Chapter 19
When Brookes dropped Harper off at the house, Georgia and Zoe were standing at the window. He smiled and waved at them. They waved back, making no attempt to hide their curiosity.
‘Want to put on a show?’ Brookes asked, raising an eyebrow.
‘I don’t want to put any ideas in anyone’s head.’ She opened the door and got out.
When the door closed, he gripped the steering wheel and cursed before turning the car around. He drove away slowly, watching in the rear-view mirror as she walked up the veranda stairs. He was annoyed at himself, and annoyed at Harper. He’d wanted to kiss her since she first got back. He also wanted to tell her to go back to the city and get out of his head. Clearly, his feelings over the years hadn’t dissolved, and ever since she’d come back to town, they’d only grown stronger. At least now he knew that just maybe the feelings were reciprocated. Kissing him the way she did proved she wanted it as much as he had. He never considered the day would end with a kiss in the car in the thunderstorm, he had only hoped to reintroduce her to what she had been missing, the things she had once upon a time truly cherished — the wild, nature, and the great outdoors, the promiscuous moments on the granite, the ease of everything that they were.
Whatever happened to that girl?
The taste of her lingered on his lips. Her natural flavour mixed with her strawberry lip balm made for a delicious combination. He wanted her even more than he’d led himself to believe. It didn’t just hurt in his groin; it made his heart ache. God, he was pathetic. He needed to do something to keep his mind off Harper. He laughed at the thought. Not thinking about her was growing impossible with each day that she was in town, and instead of staying away from her, they’d been thrown into a situation that required them to spend every day together. What was he hoping to achieve? That she would change her mind? That she’d want to keep Mathers Vineyard, stay and run it with him after they’d hosted the Christmas in July event? Yeah, he wanted that. He couldn’t remember the last time he had wanted anything more. But Harper was stubborn, and more often than not, she didn’t know what was good for her. He saw it in her eyes. She missed this place, this life, no matter how much she enjoyed the city. Since coming back, in the short space of time, she had lit up. But he wasn’t going to tell her that. He wasn’t going to force her to do something she thought she didn’t want. Harper would have to come to that realisation herself. Sure, he could nudge her a little, show her what she was missing out, but the ultimate decision was going to have to be hers to make, and hers alone.
Instead of the inn, Brookes headed back to his house. Opening the front door, he called out for Rover. The dog was at his feet before he crossed the threshold, sniffing him and nudging his leg with his snout. Brookes knelt and patted the dog, scratching him behind the ears and across his back. ‘You need a run, boy. Me too.’
He should have been tired after the trek and the morning working on the inn, but he had more energy that he needed to burn off, and nothing would work better than a run with Rover. He checked the radar that the storm wasn’t circling back, then quickly changed, locked up the house, and with Rover in front, headed to the back of the property and onto the wet bush trails. Running, he focused on one foot in front of the other, with Rover just a few metres ahead. Thoughts drifted in and out, mostly of Harper, some of Mathers Vineyard and all the things he wanted to do with it. He thought about the past, and his life with Harper before she had left. Her departure had been so sudden, it had caught him off guard and even to this day, he still didn’t know the real reason. Career? Change? Someone else? That had bothered him for a while that he had gone to the city to look for her. He’d watched from afar, but there had been nothing to suggest that there was someone else. Maybe she had just not wanted him. The kiss today told him otherwise. She kissed him with as much passion as he felt. That couldn’t be faked.
He increased his speed, hoping the focus on the movement would allow the thoughts of Harper to disappear, and it worked for a moment or two, but it didn’t matter what he did, his thoughts always drifted back to her.
By the time they returned to the house, both he and Rover were spent. The dog ran straight for the water bowl. Brookes went inside and grabbed the jug from the fridge and poured a full glass, drank it, then poured another.
He showered, changed, grabbed a banana and hard-boiled egg from the fridge, then refilled Rover’s bowl and gave him a bone to chew. His dinner would come later.
