Let Me Love You (17 page)

Four missed calls. Two missed texts.

Damn it.
She must’ve accidently turned off her phone instead of clicking it to vibrate. Panic streaking through her, Lucy smacked her hand to her forehead as she read the first text.

It was from Skylie at 4:00 a.m.

Frank isn’t here. One barrel for stomping has hole in bottom, can’t find others. Need help moving. Also, u wrote full tasting menu, but scratched out. Which do u want? Thx!

Frank had taken time off to be with his wife during the panic of the fire, but since the fire hadn’t destroyed his home, he should’ve come back to work this morning. And why was there a hole in one of the barrels?

She scrolled through to the second text.

Skylie again. 5:15 a.m.

Where are u?! Things r falling apart. Call, txt, something. Getting worried.

Lucy groaned. If she’d been at her studio, she would’ve jumped out of bed and taken care of business. She would’ve probably pulled an all-nighter until everything was perfect. She had a solid team at the winery, but she’d learned that no one ran a business like its owner.

“I should’ve been there,” she whispered, tunneling her fingers through her hair.

She was needed. And she was already late.

Joey shifted beside her. She glanced over her shoulder. He seemed to be asleep, though something told Lucy he’d wake up soon. She dressed quickly and quietly, and then drove to the winery, arriving just after daybreak. Skylie rushed Lucy’s Jeep the instant she pulled into the parking lot. She was frantic and out of breath, waving her arms over her head as if there’d been a fire.

No fire. Just lack of proper management.

She should’ve been there.

The crews were hard at work, even at the early hour. Zin ran circles around the workers’ ankles, barking at their heels, the same thing Lucy would’ve been doing had she shown up on time. She didn’t even bother darting to her studio to change.

Oh yeah, she
rocked
the walk of shame.

In a flurry of determination and sweat, Lucy put out the fires Skylie had been so anxious about. She made sure the food and drinks were stocked, and the barrels were arranged in the outdoor cellar. She had the assistant foreman replace the damaged barrel with another. She handled the menu, and briefed the chefs, servers, and bartenders.

By the time she had a second to breathe, people were already trickling in. The air was cool and crisp, whipping through the yard. It wasn’t frigid enough to draw guests inside and ruin the event, thank heavens.

Four hours later, Lucy stood against the winery’s back patio and looked around the cellar yard. Lines of people waited for their turn to stick their feet into StoneMill’s grapes and stomp their hearts out. Two people in each barrel competed to stomp the most juice out of the grapes. Screams and laughter flowed into the pristinely blue morning sky. Teams were encouraged to wear costumes, which added a crazy element Lucy loved, and when the event ended in the afternoon, she’d award prizes to the most creative costumes.

Between the mouthwatering hors d’oeuvres, sweet wine flowing through everyone’s glasses, costumes, silent auction, and belly-shaking laughter, Lucy decided it was the best grape stomp the winery had ever had.

Her work over the last week had paid off.

In the last stomp race, Team Superhero edged a win over Team Hunger Games by a quarter of a gallon, and the entire outdoor cellar erupted in triumph.

Through all the hoopla, Lucy had forgotten to text Joey to tell him the reason she left. How could she tell him how much she loved being in his arms without giving him the wrong idea? She didn’t want to stay in his bed. Not really. Not when she was needed at the winery.

“Penny for your thoughts?” a baritone voice said from beside her.

Joey.

She spun, ready to leap into his arms.

Dane
.

She staggered back. In the light of day—without the cloak of shadow in the cavern—Lucy could clearly see the differences between Joey and his twin. Their features were exactly the same, but Joey had that tiny, fading mark beneath his jaw. Their eyes were both honey-brown, but Joey’s right eye was a bit darker and more muted than his left whereas Dane’s were the exact same. And Joey’s upper lip was a tad thinner than Dane’s, but damn he could kiss.

“Dane,” she said, nervousness creeping in. She hadn’t seen him since he asked her out. “Good to see you. Are you having a good time?”

Zin trotted next to Dane, sniffed him, and growled. Then he sat back on his haunches at Lucy’s side, as if he was her loyal guard.

If the shepherd kept this up, she’d put him on her staff.

“Best yet.” Dane held up two wineglasses, one clutched in each hand. “Janice thinks she’s the girl from
Twilight
. Look at her. I’ve taken enough pictures to blackmail her for years.”

As he lifted his hand, pointing with the glass, Lucy followed his direction to the nearest barrel. Janice and Skylie were on Team Twilight. Janice had straightened her long dark hair and had rolled her jeans up to the knee. Skylie wore jeans, a nude-toned tank top, and a furry headband with wolf ears. The tip of her nose was coated with red lipstick, and little whiskers had been painted on her cheeks. They climbed into the muck and squealed as their feet sank deep.

If only Joey were here. She’d love to see him laugh with his niece, the way he had at her birthday party. He’d looked so free then. So carefree and utterly
happy.
Her chest warmed.

“You look stressed,” Dane blurted, bumping into her shoulder.

Wow,
someone needed to teach Dane how to pay a compliment.

“I was stressed earlier this week with all the planning, but now that the stomp is in full swing, I can relax.” She bumped him back in the shoulder, harder. “How’s your store? Did you get everything fixed from the storm?”

He groaned, sounding a lot like Joey when he got irritated, and took a hearty drink of the wine in his right hand. “Depends on who you ask. I think everything’s fine, but if you ask Joey you might hear a different story.”

There was bitterness in his voice. Anger and resentment. Did he know about the cavern and what happened between them? Was that the reason for the anger, or did cords of tension always rattle between them?

“Do you enjoy running the family store?” she asked, curious to hear his side of the story.

