by Alina Jacobs
"Why do you need them here?" I growled.
"Ah, there was one other part of the land deal," she said. "I promised Art a top-of-the-line custom distillery from Platinum Provisions."
"A distillery!" Liam said loudly. "Count me in!"
"I'll still be here, Mace," Josie said, hugging me. "Don't worry!"
"At least move into the cabin so you're not sneaking around in sin," Greg snapped.
A horn blared outside. We could hear it through the window.
"That better not be another bus," I said, not bothering to take off my apron before racing outside.
"You can't let Remy run roughshod over everything," Greg told me. "Hunter said he's been talking about getting goats."
We pushed through the large glass doors out onto the terrace in time to see Archer in the green school bus towing a brand new, large—
"Tiny house!" Chloe yelled. "Oh my God, it's so cute! We should get a tiny house, Jack!" Jack didn't seem all that enthusiastic about the idea.
My little brothers, who Adrian had all organized to clean up the expansive back lawn, stopped what they were doing and looked over at us.
Hunter walked out from the study off the opposite side of the terrace, trailed by Remy, who was saying, "They'll be good for the land, and you can make cheese…"
"I'd pay good money to see Jack Frost live in a tiny house," Hunter said.
"Did Hunter Svensson just make a funny?" Jack asked, biting back a grin.
"I think that was a threat," I remarked.
"I found this on craigslist," Archer said proudly, gesturing to the house.
"How'd the bus do?" Remy asked.
"Great towing capacity," Archer replied. He looked between Hunter and Remy. "Are we going to be proud new goat parents?"
"Absolutely not," Hunter replied.
69
Josie
After we spent most of the evening cooking, the guests started trickling in the next day around lunchtime. I'd had Remy hang American flags from the windows and place a giant one down the exact center of the house for Memorial Day. Judge Edna, Ida, and a pretty brown-haired woman were the first to arrive.
"I told you we were early, Edna," Ida complained to her sister. "You have to arrive fashionably late to these things."
"This is Olivia, the architect who worked on the estate house," Mace said as I shook the young woman's hand.
"And she's my granddaughter," Ida boasted.
"She's more so my grandniece," Edna sniffed. "She takes after me."
"You did a wonderful job on this property," I gushed.
"You're going to have to come back and work on the cabins," Mace told her.
"Are you two moving into one of them?" Olivia asked. "I really wanted to work on those the last time, but—" She gestured to the house. "This place is so huge. We had to phase it."
Chloe was a huge hit at the Memorial Day cookout, and so were her desserts.
"I'm so glad she's opening a bakery here," I told Willow.
"I know. The only reason I agreed to stay in Harrogate and help you with your marketing work was that I had heard rumors she was opening a shop here. And now it's true!" She sighed happily and took a big bite of the slice of orange creamsicle cake Chloe had baked. "I could just eat this all day, every day," Willow said, shoving the rest in her mouth. "She made so much food, and it all tastes fantastic."
"I love cooking for huge amounts of people," Chloe said, coming up beside me and hugging me.
"I know! I always wanted a big family."
"Seems like you got it," she said as we surveyed the crowd. In addition to most of the town, the majority of Mace's brothers were there. Tall and broad shouldered, I could see them towering above the crowd. Mace's younger brothers raced around, periodically getting yelled at by Hunter.
"Is this the famous Josie?" asked a woman. She was tall with a long platinum-white braid down her back. Her blouse was sleeveless, and it looked like she never skipped shoulder day.
"Belle!" Chloe exclaimed, hugging her. "You came!"
Chloe turned to me and joked, "Don't you just feel short and inadequate around her?"
Belle rolled her eyes.
"She's Jack's sister," Chloe explained, "and I have a special pair of extra-high-heeled shoes I usually wear when she's around."
"You're hardly inadequate," Belle sniffed. "The inadequate thing here is Romance Creative. Organizationally it's a mess. I'm trying to get them to solidify a brand, but they keep jumping around to different reality show formats." She jerked her head over to where Dana Holbrook and Gunnar Svensson were in an animated conversation with Ida. I heard the words "bondage bachelor" and shuddered.
"See?" Belle demanded. "So, Josie, do you do consulting? I've been trying to get my brothers to put me in contact with you, and of course both Jack and Owen are completely useless. If you want something done right, you do it yourself."
Meg waved and headed in our direction. "The famous Chloe," Meg said. "The rumor mill says you're opening up a shop in Harrogate."
"News sure travels fast here," Chloe said, grinning.
"Small town," Meg replied with a shrug. She was about to take a bite of the cookie she held when she looked over and yelled, "Get away from them! Excuse me."
Meg handed me her cookie, then she marched over and dragged away two young teenage girls who were very obviously flirting with Isaac and Bruno Svensson.
"They're just friends from school!" one of the brown-haired girls complained when Meghan hauled them back over to where we were standing.
