“Don’t be silly,” she said, waving her hand. “I don’t know how to cook for less than a dozen. And I told you last night you should come. I meant it.”
“At least let me come help.” He followed her into the kitchen.
I heard her insisting that she had everything under control—the same thing she’d told each and every one of us when we got here and tried to help—but Ben wasn’t swayed by her protests. A few minutes later, they brought out food on large platters, setting it all in the middle of the table.
“Thank you so much, Mom,” I said. “This is amazing.”
“I’m glad you two came over,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if you’d want to get out of bed today.”
Chase coughed, covering his mouth, and I felt my cheeks warm.
Cooper sat up, groaning. “Mom. No.”
“What?” Mom asked. “We were all up so late last night. They must be exhausted.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s why they’d be in bed.” Cooper adjusted his hat. “Gross.”
Mom smiled and rolled her eyes. “Okay, there’s that too. But they are newlyweds. What’s wrong with—”
“Stop talking now Mom please oh my god I can’t with this right now I’m kind of hung over and this is way too much can we just eat in peace without references to anything my baby sister does in bed thank you very much.”
“Don’t forget to breathe, honey,” Mom said.
We piled our plates with food. Mom had outdone herself. Crepes, sliced fruit, eggs, toast, bacon. She offered mimosas, but none of us were in the mood for more alcohol yet.
Chase’s leg rested against mine and every so often, he leaned over to kiss my temple. I felt all warm and gooey inside and I couldn’t stop smiling.
After being completely silent since the moment he walked in, Leo finally spoke up. “Are we going to keep pretending it didn’t happen, or are we going to talk about it?”
Chase squeezed my thigh under the table—a silent gesture of reassurance.
Mom put her fork down and wiped her hands on a cloth napkin. “No, we do need to talk about it. I let it go yesterday because of the wedding. But I need to know why he was here.”
“Hang on.” Roland got up and came back to the table with a manila envelope. “He brought this.”
“What is it?” Mom asked.
“It’s a counter to your divorce settlement offer,” Roland said. “And it isn’t good.”
Mom let out a long breath. “What does he want?”
“The winery,” Roland said.
The table erupted with voices. Cooper flew out of his seat, shouting obscenities. Leo stared at Roland, his mouth open. Chase gripped my leg and Ben pressed his hands into the table, his eyes cold steel.
“Okay, okay,” Mom said over the din, gesturing for everyone to quiet down. She waited, casting a glare at Cooper until he stopped ranting. “What are my options?”
“Our options,” Leo said. “You’re not in this by yourself.”
She tipped her head to him. “Our options, then. What do we do?”
“I already sent copies to the lawyers, so they’ll be able to advise us,” Roland said. “I don’t know if he has any chance of getting what he wants, but that’s not the biggest problem. The first thing the court will do is order mediation. If Dad doesn’t bend on this, we’ll have to go to trial. That’s going to be both expensive and exhausting.”
Mom straightened her shoulders. “Is there a chance the court would give him what he’s asking for?”
“I want to say no, but he was Salishan’s CEO for a long time,” he said. “The documents make the argument that if you could have taken over the business from your parents, they wouldn’t have put him in charge. He basically says you weren’t capable of running it then, and aren’t capable now. And he claims years of hardship and missed opportunities because he spent his entire career here, which he only did so you could pursue your passion. It’s basically the same argument people make when one spouse works while the other goes to college. They gave up opportunities to support the other in their career, and are therefore entitled to more of the assets.”
“That asshole,” Mom muttered. “He hated this place. Why is he trying to take it?”
“This is bullshit,” Cooper said. His black eye seemed more noticeable now, considering it was Dad who’d given it to him. “He can’t do this. No fucking way am I letting him take our land. I’ll fucking gut that son of a bitch.”
“Calm your ass down, Cooper,” Leo said. “You’re not helping.”
