by Erika Kelly
“What?” Callie said. “No. Is this about the dresses? Tell us. We’re invested in this, too.”
Gray turned to Knox. “I heard we can’t get fabric.”
She loved when he said we when she kept thinking I. Made her feel ten thousand times lighter. “I’ll find a vendor. Luc’s just making it harder for me.”
“He can bite me.” Happiness glittered in his bright blue eyes. “After Cali, I flew to New York.”
“Are you serious?” When Fin’s arms lifted, he knocked a spool of thread onto the floor. It clattered and rolled under the table.
Ruby wriggled for Will to set her down. “I get it.”
“Maui, Cali, New York.” Fin’s eyes went wide. “What’re you doing?”
“She can’t get her business started without material, and there’s only one connection I know that could hook us up.” Gray shot her a look. “Mrs. Granger.”
Worry pulsed in her body. Robert’s mom?
He watched her carefully. “She was the only person I could think of who’d have the kind of fabric producers you need.”
“Did he just say fabric producers?” Brodie asked.
“He sure did.” Will reached for Ruby, lifting her up and securing her against his hip.
“And she does. She’s got someone.” Gray’s expression said, That okay?
No matter her concerns about working with her ex’s mother, shock turned into a buzz of excitement. The Granger Collection was like Ralph Lauren. It had a range of collections at a variety of price points, including couture. If anyone had the connections she needed, it was Mrs. Granger.
“But it gets better. I told her you needed the fabric because you wanted to do a pop-up bridal gown event in some fancy boutique.” He paused, and trumpets blared in her veins. “She wants to host you next spring.”
“Holy moly,” Callie said. “This is incredible.”
“She wants four of each dress, and she’ll pay you twenty-five hundred each up front so you can buy the fabric, machines, and supplies, and hire the help.”
“I don’t even know what to say,” Knox said. “I can’t believe it.”
“She said she’ll price them at her discretion on her end and, after she gets her money back, you’ll get ten percent of the profits.”
“Ten percent?” Callie said. “That doesn’t seem fair. They’re Knox’s dresses.”
“It’s a boutique on Fifth Avenue across the street from Central Park,” Gray said. “The least expensive thing in the place is a tie that costs a grand. Besides, Mrs. Granger’s taking all the risk.” He turned back to Knox. “It’s a take-it-or-leave-it deal.”
“I’ll take it. No questions.” She’d have to hire several sewers in order to make a hundred dresses in time for a spring show. Still, it was Mrs. Granger. “She knows it’s me, right? You said, Knox Holliday?”
“Of course. Right while I was in her office, I showed her the pictures Zach sent me. She loves them.”
She still couldn’t believe Gray had flown across the country to talk to Mrs. Granger about a fabric vendor. For me. She couldn’t help worrying, though. “I’m a little surprised she’d work with me, given our history.” Just days after her son had gone into rehab, Knox had bailed on him. Mrs. Granger couldn’t have understood it was the only way to leave him.
If she’d told Robert to his face that she was breaking up with him, he would’ve charmed and manipulated her into staying.
With a wave of his hand, Gray erased the guilt that had plagued her for seven years. “She knows you did the right thing.” Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a folded sheet of paper. “Wrote all the details down right here. You want the gig, it’s yours.”
“I want it.” She turned to Callie and Delilah. “I’m still making your dresses.”
“Oh, thank God,” Callie said. “I’m happy for you, but I really want my gown.”
“I want this, but…” It was exciting…but also overwhelming. “A hundred dresses in time for next spring…we’re going to need sewers, pattern makers, materials.”
“The up-front money will cover all that.” Gray always sounded so confident. “It’s all good. We’ve got this.”
“Is Mrs. Granger going to work on it with her?” Callie asked.
“No,” Gray said. “She’s writing the check and hosting the pop-up show. The rest is up to us.”
“And when you say us, I know you’re not talking about you, right?” Fin said. “Because the first qualifier’s in October in New Zealand.”