"There will be none of that," Meghan scolded her little sisters.
The girls looked longingly at Isaac and Bruno, who elbowed each other and laughed. Meg scowled in their direction.
Hunter, who seemed to have a nose for when anything was amiss with the younger Svenssons, strode over and handed them each a bag. "Don't stand there, gawping," he growled. "Go pick up trash and be useful." He smiled slightly in Meghan's direction. She kept scowling.
"Don't think," she said to me, "that just because I let that land deal slide through that the Svenssons are just going to run roughshod over the town of Harrogate."
"I wasn't planning on it," I said, backing away slowly. I fled to the terrace, where Remy was manning the grill. He had his Marine Corps Veteran hat on. Susie was there talking to him. Every time she would laugh at something he said, he blushed straight up through his beard to his forehead.
"They're swapping stories about the service," Cliff, the fireman, said when I came up.
"Making sure Josie doesn't set anything on fire?" Mace asked from behind me.
The fireman laughed. "That and this is where the hot food is! It barely seems to make it to the table before it's scarfed up."
"My brothers eat a lot," Mace said sheepishly.
"No kidding!" Cliff replied, saluting to Mayor Barry, and headed across the lawn to go talk to him.
"This turned out really nice," Mace said, handing me a plate. "Did you even eat? You made all this food."
"You helped!" I took the plate with a hot dog smothered in cheese, chili, and minced onions.
"That's the best way to eat a hot dog," Mace told me. I bit into it and gave a thumbs-up.
Otis, Nate, and Peyton ran up to the grill and started jostling for food.
"Don't fight around the grill," Mace reprimanded them. Two of his brothers, I think it was Carl and maybe Mike, were in some sort of drunken argument about the latest football game. Isaac and Bruno were standing by them, watching them wave their arms.
"Hey!" Hunter yelled across the lawn. "You are not done yet." He stormed over to them, collecting Otis, Nate, and Peyton on his way. He handed the three of them trash bags, then he handed Carl and Mike trash bags as well and pointed them to opposite corners of the large lawn. Then he went to keep Henry from sticking his whole face in the potato salad.
"Are you sure you want to wake up to this every morning?" Mace asked me after a moment.
"You mean to you and
this awesome house and the wonderful—" Henry screamed at Hunter, and Hunter scolded him. Mace and I winced. "Sometimes wonderful people." I smiled up at him. "I couldn't think of anything I want more." He leaned over and kissed me, causing me to almost spill the plate of food.
"Don't let me lose that!" I shrieked, lunging to catch my cupcake before it fell. Except I overcorrected, and the cupcake ended up smooshed on Mace's neck and part of his cheek. "You look good enough to eat," I said as red, white, and blue sprinkles dripped off him. Mace stood there in shock.
"It's like both of my great loves all in one delicious sugary package," I quipped. A grin spread slowly across Mace's face, and he grabbed me, wrapping his arms around me.
"You're smearing cake in my hair!" I shrieked as he nuzzled me.
"You know," Mace said, "I think I'm starting to be on board with your life philosophy."
"YOLO?"
He shook his head then kissed me, the sweetness of the cake lingering on my lips. He pulled back and said against my mouth, "If it's covered in candy, eat it!"
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His Candy Crush
His Candy Crush
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1
Josie
Follow your passion, and you might end up hanging upside down from the roof of a tiny house. At least that's what Mace's little brothers seemed to have concluded.
They were playing on the new tiny house Archer had parked haphazardly at the edge of the lawn near the carriage house. It had been sitting there since the Memorial Day picnic. Now it was the middle of summer. Mace's younger brothers were currently swinging on the rooftop porch railings of the tiny house on wheels.
Forget you only live once—I was afraid they were going to only live a little bit longer. Otis was hanging next to the edge, and I sucked in a breath. Spending the last few months with Mace had given me a greater appreciation for why he always acted like the world was about to end. All of the young boys in the house seemed hell-bent on self-destruction.
"We should do something about that," Mace said to me, gesturing to the tiny house.
"I'm shocked it took you this long to say something," I replied. We were lounging out on the terrace, enjoying the summer morning sun.
"I'm afraid it's going to tip over and crush one of the kids if they keep climbing on it," Mace said.
"It has been convenient to use to store product samples for the cabin renovation," I told him. "Who knew how much went into renovating a building on the National Registry of Historic Places?"
"As I recall, it was a nightmare with the estate house," he said and turned to me with a grin. "I'm glad you're the one handling it and not me."
I leaned over and kissed him. "I wouldn't have been able to do anything without Olivia. It's good she specializes in historic architecture."
Mace pulled me closer to him, and I snuggled against his chest.
"She's nice," I continued. "We should find one of your brothers to fix her up with."
"I like her too much to saddle her with one of my brothers," Mace said with a snort.