“I thought for sure he’d take our offer,” Roland said. “But given what he did yesterday, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“He doesn’t just want the money,” Mom said. “He wants to hurt me. That’s the only explanation.”
Cooper had retreated away from the table. He stood with his arms crossed, a look of pure hatred on his face. The only person in the room whose rage might have rivaled Coop’s was Ben. He stayed quiet, but anger poured off him in waves.
“Where is he getting the money for all this?” Mom asked. “His lawyer can’t be free. I’m surprised he’s not trying harder to settle. Like you said, going to court will cost us both a fortune.”
“She has a lot of assets,” Leo said, and there was no mistaking by his tone who he meant by she. Dad’s mistress. “I think we can assume she’s bankrolling this.”
“But why?” Mom asked.
“This land is worth a lot of money,” Roland said. “If someone subdivided it, they could make a killing. He’s probably promising her they’ll retire off the money he makes.”
“But he can’t possibly take everything,” Mom said.
“No, but if he takes this to trial, he can convince the court the property is worth more than we’re saying it is in our settlement offer,” Roland said. “Then we’d be forced to sell and divide up the proceeds according to the court’s instructions. He wants this to go to trial because he thinks he’ll wind up with more money that way.”
I listened to Roland’s explanation with a growing sense of horror in the pit of my stomach. How could my dad do this to us? My great-grandparents had built this place. My mom had grown up here. They’d raised the four of us in this very house. How could someone be so horrible?
Chase put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. I hated being so helpless, but his steady presence helped.
“Listen, I’ll talk to the lawyers in the morning,” Roland said, adopting his take-charge voice. “This isn’t ideal, but we’ll figure it out.”
“We’re not selling the fucking land,” Cooper said from the other room.
Leo caught my eye. He looked like he was about to panic. Oh god. If we had to sell, it would mean Leo would have to leave. And he hadn’t left Salishan property in years.
Without another word, Leo got up and walked out the front door.
“Oh no,” Mom said.
“I’ll go talk to him,” Ben said, standing.
Mom reached out and touched Ben’s arm. “Thank you.”
“He’ll be fine,” Ben said, his tone soft and soothing. “Don’t worry.”
Ben left, and a tense silence settled over the table.
“Sorry, Brynn,” Roland said. “I didn’t mean to ruin brunch.”
“It’s not your fault. This is all on Dad. I don’t know why I let the things he does surprise me at this point.”
Cooper came back to the table and piled his plate with more food. “Seriously, screw that guy. He’s not ruining my breakfast.”
We went back to our meal, although I was too full to eat any more. The food was making me sleepy and I found myself leaning against Chase’s arm, almost nodding off. Everyone else chatted over the last of their brunch and coffee. Mom turned the conversation to the impending arrival of her first grandbaby and the mood in the room improved significantly.
After a while, everyone finished and got up to go their separate ways. Chase and I had already checked out of our hotel, so we wen
t to the Blackberry cottage. We still had to pack for our honeymoon, but all I wanted to do was crawl back in bed and take a nap.
So that’s exactly what we did.
We took our clothes off, just to feel each other’s skin, and settled in bed beneath the soft sheets and fluffy comforter. I knew this mess with my dad was likely to get worse before it got better, and the idea of losing the winery was horrifying. But tangled up in Chase’s arms, feeling the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, I let it go.
Chase and I were embarking on a new life together. It had been a bit of a whirlwind since that first time he’d kissed me. But I had no doubts. I’d found love young, but that didn’t make it wrong, or less real. I felt nothing but gratitude that we’d not only found each other, but had the courage to stick together, even when things were tough.
Life was going to throw more challenges our way. That was just the way it worked. But together, Chase and I could face anything. I loved him with everything I had, and the miracle of it all was, he loved me just as much.
And there was nothing better, or more important, than that.
Epilogue
Chase
It didn’t matter how often I kissed my wife, I never got enough. I traced my lips along hers, enjoying their softness. My tongue darted out and brushed the velvety tip of hers. She tasted sweet and minty and delicious.