Shit. He realised he’d promised to meet Leo for a drink at the tavern that afternoon. They needed to talk about the plans for the business, plans he’d forgotten about since finding out about Mathers Vineyard and Harper returning to town. He needed to refocus. At least the run had made his mind clearer.
Checking his watch, he found he only had about half an hour. Brookes changed again into a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt, grabbed his jacket and keys, patted Rover, and dropped him another treat just in case he’d be late. He left him in the fenced off area of the backyard where he could rest on his daybed and take care of the property.
‘You’re late,’Leo said, pushing a beer towards Brookes as he sat down.
‘By two minutes.’
‘My sister’s back in town for less than a week and you become tardy.’
Brookes laughed and swigged the beer. ‘Rover needed a run.’
‘You forgot, didn’t you?’
Brookes smiled. ‘You got me.’
‘Mate, I know she’s my sister and all. But I just don’t get it.’
‘Believe me, man. Sometimes — no, most of the time — neither do I.’
‘She’s got you whipped.’
‘Don’t think she really cares.’
‘Maybe she just doesn’t know how to show it.’
‘That’s optimistic coming from you.’
‘Yeah, don’t tell anyone,’ Leo said.
Leo was the realist, sometimes the pessimist. He always looked for what could go wrong, whereas Brookes was the optimist, the futurist. That’s why their business partnership had worked so well. This is why he could see all the possibilities with Mathers Vineyard combined with everything that he and Leo were working on. Whereas now, Leo looked worried.
‘You’re concerned,’ Brookes said. ‘About the vineyard.’
‘We’ve been spending too much time together.’
‘Leo, I could read you like a book since second grade.’
‘You got me. I am worried. One vineyard is hard work, but two, that’s another story.’
Brookes knew it was. He’d thought about it repeatedly since he knew he was the new co-owner of Mathers Vineyard. But his first thought wasn’t how in the world he was going to manage it. It was, what an amazing opportunity for him, for the overall wine community and the area. He saw the possibilities present themselves — the partnerships, the tastings, the live music, and everything in between. He pictured an incredible business forming in front of his eyes, even bigger than they had now. Then he pictured Harper. Harper not wanting to keep Mathers Vineyard. Harper wanting to sell it and split the profits. There was so much money to be made by keeping it, but it wasn’t about the money. It was about the wine, the vines, the entire package. But without Harper, would it still be any of that?
‘You ok, mate? You look like you’re somewhere else,’ Leo said, waving a beer in front of him.
‘Just thinking about the incredible opportunity we have in front of us.’
‘Yeah, about that,’ Leo said. ‘Harper will not stay here and run a vineyard. She’s made that pretty clear by moving away to the city and not even paying a visit in six years.’
‘She’s here now.’
‘And leaving as soon as the inn is ready and Christmas in July is a success.’ His chest hurt at the thought. He had a week to convince her not to leave; to convince her that staying was the best option. Why did he still care so much about that woman? He didn’t know, but he did. He wanted to believe that she would leave and then realise what a mistake she made and come back. But that was wishful thinking. He had to think of something that would make her want to stay. He obviously wasn’t enough. Not on his own, anyway.
‘Did she ever tell you why she left in the first place?’ Brookes asked. That was still a mystery to him. One day they were enjoying each other’s company talking about the future, then she announced they were on a break, and the next week she was packed up and gone. Not a word, not a hint of what the hell happened. Officially, they had broken up. Unofficially, in a way, he had still considered them on a break. He felt even more pathetic in that moment. But his heart wanted what his heart wanted. He’d fought it long enough. In her kiss today, he knew she was fighting it too, even if she hadn’t realised it yet. It gave him a glimmer of hope.
‘What are you going to do?’ Leo asked.
Brookes sipped his beer and stared in the distance. ‘I’m going to make her come to the realisation that this is home, this is where she wants to be. I’m going to persuade her to stay.’
He still wasn’t sure how he was going to achieve that, but he had to at least try.