“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. Thepossibilities 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 getin 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.”