I nudged her onto her back and she giggled into my mouth. Our new couch was bigger than the old one—softer, too. Cooper was still pouting about getting rid of the old one, but I’d been on Brynn’s side. The old couch was kinda gross. This one was much more comfortable, and it was still great for making out.
“God, why?” Cooper asked.
I heard the fridge open and he let out a dramatic groan. Brynn and I both laughed.
“Stop making out on the new furniture,” he said from the kitchen. “Or anywhere I might see you. It’s disgusting. I’m having regrets about our living arrangements.”
“You’re full of shit.”
“Of course I am, but do you have to be grinding into my sister every time I come out of my bedroom?”
I moved off Brynn and helped her sit up. Instead of living in one of the cottages over at Salishan—Brynn’s mom had offered—we’d decided to room with Cooper for a while. It had been Brynn’s idea. She was worried her brother would be lonely without me.
She had a theory about why he’d gone so crazy over the two of us dating. He’d been hurting at the thought of losing his best friend and needed some help making the transition from being one of two single dudes partying it up all the time, to being the friend of a married man.
She’d definitely been onto something. We’d brought up the idea with Cooper after we got back from our honeymoon and he’d lit up like a Christmas tree. He whined about having to see us make out all the time, but beneath his complaints, I could tell he was glad we were still here.
And overall, it worked. We had enough space for three. Plus, we were all busy. Cooper and I both worked full time, and sometimes on weekends. Brynn wasn’t in school again until fall, but she was busy working the tasting room at Salishan and helping with events. Zoe was so close to having her baby, she needed the extra help.
Plus, Brynn worked part-time in my shop. She was a freaking genius at accounting and kept everything well organized. I loved having her there. In fact, I’d started trying to arrange my schedule so I’d be in the shop on the afternoons she was there, rather than working in the field. Any excuse to be close to her.
She leaned against me and tucked her legs up on the couch. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close. God, I loved this woman. Being married to her was the greatest thing ever. It had only been a few weeks, but I woke up every morning so fucking grateful that she was mine.
Cooper wandered out of the kitchen, shirtless in a pair of gray sweats. His hair was a mess and I caught sight of something along his ribcage.
“Dude, what happened to you?”
“What?”
I pointed to his side. “You have a bandage or something. Did you get hurt? That looks serious.”
“I do?” He raised his arm and tried to look at his ribs. “What the hell?”
“You don’t know what that is?”
“No.” He tugged on it and winced. “I got a little drunk last night, but I don’t remember getting hurt. This does kind of burn, though.”
“Here, let me get it.”
I got up to help. The bandage was roughly square with tape along all four sides. I figured the best thing to do was rip it off fast, so I pulled one edge free and yanked hard.
“Ow! Fuck!”
“Holy shit,” Brynn said.
I stared at Cooper. “Dude, is that real?”
“Is what real?” He lifted his arm, trying to look.
He had a tattoo along his rib cage, beneath his arm. A tattoo of a unicorn.
“Did you get a tattoo?” I asked.
“Did I?” He kept his arm up and turned, trying to get a better view. But the result was a lot like a dog chasing its tail. He kept turning in circles. “Holy shit, I did.”
I tried not to laugh, but it was pretty fucking funny. He’d gotten a white unicorn with a multicolored mane and tail—mostly turquoise, pink, and purple.
“Oh my god, you got so drunk you got a unicorn tattoo?” Brynn asked.
“Now I remember,” he said. “Yeah, I met this girl and she was a tattoo artist. She told me she wanted to do some ink, so I let her.”
Brynn stared at him, open-mouthed. “You asked for a unicorn?”
I couldn’t tell if Cooper was about to freak out or not. He kept lifting his arm, trying to get a good look at it. Finally, we went into the bathroom.
“Dude!” He came out a second later, a huge smile on his face. “This is fucking awesome. This is the best tattoo I’ve ever seen. She wasn’t entirely sober either, and she did an amazing job. Do you see the shading in the tail?”
