Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Wynter
Time was ticking by ever so slowly. I smoothed a hand over my loose hair.
I had it lightly curled and draped over a shoulder.
My cashmere sweater was a deep maroon that made my skin look Pride & Prejudice pale instead of sickbed pale.
The jeans were a darker shade than what I wore normally.
I’d wear my fluffy brown boots because it was still cold out.
I bobbed a leg as it was crossed over a knee.
The big windows of the living room overlooked a fenced pasture that sloped down to the valley.
Behind the house, Tenor was working with a dumbfounded Cruz, who’d been dragged out of bed when I suspected he normally hit the rack.
And who was also going through severe nicotine withdrawals.
Teller called it Cruz’s Personal Hell Week, but I’d be surprised if the adjustment only took a week. I doubted Cruz had been made to conform to a schedule his entire life. Maybe for school?
Myles had messaged me for updates. He was working in his hotel room in Bozeman. I’d asked him about staying at the apartment with Lane, but his expression when he shook his head told me a lot about the guys’ place.
My phone buzzed.
Summer: Have you left yet?
Wynn: No, he’s picking me up soon. It was five thirty. I was ready for the date, and he’d be early. On time was late.
Summer: You’re going to cave so easy.
Wynn: Am not.
Summer: I have a bet with Autumn.
Wynn: Do I want to know?
Summer: Only if you’re going to help me win a hundred bucks.
Wynn: I’m not going to cave. I could stay strong.
I’d been giving myself the pep talk all night.
After seeing the way he hovered around his brothers—who were not children and had clearly handled life themselves for years—was endearing.
He didn’t fuss over them, but he’d also been watchful, for their missteps, for ours.
Then the panic attack had happened, and he’d opened up to me. I had fallen so far for him before, and I was only tumbling deeper.
But I would not pretend like having only a part of him was good enough for me.
I came from a big welcoming family and getting only a glimpse of the real Myles Foster wouldn’t be enough.
What he chose to share with who was his decision.
I wouldn’t force him, but I also wouldn’t settle for less than what I wanted.
Summer: We’ll see if you have your pants on at midnight.
Wynn: Want video proof?
Summer: That can be tampered with. Autumn will be able to tell when she has lunch with you tomorrow.
My sneaky sisters. Autumn had asked to meet me at the coffee shop tomorrow. She planned to gauge how my date went. Care to elaborate?
Summer: Nope.
I sent her a middle finger emoji. She replied with a laughing face one.
Sisters.
“Wynter?” Mama called from the kitchen. “Myles is here.”
I pushed my hair off my shoulder and purposely walked slowly to the back door.
A polite knock sent the butterflies in my stomach swirling.
My hand shook as I opened the door. Mama kept washing dishes she didn’t have to with a nice dishwasher ready to use, but this way, she could keep an eye on the shop and barn.
Myles waited with the screen door propped on his shoulder.
His appearance made the twirls in my stomach go haywire.
His hair wasn’t slicked into its usual punishing style.
A chunk fell loose on his forehead. His blue eyes were hooded as always but the way they lit just a little more when I opened the door…
well, swoon. The jeans and his thick navy-blue sweater were new and took the corporate edge off him.
I kicked a hip out. “This guy looks like he makes whiskey for a living.”
The corner of his mouth quirked up. “Don’t I usually?” he asked as he stepped in. He produced a brown wrapped bouquet with sunflowers and white carnations sticking out.
“You usually look like you sell whiskey for a living.” I accepted the flowers. “Thank you.”
He handed me a box of bourbon-flavored taffy that hadn’t been bought at Copper Summit’s gift shop. He hadn’t gone for the low-hanging fruit.
“Oh, look at those.” Mama took the bundle from me and went to the cupboard she kept vases in. “I’ll get these in some water so you two can get going, and I’ll hide the candy from the others. Wynter can tell you how well Cruz is doing.”
Interest in Cruz took his attention off me, but I didn’t mind. “He’s been respectful?”
“Well, as much as any nineteen-year-old who’s been raised by a barely-older-than-him brother in a house with little real discipline that made sense.” Her smile was fond. “Today certainly brought back memories. You never used to be a morning kid either.”
He chuckled—with real humor. “I blocked out those mornings. I’ve been irrevocably changed, I’m afraid.”
“Oh gosh, you used to fall out of bed and crawl out of your room, grumbling the whole time.” She giggled, delighted.
