Audrey marched her way through morning chores with purpose. She showered and dressed, spent a little too long standing in front of the tiny closet where she’d hung the clothes she’d brought with her. Okay, the clothes she’d brought with her and the clothes she’d ordered online because she hadn’t packed nearly enough.
She settled on a flowing skirt with a vibrant floral print—nothing she could ever wear to the office but that made her feel prettier than the super casual things she’d taken to wearing around the farm. And slightly less starchy than what she’d worn to her meeting the day before. She paired it with a sleeveless top and a pair of slingback sandals and told herself she didn’t care if Rowan and Dylan teased her. Or noticed her.
She tucked her own laptop into her bag in case she needed backup and, since the sun was shining, opted to walk down to the cidery. The side door was propped open, so she walked right in. Rowan’s and Dylan’s voices wafted through space, seeming to come from behind the row of fermentation tanks.
She followed the sound and found them with their heads pressed together, staring into glasses holding liquids of different shades of gold. It made her wonder if Ernestine ever visited the cidery. “The two of you look like mad scientists right now.”
Rowan looked up and smiled. “It’s all her. I watch. And taste.”
Dylan lifted her chin in Rowan’s direction. “I’m glad we finally agree on who’s the brains of this operation.”
“I didn’t say that. My brains just don’t happen to be in the chemistry department.”
Audrey chuckled. She’d always considered her office culture friendly, but it had nothing on this. “Do you antagonize one another all the time or only when you have an audience?”
Dylan gave one of those bobbing head nods. “Oh, no. We do it all the time.”
Rowan tipped her head back and forth. “Pretty much.”
“I want to know what you’re doing, but I should probably get to work.”
“Nonsense,” Rowan said, just as Dylan let out a pfft. “We’re checking some of our early season varieties to see if they’re ready for bottling.”
Even though she was itching to get her hands on the books, curiosity won out. “How do you do that?”
“Gizmos that test for alcohol levels, acidity, that sort of thing,” Rowan said.
Dylan brought her fingers and thumb together and waved them like an old Italian guy, or maybe more accurately, someone pretending to be an old Italian guy. “But we also get a feel for it. Her color and the way she feels on the tongue.”
Something resembling a giggle escaped Audrey’s lips and Rowan rolled her eyes. “Okay, Romeo.”
Dylan let out a tsk of dismissal. “Body, aroma—these things are science. But they’re art, too.” She made a sweeping gesture at Rowan. “Not unlike how you predict a frost by the smell of the air.”
Rowan bowed slightly. “Touché.”
For all that they harassed one another, it was easy to see why they were partners. And friends. It made her a little sad that her job didn’t work that way. Or maybe it was that she didn’t work that way. “Something tells me the two of you manage to blend the art and science of it perfectly.”
Dylan bowed this time, and with much greater flair. “My dear, flattery will get you everywhere.”
Rowan coughed. “But I’m sure you’d rather get to work than stand around watching us argue about flavor profiles.”
She angled her head. “Do you argue about flavor profiles?”
“Not really.” Rowan hooked a thumb at Dylan. “She doesn’t tell me how to grow the apples and I don’t tell her what to do with them after the fact.”
“Mm-hmm.” She didn’t want to admit it, but it would be easy to fritter away the morning with them.
“It’s why we’re such a good team.” Dylan’s chest puffed out slightly like a proud little kid.
“I’m enjoying the show, but I probably shouldn’t encourage you, so lead me to the books.”
“Happy to.” Rowan made a comment about leaving Dylan to her various tests and assessments and led Audrey to the office. “I’m sorry it’s so small.”
“I spent the first five years of my career in a cubicle. I’m good.”
Rowan visibly winced. “Right.”
“But now my office overlooks Times Square.”
“Really?”
She wasn’t sure why she shared that fact. The whole point was to assure Rowan she was okay with the small space, not brag about her climb up the corporate ladder. “Yes, but what I mean is it doesn’t matter. I can work anywhere.”
Rowan nodded, looking even less convinced than before. “Okay. Well, all the passwords are on a sticky note next to the computer.”
“You know that’s not remotely secure.”
“I do. I’m also banking on you being the kind of woman who picks her battles.”
