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“The Spanish settlers of new Spain in the early sixteen hundreds.”
He raised his eyebrows and pointed. “See? Trivia queen. How many counties are in Texas?”
“One hundred and ninety-seven,” I answered with certainty, when frankly I’d pulled the number out of thin air. It wasn’t the first time I’d sold my brother on a wrong answer when he played this game. Served him right for treating me like a circus monkey.
“Rock on!” Wilson said.
Cameron squeezed my hand, her brow wrinkled. She opened her mouth to give what I assumed was the right number of counties, but I shot her my best death stare. She must have realized what I was up to and stifled her chuckle. Oh yeah, I liked this woman a lot.
“The biggest private ranch in Texas?” Wilson wanted to stump me.
I paused, thinking. I knew the answer was rattling around in my head somewhere. While I was concentrating, Cameron dumped the hydrogen peroxide over my injury.
“Ouch. Shit.” It hurt. I jerked my hand from Cameron’s hold and blew on the stinging cut.
“Nope! Wrong! The King Ranch. It’s over nine hundred thousand acres.” My brother was an awful winner, and as soon as he said King Ranch, I knew that answer, unlike my guess on the number of counties, was right.
“Wilson, enough making your sister play Texas twenty questions. You’re wasting her abilities. I’ll take her down to The Pub for trivia night. Lord knows our team never wins.”
“That’s only because Jude never shows up and he’s your best player.”
“Jude is my boss at the real estate company, a total workaholic,” Cameron told me as she dried and bandaged my cut. “Keep it clean and dry for a few days.” She gave me a baggie full of Band-Aids and a tube of salve.
Where the hell did the baggie come from? She really was a mom, complete with maternal superpowers.
“Thank you.” I looked between them both, my gaze lingering on my brother, hopeful he’d tell me I could stay.
“Can’t have my new wine marketing executive die from sepsis,” he said.
An instant rush of gratitude filled my chest. Finally, something had gone my way. It was the win I needed.
Nothing, not my unfamiliarity with marketing wine or Atley’s smoldering good looks, would derail me. I would succeed for my brother and myself. Look out Texas, here comes Blue Star Wines.
“Wilson, thank you. I can’t wait to get to work. Do you have any concrete plans yet? Because I had a bunch of great ideas. Wine club, private tastings, getting on all the wine tour bus schedules. Then there is opening a tasting room for events like weddings and parties.” The ideas all burst out, rushing one after the other as fast as I could talk.
I loved wine, not only in a yes, please pour me another glass way but also in the I’d secretly studied wine way. I’d bought the books that people learning to be a sommelier read. My freaky memory had absorbed all the info and terminology like a dry sponge dipped in a glass of pinot noir. I started it to impress Matthew, my ex, and his work colleagues. They loved to eat out at high-end fine dining restaurants in Chicago. The kind of places with thick leather-bound wine lists designed to intimidate the uninitiated. I hated that feeling, so I started studying and drinking. It turned into a passion. And earned me the right to peruse the wine list and chat with the sommelier while the rest of the table talked about boring work stuff. Win-win!
“The wine marketing and tasting room plans got shoved on the back burner. We have been all hands on deck for the BBQ today and keeping everything from going up in flames in this heat. But I think Atley and Gabriel, our winemaker, had some ideas. I kind of dumped the whole thing in Atley’s lap with no timeline or level of importance.”
“So, Atley is the one I need to talk to about this.” My voice bounced off the shiny marble and glass of the bathroom, amplifying the undercurrent of uncertainty in my tone.
The one time I step out of line and go wild, I end up in this situation. It’s not fair. One-night stands that happen in airport hotels aren’t supposed to follow you to your destination.
“Yes, he’s in charge of most everything here right now. I’m planning to take a bigger role, but I have the new lower price product line from Bio-ID launching this summer.”
I nod at Wilson’s tone and expression, a sinking feeling growing in my stomach.
“You’re both adults. I will not chaperone you, but I can’t run this place without him. He’s been ranch manager here for six years. I don’t know nearly enough about the inner workings ofBlue Star to go it alone, and I don’t have the time to learn right now. I need him.”
“Sure, I understand.” I understood he didn’t need his unemployed sister marketing a nonexistent tasting room and events venue. So if push came to shove, in this situation, blood wasn’t thicker than wine and he’d take Atley’s side.
Cameron sighed and patted my leg. “I’ve known Atley since he came to Elmer; he’s a good man. But don’t expect too much from him. He’s gruff and focused on the ranch above all else. A man of few words.”
Few words? Was she kidding? A vivid memory of Atley unbuttoning my shirt as he demanded to know what I thought about when I touched myself replayed in my head. Atley might be tight-lipped outside the bedroom, but in bed, his dirty talk was extensive and panty-melting.
“I can see that. I think our first conversation consisted of me talking and him answering ‘yes, ma’am’ about ten times in a row.”
“Exactly.” Cameron brightened, like problem solved, you understand Atley perfectly. She squeezed my leg and stood up from the edge of the tub.
