Chapter 10
ten
. . .
beau
The hurt on Piper’s face as she walked back to the front of the house stings. I’m not trying to blow her off. There are some things I need to talk to Pierce about.
Thoughts about how we were going to pull off this marketing ploy tumbled through my mind as I drove to my house earlier. We can’t. It’s the sad truth of the matter.
Piper will be furious with me when she realizes what I’m doing, but I can deal with that, maybe.
What I can’t handle is seeing her be berated by her brother.
A topic I’ll cover with him at a later time.
She may be one of his employees, but she’s also his sister.
He doesn’t have to treat her like shit to get his point across.
Now to find the brother in question. He was with our entire group moments ago, and he seems to have vanished. He’s like a freaking magician when he wants to be.
I pick up the roll of trash bags and pull out two of them. Shoving the end of one of them into my pack pocket, I open the other and begin my search for the eldest Summers’ sibling.
He’s nowhere near the main house where they see customers. That only leaves a few more places he could be. I peek into the building where the wine is made. It’s pitch black and no source of light can be seen. He’s not in here.
There’s another building with the shipping supplies and bottles. It looks dark in there as well. He has to be outside somewhere. I have no idea what the hell I’m going to say to him. Maybe I should have prepared for this better.
I round the corner of the building. “Holy shit.”
There are large pieces of metal sheeting littering the ground. Pierce said the damage was minimal. This looks anything but that.
“Keep it down.” Pierce hushes me. “I don’t want the others to see how bad it is over here. They’ll freak out.”
“Are you also not telling your parents?” It isn’t my place, but this looks bad.
He rolls his eyes because of course he does. The arrogance Pierce holds never ceases to amaze me.
“Of course they know. Until Dad officially retires, he’s still in on all the business stuff.” He points toward the metal pieces he’s stacked in a pile. “This is definitely business.”
“I’ll say.” Hopefully the repairs don’t take long or cost a ton of money. Not that they don’t have it. I may have fibbed a bit to my boss. They have the dollars. Pierce doesn’t want to put any of it into marketing.
“Why are you back here anyway? Shouldn’t you be helping my sister, or covering for her while you do all the work?”
See, these types of digs are unnecessary. Why does he always have to find something about her to put down? Unless, of course, he knows she could run circles around him.
The urge to fight back is overwhelming, and it takes everything in me to tamp down my anger. Getting into it with Pierce isn’t going to make him agree to what I’m about to suggest.
Well, what I’ll eventually propose. Right now, I need to get him in a better mood. I’ve learned how to work him…for the most part.
“I was going to say y’all are free to use my house for whatever you need. Showers, cooking, a nap.” He doesn’t miss the slight jab.
“Are you sure? I know Mom will probably want to get a hot shower as soon as possible.”
“Of course. Your family has fed, clothed and dealt with me since I was thirteen. It’s the least I can do.”
He looks relieved. “Thanks. That means a lot. I’ll let my parents know as soon as I head back to their house.”
“No problem.” I dig my heel into the soft ground and stare at the plush green grass beneath my feet. “There’s one more thing.”
Pierce grumbles for a few seconds. “If this is about Piper’s plan, I already told both of you how I feel about it, and there’s no changing my mind. She really needs to stop sending you to do her dirty work. It may have worked when you were teenagers, but you’re grown now.”
He’s one to talk. “She doesn’t know the reason I’m here.”
“You aren’t going to go back up front until I’ve heard what you have to say, are you?” He knows me well enough to figure this out.
“No.” I shake my head. I have zero problems arguing with a brick wall if it means proving my point. Unless it’s to Piper. I’ll roll over for anything that woman says. Always have and will.
Resigned, he sighs. “Fine. Give me your spiel.”
I tell him about what my boss wants and how this could be big for Starlit Fields. The partnership doors this could open up outside of the ones he’s already formed.
“Basically, he wants me to test this plan with a low or no spend budget. But…it means you’ll need to give Piper more creative freedom on social media.”
He crosses his arms and stares me down. It’s supposed to be intimidating, but he’s never scared me. Honestly, I don’t understand why his siblings let him push them around. But I don’t have any, so maybe it’s a different dynamic. Either way, I’m not letting him bully me.
“Why should I okay this? Especially after I told Piper no.” His voice is stern, but not in the same way I’ve heard him speak to anyone else. Maybe it’s because I’m not officially a family member, I just played one in school.
“Because in my professional opinion, I think it would do wonders for the winery. You’d be able to grow your business and curate the types of customers you want. Piper is completely capable of doing that. Considering how popular she was with only doing a short Q&A, I think she can do so much more.”
“I don’t know.” Pierce lifts an arm and scratches the back of his neck.
“Now isn’t really a good time.” He points to the metal pieces from the roof on the ground.
“I won’t even know if we can ship things.
I haven’t been inside to scope out the damage, and probably won’t be able to until we get power. ”
“What do you have to lose, Pierce?” I throw my arms up. The fact he’s coming around to the idea because I’m voicing them also pisses me off. When Piper told me about him and Paula coming to an agreement, I thought maybe he had changed…at least a little. I was clearly wrong.
He looks around the winery, taking it all in.
The property is beautiful and if he’d open it up for more events, he’d be able to fill this place up.
Cash flow wouldn’t be an issue because people would book months, or years, in advance to have private parties here.
They could get involved with the community.
The possibilities are endless. But he’s going to sit here and worry about non-existent problems.
He sighs before meeting my eyes. “Fine. I’ll let y’all do this on two conditions.”
“What are they?” Please don’t be anything that puts me in a compromising position.
“You have to run anything you do by me before you do it.”
“Done.”
