Beach Reads Box Set

by Madden-Mills, Ilsa

  “Traitor,” Cooper said. “Brynncess is your sister, too. You should be supporting me.”

  “Okay, kids, quit your bickering,” Mom said as she came down the hall. She slid her arms into her jacket and adjusted the hood. “You’d think I would have stopped saying that after you all grew up.”

  “That’s because Cooper never grew up,” Brynn said.

  “Hey,” Cooper said. “I resent that.”

  Brynn punched him in the arm.

  The front door opened and a young woman with her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail came in. She wore a burgundy sweater with jeans and a pair of ivory low top sneakers.

  “Hi,” Mom said. “I’m so sorry, but our tasting rooms are closed for the day.”

  Cooper stepped forward and flashed the girl a grin. “That’s true, but I bet we could make an exception. Just this once. I’d be happy to take you back.”

  I rolled my eyes and tried not to groan. Seriously, Cooper?

  “Oh, no, actually…” She adjusted her handbag on her shoulder and glanced around. “I’m looking for Lawrence Miles.”

  Mom’s forehead creased. “I’m sorry, he’s not here. I’m Shannon Miles. Is there something I can help you with?”

  “You’re…” The woman swallowed hard and fidgeted with her bag. “Right, of course you are. Do you know when he’ll be back? It’s important.”

  My back tensed with worry. Why was this girl looking for my dad? She couldn’t be much older than Brynn. I looked at her, a deep sense of dread stealing over me. Oh god, please don’t let this girl be another one of his…

  “He doesn’t work here anymore,” Mom said, her voice steady. But I could see in her eyes that she’d had the same thought as me.

  The girl’s shoulders slumped. I felt bad for her. She looked defeated. The rest of us stood in tense silence, and Zoe slipped her hand in mine.

  “I see,” the girl said.

  “What is this about?” Mom asked.

  “He’s my father,” she said.

  Forget hearing a pin drop, you could have heard a tuft of goose down settle on the shiny hardwood floor. The shocked silence was intense as everyone stared at her. The color drained from Mom’s face and Cooper looked like he might vomit. Brynn’s eyes were wide, and her mouth hung open. Even Leo gaped at her.

  Zoe squeezed my hand and I heard her whisper oh shit under her breath.

  “I’m sorry, did you just say Lawrence Miles is your father?” Mom asked.

  The girl nodded. “Yes, and I really need to find him.”

  The implication of what she’d just said hit me square in the chest. We already knew Dad had been unfaithful. But this girl had to be in her twenties. From what Leo had found out about Dad’s current mistress—girlfriend, now—she didn’t have any children. That meant this woman’s mother was someone else, and the affair had happened when we were all kids.

  “Hey, Coop,” I said, and he jumped, like I’d startled him. “Why don’t you take Mom back to the house. Order pizza for everyone. Leo, maybe you and Brynn should go with her. Zoe and I will talk to… I’m sorry, what was your name?”

  “Grace,” she said. “Grace Miles.”

  I stepped closer to her and offered my hand, calm and businesslike. “Roland Miles.”

  Her eyes widened as she took my hand and shook.

  “Mom, I’ll figure out what’s going on,” I said.

  My mom touched her hand to her mouth. “I’m sorry, I’m just a bit overwhelmed right now.”

  Brynn took her hand. “Let’s go. Roland can talk to her.”

  “I’m really sorry,” Grace said.

  Mom’s face softened. “It’s okay. Whatever is going on, I’m sure none of it is your fault.”

  Brynn and Cooper led Mom outside with Leo close behind. I glanced at Zoe. She raised her eyebrows and mouthed what the fuck. I shrugged and turned to Grace.

  “All right, well… if Lawrence Miles is your dad, I guess that makes me your brother,” I said. “This is my fiancée, Zoe. The guy who looked like he was going to puke is Cooper, and the scruffy bearded guy is Leo. Brynn’s the baby. And that was our mom, Shannon.”

  “I’m sorry to just show up here out of the blue and drop this bomb on you,” she said. “I wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t important. I thought I would find him here.”

