“I know. I know,” I assured him as Mom turned towards the restaurant, at which point I stepped forward to open the door for them. Mom smiled at me as she and Jane ducked inside while Brandon slipped past me with his obnoxious laugh. I followed them to a table in the corner and sat beside Jane as Brandon sat by Mom. We ordered and sipped water as Mom brought up Christmas and asked if Jane had plans.
“My mama is in town. We were just going to have a small dinner at my apartment,” Jane replied as I watched Mom shake her head slowly.
“Oh, honey. We’re having a big feast at our house with lots of family, and you’re both welcome to come on over. It’s just the two of you?” She asked as Jane nodded.
“Most of the others have passed away.” She frowned when she realized what she said and pressed her lips together. “I’m sorry for your loss, Mrs. Moyen.”
“It’s Brenda, Jane. Thank you. It’s been a few months but this time of year, and the first one since he passed…it’s a lot to take in. I am filling my house with people and holiday cheer to remind me of holidays past.” Mom smiled.
“I…I can mention it to my Mama and see what she says. That sounds…incredible.” Jane smiled as she glanced at me. “Do you guys mind? I don’t know if you want your assistant hanging around on the holidays.” Jane said slowly as I grinned. I hated the idea for reasons that I’d never admit to but I wanted to make Mom happy.
“No, not at all. It’ll be a crazy afternoon,” I assured her as she smiled gratefully. “I might want to go to your place for some quiet time.” I winked at Mom as she narrowed her eyes playfully at me, making Brandon laugh.
We enjoyed lunch and it was good to see Mom smiling so much. She came back into the building with us and chatted with people as we headed back to our office. Jane watched as she came inside and giggled. “Your mom is too sweet.”
“She likes you. Over the years, she’s taken in a lot of the staff as family and vice-versa,” Brandon told her as he looked at me. We talked about the upcoming holiday and we told her about some of the more eccentric family members and a couple of the wild kids that would be tearing around the place. Jane laughed and sent in an order as she mused that her mom might enjoy it. She was alone in Tennessee apart from some friends and Jane was trying to talk her into moving here.
Jane told us about the holidays when her family was still around and how festive they were. They went caroling around the town and looked at Christmas lights as a big group on a planned night. There was coffee and hot chocolate at the local shop with treats for the kids. Emotion played across her face as she spoke and I knew why Mom invited her to come to our house now. Mom could see that she needed it at some point today.
We left at five, since everyone decided as a group that it was the week of Christmas and we all deserved it. That wasn’t a direct order from Brandon or me but we agreed. Tomorrow there was a catered lunch and gift exchange for those that signed up. Dad always used to enjoy them and I felt sad as I shut the light off to go home. He’d never see one again and in all the rush of taking over, neither my brother or I signed up for it.
We talked as we left, going to a shop after we saw that Jane made it to the bus safely. It was a coffee shop on the way home and we bought gift cards for everyone, enough to where they could buy several coffees. We grinned as the cute girl behind the counter helped us to get them into festive envelopes as she batted her eyelashes at us a few times, trying to ask us out with the gentle hint that she was done with her shift soon. I politely thanked her, cutting Brandon’s question off as she handed us the red bag of cards with a wistful smile. “She wanted a sandwich, Brent.” Brandon told me as I rolled my eyes.
“She was eighteen if that.” I got into the car and started the engine.
“Didn’t you go through a series of coffee house girls for a while?” Brandon reminded me as I chuckled. I had but that was before…before I was running a company and responsible for my family. That seemed like a long time ago.
We went home and left the bag in the SUV as we walked inside. There was some chili in the kitchen and we fixed bowls of it with the thick bread fresh from the over, joining Mom and Ashley at the table. Mom told her about our sweet, new assistant as Ashley looked at us with an eyebrow raised. “You couldn’t get a middle-aged woman or even a guy, could you?” Her voice was sarcastic as Brandon tossed a chunk of bread her way. Ashley seemed sullener by the day lately and I knew it was the upcoming holiday. Out of the four of us, they had a special bond that should have never been broken.
