant at the Mills’ farm for future brews.
We’re discussing the pros and cons of different varieties of hops.
Going to try to get that to him before we call it a day, since he’s chomping at the bit to get started with the planting.
Plus, it’s my turn to cook tonight,” Jace replied.
“Cool,” Theo replied. “I’ll see you at the house later.”
“His turn to cook?” Gretchen asked as they walked away, attempting to make conversation that didn’t involve Theo “getting to know” too much about her. The next hour or two would be a lot easier if she could keep Theo talking about himself.
“With six bachelors in one house, it makes more sense to take turns cooking rather than all of us piling into the kitchen to make something for ourselves. Tonight is Jace’s night, which almost definitely means something Italian.
He makes a hell of a marinara sauce, so he usually serves spaghetti or chicken parmesan. ”
“Sounds delicious.” Gretchen wondered what Edith was making them for dinner tonight.
Of course, having dinner with Edith was contingent on her making it back to Millholland House on time and in one piece.
It was a ten-minute walk from the brewhouse to the brewery.
Gretchen knew that because she’d set her stopwatch.
She’d also timed the entire walk from Edith’s house to the farm, and what she discovered was that she was in worse physical shape than she’d thought, and while five miles didn’t feel like that big a distance, it definitely was when four of those miles were straight uphill on a winding mountain road.
Gretchen had spent the two-hour walk—TWO HOURS—in fear for her life as she wound around one sharp curve after another, praying no one hit her. She could tell by the looks of surprise on the faces of the handful of drivers who passed her, they were shocked to find anyone walking on that road.
Getting a driver’s license and a car had skyrocketed to the top of Gretchen’s to-do list, though she knew neither of those things could be done quickly.
Even if she was able to get a license in a reasonable amount of time, she was nowhere near financially ready to buy car.
Mainly because all the bills had been in Briggs’s name, and she’d never had a credit card.
So she was currently sitting on the lowest credit score a person could manage.
As they walked, Theo talked about the history of Stormy Weather Farm, about how his great-grandfather had purchased the land and maintained an apple orchard there.
The vineyard and winery were apparently the brainchild of Theo’s grandfather, Lloyd.
She was so enthralled by his easy style of storytelling and the pride in his voice as he talked about his family’s rich history, she forgot to be nervous about the fact she was walking through the woods alone with a strange man.
By the time they reached the brewery, Gretchen was hot again.
She’d changed out of her blouse and back into one of the turtlenecks before leaving Edith’s house because, given the heat, she knew she’d sweat off the concealer.
The problem was, she was way overdressed for the temperature.
She prayed the bruises would fade enough by Monday that she could dress more appropriately for the weather.
“Are falls cooler in Harrisburg?” Theo obviously noticed she was red-faced and sweating. In addition to the sweater, she’d forgotten to pack a bottle of water for her trek. A mistake she would not repeat next week.
“They are,” she lied, uncertain how else to explain what she’d chosen to wear. “I’ll have to pull my short sleeves out for next week.”
“We have a relaxed dress code, as I said when you accepted the job, so jeans and T-shirts are fine. We’re also going to give you some shirts with the brewery and winery logos on them, which you can wear for special events or when talking to people about renting the event barn.
I know Nora ordered at least half a dozen for you after she got your size. ”
Gretchen recalled how grateful she’d been when Nora emailed to ask for her shirt size, aware those work shirts were going to bulk up her pitiful wardrobe considerably until she could afford to buy more clothes.
They stopped outside the entrance to the brewery. Theo started to say something—then lifted his hand and swung it in her direction.