It’s for your own good, son.
Whenever my dad called me “son,” I always knew I wouldn’t like whatever he had in store for me.
A job.
One that didn’t include sitting in that stuffy office of his.
He’d waited for my reaction, for me to refuse so he could threaten to take away my trust fund—again. It was his favorite tactic. But I didn’t give him that satisfaction. Instead, I nodded and smiled, and left my father gaping behind me.
Honestly, working at the Ashford Wine Bar seemed a whole lot better than working anywhere near either my father or Conner. I wasn’t afraid of hard work. In fact, I’d spent a lot of time working with Lena in the orchard over the years. It was just the wine business that gave me hives.
Technically, the wine bar wasn’t “in the business.” It was just a bar, and I knew bars.
I pushed open the door to Hugga Mugga, a smile on my face at the prospect of doing something productive outside my father’s reach. Sure, he owned the place, but he wouldn’t be my boss. That honor belonged to Vic Benson, a woman after my own heart. Well, if I was twenty years older.
It was Saturday afternoon, and I had a few hours before I had to report to my sentence, er, job. When I stepped up to place my order, I was surprised to see my cousin Emery behind the counter.
“Since when do you work here?” I gave her a confused look.
“Dad said I needed something to do.” She sighed. “He doesn’t understand that when I stay home reading on the weekends, I’m not bored. That I like it.”
Her dad might be the polar opposite of mine, but they’d both been raised with the same Ashford work ethic. “He wants you to stop asking for book money, doesn’t he?” It was always about money with my dad.
“I don’t think that’s why.” She tugged one braid over her shoulder. “It was more … he was worried about me.”
I understood her in a way few people did. We were both avid readers, something some people—our fathers—took to mean loners or lazy. That wasn’t the case at all. “Well, I brought you a new book.”
Her eyes lit up. “Please tell me it has a good romance.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course it does. Would I read it if it didn’t?” She was the only person I’d admit that to, but we’d been swapping books for years, mostly fantasy or science fiction. “I’ll bring it to you here tomorrow.”
She scrunched up her face. “Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll still be working here.”
“Why not?”
“I’m kind of terrible at it.”
I could imagine that. Emery wasn’t much of a talker until she really got to know someone. Wicked smart, she got along better with fictional characters and her brothers.
“In that case, I’ll just take a coffee.”
She looked behind her, her face scrunched. “Um, can you get something else?”
“What’s wrong with coffee?”
“We’re out.”
“Of coffee? This is a coffee shop.”
Emery sighed. “Fine, I’d have to make a new pot, and I don’t know how. Unless you want to wait half an hour for Cassie to get back from break, can you get like water or something? Ooh, or a bottled drink. I can totally make those.”
I glanced at the cooler of bottled drinks, laughing at her insinuation she’d make one. Emery was probably right. This wasn’t the job for her. “I’ll take a seltzer.” I pulled out a can and handed her my card.
“That’s twelve dollars.”
I almost choked. “Em, I don’t think you rang that up right.”
“Of course I did. This is the one part of the job I can do.”
“Stop harassing the girl,” someone behind me said.
I turned to tell them to mind their own business only to find a grinning Harrison. Could I go nowhere in this town without running into a million Ashfords?
“Don’t you have a job?” I asked. He had many jobs, but the biggest was town mayor.
Harrison slapped my back as Emery handed me my card and the seltzer I’d overpaid for.
“Hey, Harry.” Emery smiled. “Can I interest you in an ice water?”
Harrison gave me a confused look.
“Just do it man or you’ll end up with a really expensive seltzer water.”
Emery handed him a cup of water, and he followed me over to an empty table, taking a seat across from me. Emery, Harrison, and I all had different fathers but the same Ashford air about us that made the entire town tune in to everything we said.
Even now, I saw Mrs. Abernathy and Mrs. Chapman at the next table over, cups of water in front of them. They kept sneaking glances our way, as if we couldn’t see.
Seeing Mrs. Chapman made my throat constrict. I wanted to ask her if Harper had made it to town. If she’d asked about me. Anything. Everything. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since the day I learned she was coming back.
Years ago, we were inseparable. Then, everything broke, and she was gone. I never even got to say goodbye.
Harrison sipped his water and studied me.
“What?” I snapped.
“You seem a bit jumpy today.”
I wasn’t jumpy. Was I? I’d walked through town with my eyes constantly scanning, searching, looking for any sign of her, wondering if she was looking for me. Knowing she wasn’t. “I’m fine.”
“That’s a line you give your brother.”
