ChapterThree
Eli
“Why didI say I’d wear a tie?” Everett asked as he worked his collar.
I snorted and looked over at my younger brother. “Because it’s a wedding and its formal, and we were told by Roy wehadto wear a tie. It’s not my fault you borrowed Elijah’s rather than buying one for yourself.”
Everett sighed, worked his collar again. “I know I’m going to need to buy an actual suit that fits if we do this. It’s also not my fault that I looked damn fine in my dress blues, but my shoulders outgrew my old suit. Hell, I’m going to be the CFO, damn it, I should look the part.”
I held back a grin, knowing that Everett might be growling slightly at the plan, but I knew he was in. Of all of my brothers, he was the most into it. That was Everett. Quiet sometimes, but determined.
“You’re in then? CFO and everything? You’ve got the background and the degree for it.”
Everett gave me a look, a single brow raised. “Of course, I’m in. I was in when you first mentioned it, even though it sounds insane.”
I held back a laugh since I didn’t want to draw too much attention to us. “I guess that would make me CEO. Though I don’t want to think about being your boss.”
Everett shook his head. “You’ve always been our boss. You’re the big brother. The only one you couldn’t order around is Eliza, but then again, none of us can order around our little sister.”
That made my lips twitch, and I took a sip of the champagne the waiter had brought about. I wasn’t a huge champagne fan, but it tasted good, and I felt like I needed the liquid courage to be here. It was odd to be somewhat crashing a wedding, though Roy said we could come as observers. We weren’t going to eat or draw attention to ourselves, but it was good to watch what Roy and his team were doing. I knew there was a wedding planner around somewhere, one that Roy hired on since he didn’t have one on staff. However, Roy was thinking about hiring someone permanently.
If the Wilders did go along with this insane plan, we’d be following Roy’s footsteps to the letter.
“I don’t know how to take that. Am I bossy?”
Everett grinned. “Yes. You’re colossally bossy. It’s what you do. Then again, you were the only officer among us.”
I shrugged. “I got lucky with a scholarship and placement right out of high school, and things worked out for me. I was also in longer than any of you.”
“And now we’re all out, a bunch of NCOs without jobs.”
“Local accounting jobs at the warehouses not doing it for you?” I teased.
“I hope that this works out because I’d rather you be my boss than anyone else. Yeah, you get annoying sometimes, but you’re my brother. I wiped your brow after you threw up after too many drinks. I feel like that connects us.”
I snorted. I couldn’t help it. “You did that for East. He’s your twin. Not for me. I’m a little too old for that.”
There was a seven-year age gap between the twins and me, even more so between Elliott and me and Eliza. There were seven of us, and honestly, not too many years between us. I didn’t know how my parents had done it, and never got a chance to ask before they died.
“Think we can do this?” I asked after a moment, looking at the party in front of us.
“Plan a wedding? No. Do everything else? Yes, I think we can.”
I looked at him then, my eyes wide. “Just like that.”
“Not just like that. You had notebooks and files on what it takes. And we’re going to that workshop about inns and owning your own business.”
“One where Roy promises it’s not a timeshare scam.” We both laughed at that before I continued. “We’ll learn, and we’ve got the money to do it. I mean, I guess we could use the money for other things, but this is for our future, not just for a new car or new house.”
Everett’s lips twitch. “Considering most of us will end up living on the property if things work out well, itisa new house. And we’ve got decent cars. And there’ll be enough after we buy the place to hopefully to get a new truck or two since we’ll need it. For hauling.”
“And because we live in Texas and need to fit in,” I said with a laugh.
“And you know that Evan is going to thrive on the winery side.”
I swallowed hard at Everett’s words. “He will. If he lets himself.”
“That’s a big if. But, hell, he’s the one who worked with the uncles for the longest. He’s the main reason that we even had this opportunity. Not that we can let him know that.”