  “Why don’t we go sit,” Zoe said, tugging on my arm. “Grace, you can tell us what’s going on and we’ll see if we can help you.”

  We led Grace to the first tasting room and took a seat at the table. I put my hand on Zoe’s leg, feeling comfort in her presence next to me. This was all kinds of fucked up, but it felt good to have her near.

  “All right,” I said. “First of all, my dad—our dad, if what you’re telling me is true—isn’t here. My mom found out he was having an affair and she kicked him out. I’m guessing your mom isn’t Kristen who lives in Tacoma?”

  “No,” Grace said. “My mom is Naomi Harris. She lives over in Tilikum. So do I, actually. That’s where I grew up, and I live there still.”

  “Okay,” I said. “And why do you think Lawrence Miles is your father?”

  Grace blinked. She seemed surprised by my question. “Well, because he is. It’s not like he’s just a name on my birth certificate.”

  “You mean you know him?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” she said. “I haven’t seen him in a while, but of course I know him. He’s been around my whole life. Granted, he tended to come and go a lot, but I’ve always known who my dad is.”

  Zoe had her phone out. She held up a picture of my mom and dad. “I’m sorry, but I just want to make sure. This is who you’re talking about?”

  “Yes, that’s my dad. Here, I’ll show you.” Grace pulled her phone out of her bag and swiped the screen a few times, then held it up for us to see. The picture was clearly my father, standing with a younger-looking Grace.

  “Yeah, that’s him,” I said.

  “I guess this establishes that he was even more of a cheating bastard than we thought,” Zoe said, putting her phone away. I just grunted in reply. She was right.

  “God, this is insane,” Grace said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t come here to break up a marriage, although I guess that already happened. I just need to find him.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because of my brother.”

  Zoe grabbed my arm. “Oh for fuck’s sake, a brother? Sorry, I have officially lost the ability to watch my mouth. I’m almost afraid to ask, but how old is your brother?”

  “He’s six,” Grace said.

  “Oh my god,” Zoe said. “And you’re?”

  “Twenty-three.”

  Zoe clapped her hands over her face and took a deep breath. “Fuck me running. Are there more of you? How many fucking kids does he have?”

  “It’s just us,” Grace said.

  “Okay, Zo, calm down,” I said. “Is something wrong with your brother?”

  “He’s okay now,” Grace said. “But he was really sick last winter. He had RSV, and then pneumonia. He was hospitalized twice. Dad used to send money every month to help my mom with the bills and everything, but about a year ago, he stopped. And then Elijah was in the hospital, and you wouldn’t believe what that costs. Even with insurance. My mom is having trouble paying for everything, and Dad disappeared, and I’m just done. I can’t sit around and watch her fall apart because she has to decide which bills to pay and which to let go another month. She works so hard, and she’s trying, but it’s just too much. And my asshole father fucking bailed.”

  “Oh good, we can talk about what an asshole he is?” Zoe said. “I was afraid you liked him, and I needed to watch my mouth.”

  I turned to Zoe. “Since when do you watch your mouth?”

  “I am excellent at censoring my language,” she said. “Right now is a very bad example.”

  “No, I’m not his biggest fan,” Grace said. “Neither is my mom. And, for the record, she never knew he was married. She still doesn’t
. I didn’t exactly tell her I was looking for him.”

  “So you’re trying to find him so he can give your mom money to help pay your brother’s medical bills,” I said.

  “Exactly.”

  I took a deep breath. My fucking father. It just kept getting worse. “All right, first things first. Don’t worry about the hospital bills. If you put me in touch with your mom, I’ll take care of them.”

  Grace’s lips parted. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “Trust me, it’s fine,” I said. “I’ll make sure your mom and your brother are taken care of, okay?”

  Tears glistened in Grace’s eyes, and Zoe squeezed my arm.

  Grace swiped a few tears from her cheeks. “I don’t even know what to say.”

  “Really, it’s fine. But we still need to get a hold of Dad. I’m not letting him off the hook that easily.” I stood, pulling out my phone, and brought up his number. Hit call. And immediately got a message that the number wasn’t in service.

