Do It Yourself (Warren Honey #2)

Prologue

MABEL

I’m so late.

Though, given my twenty-nine year track record, no one should be surprised.

Honestly, they should all have a plan in place to accommodate.

My sandals slap against the steps as I make it to the front of the Big House.

I’m huffing and puffing but I refuse to take the extra seconds to catch my breath before I storm into my childhood home.

“I’m here!” I wheeze out as I fumble around to the dining table where my three siblings and mother sit.

I take in all of their faces as I fall into my chair, taking the seat next to Paul, my only brother, who has his usual smile on his face.

He’s not bothered by tardiness in any way — him being at this meeting is technically a formality.

Elle’s typical scowl is pointed at me but as her big sister, by big sister law, I cannot react.

She’s in the seat directly across from me.

“Do you need a minute?” Her tone offers no warmth and implies the only answer is ‘no, of course not’ and usually, I would be doing my best to press Elle’s buttons but I am aware of how late I actually am and this is an important family business meeting.

“No, thank you, dear sister.” I blow her a kiss and turn my attention to my baby sister, who is sitting at the head of the table and our mother who is sitting to her right.

“Thanks for joining us, Sugar.” Mama shoots me a sly wink before we all turn our attention to my baby sister, THE Boss Lady, Miss Lola Warren.

“I appreciate you all taking the time to join me to go over these changes.” Lola’s eyes briefly flit over our faces, lingering on our mother for a beat longer than the rest of us.

I know she’s nervous, this meeting is to go over her first big changes since officially taking over control of the Farm.

I give her a sly smile and thumbs up to show my support.

Lola was born to be the boss of our family farm.

She was too young to step up when our father died five years ago but with the help of our uncle as the ‘front man’, she stepped in to take care of everything. About six months ago, Uncle Mel announced he wanted to retire and was moving to St. George to move in with his long distance boyfriend.

Mel gave Lola the kick in the pants she needed to believe in herself and claim her rightful place at the head of Warren Farms and Apiary. While her transition has been going great, Lola has been itching to make some changes that dear old dad and Uncle Mel dragged their feet on.

Without further hesitation, Lola jumps right into it. We discuss our current sales and Lola’s intention to start planting more fruits and some different seasonal vegetables-casually mentioning the idea of eventually having a pumpkin patch and more activities for kids and families.

A spike of a feeling at the thought of apple picking with a little one. I don’t want to address that right now so I push it down, no time to think about that.

I zone out while Lola tells us how they are breaking ground on the new education center and some dude had accepted the job offer to be our head of education and would be starting in a few months. I can recognize the excitement in her voice but this new development really has nothing to do with me.

“Okay, last thing. With all these changes I’ve decided to hire someone to be my right hand man.

Officially the job title will be foreman.

” Lola pauses for objections but she won’t get any from us.

While we all know Lola is capable of running it all, help is always okay.

Nobody wants to give unnecessary feedback.

“I’ve offered the job to Jude Daniels. He’s been working here for almost 10 years now and knows this farm almost as well as I do. He accep—”

Paul pushes back from his seat with such a ferocity it falls back and crashes against the ground, halting conversation completely.

“Lola, no.” Paul’s voice cracks. “Please tell me you’re joking.

” Paul’s voice takes on a hard edge I’ve never heard from him and his eyes are watery.

Confusion paints all of our faces. “I’m not?

I didn’t even know that you knew him.” Lola’s voice is solid but I can feel the worry on the tail end.

Paul shakes his head, “I don’t.”

He doesn’t give any of us a chance to reply, turning on his heels and storming out of the office.

We sit in silence for a beat, our gazes jumping between all of us.

“What the fuck?”

“Elle!”

“Sorry, Mama.”

That breaks the spell. I bend over and pick up Paul’s abandoned chair. “I’ll go see if I can find out what’s going on.” I try to reassure Lola, who looks like Paul slapped her, before rushing out of the house.

I don’t have to go far to find him. Paul is sitting at the bottom of the stairs, bent over with his head in his hands.

“Come on PJ.” I slip my arm through one of his and pull on him until he’s standing and following after me.

“Where are you taking me?” His voice is rough as he questions my intentions.

I don’t answer him, pulling him along to my house. Once we’re inside and settled on my sectional, both of us in cozy blankets, I ask Paul if he wants to talk about it.

“No. I don’t want to think about him.” The tears finally fall. I wrap my arms around my baby brother while he breaks down.

Hours later, Paul has cried himself to sleep and I’m doing my best to make sure he’s comfortable before I go to my room. I hadn’t been able to get the reasoning behind Paul’s emotional reaction but I’m a ride or die for my family and Jude just worked his way to the top of my shit list.