“Didn’t your grandparents start it?”
“They did.”
“How come you don’t have a stake in it?”
“When my uncle Lincoln became the CEO, he and my aunt Molly, who is my mother’s sister, made an offer to buy out my mom and their other siblings. Since the others didn’t have any interest in the business, they took the offer. Linc, Molly, their ten kids and my grandfather own the business in equal shares. When my grandfather dies, his portion goes to the twelve of them.”
Why was he talking so much? To her of all people? He never talked to anyone if he could avoid it.
“That’s very interesting. I love the dynamics of how family businesses work. Three brothers own my company. Two of them don’t speak to each other, which makes for a nightmare for the third one.”
“Why don’t they speak to each other?” And why do you care? Shut up. I don’t care. I’m just making conversation.
“I guess one of them slept with the other’s wife.”
“That’ll do it.”
She laughed—hard—and Noah couldn’t help but smile at the sound of her laughter. It filled the small space every bit as powerfully as her scent had.
“The husband caught her in bed with his brother, and all hell broke loose. Because they have such a successful business, they’re forced to work together still even if everyone knows why they don’t speak.”
“Awkward.” Noah’s heart ached for the brother who’d been wronged. He knew all too well what that was like. He could only thank God he hadn’t caught his wife with one of his brothers.
“Seriously.”
“Did the wife and the wrong brother end up together?”
“Nope, which makes it worse, in my opinion. If you’re going to do something like that to your brother, shouldn’t it be for true love and not just to scratch an itch?”
“First of all, I wouldn’t do that to my brother—or anyone else, for that matter.” Once it’d happened to you, you’re cured of any desire to dally with a married woman. Not that he’d ever done that. After what’d happened with his parents, it was a wonder that Noah had ever worked up the courage to get married in the first place.
Melinda had known what he’d been through with his family, and she’d still ended up in bed with the wrong man, which was why Noah trusted no one, except his own family. Hearing what’d happened with Brianna’s bosses made him wonder if even that was safe.
He stopped that thought before it could develop. His family was solid. He didn’t doubt that any of his siblings or cousins would take a bullet for him—and vice versa. There’s no way they’d ever cross lines with each other’s significant others. That was one thing in his life he was sure of.
“Where’re we going, anyway?” Brianna asked as Noah navigated the twisting, winding roads that took them into “downtown” Butler.
That’s what people called the collection of buildings that made up Elm Street, home of the Green Mountain Country Store, the diner, the inn, a bank, the post office, the requisite white-steepled church that was a staple of most New England towns, an art gallery, a pizza restaurant and a few other smaller stores. It wasn’t much, but it was home.
“A few towns over.”
“What’s this place Mrs. Hendricks is sending us to? The Pig’s Belly? Is it really called that?”
“It is, and despite the name, the food is fantastic. Some of the best barbecue I’ve ever had.”
“I assume you’ve been outside of Vermont?”
He didn’t want to be amused by her, but he was, nonetheless. “In fact, I have. I lived in Southern California for six years and traveled a lot for my job.”
“Which was what?”
“I worked for a commercial engineering firm for a couple of years after college before I came home eight years ago to start my business.”
“You’re an engineer?”
“That’s right. A licensed PE.” He assumed she knew that PE stood for professional engineer.
“Hmm.”
“What?”
“That’s just surprising.”
He didn’t want to ask. Honestly, he didn’t. He was much better off when he found her annoying. “How so?”
“I just didn’t take you for a PE.”
“What did you take me for?”
“You really want me to answer that?” she asked, her tone infused with delight.
“Yeah, probably better to leave that to my imagination.” After a long pause, he said, “I’m sorry that I’ve been unwelcoming toward you. That wasn’t my intention.”
After a very long pause, she said, “And I’m sorry that I’ve come on too strong. My boss is on me constantly about getting this job done on time and under budget, and as I mentioned, I hate being cold. Butler is cold, and that hasn’t helped my disposition.”
“Maybe if we warm you up, you’ll feel better about being here.”
Noah hoped she knew he was talking about the clothing he’d recommended and nothing else. He wasn’t available for that kind of warming. Not with her, anyway. They rode the rest of the way in silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable silence, which was a vast improvement over what he’d expected of this evening.
He hated to admit it, but maybe Mrs. Hendricks had been right. Perhaps if they spent some time together away from the inn, they could begin to understand each other and get along better on the job.
But he refused to go so far as to start liking her.
Chapter Four
“Hearts will never be made practical until
they are made unbreakable.”
—The Tin Man, The Wizard of Oz
Who was this man, and what had he done with Noah Coleman? Brianna could deal with grumpy, annoying, exasperating Noah. This almost-charming, self-deprecating version of him left her feeling off her game and out of sorts. Was it possible that she almost liked him? No. No way.
“Can I ask you something?” she asked.
“I guess so.”
He sounded wary, and considering their past interactions, she couldn’t blame him. “Is it me or women or architects in general you don’t like?”
His deep sigh conveyed a world of angst. “None of the above. I have four sisters, three close female first cousins and was raised mostly by a single mom with a lot of help from her sister. I have nothing against women. I promise you that.”
“Is it me, then? You just took an immediate dislike to me?”
“No, not at all.”
“That leaves architects, then.”
“I’m not a huge fan of architects. I’ll admit that.”
“Ah-ha! We have a winner. What is it about my colleagues and me that you don’t like?”
“It’s not that I don’t like architects. It’s that your people always think you know better than the person doing the actual work.”
“Often, we do know better.”
He grunted out a laugh at her sassy reply. “I shoulda seen that coming.”
“Well, it’s true. We’re the ones who drew the plans. Doesn’t it stand to reason that we might know the project a tiny bit better than the contractor?”