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“It’s been four hours,” I growl, standing back up from leaning over the counter before I get a hard-on thinking about what happened on it. “I’ve heard all about your trip to Italy and who’s screwing who at the country club. Can someone stop bitching about the house and the town and finally tell me why the hell you all are here? I’m pretty sure I made it clear I was done. I signed Prescott Lumber over to Finch, like the spoiled brat always wanted.”
“Oh, fuck off,” Finch mutters, leaning against the doorjamb to the kitchen, not reacting at all like he would have six years ago—by charging across the room and taking a swing at me. Like he did the day Pops’s will was read. “None of us actually want to be in this crazy, fucked-up little Halloween town right now.”
“Watch it.” I glare at him. “Thisfucked-up little Halloween townis my home.”
Christ, it feels so good to say that out loud.
Finch clamps his mouth closed and doesn’t say anything else.
Seriously, what in the hell is going on here?
This asshole has always had a chip on his shoulder since the day I was born, five years after him. Always complaining if I got something more than him, even if I worked my ass off to get it, while he sat around and did nothing but spend our family’s money.
“Actually, your brother is the reason wearein this weird little town.” My mother sighs, opening the door that leads out to the side yard. “That general store in town doesn’t even sell any Chanel. What kind of store, whose name literally meansuniversal, doesn’t sell Chanel?”
She quickly closes the door and turns around to face me, wiping her hands together and wincing like she just touched something dirty.
“Finch made us see we might have been a little… selfish in recent years where you’re concerned,” she informs me, looking down at her manicure. “And since you wouldn’t take any of our calls, he convinced us to come out here and talk to you in person.”
I slowly turn and look at my brother.
“Whatever,” he mumbles, grabbing the skeleton key from on top of the sample cabinet and tossing it around in his hands. “Look, are you gonna finally stop pouting that we got you out of bed, or what?”
“Honey, tell Ford there isn’t even a home theater room!” my father shouts as he hustles through the living room and starts heading upstairs.
“Ford, your father said—”
“Okay,” I interrupt her, pushing away from the counter. “Thanks for coming all the way here to tell me something I already knew. Good luck with Prescott Lumber, and have a safe flight back to Oregon. If you’ll excuse me, this has been a complete waste of my morning.”
If I’m lucky, maybe Sidney is still passed out from the orgasm I gave her in the middle of the night, and she won’t even know I left.
Fuck… I cannot believe I left her naked in bed.
Even if she is awake, I know she’s not going to worry I’m not there. She might not have made the same professions of love back to me last night, but she felt them… I think. She trusts me now, and she knows I’m not going to hurt her. She knows I wouldn’t have left her unless it was an emergency.
My family wreaking havoc in Harvest Grove is about as urgent as it gets. By the time I got here after I stopped at the cottage behind the bar to grab some clean clothes and found the three of them sitting on the front porch, they’d already managed to insult half the town.
“Stop being a dick for five minutes, and let me say what I came to say.”
I stare down at Finch’s hand on my arm after he reached out and grabbed it when I tried to walk past him. Jerking his hand off, I pull my phone out of my jeans. I contemplate sending Sidney a text so she doesn’t worry. But that would lead to me having to tell her why I’m not there. That’s something I don’t want to explain in a fucking text.
Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I look at Finch.
“You’ve got five minutes.”
“What’s the number to that place in town that sent over the bland coffee no one but you could stomach?” my mother asks, making me pause as I started walking toward the front door to head out onto the porch. “I want to see if they’ll send someone over to toast the beans I brought with us and…. What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You don’t want me to answer that question.”
I turn and continue walking out the door and onto the porch as Finch follows right behind me.
Leaning against the railing, I glance out at the yard, wishing Sidney was here. I should have had the foresight to order furniture so we could have spent the night here. She could’ve woken up and looked out at all the pumpkins in the yard while she drank her coffee, knowing she’d get to hand out candy on Halloween this year in her dream home.
And then my family would have ruined it by banging on the door, wanting to know why Harvest Grove doesn’t have a car service.
Leaning against the porch railing, I cross my arms and stare at my brother on the other side of the steps, leaning against the railing on his side, mirroring my pose.
“So, how’ve you been?” Finch finally breaks the silence right when I was getting ready to change my mind and walk right off the porch.
