“Where did you live before you moved, Tory?” Harper asked.
Duncan's sister looked like a younger version of their mother, only with lighter hair. Like everyone Tory had met today, Harper had been welcoming.
“Northern California.”
“I’m guessing you moved for work, because I can't think of one good reason to move to Boston.”
Tory nodded as she scooped up a forkful of the sweet potato casserole, a dish she'd never tried, but Duncan had gone on and on about how delicious his aunt's recipe was. “I started working forBoston Home, Life, and Style Magazinein October. You're not a fan of the city?” The more time she spent there, the more she liked Boston.
“Boston is okay for a few hours, but I wouldn't want to live there. There is something about it that is just off. I can't explain it. I much prefer New York City or DC. Did you work for a magazine before, too, or did you work for Sherbrooke Enterprises?”
“Neither. I worked for Desjardin Winery.”
“I've had wine from there. Going from a winery to a magazine seems like an unusual change.”
“My first job after college was at Trident Corporation, which my grandfather started and my family still owns. From there, I went to Desjardin, which my father owns. For once, I wanted to work somewhere that wasn't connected to my family.”
“I didn't know the Sherbrookes owned Desjardin,” Harper said.
A lot of people didn't. “My dad bought the winery from my mom's family about forty years ago. He wanted nothing to do with Sherbrooke Enterprises or hotels, and my dad wasn't satisfied with his limited role at Trident. My grandfather was a bit of a control freak and waited as long as he could to turn things over to his children.”
Even now, her grandfather visited Trident's headquarters at least once a month and insisted on meetings with her uncles and cousins who worked there.
“The only hotels I'd want to worry about are the ones on a Monopoly board, so I don't blame Benjamin,” Alec said as he raised a fork toward his mouth.
“You don't work for Sherbrooke Enterprises either?” Harper asked, sounding surprised.
“Not directly. I started working for the Helping Hands Foundation this summer. It's one of Sherbrooke Enterprises charitable foundations.”
“Thanks for the reminder, Alec. How was the auction? I asked Duncan to get me a ticket, but he refused.”
“Hey, you could've bought your own,” Duncan replied.
“The tickets were a little out of my price range. And you could've been a nice big brother and paid for at least half. The only reason you refused was because you were in it. If CJ had been the one getting auctioned off, you would've bought everyone in the family a ticket, and you know it.”
“She's right, Duncan,” Gianna said. “Don't worry, Harper; Alec recorded it. I'll send it to you.”
Tory listened as Gianna shared all the details from the auction with her younger cousin. Every once in a while, Alec added something. Eventually, Duncan got them to move on to a new topic. She didn't blame him for not wanting to discuss the auction. Standing on stage while people bid on you couldn't have been enjoyable.
“Now that you've satisfied your curiosity, what's new with you?” Duncan asked.
“Not much. Work is work, and my love life is nonexistent. It's as if every decent, single man has left New England.”
Finding the right person could be difficult, and then other times, you met them when you least expected to. Tory glanced at Duncan. She certainly hadn't expected Duncan to be Mr. Right or at least Mr. Right for her. But it sure seemed to be the case.
“Do either of you have any single friends?” Harper asked, gesturing between Alec and Duncan.
“Not that I'd ever want you spending time with,” Duncan answered without hesitation.
Harper frowned and stabbed a carrot with enough force to split it in half. “Do you have any brothers or sisters, Tory?”
“Two brothers, no sisters.”
“Are they as overprotective and annoying as Duncan?”
Tory didn't even try to contain her smile. “Annoying, yes, especially Tyler, my younger brother. Adam wouldn't have wanted me to date his friends when we were younger, but he was never overprotective. And now he wouldn't care.” She chose not to add that she had dated one of his friends. “But Adam is only a year and a half older than me. So it's a little different than you and Duncan.” Tory couldn't imagine having a sibling who was either eleven years older or younger than her.
“Lucky you.” She pointed her fork at Duncan. “This one acts like my second father. Sometimes he is worse than Dad.”