“It was opportunity. We took it,” I replied as she rolled her eyes. “Mom invited her to Christmas.”
“There will be a lot of people here, so it won’t make that much of a difference,” Ashley spoke slowly, her tone saying that a million people wouldn’t replace Dad. She was right, though we wanted Mom to have her day. Mom gave her a long, sad look as she stirred her chili before taking a bite.
We all went to bed later that night, Brent and I readying ourselves for two more days at the office before having some time off. We were looking forward to it after working so much. Tomorrow would be casual with the lunch, since it leads people to relax a little more and hang out together. Dad didn’t mind and neither did we. The staff was great since we took over, helping us in so many ways. We wanted them to have some fun today.
CHAPTER 21
Jane
I walked into work with a giant bag of the cookies that Mama made yesterday while I was at work. She also made some bean soup for supper, which was my favorite of all time. She’d instructed me to plate the cookies on something nice for the luncheon, since there was going to be food out all day. A few people looked at me as I stepped into the elevator and I smiled wryly as I clutched the plastic bag. The office door was open when I approached my desk and I set the bag down with a grateful sigh, craving a hot cup of coffee.
“What’s that?” Brandon asked as he stepped out, making me jump.
“Mama sent cookies to the party,” I said shyly, trying to catch my breath as he chuckled.
“You carried that on the bus?” He asked as he eyed the full bag with a raised brow. “That’s so heavy.” Brandon stepped forward and searched my desk with his eyes. “Let me have your phone, Jane.”
I licked my lips as I reached over for my purse, all too aware of his proximity to me. I slipped my hand inside and found the heavy phone, handing it to him as our eyes locked. Jesus, but this man was handsome. He grinned as he took it, sliding the screen on and working quickly with his hands before he handed it back to me. “I put my cell in there. If you have something like that to carry across town, let me know. We can give you a ride.” Our eyes remained locked as I felt my heart jump into my throat, feeing my attraction to him bubble to the surface before footsteps sounded behind us. “So, what kind of cookies are those?”
“I…ah…there’s a few different kinds. She was busy while I was at work,” I smiled as I glanced behind him to see Brent looking curiously at us. “Want dibs? She made enough to feed the entire building.” I left them with the bag and went to make coffee, taking slow breaths as I watched it drip into the cup. What happened back there? I knew that Brandon was hot as was his brother, but I never felt it hit me quite like that in the past. Of course, he’d never been that close to me and I sensed that he was a little wild, rough around the edges. Brent seemed to have a fine line of control but in that moment, I knew that Brandon wanted me and I couldn’t deny that I wanted him.
I wanted them both.
I composed myself and went back to my desk, taking the bag of cookies to the conference room. I glanced around at the table that was already being filled up with things to nibble on, smiling shyly at the women working. “Is there a plate that I could use? I have some cookies.”
“Some cookies?” A blonde asked me sarcastically as she glanced at the bag in my hands. She looked around and found two large, festive plates and brought them over. She was gorgeous, as were many of the girls that worked here and I knew that she
knew where I worked by the way her gaze took me in slowly, curiously. “Let’s get those onto a plate. I’m Melanie. I don’t think that we’ve met yet?” She reached out a perfectly manicured hand and I shook it as I forced a smile on my face.
“Jane Drury. It’s my first week here so I haven’t made the rounds yet.” We shook hands as she observed me with a shrewd gaze.
“You work for Brent and Brandon?” She asked, clearly aware of the fact.
“Yes, I’m helping them through the busy season.” Another woman came over and opened the bag with a sharp look at Melanie, and I helped her plate them as Melanie finally started to help us.
“These look delicious,” the older woman said as she lined them in the middle of the green plate. “I’m Barbara. Jane is your name?” She offered her hand with a genuine smile on her face.