“Yeah, well, are you honest with the great Conner Ashford about all things?” Not even Conrad confided in Conner. Harrison was probably the closest of all of us to Conner, but it was hard to be truly close to him. I thought my brother dating my best friend might change things, but all it really did was make me resent him more.
I didn’t want Lena to love me, I just wanted my friend back.
Harrison didn’t look happy with me. There was a reason everyone loved him. He was a reconciler, always needing everyone to get along. If our fathers didn’t hate each other, I was sure he could even charm my dad.
“Why are you still single?” The question sort of just popped out of me.
He laughed at that. “I have three jobs.”
The bell over the door jangled, and I groaned as Conrad walked in. Weren’t there enough family members of mine in one place? This day was going to drive me crazy. Conrad walked past the counter and came straight for us, no smile on his serious face. He wasn’t stern like Conner. He had a different air about him.
Conrad had never been good with people, finding it hard to speak to them. It was why he lived on an island surrounded by wild horses.
Harrison lifted a hand in greeting. “Conrad, hi.” Conrad nodded to us each in turn, as if we were business associates rather than family.
“Hey, brother.” I’d always wanted to be closer to Conrad, always envied the way he bucked the family to follow his passion. But I’d never found my opening.
Conrad took an empty seat, his lean frame folding into it easily. “I heard Dad is making you work at the wine bar.”
Harrison lifted a brow.
I shrugged. “I’m actually kind of excited about it. No more showing up to those offices where his staff knows just how incompetent I am.”
To my surprise, a small smile curved his lips. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I spent my fair share of time in those offices.”
Any show of emotion from my brother was a win. “So, what brings you to town?”
“I needed to meet with Harrison, actually.” He turned to Harrison. “I have an injured foal to care for over the next week and won’t be able to leave her side for any tours. And my assistant is visiting her sick mother.”
Harrison nodded. “I’ll make sure to post a notice on the website canceling all tourist visits to the sanctuary.”
“Thanks.” He stood. “I’m going to grab a coffee.”
Harrison and I shared a look before I said, “Good luck with that, bro.”
I watched him chat with Emery, laughing when he walked away with a water. Her co-worker joined her a moment later, and they spoke. Before I knew it, Emery was marching toward us and throwing herself into Conrad’s vacated seat.
“I got fired.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Look on the bright side, you didn’t even want this job.” I offered her a smile.
She scowled at me. “But my dad is going to be so disappointed. He’ll force me to find some hobby, as if reading isn’t a good enough hobby. It’s making me smarter than all the fools in this town.”
Harrison hid a grin behind his cup and stood. “Well, as one of the fools in this town, I’m going to get an actual coffee and head to the firehouse.”
Emery groaned. “He just has to point out that he volunteers as a firefighter even though he’s also mayor and runs his hardware store. My father wants us all to grow up to be him.”
“Want to switch dads?” I stared at her until she really thought about it.
“Ugh, I’m sorry. I’m complaining about my awesome dad to you, who has the biggest jerk in the world for a dad.”
“It’s okay.” I checked the time on my phone. “But I do need to run. Some of us have jobs.” I sent her a wink as I stood.
“Since when?” she called after me.
Throwing my empty seltzer can in the trash, I’d almost made it out the door before she stopped me, the very woman I wanted to avoid. There was a group of older women in this town who had a heightened interest in everything that went on, and one of them happened to be Harper’s grandmother.
“Carter?” Mrs. Chapman joined me as I pushed through the door.
I stopped on the sidewalk and turned to her. “Mrs. Chapman, hello.”
Mrs. Abernathy joined her, and I was stuck. “Young man, where are you off to in such a hurry?”
I wasn’t going to tell them where I’d be working. The town would know soon enough, but I didn’t need everyone showing up on my first night. “Headed home.”
Mrs. Chapman didn’t look happy about that. “I was expecting to see you at some point today. Harper got in yesterday.”
The words stole the air from my lungs, and I took a step back. Before now, Harper’s return was an abstract thing, something I didn’t have confirmation of. I’d looked for her, not thinking I’d actually see her.
“Look what you did,” Mrs. Abernathy chastised her friend. “The poor boy is going all red. I think you broke him.”
Mrs. Chapman gave me a kind smile. “Breathe, dear.”
I sucked in a breath, trying to calm my frantic heart. “I need to go.” I turned and fled, but they called after me.
“Make sure you stop by!”
I’d only ever been in love with one girl, and that love had taken years to get over. Now, all that was left was the hurt she’d caused. The questions and confusion she’d left in her wake.