Meanwhile, Tess and I had made tremendous progress in our search for someone to manage the store every Sunday.
After reviewing countless applicants and not finding anyone we could agree upon, we convinced Jane to reconsider taking charge on Sundays. She’d been unsure if she could handle it, but she finally agreed. We’d also hired a student to help her out—since Jane knew the business inside and out, it didn’t really matter if the person helping her had experience, and students were our cheapest option.
“To us learning to delegate and not be such control freaks,” I said, clinking my cup of coffee to Tess’s on Thursday morning.
She chuckled. “Speak for yourself, sis. I’m still working on the control part.”
“It’s going to be fine. Jane knows her stuff, and the new sales associate will just follow her instructions. Can’t wait to give everyone the good news.”
“Oh, yes. They’ll be thrilled. I think I’m going to arrive a little later for our family meeting. George said he’d meet me half an hour later.” George was the CFO of one of the factories we worked with.
“Okay.”
We were meeting the whole gang today for one of our working lunches. Technically, there was no reason for them now. We’d set them up so we could work on organizing the galas, and those were not starting again until September. But then again, we used these meetings mostly to update each other on our lives.
I headed to Hunter and Cole’s office later in the day. When I entered the conference room, my brothers, Hunter, and his wife, Josie, were already there. She wasn’t just Hunter’s wife—she’d been our friend forever, and I loved it that she joined our lunches whenever she had time. With chocolate brown hair she’d cut into a bob and a little black suit, she looked every inch the lawyer she was. Her blue eyes lit up as she waved at me.
I looked around the room once,
content that no one appeared troubled or exhausted. Although the roles might have reversed now and the boys were more into our business, that didn’t mean I could just drop my old habits. They’d been honed over more than a decade. Hunter, Cole, and Ryker were all over six feet and well built. The boys had also inherited the blue-eyed gene in our family, but other than that, they looked nothing alike. Hunter had light brown hair and high cheekbones, Ryker had dark blond hair that looked perpetually messed up, like he was preparing himself for a rock concert, and Cole... Cole was something else. His jet-black hair brought out his eyes in an amazing way. He didn’t quite give off the bad-boy vibe Ryker did, but it was just as deeply ingrained in his DNA.
When Josie met us the first time, she nicknamed Ryker the Flirt and Cole the Charmer, and she’d been spot on. She’d also nicknamed Tess the Hurricane, which had been fitting because my sister was a force of nature. I’d been the only one left without a nickname (until recently, when Ryker said I was a dragon. I absolutely loved that... he might have become my favorite brother ever since).
“Hi, everyone. Tess will be a little late,” I said. “What are we eating today?”
“Pizza,” Josie said. “It’s on the way.”
Hunter squeezed his wife’s hand, kissing her forehead. I sighed. He always looked at Josie as if she walked on water. I might not be a romantic, but I couldn’t deny that watching them did something to me.
“Tess and I have some news, but I’ll wait for her so we can share it together.”
I rubbed my stomach, my mouth already watering at the thought of pizza.
My sister arrived at the same time as the food.
“Ooooh, I have excellent timing. Which one’s mine?” Tess asked, surveying the stack of cartons.
“The one with your name on it,” Hunter said. We’d been doing this long enough that we already knew each other’s favorites.
The meeting room exploded with the smell of melted cheese, olives, salami, and anchovies.
All eyes were on Tess and me while we devoured our respective pizzas.
“What’s up?” Tess asked.
“Oh, I told them we have news. So... we’ve finally convinced Jane to take over on Sundays, and we hired her a part-timer.”
“Which means none of you has to sacrifice your Sundays anymore,” Tess added. “We’re very grateful for all your help.”
My phone vibrated while my sister talked.
Rob: Hello, neighbor. Want to catch up this evening?
Skye: Not sure when I’ll be home.
Rob: Past three days you’ve always been home already during my run.
Holy shit, he’d noticed me watching him? I decided to play dumb.