“Yes, it is.” I replied as I took one of the thick chocolate chip cookies and added it into her neat circle.
“Did you make these?” Barbara asked as I laughed nervously.
“My mama did when I was at work. She’s visiting for the holiday.” I finished that plate and then added the remaining cookies to the red plate beside it, noticing that Melanie was gone. I glanced across the room to see her talking to some other girls, her eyes lit up as she stole a glance at me. I knew they were gossiping. I sighed and Barbara touched my arm gently.
“They are all foaming at the mouth for your supervisors. It’s as if they forget that we all work under them.” She giggled as I looked at her and shook her head. “The boys have a reputation and it is just more to talk about around here.” Her voice was soft enough that nobody else could hear us talking and I frowned. I knew that there were two assistants before me from what Breanna told me, as well as the fact that there were rumors about an affair between both and the twins. I didn’t know if I believed it but they were handsome.
I made sure that the cookies were on the table ready to go before I went back to my desk. I sipped my coffee at my desk and glanced towards the door as I wondered where I was working today. It wasn’t going to be as busy as day as the others had been with the all-day party, but there was still time to get some orders in.
“Want to work in here?” Brent called out as I licked my lips and stood up. I walked into the office and he grinned at me as he held a cookie in his hand. “These are fantastic.”
“Yeah, I ate a lot of them last night.” I smiled as I walked over to my desk, smoothing my red skirt as I sat down. “I always gain twenty pounds when she comes to stay with me.”
“I like your curves,” Brandon offered as I blushed, sitting back to look at me openly.
“Thanks,” I replied as I turned to look at the laptop, feeling the electricity in the air all over again from before. I looked at Brent, seeing him looking at me with some of the heat that his brother was vocal about as I turned away. I was in trouble and I needed to find a way out…soon.
We grabbed more coffee on break and stopped in the conference room as the guys looked over the spread. I imagined that they worked out every moment they weren’t at work, from what I’d seen of their perfect bodies as they filled a plate with some pastries and fruit. I got some fruit and walked back to the desk as Melanie watched me leave the room, leaving the guys talking to some men in the corner. I knew that I needed this job and I had to ignore that feelings that I was having. I wasn’t the kind of girl to do anything with any boss of mine and I was a virgin to boot. Did I think that I had anything to offer them?
I went inside the office and sat down to eat as I entered some more orders into the computer, taking slow bites of the sweet fruit. “You haven’t been introduced around her, have you?” Brent’s voice made me jump. “I never took you around for that formality.”
“We were busy. It’s fine. I met a couple women this morning,” I offered as I glanced at him. “There will be time for that after the holidays.”
“Who?” Brent asked as I licked my lips. He wasn’t the flirt that his brother was but he had some power over me with his intense gaze.
“Barbara and Melanie.” He grimaced at the words and I tilted my head.
“Melanie is a piece of work. Just ignore her as best as you can. She’s a good worker and Dad was smart to hire her, but she has her flaws as a person,” he told me as I nodded. He gazed at the open door and licked his lips as I watched. “She’s always wanted Brandon and I, but we never went there with her. Now that we work here, she’s been more aggressive about it.”
“Yeah, I get that.” He looked at me with intense eyes. “I mean…look at both of you. She’s a beautiful girl and it makes sense that she wants you.”
“Is she?” He asked as I nodded. “I hadn’t noticed.” Brandon walked in and Brent walked over to his desk as his brother raved about how much food he was going to eat today.
“Jane, if you come on Friday there will be a ton of food there as well. Monica and Mom cook all night Christmas Eve and we eat all day Friday.” He boasted as Brent looked at him.
“Oh, that. Mama said she’d enjoy that.” In actuality, Mama was very touched by the story I told her about them losing their father and the invitation to Christmas, immediately agreeing to it. She felt like she might help Brenda through the pain of missing her husband somehow, having been through it. “Your mother is so nice for asking.”
