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I watch the sun as it rises over the fields of grape vines, casting a warm glow over rows and rows of green. Next door, Lu’s house is silent and I can only assume she’s still asleep. Hasn’t discovered what I snuck inside and left for her.
Glancing down at her backyard, I notice a compost bin overflowing, the lid barely containing all of the waste jammed inside it. Finishing my coffee, I leave the mug on the back table before wandering over to take care of it.
After I’m done, I head down to the sheds containing the broken crusher, knowing I’m early and the others aren’t likely to be there yet.
Grabbing one of the empty plastic bins by the back room, I head over to the stairs and climb up to the machine. Peering inside I almost cringe at all the grapes she’s going to lose.
“What a fucking waste,” I mutter as I reach in and grab the bunches that just might be able to be salvaged. As I gently place them in the plastic bin, an idea starts to form in my mind. Working quickly, I clear out all the intact bunches I can, managing to fill four containers, which I then take to the back room and shove beneath one of the counters for later.
Just as I walk back into the shed, in walks Lulu, Oscar in tow.
“Morning, Lulu,” I say, grinning at her. “Oscar,” I say, holding out my hand to him as he proceeds to go through the handshake he’s apparently decided we need to use for each greeting and farewell.
She watches us, rolling her eyes in obvious annoyance.
“Get out on the wrong side of the bed this morning?” I ask, glancing at her.
She exhales loudly. “No,” she shoots back.
I chuckle. “You sure? You seem a little, I don’t know,” I pause, hand under my chin as I run my eyes up and down her body. “On edge or something?” I add.
Lulu stands with her hands on her hips, her eyes on fire as she once again shoots daggers at me. “I’m perfectly fine,” she says through gritted teeth.
Laughing, I walk toward her, stopping when we are side by side. Leaning over so my mouth is against her ear, I whisper. “You know, I have the perfect solution for taking that edge off.”
I feel her stiffen beside me and I can’t resist laughing a little. “Just sayin’, Lu, that offer I made, it still stands.”
She whips around so she’s facing me now, her cheeks red and her mouth open as though she’s about to rip me a new one. It takes every ounce of self-control I have not to burst out laughing at how fucking adorable she looks right now.
“Honestly, Jack,” she says, jaw tight. “I have no…”
“Aunt Lulu,” Oscar says, interrupting her. “Everyone’s here.”
I bite my bottom lip to stop the laugh from escaping, and when we both turn I see there are now half a dozen guys standing inside the shed, staring at us. One of them looks extremely pissed off, his eyes flicking between Lu and me as we stand face to face.
Almost immediately I want to tell him to back the fuck off, to rein it in and take his eyes off his boss. But I don’t say anything. As much as I might like to tease Lu, give her shit because I love driving her crazy, there’s no way I’m going to embarrass or belittle her in front of her employees.
The stuff I do and say to her is private.
“Well, we can talk about it later,” I say, my words loud enough for everyone to hear. Giving her a small grin, I gesture to the waiting workers and say, “You want to introduce me?”
Chapter Six
Lauren
He’s always right there on the edge of me forgiving him for being a shithead, but he always manages to bring me right back to hating him.
This morning I woke up to a pack of Tim Tams sitting on the island in my kitchen, while creepy as it was, something about it was also really sweet.
The creepy Tim Tams are now looking creepier than ever and if he was hoping to leave them as a peace offering, he’s going to have to do better.
Like hell if I’m letting him undermine me in front of my staff; a staff that respects me and knows I run this place like a well-oiled machine.
They’re all standing there waiting for me to say something, because it has been years since I’ve brought someone new in and it’s very clear that Jack is here for a while.
He’s elbow deep in grapes, and by the way he’s standing he’s about to start ordering people around.
“Good morning,” I greet, turning around and smiling at my crew. “This is Jack Wilson. Some of you may even remember him or his dad from when they were here many years ago.”