“Dude, I’m here, and I’m ready to train, but I’ve got a business to run. It’s what I’ve been doing all along, so nothing’s changed.”
“Hang on there,” Brodie sad. “You’ve been doing what all along?”
It broke her heart that Gray kept so much of his life from his brothers. She’d seen it growing up, how much he’d wanted them to be involved in his life. How many times had she watched him scan the spectators at one of his events, only to be crestfallen to find no one in his family had shown up?
She guessed he’d eventually wound up shutting them out.
“My friends and I have a company,” Gray said. “And, while I’m training, they’ll be doing most of the work. I just oversee things. Now, let’s stay on point.” Gray reached for her hand, nabbing her attention. “So, what do you think?”
“What kind of company?” Fin stood with his hands on his hips, his tone sharp.
“I make socks, scarves, gloves, stuff like that.” He said it with his usual casual stance, but there was no hiding the alertness in his eyes.
His brothers looked like he’d just pulled off his mask to reveal his true identity as an alien.
“Okay, that came out of nowhere,” Brodie said.
“It’s called Duck Dive Haberdashery,” Gray said. “You can look it up.”
“It’s got a name?” Fin said. “I don’t know whether to be impressed or pissed. You run a company, and you’ve never told us about it?”
All the slacker went right out of his posture. “Never came up.”
Oh, Gray. The brothers had always been this tight, impenetrable unit, communicating with a simple look. Since they were always training or competing, they hung out with each other almost exclusively, so she knew how much he’d want them to be included in something so important.
But they’d never been before. “Did you ever ask?” Knox said.
All the attention in the room snapped over to her.
“Ask what?” Brodie said. “If he’s made any socks lately?”
Gray’s shoulders tightened. “It’s no big deal. Just something me and my friends have been doing.”
“When? On the flights to Portugal?” Fin said. “At a bonfire on Bondi Beach?”
Anger sparked in Gray’s eyes, but he didn’t say anything.
“We’re talking about your posse, right? Amelia and Wyatt and those guys?” Will, the unofficial leader of the pack, cocked his head, as if trying to make sense of the information. “You guys are in business together?”
“Amelia’s the head of marketing, and she’s damn good. Wyatt’s our accountant.”
“Wyatt?” Brodie threw his head back and laughed. “I wouldn’t hire that guy to walk my dog.”
“He’s a whiz with numbers,” Gray said. “Look, we can talk about it later.”
“No, hang on,” Fin said. “I want to know why you didn’t tell us.”
“Well, I have a pretty good idea.” Yeah, she might be overstepping here, but she wasn’t going to let them attack Gray. “I can think of a dozen times in high school when he asked you guys to come to his fencing tournaments or his jazz ensemble shows…and none of you showed up. I mean, maybe I’ve got it all wrong, but at some point, he probably just stopped bothering to let you know what he was doing.” Because it hurt.
“That right?” Will asked.
“Why would I tell you guys about anything that isn’t directly related to training and snowboarding competitions?” Gray’s tone bared t
eeth.
“What the fu—” Fin clamped his jaw shut and turned away, as he worked to get his temper under control. “What the heck does that mean? We’re your brothers. Of course, you should tell us.”
“You say that like it’s obvious,” Knox said. “But let me ask you this. If you kept inviting someone to your competitions and they never bothered to come, would you keep trying? If you kept talking to someone about freeriding, but they never asked a single question or expressed any interest, would you keep talking about it? Or would you eventually just stop?”
“I don’t remember you asking,” Brodie said.
“Well, I did.” Gray pointed a finger at his older brothers, Will and Brodie. “How many times did I ask you guys for a ride, but you couldn’t be bothered?”
Callie shifted uncomfortably, and Delilah reached for Will’s arm, giving it a gentle caress.
“Are you talking about that fencing tournament?” Will asked.
Fin looked between his brothers. “He never fenced.”
Gray gave a bitter laugh and shook his head.