“She likes people to be with a family on Christmas. Always did. I’m not surprised that she isn’t changing her game this year,” Brent replied as Brandon nodded. “I don’t know what to expect from the day. She might break down and cry at any part of it or she’ll soak in everyone around her.” He glanced at me. “Mom is a strong woman and she’s cried more to herself than anybody else. We’re all there for her but to be honest, I think that she’s worried about my sister.”
“How old is she?” I asked as Brandon sipped his coffee.
“Sixteen. They were close.” I nodded as my face softened. I was close to my father as well and losing him was devastating. Maybe I could offer her some comfort as well. “I think that Ashley would gladly stay in her room all weekend but Mom is letting her boyfriend come over. We get to meet him for the first time. Can’t wait.”
We got to work and there was a shout outside that the food was here and Brandon rubbed his stomach with a wide smile. I didn’t know where he put it all as I laughed and ran a hand through my hair. Brandon walked out while Brent waited for me, walking behind me as we made our way to the conference room. I knew that he didn’t want me to feel uncomfortable I smiled as we walked together. Brent was a good man and sure to have made his father proud.
I wondered if he would be the one that would take my innocence gently while his brother ravaged me. My face flushed at the images and I coughed as I walked, making Brent look at me. The conference room was half full of people and the door wide open as Brent and Brandon walked to the front of the room, while I hung back. Brent smiled assumingly at me as he gestured for me to join them and I widened my eyes before I looked down and walked forward. They spoke about the great staff and their gratitude they felt for all of them with all the hard work. Brent said that he knew that his father would love to be here with everyone and I felt the emotions in the room as I pressed my lips together. “I realized that we hadn’t formally introduced our new assistant, Jane. She just joined us with a stroke of good luck and I’d like you all to welcome her to M&P.”
I was shocked when people stepped forward to shake my hand, welcome me to the company, and just say hello. Many of them were kind and cordial but there was the group of women that were icy and beautiful as they looked at me frostily from across the room. I knew that we would never be friends, feeling fine with that if they didn’t talk bad about me around the building. Breanna walked in just after the speech and came over to hug me as she smiled brightly. She always made me feel better with her positive attitude and I grinned at her. “Can you believe all of this food? It’s like Christmas dinner.”
We filled a plate with the meats and vegetables, grabbing
a water before we went to her desk to eat. I’d had enough of being the center of attention and wanted to just relax. “They introduced me before you came in. It was so embarrassing.” My voice was low as I glanced around.
“That was smart. People gossip like crazy around here and I’m sure the lies were flying, so maybe knowing who you are will slow it down.” Breanna gave me a sympathetic look as she took a bite of turkey. “It’s a really good job, Jane. I swear to that.” She chuckled. “I can’t imagine being so close to those two all day, though. They’re so gorgeous.”
“They are but I’m me. There’s nothing impressive about that.” I shrugged as I took a bite of the mashed potatoes and gravy as she shook her head.
“Have you seen yourself?” Breanna asked me as I gazed at her. “That sweet, country girl look is gorgeous, Jane. The bitches here are jealous.” She leaned over to whisper to me as I giggled. We finished the meal talking about Christmas and what we were going to do, though I hid my plans to go to The Moyens. That was a tough one to explain in my mind and I was still making sense of what was happening with them myself. I told her that I’d be at the restaurant with Mama to meet her later and headed back to work after a tight hug.
We met Breanna and her boyfriend at a diner and Mama talked to them about the holiday. I told her not to mention our plans and she nodded slowly with a frown as she looked curiously at me. I told her that some of the people at the office enjoyed gossip a lot and I wanted to avoid that for the time being.
We worked a half day on Thursday and I went home to have Christmas Eve dinner with Mama. We enjoyed roast chicken and some of the same vegetables that I’d eaten today but everything that Mama made tasted better than anything else. We prayed for the family that was no longer with us and I looked at her across the table before taking a bite. “Would you move here, Mama?”
The Valentines Day Proposal Page 133