The joke, along with Rowan’s sly grin, broke any tension that may have been there. “Indeed I am.”
“Holler if you have questions or can’t access something you need. I’m going to get back to work and leave you to it.”
She preferred that to hovering but got the sense Rowan’s discomfort exceeded her own. “Does this freak you out?”
Rowan hesitated. “It’s like getting blood drawn. I don’t mind it happening, but I can’t watch.”
She laughed. “Excellent analogy.”
“Yeah. So.” Rowan shrugged. “Good luck?”
She knew better than to offer reassurances before getting a handle on how bad things were, so she went for a decisive nod. “Thanks.”
Rowan disappeared, leaving her in the tiny space alone. She could just make out music coming from somewhere else in the building. Not loud enough to place the song even, but between that and the occasional muffled voices of Rowan and Dylan going about their work, it made for the perfect white noise. She spent an hour simply reviewing the data and running reports, drafting a running list of questions she wanted answered before making any changes. She got up to find Rowan but practically ran into her in the doorway. “Do you have a minute?”
“All the minutes you need.” Rowan made a face. “Unless something’s wrong and you’re going to yell at me. If that’s the case, three minutes, tops.”
She laughed in spite of herself. “No yelling.”
Rowan followed her back into the office. “I’m trusting you.”
“No promise you’re going to like all the questions, though.”
Rowan let out a dramatic sigh. “Okay. Lay it on me.”
Audrey scanned the balance sheet she’d gotten the software to generate, then pointed at the screen. “You’ve got all this equipment, but you’re not depreciating any of it. It’s skewing your expenses.”
“I know.”
She shook her head. “You’re starting to bring in income. If you don’t offset it better, you’re going to have a huge tax bill.”
“I know.”
“It looks like you haven’t started paying estimated quarterly taxes, either. You’re almost to the point where they’re going to come after you for that.”
Rowan closed her eyes. “I. Know.”
“Sorry.” She pulled her hands away from the keyboard and laced them together.
“I warned you it was a mess.”
She sighed. “It’s not a mess. I’ve seen worse.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
She lifted a shoulder and smirked. “No, because a lot of those companies were in hot water for unethical practices and, on at least a couple of occasions, fraud.”
Rowan’s shoulders slumped. “You think less of me, don’t you?”
“I don’t. I swear.”
“We were planning to hire a professional this year, but we were able to get the new fermentation tanks at auction for half what we’d pay retail. So, we put it off.”
It was a decision so many people—as individuals or businesses—made. Kind of like car maintenance. It didn’t seem urgent, got put off, and cost way more in the long run. “I get it. But I’m telling you right now and I’m going to keep telling you, hiring someone who knows what they’re doing is going to save you money. It’s an indisputable fact.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She tried for a withering look. “And don’t call me ma’am.”
“Yes, Ms. Adams.”
“You’re being cheeky now. I’m serious.”
Rowan had the decency to look cowed. “Sorry. I deal with uncomfortable situations with bad humor.”
The honesty, paired with the deadpan delivery, had her cracking a smile. “Apology accepted.”
“Really, thank you for doing this. Despite how Dylan and I have handled things, we know it’s important.”
The shift to sincerity caught her by surprise. She thought she’d softened all the way when it came to Rowan, but apparently not. Or maybe she was slipping deeper into liking her territory. Not the worst thing, though she didn’t need to be broadcasting it. “You’re welcome.”
“Anything else?”
“Not at the moment.” At least nothing she was prepared to discuss with Rowan.
Rowan tipped her head. “I’m going to let you work then. I’ll be in the bottling area with Dylan if you need me.”
Having set her thoughts about Rowan aside, her mind returned to the books, wanting to tease things apart and put them back together in ways that made sense. “Will do.”
“Don’t work too hard, okay? We don’t want you burning out.”
She laughed, thinking about the multi-million-dollar corporations that comprised her portfolio. “Do you not understand what I do for a living?”
Rowan frowned. “I do, but—”
“I’m good at what I do and—”
“I never said—”
She raised a hand. “I’m good at it and I like it. I’m going to need you to trust me.”