“I saw you all over again. Cruz is older and bigger than you were when you first came here, but the picture was the same. Good thing Tenor was working with him today. I don’t think Tate is ready for that level of grumpiness. ”
Myles nodded. “Let Tenor take the edge off with some hard work.” He put his arm around me but didn’t start for the door. “You think he’ll do good?”
Mama would hear his unspoken question like I did. Do you think he’ll stick around? I didn’t have to know specifics about Cruz’s life. He didn’t have many other options, and he’d flaked on the ones he had.
She folded her arms and worried her lower lip. Myles tensed around me. I put a hand on his chest. The steady beat of his heart was strong under the thick material of his knit sweater.
“I admit, I’m not used to working with older kids.” To Mama, we were all still kids. “But I have to say that if he hasn’t walked out yet, he’ll be here in the morning, crawling out of his room.”
“He has no car.”
Her eyes crinkled at the corners. “Doesn’t stop them. Besides, that kid likes a challenge—he’s just never been pushed before. He won’t leave, and he might not understand why himself, but he’ll stay.” She propped a hand on her hip. “Don’t tell Tate I said this, but he might outwork my sons someday.”
“Mama!” I said, pretending to be scandalized, but she flicked a dish towel at us.
Laughing, we walked outside. Myles didn’t let me out of his hold until he’d opened the door of his car. He’d left it running, and I slid into the toasty passenger seat.
He folded his long body behind the wheel and leaned on the console. “Is it too forward to ask for a kiss before the date starts?”
I was acutely aware of what we’d done in this same car over three months ago. My body tingled. One kiss could lead to no clothing again, but we were parked in the driveway, Mama was probably watching out the kitchen window, and my brothers and his were working outside.
I pressed a soft kiss to his mouth. He cupped my face and increased the pressure, but he didn’t push his tongue inside. A heartbeat later, he pulled away. Restraint was engraved in his features. I wasn’t the only one keeping themselves in check.
Myles
Sitting with Wynn in a quiet booth in Canyon Grill, I couldn’t recall why I hated dating. We talked easily. She asked about business. I told her about the Mainline contract and when the expansion on Foster House was supposed to be done.
“Is it exciting?” she asked, pulling apart a bun leftover from the basket we’d gotten when we’d sat down. “You worked so hard to expand your production and distribution.”
I should be elated. Once I’d kept Foster House’s doors open for a year, I had wanted to conquer the world.
Move over Jack Daniel’s, Jim Beam, and Crown Royal.
Foster House would be the most recognizable brand of whiskey in the US.
But once the contract had been signed, I’d been halfhearted about the expansion.
I had chalked my ambivalent feelings up to having all the plans made. I hadn’t scrambled. There was no drawing board or brainstorming session. I’d known who I would call and hire when I needed to pick up the phone.
But all of the plans had been set in motion after I’d left Wynn’s bed.
I’d had no one to celebrate with. Mrs. Crane had smiled at the news, but then she’d cut out early for her grandkid’s back-to-school celebration.
Braxton was working part-time around his college classes.
Same with Cooper, and he didn’t work in the industry anyway, so his thrill would have been only for my benefit.
“I’m proud of what I accomplished,” I admitted. And I was. However… “I’m not excited.”
She frowned, those pretty pink lips puffing out. The chaste kiss in the car continued to linger on my mouth, a tease of her sweet flavor. I wouldn’t push her tonight. She needed time, and I wanted her to trust me.
“Why not?” she asked.
“The distribution agreement was a way to prove I’d made it, but by the time it all went through, I was still a lonely man in his office, doing nothing but work.”
“You never celebrated?”
“I landed the deal. That was celebration enough.” I waved off her concern and took another drink of water. “It was just another day at the office, which I prefer. You know that.”
She made a noncommittal sound. “Lane’s coming tomorrow?”
I nodded. “That’s the plan.”
“You don’t think he’ll follow through?”
I considered her question, keeping my gaze on my empty plate.
I’d stuck with a bourbon-glazed burger and waffle fries.
Food outside of my normal fare, but I was beyond my comfort zone in a lot of ways lately.
“I think he’ll check on Cruz, maybe make a few extra bucks if he can put his mechanic skills to use, but to learn about ranching? I don’t know.”
“How did they turn out so well?” She grimaced and turned sheepish. “I mean, you weren’t a bad kid either. But they made it through childhood with a mom who was…”
“Unpredictable? Unreliable? Unstable?”
“All the uns.”