Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Guess love works a miracle now and then.
“Listen,” Ethan says tentatively and picks up a spiral notebook. “I hate to ask this of you, but I was wondering if you might take over managing the medical on all the horses. Being in the middle of foaling season and then dealing with all this Lionel mess, and trying to figure out the winery business—”
“Say no more.” I lean across the desk and grab the notebook from him. “I’ve got it covered. What else can I do?”
“I don’t know.” He huffs, waving his hands at the stacks of papers strewn across the desktop. “I’m trying to parcel stuff out as I come across it.”
I take in the tight lines on Ethan’s handsome face. He has the same black hair and green eyes as I do.
Same as Trey, Wade, and my twin, Abby, all of us siblings bearing such a striking resemblance, no one had a doubt that Sylvie was Ethan’s daughter when she showed up in court that day bearing the same raven hair and ferny eyes as ours.
“What’s your biggest source of frustration?” I ask, setting the notebook aside and chomping on my apple again. I chew quickly and swallow just as fast to keep the conversation flowing.
“This fucking trust that Alaine left,” he grumbles.
“That says you have to manage the winery with Gabe,” I lament.
Ethan nods with a mirthless smile. “It galled me before, having to work with the scumbag, but now it makes my skin crawl knowing…”
His words trail off, but I can fill them in. Knowing that Gabe’s father, Lionel, tried to kill Sylvie.
I shouldn’t have to point it out, and I hate doing it because I can’t stand Gabe Mardraggon either, yet I find myself saying, “But he is the one who turned his father into the police. We’d have never known what happened without him.”
“Yeah, I know, and I hate to give the bastard credit, but it still doesn’t mean I have to like working with him.”
I’d hate to work with the asshole too, but that doesn’t stop me from saying, “Let me handle all the winery stuff with Gabe.”
Ethan snorts, leaning forward in his chair. “I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.” He seems pensive, then laughs at an internal joke. “Although I bet Wade and Trey would kill to have the opportunity to go after him.”
“They’d kill him and then rot in jail with Lionel,” I drawl. I consider another bite of my apple, but toss it into Ethan’s garbage can at the side of his desk. “I’m serious. I’ll handle Gabe Mardraggon. I’d kind of relish being a thorn in his side.”
Ethan blinks as if he’s just hearing my offer for the first time. “What? No! I couldn’t ask you to do that. I can’t stand to be in the same room with him, so I’m not about to put my baby sister in that position.”
I glare at my brother. “I might be your baby sister, but I’m a capable woman, tough as nails and not about to let some snot-nosed Mardraggon cause havoc for our family. I can handle this for you.”
Ethan’s face is inscrutable, his thoughts a mystery as he strokes his chin. “You don’t know anything about running a winery.”
“Neither do you,” I point out. “But at the very least, I can be the go-between. Let me be the one to liaise with Gabe and I’ll pass information back and forth for you to make decisions. I can totally handle that jerk.”
“No doubt you can,” Ethan muses but still doesn’t accept my offer. His reluctance to interact with Gabe is understandable. Although he might be completely innocent in Lionel’s plot to kill his own granddaughter, he’s still a Mardraggon, and that’s a hard pill for any Blackburn to swallow.
I wait out Ethan’s decision, prepared to argue further with him if he’s not hip to the idea. I have as much reason as anyone in our family to hate Gabe Mardraggon, but I can put that aside to help Ethan. He and Sylvie are the ones who matter.
After a long silence, he finally says, “Okay. I’ll let him know that I don’t have time to handle the winery stuff and you’ll be acting in my stead, but keep me informed. Every step of the way.”
“Every step,” I assure him.
Ethan leans to the side, pulls open a deep desk drawer and flips through some folders. He pulls one out and hands it to me. “That’s the trust agreement and basic financials that Gabe sent over. He’s pushing to do some expansion and needs my agreement to move forward. I don’t know if the deals are good or bad, but I want to do what’s best for Sylvie’s interests. Hear what he has to say and then we can discuss what to do.”