With the chicken tucked tightly under one arm, Ruby slowly unwound the thread from the spool in her chubby little hands. She gazed up at Will and said, “Okay, Wheel?”
“Yeah, sweetheart. I’m okay.” He looked at his half-sister with pure adoration.
Will had always been this uber cool, aloof guy. Seeing him all soft and affectionate with a two-year-old melted Knox’s heart.
He kissed her forehead and turned back to his brother. “I’m not going to apologize again for blowing off your tournament. If I’m remembering correctly, I had a big competition coming up, but it sounds like we’re talking about more than that one event.” He looked to Knox in acknowledgment.
“I don’t recall a single time seeing any of you guys in the audience,” she said.
“And she knows because she was the only one there.” Gray’s voice was filled with warmth. “Look, no harm no foul. You guys weren’t into the things I was into, but you wanted to know why I didn’t mention it. That’s why. Now, I’m trying to talk to Knox.” He gave her a look that said, See why I wanted to go outside?
Will looked lost in thought. “That jazz group you were in. You got pretty good on the guitar.”
“How would you know?” Gray’s tone sharpened. “You never came to any of our shows.”
“I guess I thought—” Will began.
“You thought what?” Gray drew in a breath. “Look, I could’ve gotten a ride to that tournament with anyone on the fencing team, but you promised you’d take me. The only reason I didn’t go with someone else—after being burned by you ten times before that—was because I really wanted my older brother to come and watch me.”
Will looked hit with remorse.
“But you said you had to work on your trick before the next competition.” He waved to his brothers. “None of you gave a damn about anything I did if it didn’t have to do with snowboarding.”
“You were always switching from one thing to another,” Brodie said, a little confused. “I thought it was because you didn’t care enough about anything in particular.”
“Yeah, whatever. Like I said, no harm no foul.”
“Look, we’ve got Mrs. Granger’s attention right now, so...” Gray caught her fingers. “Are we doing this?”
A bottle rocket of joy shot straight up her spine, lighting her up inside. “We’re doing this.” And it was only a small surprise that a good amount of her happiness came from the idea of working with him.
He lunged for her, lifting her off the ground and hugging her to him. For one heavenly moment, she gave him her weight, turned her head so she brushed her cheek against his scruff. But when his grip tightened, the energy between them changed. Turned sharp, electric, and hot. It scared her, so she pulled back.
He set her down, looking like he hadn’t noticed a thing. “Awesome. Because once I confirm, it’s on like Donkey Kong.”
Wind rushed over Gray’s face, stinging his eyes, as he slid down the slope at his brother’s training facility. As his speed picked up, he just knew. He didn’t think, didn’t plan. His body just went to work. Bending his knees, he sailed up the ramp and exploded off the lip.
Fuck, yeah. The boost gave him massive air. He pulled his board up, grabbed it, and held. Keeping his eyes on the airbag, he spun once…twice…spot it, spot it…and landed backwards, toe edge.
Stomped it.
“Holy shit,” someone shouted.
Breathing hard, Gray pumped his fist. Damn, that felt good.
As he flicked off the bindings and bounced his way to the edge of the bag, he tuned into the chatter from the onlookers gathered on the grass.
“Did he just do a double cork twelve-sixty?” someone said.
“Sure as hell did.”
“I thought he was just supposed to do a rodeo five-forty?”
“Fuckin’ Gray,” someone else said.
Fin rushed him. “Holy shit, man, that was perfect.”
“Thanks.” He needed to talk to his brother, and Fin wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “Got a second?”
“Yeah, sure. What’s up?”
“I’m taking a couple days off.”
“Like hell you are. You just got back to town.”
“Yeah, I know. And I wouldn’t leave again if it weren’t important.”
“Dammit, Gray.”
“I need to fly out to LA with Knox and meet with the new supplier. She’s hired some sewers, bought some machines, and now we’ve got to get moving on the project. It’ll just be a few days.”
“It’s not like I can stop you.”
No, you can’t. “Two days max, okay?”
Fin nodded.
