Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Jack
I was deep in numbers-crunching mode when my sister, Adalynn, burst through my office door with her best friend Suzie right behind her. Their laughter distracted me, and I heaved a sigh, annoyed by the interruption.
Lifting my eyes, I did my best to hide the irritated look on my face, wanting to work through these numbers so I could move on to the next thing on my endless to-do list. It wasn’t easy.
“Hey, bro.” Adalynn plopped herself in the chair in front of my desk with Suzie taking the one beside her. I avoided looking in Suzie’s direction, not wanting to lose myself in her sexy jean overalls she was wearing, the shorts definitely too short. Which goes to show I was checking her out anyway. Fuck, I annoy myself.
The attraction I felt toward Suzie irked me. Most of the time, I tucked it away in a part of my brain I didn’t access much, but as the years passed, she only became more beautiful, which made my lust for her harder to ignore.
Because that was all it was—lust. More like hate lust, considering we slammed each other with zingers half the time. But I didn’t hate her, no matter how much I acted like I did. Far from it.
She was my little sister’s best friend, what could I say?
I would certainly never like like her.
We were opposites. I was practical, running my business, and she had her head in the clouds as she daydreamed up her next painting.
Whatever, it didn’t matter. I made a profile on Mountain Mates, and I already had dates lined up. Kind of, not really. More like a lot of open-ended conversations.
“Got a second?” Adalynn interrupted my thoughts and brought me back to the present.
I put my pen down and leaned back in my chair. “For you two, always.” I snuck a quick glance at Suzie, her eyes set on me. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make my insides twist and my pulse race.
“I’ve come up with a new marketing plan, and I’d like you to hear it. Suzie is a part of it.”
“Oh?” My curiosity piqued.
“I’d like to attract more buyers with vibrant, eye-popping paintings of the orchard. I want them to showcase the true beauty of the place and just how special it is. And I think Suzie is the perfect one to paint them. She’s going to get started today.” She smiled at Suzie and reached over to squeeze her hand.
I wasn’t sure what I had expected Adalynn to say, but it wasn’t that. Artwork? Really?
“So you think a few pretty paintings will bring more business in?” I kept the snark out of my tone, my voice dead serious. Our sales had declined recently, mainly due to competition, with more orchards popping up around the mountain. The other issue was word of mouth. I couldn’t afford to pump a ton of money into advertising on social media, and lately, it seemed like nothing I tried helped.
Adalynn sat up straighter and pushed her shoulders back. “I do. We need to showcase the beauty of this place. Artwork done by a local artist is a perfect representation. Suzie will paint beautiful images that I can share online, and I really think it’ll draw people in.”
“I imagine you expect to be compensated, Suzie?”
“Of course, Jack!” Adalynn jumped in. “She isn’t going to paint for free.”
“Okay, relax. I didn’t know if maybe we could make a deal of some sort. I don’t see how paintings of apples will help bring in any kind of business.”
“You promised me you wouldn’t intervene in my marketing decisions. That you would trust me. I need you to follow through on that.”
“You’re right, I did. But I am allowed to still have an opinion, yes?”
“Yeah, I guess. Anyway, this could be great exposure for Suzie. A jump-start to her career.”
“Her career? In painting?”
As soon as the words were out, I knew they were the wrong ones to say. Suzie looked murderous, and my sister’s mouth hung open in shock.
“Yes. Is there something wrong with that?” Suzie snapped, breaking her silence, her lip curled up on one side.
I was a practical guy and looked at things in a practical way. Being an artist wasn’t necessarily a career choice I found to be practical. Often, you’re chasing a dream you’ll never catch, and you only end up with disappointment in the end.
“You could make a better living doing something more reliable is my point.” With both women staring at me like I was the biggest asshole in the world, I knew I’d fucked up. I sounded judgy, but I didn’t mean to be. So I backtracked.
“I’m sorry. Look, I don’t mean that in an offensive way. If you love to paint, who am I to judge? While I don’t think this will help the orchard much, it doesn’t hurt to try, right?”
“Can you stop saying that? I get it. You don’t think it’ll help. But I do. C’mon, Suzie. I’ll help you set up your studio upstairs.” Adalynn got to her feet, and Suzie followed.
Neither one said a thing before they left, but they let their angry goodbye be known with the slam of my office door.
* * *
“Dude, what did you say to piss off my girl so much?” Forrest sipped his beer from where he sat next to me on the couch. We were chilling at my place, watching sports news. “Do I need to kick your ass?”
“Excuse me, your girl? More like my sister.”
“This isn’t a pissing match. What happened?”
I crossed my arms and went on to explain what went down earlier. It was still bothering me. “I guess I said the wrong thing.”
“Yeah, you did. Not only that but since when do we think being an artist isn’t a real career?”
“I don’t know, man.” I ran a hand through my hair and took a deep pull from my beer. The icy-cold liquid did nothing to calm the storm inside me. “I say stupid shit sometimes.”
Forrest side-eyed me from where he sat on the other end of the couch. “I’ve known you for a long time. You’re more of a realist than a dreamer. But you’re not a jerk. What’s really going on, dude?”
Sometimes it sucked when people knew you too well. You couldn’t hide shit or push it away like you could on your own.
“I’m stressed about the numbers. My dad did this shit with ease, and here I am, struggling.”
“Have you thought about reaching out to him for help?”
“Yeah, but I won’t. I promised myself I wouldn’t interrupt their well-deserved time off. Besides, I want them to count on me and know I can handle this business without their help. The last thing I want is to disappoint them.”
“You won’t disappoint them, Jack. I don’t think you or your sister could do anything wrong in their eyes. I’m sure your dad asked for help, and it’s okay if you do. He’d probably love to hear from you; they both would.”
Forrest didn’t come from the best upbringing, and my parents took him under their wing and treated him like their own son. I considered him family, and now that he was engaged to my sister, he was an even bigger part of our family.
“I made you feel better, didn’t I?” Forrest elbowed me in the side playfully with a smirk on his face.
“Yeah, you did. Thanks, bro. But I still need to find a way to bring in more business.”
“I think you should give Suzie’s artwork a chance. What have you got to lose? I’m almost done with the additional section of baby trees, and soon, I’ll have room to start a pumpkin patch. We could bring in some business there come fall.”
“Yes. We’ve been talking about that for years. Let’s do it.”
“You got it. So a little birdie told me you made a profile on Mountain Mates.”
I nearly choked on my beer. “What? Who?”
“Your sister, dude. Who else?”
“How does she know?”
Forrest shrugged. “I assumed you told her.”
“No. I didn’t.” My thoughts went into overdrive.
How did Adalynn see it? Unless…
Suzie. Was Suzie on there?
And did she tell Adalynn? But why?
My heart picked up in speed as an unexpected ping of jealousy ran through me. I didn’t like the thought of Suzie on there.
Not one bit.