“And Piper can’t know that I know you’re doing this.”
Ugh, I was afraid this would be one of the stipulations. “Why?”
I know the answer, but I want to hear it from him. Then I’ll know for sure it’s because I came to him with the idea.
“Do you have any idea how much crap she’ll give me if she knows I told you yes and her no? I don’t have the mental energy to deal with it.”
There it is. The answer that shows how much an ass he can be.
“Maybe you should think about why that is.”
Without another word, I turn and head toward Piper. I’ll keep the agreement a secret…for now. But I also know the predicament I’ve put myself in. I’ll be lying to my best friend.
“You’re house or mine?” I help Piper onto the passenger seat of my car. Both of us are covered in sweat. It felt nice when I first got to the winery, but as the day warmed up, the humidity hit us like a sucker punch.
“Well, considering there’s still no power here, your house. I need a shower.” She buckles her seatbelt and waits for me to get in the driver seat. “Actually, can we stop by my house first? I need to get clothes.”
“Sure thing.” I turn on the car and head down the driveway. That’s the one perk of the Summers owning this large piece of property, everyone has a house on it with enough space they don’t get on each other’s nerves. Even Paula has a piece of the property. She doesn’t use it, though.
It’s not long before we are pulling into her driveway.
Piper always goes on about how it’s the greatest perk of living on the land her family owns.
She doesn’t even have to drive if she doesn’t feel like it.
But that rarely happens as far as I know.
The weather would have to be perfect for her walk the fifteen to twenty minutes to the office.
Which is a rare occurrence in Texas. Especially when we sometimes feel all the seasons in one day.
The limbs that covered the yard this morning are in a pile. She must have taken care of it before she left for the winery. Not that I blame her. I wouldn’t want to clean up even more after doing it all day for work.
Little does she know, I was planning on helping her. I doubt her brothers had any intention of doing it. At least they didn’t mention anything about it today while I was there.
“Do you want me to come in with you?”
“Nope,” she shakes her head as she throws open the passenger door. “Give me five minutes.”
I put the car in park and get out. I didn’t check all the way around this house this morning. She probably did, but it doesn’t hurt to take a second look.
None of the shingles came off her roof, but part of her fence is bent in the corner.
When she first put it up, I asked her why she bothered.
She said she might want to get a dog some day and it would need a place to roam.
Five years later, and there’s still no pets. This weekend I’ll repair it with her.
She’s walking out of the house as I make my way back to the car. “What were you doing?”
“Seeing if there was any other damage from the storm. The fencing is bent in the back.”
“I know.” She lifts her bag higher on her shoulder. “I forgot to tell you about it earlier. Didn’t want Pierce to think I wasn’t working hard.”
“Your brother can get over himself.” She slides into the passenger seat and closes the door. “And I’ll help you repair the fence this weekend. It shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Thanks. You’re keeping me from having to ask one of my brothers for help. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Deal with their bullshit.” I laugh. “You ready?”
“Yep.” She reaches for the radio and turns it to a pop station before turning up the volume.
This small thing would probably annoy most people, but she’s done it since we were in high school.
Despite not really liking the music, I always give her power over the radio.
She’s forced to listen to stuff she doesn’t care for at work, and I want her to be completely comfortable with me. Even if the dance music isn’t my taste.
The ride to my house is mostly silent. We’re about a mile away when I notice the music isn’t as loud as it was seconds ago.
“Why were you looking for Pierce earlier?”
I knew she was going to ask, but I didn’t think it would take her this long.
“I was letting him know everyone was free to shower or nap over here.” I purposefully omit the other thing I talked to him about. And this reason isn’t exactly a lie. I did tell him that.
“Oh.” She sounds surprised.
“Why?”
“I thought you were going to tear him a new one for treating me the way he does.”
Interesting. She doesn’t want me to be her boyfriend, but she wants me to stand up for her like a boyfriend would. I mean, I did anyway. Best friends also fill that role of defense. Still…she seems upset I didn’t defend her honor.
“If it means that much to you, I can still do that.” I lift my phone from the console and act like I’m opening my contacts list.
“No!” Her voice is loud in the small space. “Especially not when you’re driving.”
Pulling into my driveway, I put the car in park. “Are you sure? I’m not driving anymore.”
“Oh my God, yes, I’m sure. He probably hears it enough from me.”
“Probably.” I shrug and open the door. “But another voice is never a bad thing.”
“It is if it’s against my moody brother. You know how much he holds grudges. It took him forever to try to mend things with my sister.”
“You’re not wrong.” I get out of the car and hurry over to her side. As soon as Piper is out of the car, I grab her bag and lift it onto my shoulder. “What the hell do you have in here? Are you moving in, and I didn’t get the memo?”
She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “I didn’t ask you to get my bag. But no, it has everything I need in case I’m here longer than one night.”
The thought of her being here more than one night thrills me. We’re at each other’s houses all the time anyway, and she’s stayed over a few times. But the fact that I can provide her a place to stay does big things for my ego.
As soon as I open the door to the house, I set her bag in the foyer. “You can take a shower first.”
“Absolutely not.” She’s shaking her head. “I know how you get when I use all the hot water.”
This is proof of how comfortable she is with me. Why can’t she see we’d be great together. Or maybe she knows but she’s too scared to take that leap.
“Fine, I’ll take a quick shower. Then you can hop in.”
“I’ll search your kitchen for food. Or see if anyone in town has power yet. I’m guessing they do.”
“Sounds good.” I don’t tell her how badly I hope she finds a restaurant with power. I love her more than anything, but Piper is not skilled in the kitchen.
We just need to get through the night without making things between us awkward. I can do that. At least I hope I can.