He took another drink; this time it was longer. He swiped his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt as Skylie and Janice hopped around in the barrel in front of them. “The only reason our father gave the business to me is because Joey had his hands full taking care of Janice. He won’t say so, but I know that’s it.” The girls shrieked in sheer elation. “And I think part of him thought the responsibility would settle me down.”

She knew the feeling: in the first few years after she’d inherited the winery, after Phillip left, she thought her days of fun were over. Some of them were, but once she’d learned to clearly compartmentalize her professional and personal lives, she’d gotten some sense of freedom back. It was the only way she’d survived the stress.

“How’d it work for you?” she asked.

As the timer for the last session of the stomping went off, the two teams sagged over the sides of the barrels and waited for their grape juice to be measured and checked. Zin trotted over to sniff the goods.

Dane tilted his head to the side as if he could think better that way. “I love being outdoors and all of the sports in this area, so you’d think the store would be perfect fit. Thing is, I wouldn’t mind running the store if I could do it my way.” He shrugged as if what he’d said didn’t bother him. “But if Joey is the one who steps up for everything, then why should I? My ideas will only get shot down next to his.”

Lucy felt as if the final puzzle piece to the Brackett family picture kerplunked into place. Joey was the town hero, a fireman, a gentleman, the quintessential “good guy” that every granny in town wanted to hook up with their doting granddaughter. Lucy bet having a twin like Joey would cast a looming shadow…probably one that was hard to shine beyond.

“Personally, I think you’re doing amazing things with the store,” she said. “Everyone is talking about the focus shifting from clothes and furniture to sports. We needed a store like that downtown.”

Skylie and Janice jumped up and down as the amounts of grape juice were measured, revealing they’d won. Smiling brightly, Dane moved both wineglasses to one hand and then clapped his free hand against his thigh.

“That’s what I thought,” he said. “There are plenty of opportunities to expand since we’re in a prime outdoor sports territory.”

“Speaking of opportunities,” she said, watching Skylie and Janice claim their ribbons, “while I was waiting for our date at Whipside, I heard about your partnership with the cavern. I think that’s a great move.”

He nodded, smile faltering on his handsome face. “And I heard about you and Joey going down the ropes. That’s why I haven’t called to reschedule our date.”

She turned and opened her mouth to speak.

“No need to say anything,” he interrupted before she could start. “Trust me, I know how this goes by now.”

Puzzled, she said, “How what goes?”

He leveled her with a surprisingly somber stare. “You think you’re the first woman to go out with me and then want to switch to my brother?” He smiled without showing his teeth. “Oh, he’s a catch, all right. Too good not to take a chance on, I’ve heard. Women date me once or twice and then realize they’d get a better shot at the white, fluffy, dream wedding with Joey. Don’t worry. No skin off my nose. I already have another date scheduled for tonight.”

Lucy heard his words loud and clear.

No skin off my nose. I’ve already moved on.

But his tone and the solemn expression on his face contradicted his words. Having the women he dated leave him for his twin
did
bother him. How could it not? It’d bother anyone with a heart. He hadn’t moved on, either. From any of them, probably. The clouds parted as realization set in. Dane moved from woman to woman because if he felt something for them, and they fell for someone else—namely, the Golden Child of the Brackett clan—the pain would cut too deeply.

She had the urge to hug him and hold him tight. Not because her breathing hitched when she looked at his face, or because her heart stopped when he gazed at her with those familiar eyes. She wanted to embrace him as a friend, a sister, a woman, and as someone who knew the kind of pain he suffered. Living with the weight of expectation wasn’t easy, though he certainly hid the burden well.

“I’m sorry how that went down,” she said. “I didn’t expect this to happen.”

“What is…
this,
exactly?”

She didn’t know how to express what the pinch in her chest meant.

“I like your brother.” She hugged him, and then patted his back. “More than is good for either of us, I fear.”

“It may not seem like it,” he said, breathing into her hair, “but if you make each other happy, I’m happy. If he were coming today, I’d tell him to his ugly face.”

“Ugly?” She laughed. “You’re nearly identical.”

He pulled back and kissed her on the cheek. “The difference between being handsome and claiming the title of Sexiest Man on Earth is in the details, Lucy. It’s all in the details.”

His earlier words resonated. “You said Joey’s not coming. I’d hoped he might’ve shown up after his shift ended.”

“Nah, they had to cover the last part of it so he could take off.”

“Take off? Where?”

Dane emptied his wineglasses and set them on the railing behind her. The railing was full of glasses now that the event was finally starting to wind down. Once the grape stomp ended, most guests headed into town to take part in the harvest festival. There’d be a carnival, fried everything to eat, and an air show at the small airfield located east of town. Then later tonight, when the adults took the children home, the party crowd would drive to the eastern ghost town of Birch to continue the celebration. She’d never been to the carnival or air show, as she’d always managed the cleanup in the cellar, but a few times she’d joined friends in Birch to party until the wee hours of the morning.

Dane strode alongside the main building along the parking lot, as if she hadn’t just asked him a question. She followed.

“Joey’s at the air show,” Dane said, without checking to see if she was behind him. “I’ve got to pick up a few things from my buddy’s house, and he lives not far from the airfield. If you want a ride, I can drop you off.”

Confusion stumped her.

“Joey’s flying in the show?” She hustled to keep up. “He told me he hasn’t flown in years.”

Dane straddled his Ducati and started the engine. The bike roared to life, vibrating the ground at her feet. “Joey doesn’t fly anymore,” he said, grabbing his helmet. “Not since our brother died and he was up in the air. But his buddy Walker still flies his plane for the show.” He handed her a second helmet.

She stared, digesting his words.

Joey had been flying when their brother died? Could that be the reason he didn’t fly anymore? The shadows in Joey’s eyes made sense. He’d somehow associated flying with the death of his older brother and his wife. That had to be it.