For the second time that morning, Rowan looked cowed. “Sorry.”
Given the majority of their interactions so far—ones in which Rowan knew what she was doing and Audrey didn’t—there was something fun about flipping the dynamic. “You don’t need to apologize, but you do need to go away so I can get to work.”
Rowan pressed her lips together, clearly suppressing a smile. “Yes, ma’am.”
Rowan pulled the door and disappeared before Audrey could complain again about being called ma’am. She rolled her eyes but chuckled. And then she rolled her shoulders a few times, flexed her fingers, and dove in.
* * *
Rowan helped Dylan clean up from the tasting and testing. Jamal arrived and she corralled him into helping her wash and prep bottles for the Dabinett-Golden Russet blend Dylan deemed ready for its secondary fermentation. She never quite forgot that Audrey was nearby but didn’t obsess about it. She even managed to lose track of time until Jamal started asserting that he was starving and someone better feed him already.
After a bit of internal struggle, she concluded it was only right to include Audrey in their communal lunch. Or at least offer. She stood outside the office door for a full minute at least, debating whether to knock. It was her space, technically, but also now Audrey’s. She didn’t want to startle Audrey. Or make her feel like she was being checked up on. But after this morning, she didn’t want to come across as any more timid and unsure than she already had. Of course, if Audrey could see her standing there hemming and hawing, timid wouldn’t be the half of it.
She gave the door a few taps with her knuckle but didn’t wait for an answer to open it. There. Was that so hard?
Audrey looked up, eyes wide. So much for not startling her. She blinked a few times, like she needed to coax her vision to refocus, then pulled off her glasses and smiled. “Hi.”
“Hi. Everything okay?”
Audrey nodded. “It’s great. Things aren’t as bad as you made them seem.”
“I have a feeling you’re being generous, but I’m not going to argue.”
“Your system isn’t serving you as well as it could, but you’re getting all the data in. That’s more than I can say for some people.”
She chuckled at the various games and bets they used to determine who’d be stuck entering receipts and paying invoices. “We do try.”
“I’m starting with some new categories and codes that should make data entry faster right off the bat. It’ll help me organize, but should make your lives easier, too.”
“Music to my ears.”
“Are you always this easy to impress?”
God, it would be so easy to imagine them back in flirting territory. She knew better, but damn. “I’m going to go with no.”
Audrey’s smirk was playful at the very least. “Good answer. You never want to be too easy.”
Okay, seriously, how was that not flirting? “Speaking of easy, I’m popping home to make sandwiches for lunch. Nothing fancy, but I thought I’d see if you wanted to come up for air long enough to join us.”
Sure, she’d have preferred “me” to “us” but whatever.
“What time is it?”
“A little after one.”
“Really?”
Why did it not surprise her that Audrey lost track of time with work? “Really.”
“Lunch would be great, though I feel bad to have you make it for me.”
“Like I said, just sandwiches. But if it would make you feel better, you can join the little rotation Dylan and I have going and take a turn.” There. That was better. Nothing flirtatious about rotating who brings lunch to work.
“I could get on board with a lunch club.”
The conversation might be entirely banal, but Audrey’s smile continued to send Rowan’s thoughts in directions that were anything but. “Great. Turkey and Swiss okay?”
“My favorite.”
“I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes.”
Audrey nodded. “I was going to leave around three to go visit Ernestine if that’s okay, since I missed her yesterday.”
“Um, every minute you give us is a gift. You get to set your own hours.”
The exasperated look, complete with huffy breath, shouldn’t have been attractive. But it was. “I know. But we’re colleagues now, in a way. There’s some basic professional courtesy there.”
It was her turn to huff out a breath, though it had nothing to do with exasperation. No, it was the metaphorical bucket of cold water reminding her of one more reason being attracted to Audrey was a bad idea. “Well, then, thanks for letting me know.”
Audrey’s eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?”
Besides being an idiot? “Nothing.”
“Okay. I’ve got some questions for you and Dylan if you don’t mind a working lunch.”
“Sure.”
“Perfect.”
Audrey returned her attention to the computer, clearly unfazed by the whole interaction. Rowan closed the door, shaking her head as she headed for the exit. Idiot.