2
Nora
“You know, there are things called cell phones,” I said with an arched eyebrow as I stuffed everything into my oversize work bag. “You could have called or texted to let us know you were coming home.”
“I could have, but then I wouldn’t have gotten to see your face when I showed up in your office.” He slumped back in the chair across from my desk, kicking his feet up.
I brushed them off my desk. “LA has left you uncivilized.”
He laughed. “That would be your brother.”
I wrinkled my nose at him. “Campbell always was uncivilized, wasn’t he? I never should have let you go off with him for six months. You’re going to spend one night in the house and wreck all my progress.”
“Progress?” he asked, jumping to his feet as I slung my bag on my shoulder, staggering slightly under the weight.
“I might or might not have been making some improvements.”
“Improvements?” He looked stricken. “What did you do?”
“Guess you’ll have to see when we get home, won’t you?” I winked at him.
It had been silly to spend any time or energy on the house I was staying at, but it was impossible for me to live somewhere and not turn it into my own. It had been a nightmare to move out of the dorms because I had completely transformed my and Tamara’s tiny suite into a girlie floral haven. I hadn’t gone that far with West’s place, but I’d had it to myself for six months. How could I resist a few dozen trips to HomeGoods?
“Is everything pink?”
“Maybe. What, are you not man enough for pink?”
“No, no, pink is definitely my color,” he said with a grin in my direction.
“Good. It’d better be.”
We headed out of my office and into the cellars of Wright Vineyard. It was a thriving operation. Last year, we’d won an award for Best in Class wine at an event in Austin. Hollin was taking our wine down to the show again this year in hopes of repeating the accomplishment. Plus, the weddings had really taken off after last year.
We’d had two huge weddings, including Morgan Wright—the CEO of Wright Construction, a Fortune 500 company—and her husband, Patrick’s, event. That had been the highlight of the season. After that, wedding requests had skyrocketed. We had something at the vineyard nearly every Saturday. Hollin and I had even talked about bringing on another event planner since we were getting so much interest. At this point, I could handle it, but it was exciting to see that the vineyard had grown this much.
We’d made it to the cellars doors when they burst open, and my oldest brother, Hollin, strode toward us. “Nora, I just saw Tamara.”
I kept my stride easy and light. “I know. I already spoke with her.”
“I banned her from the premises. I don’t know what the hell she was thinking.”
“She and August got engaged.”
Hollin gaped at me. “What the actual fuck?” He clenched his hands into fists. “I’ll kill him.”
“Not worth it,” I assured him. “You got your punch in.”
“You dated for three years, and he proposed to her in less than a year?”
I glared at my brother. “Yeah, I also was able to do the math.”
“Not helping,” Weston muttered.
That was when Hollin noticed him standing there. His jaw dropped. “West! Hey, I didn’t know you were back in town.”
“Yeah, I came in with Campbell today.”
“That asshole didn’t even tell me,” Hollin growled.
“Me neither,” I told him.
“Well, we finished our part on the album,” Weston said. “There’s some production stuff that still has to happen on the back end, but it’s a wrap for us unless we need to go back for any rerecords.”
“Fuck yes!” Hollin cried.
“Congratulations!” I said.
Weston grinned down at me. I knew how proud he was of all of this. Campbell was the lead singer of the band Cosmere that had skyrocketed into fandom a few years back. All that time spent bartending in LA had paid off, and now, he performed to sold-out stadiums all over the world. When his keyboardist had quit before their third album, he’d enlisted West’s help. Weston wasn’t an official part of the band, but he’d filled in on the whole album. He and Campbell had grown close, working together, and had been all but inseparable ever since.
“Yeah,” he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “It’s pretty cool.”
“So, how long are you here?” Hollin asked the question I most wanted the answer to.
“Not sure. It’s Campbell’s birthday this weekend, and he wanted to spend it with Blaire. So, we took the first flight out of LA. We don’t have anything to do for a while though. I don’t think anyone is rushing to head back.”
“Good. Y’all need the downtime,” Hollin said.
“We should throw a surprise party,” I rushed out.
Hollin snapped his fingers at me. “He’ll hate that. Let’s do it.”