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Duncan smirked.
“He will not,” Ma said. “But I will, if you don’t watch your mouth in my home.”
“Is it really a home if there’s no furniture in it?” Nate said.
Ma swung her attention to Nate, pointing at him with her pen. “Don’t you start too.”
“Boys,” Dad interjected. “Stop giving your mother shit.”
Ma bent her neck and pinched the bridge of her nose.
When Harry spoke, he was careful to keep his tone mild. “Her name is Rowan, and she’s—ah, a botanist. Which you already know. I’m not sure what else to say.”
“What’s she like?” Nate asked.
She’s gorgeous and funny, and she smells like lush green things growing in dark, fragrant earth,Harry thought. “Ah, she’s smart. Tenacious. A little distant. She’s Temperance’s best friend. What more do you want to know?”
Nate raised an eyebrow. “I can think of a few things.”
“Do we know if she really wants a vineyard job?” Dad added. “Being a botanist doesn’t mean she knows about grapes.”
“Neither does having family who runs a vineyard on the other side of the Atlantic.” Duncan grinned at Ma, earning himself ashooshand an onyx-eyed glare.
“She worked in orchards and vineyards for her Ph.D. research.” Harry held up his hands. “Look, I don’t know why I’m the go-to guy here. She told me she was working on publishing a paper. Wants to do a postdoc. I don’t know how working here fits in with that. But generally, when someone submits a résumé, it means they want a job, Dad.”
“Point of order,” Duncan interjected. Everyone turned their attention to him, and he paused dramatically before continuing. “Is she as cute as Temperance?”
Harry sighed. “You’re an asshole.”
Nate barked a laugh and lobbed a crumpled piece of paper at Duncan’s head. “T.J. Madigan is way overpunting your coverage, Ducky.”
“Kiss my ass,” Duncan said.
“Boys,” Ma said.
Nate’s wife, Maren, came into the den with a mug of tea. “Point of order,” she echoed Duncan, sliding her eyes to him. “First of all, that’s my little sister you’re objectifying.” She sat next to Ma. “Temperance told me she’s the one who sent the résumé, Gia. Not Rowan.”
“Oh.” Ma looked down at her notepad. Her pen moved like she was writing something, but Harry could tell she was justscribbling tiny circles. The corners of her mouth turned downward, and she nodded. Her disappointment was plain.
“I can talk to her if you want me to,” Harry said, quickly.
Duncan leaned back on his hands and crossed heavily booted feet at the ankles. “Shemustbe as cute as Temperance.”
“Fuck off, Duncan,” Harry said.
“Harrison Bryant.”
“Sorry, Ma. Look. You said you wanted me to get involved here. This is a way I can contribute.”
Something shifted in her eyes, a spark of shrewdness. She cut her eyes over to Dad, who ducked his chin and raised his eyebrows.
“Pretty sure she meant with project stuff, not woman stuff, big brother,” Duncan said.
“JesusChrist,Duncan, will you knock it off?” Harry growled.
“I’m still not convinced we needed to put out that job listing.” Dad raised his voice. Even though they were all grown men, it still worked to quell their bullshit bickering. “I don’t even know where all the bathrooms in the house are yet. The vineyard is a low priority.”
Ma clamped and unclamped her teeth on the pen. “Renata says if we don’t get the grapes pruned down this winter, we’ll lose a whole season in the vineyard. We can’t cut things back once they bud out in the spring.”