  “What the fuck?”

  “What’s wrong?” Zoe asked.

  “His number doesn’t work.”

  Zoe tapped her phone screen a few times. “His Facebook account is gone, too.”

  “Son of a bitch,” I said. This was how he wanted to handle the split with my mom? By disappearing? “Look, I’ll get Leo to track him down. Grace, give me your number and we’ll figure this out. Then I need to go talk to the rest of my family.”

  “I’ll go,” Grace said. “I don’t want to intrude.”

  “We’ll call you soon to get together under better circumstances,” Zoe said.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Once everyone gets over their shock, they’re going to want to meet you. And your brother.”

  Grace smiled. “Thanks. I don’t know how to thank you enough for your help.”

  We exchanged phone numbers and said our goodbyes. I felt strangely numb, although maybe it was just going to take time for everything to sink in. My father had hidden a second family from us for most of our lives, and they weren’t even that far away. Infidelity, I’d seen coming. But this? It was a lot to process.

  Zoe and I locked up the Big House, then headed toward my mom’s place. She tucked her hand in my arm, and we walked slowly down the path.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” I said, although I didn’t hide the hesitation in my voice. “I’m not sure what all this means, yet. Or how everyone else is going to feel about it.”

  “It was good of you to help her like that,” she said.

  “Well yeah,” I said. “I wasn’t going to send her off with nothing. Not when I have it to give.”

  She leaned her head against my arm. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

  I stopped and turned toward her. “Not really. I’m just trying to do what’s right.”

  “Which is part of why you’re amazing,” she said.

  “What’s the other part?”

  “It could have something to do with your ability to give me mind-blowing orgasms,” she said.

  I laughed. “Is that so?”

  “Maybe.” She nibbled her lip. “Is it bad that I kind of want you to drag me around the other side of the tree over there and fuck my brains out?”

  “Why would that be bad?” I asked.

  It was her turn to laugh. “You just found out you have two half-siblings you never knew about and the rest of your family is waiting—probably impatiently—for you to come fill them in on what the hell is going on.”

  I grabbed her wrist and was about to take her behind the tree—my family could wait a little longer—when Cooper opened the door and came out onto the front porch.

  “There you are,” he said. “Jesus, you guys, we’re going nuts in here. Is she our sister? Please tell me she was looking for the wrong guy and I didn’t hit on my sister.”

  “You definitely hit on your sister, Coop,” Zoe said.

  Cooper groaned. “Oh my god.”

  We walked up the steps and Zoe patted him on the shoulder.

  “You’ll be fine,” she said. “Just don’t start thinking about whether any of the random chicks you’ve hooked up with over the years might have been girls you’re related to.”

  “Aaaand now I’m celibate.” He turned around and went back inside, muttering something about never having sex again.

  “You are truly evil,” I said.

  Zoe laughed. “He’ll get over it. Besides, he kind of deserves it.”

  “Good point.” I took her hand and she squeezed mine back.

  “Are you ready to do this?” she asked.

  “Not really,” I said.

  She lifted my hand to her lips and kissed it. “Everyone will be fine.”

  She was right. Although I didn’t know what this was going to mean for my family, I did know one thing. Zoe and I could face anything together. I turned her toward me and touched her face. Brought my lips to hers for a kiss. No matter what happened, I’d always be grateful for her. For this chance. For this woman who meant everything to me.

  “Okay,” I said. “Let’s go talk to them.”

  Epilogue

  Roland

  “Cooper, why are you standing on the table?”

  I looked up at my brother. He was wearing his suit jacket, but the top two buttons of his shirt were open, and his tie hung around his neck. He looked like a guy after a wedding, not like he was getting ready for one.

  “I like the view from up here,” he said. “How weird would it be to be this tall? Can you imagine? If I was seven feet tall, how big do you think my dick would be? Do you think my junk would be proportionately larger? Or would it be the same and I’d be fucked because it looked so much smaller by comparison? How would you deal with that? A girl gets your pants off, expecting a huge dong, and it looks small because the rest of you is so fucking big. That would suck.”