"Aww, they aren't that bad," I said. Mace silently jerked his chin toward the tiny house. Archer was hanging off the little metal balcony railing by his knees, and Henry and Theo were swinging from his arms. There was a crack and a crunch as the railing gave way, and Archer tumbled down.
Mace jumped up, and I followed close behind him.
"I'm good!" Archer shouted, springing to his feet.
"You look like you fell right on your head," Mace said to his identical twin brother.
"He looks fine to me," I said as Archer struck a pose.
"We should burn this tiny house," Mace said, looking up at the dangling railing.
I leaned up to kiss him. "It's going to have to wait. I have to meet with Chloe." I couldn't believe I was saying that. Chloe and I were basically friends now. Well, sort of.
"We're going to have a meeting with Jack at Platinum Provisions to go over that distillery equipment," I explained as he followed me into the main house.
"For Art right?" he asked as I collected my bag.
"Yep. Jack and Liam said they wanted to sell the equipment, so we're doing a bit more work on the marketing and design side."
"Too bad Chloe's bistro isn't open yet," Mace said with a sigh. "You could meet there instead of having to travel outside of Harrogate."
"Olivia says that due to the health codes for food prep, permitting a restaurant is complicated. But I get to go to Manhattan, so I'm not complaining."
"Are you driving or taking the train?" Mace asked.
"Probably the train," I said. "I want to work during the trip."
"Don't get lost," he said, grabbing his car keys.
I snorted. "You have the Find My Phone app. If I do get lost, you'll have to come save me."
I waved to Mace after he dropped me off at the train station. I felt very glamourous going into the city. Though my original tiny house along with all my possessions was still impounded, I had let Mace buy me some new clothes.
Admiring my reflection in one of the shop windows in the train station, I looked glamourous and mysterious, if I did say so myself. Which was fitting, because I wasn't actually going to see Chloe about the distillery. I had something else in mind…
2
Mace
I wished Josie hadn't had to travel today. I tried to tell myself that I was lucky Josie hadn't permanently moved to Manhattan. Still, she traveled to New York City at least a few times a week. Between the time she spent working on marketing projects at my brothers' companies and then just generally dealing with my little brothers, it felt like I hardly ever had her to myself.
"I feel like you're handling this like a mature adult," Archer said in the car on the way to the PharmaTech offices. Archer had set up a de facto headquarters for his conference center in Josie's old office. It had been months, and though I loved my twin, I was ready for him to move out of my office.
"Did you secure your conference center yet?" I asked him.
"Ugh, I need Josie to come save the day. I can't believe that guy won't sell," he complained. "My life is in shambles right now."
"This wouldn't have anything to do with one of your many ex-girlfriends being here, would it?" I teased him as I parked the car.
Archer grimaced. "Girlfriend is a strong word."
"She seems to think you two are getting married," I said as we walked into the PharmaTech offices.
"Just because the perfect woman fell out of the sky into your lap doesn't mean you are suddenly some expert on love," Archer scoffed.
Archer flopped down on the couch in my office as soon as we walked in. I tried to do work, but Archer's moping was distracting. Actually that was only partially true. Mainly my thoughts were consumed with Josie. She hadn't called or texted.
Mace: Everything ok? How's NYC?
Josie: Fine. I'll be back tonight
Mace: You didn't get lost did you?
Josie: Haha
I put down my phone then picked it back up. I wished I had gone with her. But she would be back soon. The last train to Harrogate was at 11:30 p.m. I knew she wouldn't be on that one. Maybe she would take the 6:45 train? Or the 7:15?
I wondered if I should go surprise her. But no. She was working. And so should I. I tapped my fingers and checked my calendar. I had a call with Jack about the factory.
"Did you have a chance to look over the documents?" I asked him when he picked up the phone. "Josie said that the Harrogate Trust is going to want to have a meeting soon about the site area improvements."
"I did," Jack said. "Everything looks good. The dimensions of the buildings are what we need, and they seem to have the mechanical and data systems we're going to need. Maybe we can have a conference call with Josie soon? There were some questions I wanted to ask her."
/> "Maybe you can talk before or after your meeting about the distillery equipment," I suggested.
Jack was silent for a moment. "I don't have a meeting with her today…"
"She said she was meeting you this afternoon," I growled. "She said you, her, and Chloe were meeting about it."
"No, we're basically done… uh I… crap."
"What?" I shouted.
"I have to go. Talk to you later," Jack said in a rush and hung up.
"What the hell?" I muttered. I couldn't believe Josie had lied to me.
I snatched up my phone and quickly navigated to the Find My Phone app. I tried to calm my heart rate as the map centered on the blue dot of Josie's phone. I felt bad for spying on her, but I had to know what she was doing.
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If you like steamy romantic comedy novels with a creative streak, then I'm your girl!
Architect by day, writer by night, I love matcha green tea, chocolate, and books! So many books…
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