“Cool. I’m going to head back now.” He’d been at it three hours, done ten runs. Enough. Now, he just wanted to tell Knox the good news.
“Yeah, sure,” Fin sad. “You had a great day. See in the morning.”
Arms behind him, hugging his board to his lower back, he started off. Footsteps crunching on dry grass had him turning around to see Brodie catching up to him. “Hey.”
“That was some serious amplitude for an airbag,” his brother said.
“Yeah, I could feel it. That’s why I took my shot.” They walked in companionable silence. “You heading back to the ranch?”
“Mmhm.” His brother seemed distracted.
Of all the brothers, Brodie was by far the most intelligent. His brain was like an incubator for ideas, and when he latched onto one, he was off to the races. Which explained how he’d turned an old ghost town into a high-end resort in one year. Their dad had liked to call Brodie the visionary.
Will had been the captain, and Fin, the wild child.
Had his dad been aware he’d never given Gray a nickname? In his heart, Gray didn’t believe it had been intentional. It wasn’t like he’d ever questioned his dad’s love. He just didn’t think his dad saw him.
“How did Duck Dive start?” Brodie asked.
Ah. So that’s what’s on his mind. “So, you know how the more sidewall on your board, the deeper you carve?”
Brodie nodded.
“But the heavier the board, the worse it’ll perform aerodynamically, so we kept talking about it, trying to come up with ideas. What kind of material would enable us to get a thicker edge but not increase the weight? And then we talked to an engineer, who came up with something. Built it. Sold it. And that’s it. That’s how it started.”
Brodie had his head tucked down, watching his boots eat up the trail. “Would’ve liked to have been in on those conversations.”
“Would’ve liked to have you.”
Brodie’s gaze swung up, and in that moment something broke inside Gray.
He hadn’t paid attention to how much he’d wanted to include his brothers in the other aspects of his life in a very long time.
And it felt damn good that Brodie was in it now.
Chapter Seven
Just becaus
e they hadn’t been able to secure an appointment with the vendor yet didn’t mean Knox wouldn’t get the dresses done in time. As soon as she got the green light, she’d fly to Los Angeles, take a look at the fabric and embellishments and—fingers crossed—place her order. Everything would be fine.
It’ll be fine.
In the meantime, she’d get started on the custom gowns. While she brewed tea, Callie sat at the island, clicking through Knox’s inspiration file, a portfolio of every wedding gown that had caught Knox’s fancy over the years.
On the couch, Delilah had her feet up on the coffee table, bridal magazines scattered on the table and cushions around her. In her lap sat a local chef’s cookbook; her eyebrows were pulled tight in concentration as she read.
“What do you think of this one?” Callie leaned back.
Twisting around to see the computer screen, Delilah said, “That’s really pretty.”
“You don’t think that poofy skirt’s too much?”
Delilah set the book down and nearly tripped over the magazines that had toppled onto the floor. “It’s stunning, if you’re into the whole Cinderella ball gown thing.”
Callie laughed. “Okay, so maybe all those Disney movies did a subliminal number on me, because my heart does backflips when I see the princessy ones.” She cocked her head. “I just…I don’t think I like that neckline.”
Setting her elbows on the counter, Knox leaned in. “You realize you can have anything you want, right? You can pick and choose tops and bottoms, colors, design elements…the whole shebang is your invention.”
“I’m not sure I have that kind of vision,” Callie said.
Delilah nudged her. “You’re an artist. Of course you do.”
“Not when it comes to wedding dresses. I have no clue what would look good on me.”
Knox reached for her sketchbook and a pencil. “Let’s start with a ball gown.” She made broad, sweeping strokes. “How sexy do you want the bodice?” She reached for the laptop, opened a folder and clicked on a revealing top with sheer panels of lace covered in hand-embroidered petals. “Like this. Or…” She scrolled down the page to another style of top. “A sweetheart neckline.” She scrolled some more. “Or we can do an off-the-shoulder cap sleeve. This one’s more fairy princess.”
