Am I that way with Beau? Surely, he would say something if he thought I was being too much. I open my mouth to argue this point with my brother, but I hear footsteps behind me.
“I have breakfast.” Beau’s voice is chipper, and I can’t deny hearing it brings me comfort. Even though I’m surrounded by family most days, he feels like…home.
I turn to face him and my jaw drops at the massive box in his hand. It doesn’t have any logos on it, though. “Look, I know I like to eat, but this feels like a lot for just the two of us.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “I couldn’t show up without food for everyone. That would make me kind of an asshole. Besides, I’m sure everyone else is hungry.”
Parker has moved and isn’t in Beau’s line of sight. He sticks his tongue out at me, and I want to cut it off. He’s going to throwthis in my face for years. Gah, why does Beau have to be such a kind-hearted soul? Even though I’d do the same if I wasn’t still bitter with my siblings.
“Do I, at least, get first dibs?” I don’t even know what’s in the box, but I’ll be damned if Parker gets any food before I do.
He nods and holds the box in my direction. “Take as many as you want, I think I bought enough.”
The edge of the tab gets caught on the slot when I try to open it one-handed. Dropping the trash bag, I use both hands to pry it open. A stack of foil wrapped goodies are tightly packed inside.
“Did you buy out the whole taco shop? And where did you find one that had power?”
I dig around to find my favorites. Two potato and egg, and one chorizo and egg. I’m sure I’ll get more of the latter, most of the folks in my family don’t like it.
He shrugs and turns toward Parker once I have my food in hand. “I had to go outside of Asheville. That’s why it took me so long to get here. I think everyone in town had the same idea.”
“Is your power out, too?” I feel like a jerk for just now asking. It should have been the first thing out of my mouth rather than food. Being hangry is a thing, though. And I’m on the verge of it.
“Nope. I guess my house is on one of the essential grid lines. Perks of living in town, I guess.”
“Then you won’t mind me staying at your place during the next big storm. As much as I love it out here, I’m not a fan of power outages when we get strong winds.” I wave a hand toward the tree limbs littering the property. “And as you can see, the gusts got pretty high.”
“As if you even have to ask.” He shakes his head and makes his way toward the house we use as our main building. “Is everyone else inside? I don’t want the food to get cold before they get a chance to eat.”
“No,” Parker butts in. “They are in the back. I think Dad and Pierce have been cleaning up for a while so they’ll welcome the break.”
We follow my closest sibling around the house to the backyard. Pierce is closing up a trash bag and sets it next to a pile of them. His eyes widen as he takes in the group of us before narrowing on me and Parker.
“I thought y’all were cleaning up the front, and yet, I see no full bags.”
“We were getting started when Beau pulled up.” Parker slaps him on the back. “He rescued us without even realizing it.”
“I brought breakfast tacos if anyone is hungry.” He lifts the box as an offering. “I didn’t have to go in today and figured y’all could use another set of hands.”
“Thanks.” Pierce eyes him wearily. “Everyone, come eat.” His voice is loud in the silence surrounding us.
“Dang, I think they heard you in the next county over.” Was it necessary to be a smart ass? No. Do I enjoy needling him? Absolutely. At least this is all in good fun.
I’m still annoyed with him about the marketing plan. Even though I’m doing it in secret with Beau. But if I act differently, he may suspect something is going on. The last thing I want to do is have him hyper focus on me.
“I can always be louder.” He laughs.
Since Dad has been talking about handing the winery over to us, I don’t think I’ve seen him laugh. Not that he has ever been jovial, but the humor has been few and far between. It’s nice to hear the sound from him, even if it’s startling.
“I think we’re good.” I grin.
All of my siblings descend on us. Beau avoids getting tackled and sets the box on the table we have set up for tastings. We have an area in the house as well, but this set up is for those nice evenings when it isn’t too hot or cold.
It’s actually the set from my parents’ house. There are so many memories surrounding this table and every single one of them include Beau. From making a mess with s’mores to all of us laughing into the night over some prank Parker pulled. I hope we never get rid of it.
I grab an open seat before there aren’t any left and unwrap my taco. “Can someone hand me the salsa?” They are delicious without it, but I’m a salsa girl through and through. I put it on pretty much everything.
“Here you go.” Philip hands me a small bowl and plastic spoon. He grabs his tacos and takes another one of the seats. “What made you decide to give us a hand today?” His question is directed at Beau.