  “Can we shoot him with a tranquilizer dart?” Leo asked.

  I thought about telling him to get down off the table, then decided I wasn’t going to try to be his mother. If he fell, he fell. Maybe if he hit his head, he’d calm the fuck down.

  The three of us were in the groom’s dressing room, waiting for Jamie to tell us it was go time.

  Things around here were still a mess. We hadn’t tracked down my asshole father. Leo was on it, but Dad had apparently anticipated we’d try to find him and taken steps to avoid it.

  As if Dad’s affair wasn’t bad enough, we had siblings we’d never known. I’d made sure Grace’s mother had the money she needed to pay for her son’s medical bills. But none of us were sure how to move forward with them. So far, Grace had kept her distance, and I suspected it was partly to protect her family, as well as to avoid causing more stress for ours. It was complicated to say the least, but I knew we’d find a way to come together and forge a relationship that worked for everyone involved. Eventually.

  But today, all the stresses of running the winery, my shitty father, and secret families were far from my mind. Because I was marrying Zoe.

  Her parents had flown in, as had her brother and his family. I’d seen her parents yesterday, briefly, and I couldn’t decide whether or not they were happy Zoe and I were getting remarried. It was hard to tell with them. The Suttons were nice people, but not exactly expressive. Zoe was a riot of color and light compared to the rest of her family.

  One of the many reasons I loved her.

  My family, on the other hand, was definitely happy for us. My mom had teared up when we’d told her we would have a real wedding this time. Especially when we said it would be here, at Salishan. It wasn’t going to be fancy. Just a short ceremony, followed by a wine and hors d’oeuvre reception. But I knew it meant a lot to her—to all of them—that we were including everyone.

  Jamie poked her head in the door. “Time to go, gentlemen.”

  “Oh shit, now?” Cooper asked.

  I took one last glance in the mirror to make sure my tie was straight. Smoothed down my jacket. “Let’s
do this.”

  Leo and I headed for the door. Cooper jumped down and somehow his shirt was buttoned and his tie perfect.

  “How did you do that?” I asked.

  Cooper grinned. “I’m that good.”

  I just shook my head.

  We followed Jamie. I glanced around, looking for Zoe, but she wasn’t out yet. I didn’t care about the whole not seeing the bride before the wedding bullshit. This was our second marriage—to each other—so it wasn’t like we were exactly traditional.

  “Where’s Zo?” I asked.

  “She’ll be out in a minute,” Jamie said.

  I was impatient to see her, but Jamie ushered us to the doors and suddenly I was walking up the aisle behind my brothers.

  I got to the front, turned in front of our guests. And then, there she was.

  Her hair was down—I loved it when she wore it down—and her dress. Holy shit. No demure white wedding gown for my woman. She wore a strapless red dress that hugged her curves in all the best ways. A slit up one side showed a hint of her thigh and she was killing me with those sexy white stilettos. Matching red lips begged me to kiss the fuck out of her.

  Soon. Oh, so soon.

  She held my eyes as she walked up the aisle, looking like a warrior goddess. It felt like she’d kicked the breath from my lungs. I was captivated. And so fucking grateful. Sometimes I still wondered if I was going to wake up back in San Francisco, miserable and alone, and realize this had all been a dream.

  But it wasn’t. It was real. Zoe was mine. She always had been, I’d just been too stupid to see it for a while. Because sometimes the universe was a very beautiful place, I’d been given a second chance. And I was going to spend the rest of my life proving to her that I deserved it.

  Our wedding was short. We didn’t need a lot of ceremony. We faced each other, her hands clasped in mine, and said our vows. Although I knew she wasn’t going to admit to it later, she teared up while I said mine. The rings we exchanged were the same rings we’d used the first time. I’d wanted to buy her a bigger one, but she’d been adamant that she didn’t want anything else. And now, as we slipped them onto each other’s fingers, I knew she was right. They represented everything we’d once had, and everything we’d been through to make it back to each other. They were perfect.