I moved to take a closer look. “Yeah bro, it’s actually really good.”
“It’s a unicorn,” Brynn said. “With a lot of pink.”
“I know,” Cooper said, his eyes huge. “Fucking sweet.”
She shook her head and laughed. “Only you could pull that off, Coop.”
“I know, right?”
Her phone dinged, so she picked it up off the table and swiped the screen. “Ooh, our wedding pictures!”
“I wanna see.” Cooper practically jumped onto the couch. “Fuck, ouch. I need to be careful of this thing. It’s tender.”
I sat down next to her and watched as she swiped through the online gallery. I couldn’t keep the enormous grin off my face. Our wedding day had been the best day of my life. Or one of them, at least. It was hard to choose. The first time I’d kissed Brynn was up there. So was the first time we’d slept together. Getting engaged. Our trip to Victoria. Basically every day with Brynn was the best. But our wedding had been amazing.
I touched her hand so she’d pause on one of her, standing in the garden, her veil fluttering in the breeze. “I want this one for my desk at the shop. Look at you. So beautiful.”
She nudged me with her arm. “Thanks.”
Cooper bounced his leg, shaking the whole floor. “Keep going.”
The pictures were gorgeous. Not that it was hard when the photographer had such a beautiful subject. And I’d looked pretty great, too.
She got to one of us with her brothers. We were all outside with the Big House in the background. It was impossible to ignore Cooper’s blackening eye, and Leo still had some grass in his hair from wrestling their dad to the ground. I was wearing Cooper’s tie, since I’d handed him mine to wipe up the blood.
“Jesus, we were a mess,” I said.
Brynn tilted her head. “I know, but I think this picture is my favorite.”
“Why?”
“Because of what it means. You stood up to him for me, and for Mom. And my brothers stood up for you. So yeah, Cooper and Leo look a littl
e rumpled, your tie is crooked, and Roland kind of looks like he wants to strangle someone. But what I’ll always remember about this moment is how good I felt, knowing that even though my dad was an epic asshole, the rest of you were amazing—for me, and for each other.”
“Damn it, Brynn.” Cooper stood, sniffing. “I’m not tearing up, you are.”
I was feeling a little choked up, too. She was right. The way her brothers had stood up for me, and allowed me to stand with them, meant everything to me.
How many times had I wished I was a Miles? Now I was one. It might not be my last name, but I was one of them just the same.
Of course, maybe I always had been. I just hadn’t realized it.
“What are you guys doing today?” Cooper asked. He was back in the kitchen, poking through the fridge again.
Brynn winked at me. “I plan to climb Chase like a tree all day.”
He poked his head out long enough to roll his eyes. “Whatever. Zoe’s coming over, so take it to the bedroom. Pregnant lady gets dibs on the couch.”
“Why is Zoe coming over?” I asked.
“She’s pregnant, dumbass.”
“I know she’s pregnant, dick. What does that have to do with anything?”
He came out again, eating straight from a to-go container of fried rice. “Roland has to go help Gracie with something out in Tilikum. So I’m Zoe-sitting.”
“Dude, don’t say that where she can hear you,” I said. “She’ll murder your face.”
Cooper grinned. “Yeah, probably. But Roland doesn’t want her to be alone, so I’m hanging out with her today. Which is fucking sweet because Zoe-bowie is my girl.”
“Why doesn’t she go to Mom’s?” Brynn asked.
Cooper stuck his fork into what was left of the fried rice and scowled at her. “What are you implying? That I can’t Zoe-sit a pregnant woman? That Mom has superior skills in this area? I think not.”
“No, I didn’t mean that. I just wondered—”
“Silence, little demon-sister. I’m going to take excellent care of Zoe today.”
“I’m sure you will,” Brynn said. “But she’s so close to having the baby, and obviously Roland doesn’t want her alone in case she goes into labor. So—”
Forbidden Miles Page 24
