Undue Influence

by Jenny Holiday

  “What?” Freddy teased, kissing him on the nose.

  “What what?”

  “Why are you so happy?”

  Adam rolled his eyes. “Do you need me to count the ways?”

  “Well, if I recall, you have to work on Mrs. Littleton’s car this morning. That can’t be happy-making.”

  “Eh, I’m going to have Karen do it.”

  Karen had come to the shop via the high school career fair last spring. It turned out that although Adam had bailed on it in favor of dinner at Ben’s, Rusty had managed to staff both the automotive and drag booths. Karen was smart and enthusiastic, and Adam’s not-so-secret plan was to gradually give her more and more responsibility. As full owner of Anderson Motors, he had that power. Rusty had remained in the Hamptons, and by all accounts, he and Harry, making up for lost time, were more in love than ever. Adam had bought Rusty out and was now solely in charge at the auto shop.

  Adam liked the auto shop. He always had, and he still did. So he would probably always keep some hand in the goings-on there, but the long-term plan was for him to become less involved and for Karen to gradually take over the day-to-day operations. Maybe someday he’d cut her a stake, as Rusty had done with him.

  The idea behind him being less involved at Anderson was to free him up for other pursuits: namely, winemaking.

  For now, Captain’s Grilled Cheese was serving wine from other local vineyards, but Sophie, Geordie, Freddy, and Adam had put their heads together and decided on a plan to get Kellynch up and running again as a functioning winery. They’d cut Freddy in as a partner—his contribution was running the food truck and supervising the winemaker they’d hired. They’d found someone with a great track record, and the guy had committed to Kellynch for five years, and this time, there was enough capital to work with. He was going to mentor Adam, who would take on an informal apprentice role. He would bring the viticultural expertise, and Adam would bring the local history and knowledge. They’d all agreed to reassess in five years. If Adam was ready, he would take over as winemaker. If he wasn’t, that was okay, too. Mostly, he was just thrilled to know that the family vines would be producing again.

  And the best part was that Sophie had insisted that if Freddy and Adam were going to live in Adam’s RV—which Freddy had insisted on—they were going to do it on the grounds at Kellynch.

  So Adam was back home.

  Freddy stretched, which had the effect of rubbing his morning wood against Adam’s thigh.

  He was home in more ways than one. He burrowed under the covers.

  “Hey, now!” Freddy laughingly protested. “You were the one insisting we had to get up. Big day and all that.”

  Adam just grunted. He couldn’t talk because his mouth was full.

  It was a big day. And it went agonizingly slowly. He had intended to close the shop early, but a last-minute customer with a flat kept him there later than planned, so it was nearly five by the time he turned up the drive to Kellynch. Because today was a momentous day—and because he’d been running sufficiently late this morning thanks to his morning romp with Freddy—he’d driven to work instead of walking.

  Freddy was waiting for him outside. Adam had kind of expected there to be workmen on site, but really there was no reason for that. The house was ready, as was the slab the RV would live on permanently.

  Freddy jogged over to help Adam out of the car, which was unnecessary but also so very in character for Freddy. He grinned. “You ready?”

  “I am. You?”

  “I’ve got the door off, so we’re all ready to go with this bonkers plan.”

  Adam made to swat him. “Do I need to remind you that this bonkers plan was your idea?” Adam had been more than ready to give up the RV. It really was too small for two people to live in. But Freddy wouldn’t hear of it. Hence the bonkers plan.

  Freddy captured Adam’s hand mid-swat and used it to lever Adam flush with his chest. Adam’s pulse raced, as it still did when Freddy was near, even after all these months. He lowered his mouth over Adam’s, and Adam’s knees wobbled. Freddy, who somehow always knew what Adam needed, banded a strong hand around him to keep him upright. Adam allowed himself to get lost in the kiss for a long moment, but eventually and with great effort, he pulled back. “We have to get moving if we want to do the hookup before it gets dark.

  “I’ll show you a hookup.” Freddy waggled his eyebrows. “But I guess that one can wait until after dark.” He patted Adam’s butt before stepping away. “You drive, and I’ll direct.”

  Adam’s stomach fluttered with excitement. They’d been talking about this plan for so long and working on the all the incremental steps—ripping the kitchen and some of the built-in furniture out of the RV, getting the slab poured. Not to mention building the house itself.

  He felt a pang of missing Rusty as he climbed into the cab of the RV. Lady Merlot would probably say something like, “Come on, pretty boy!” But knowing Rusty was happily ensconced in the Hamptons, he whispered the incantation in Rusty’s place and turned the key. The engine roared to life, and happy goosebumps rose on his skin.

  He stuck his head out the window. “I’m going to back up a ways so I can drive straight up onto the slab.”

  Mr. Collins, who’d been napping under a tree, started yapping up a storm at the sight of the RV in motion.

  Freddy walked backward and positioned himself so he could see the point at which the RV’s doorway would line up with a hallway that extended from the new log cabin. It functioned kind of like a Jetway linking a plane to an airport terminal. The idea was to line up the hole on the RV where the door used to be with the hallway. Then they’d lower the RV onto jacks and take off the tires, and they had a contractor coming tomorrow to seal the opening where RV met hallway. They’d turned the RV into a deluxe master suite/library—Freddy said he wanted to sleep under the fake stars every night for the rest of his life. The other side—the cabin—contained a large designer kitchen and a large designer bathroom with a giant-ass soaker tub—both by Freddy’s request. The main living space, they’d made small and cozy—like Ben’s log cabin but on a more intimate scale. Exposed logs, a fireplace, comfy furniture. Outside, Freddy had already roughed in a garden he would plant later this spring—he was going to try to grow some of the produce he would use in the food truck.

  There would also be peonies. Lots and lots of peonies.

  It was almost too perfect to bear. Almost. Adam had a feeling he would find a way to manage.

  “Whoa!” Freddy held up a hand. “You’ve overshot a little. Back up maybe six inches.”

  A little more to-ing and fro-ing, and the RV was in place. Adam leaned out the window. “I think I left my toolbox in the house when I was helping your sister hang some pictures last week. You want to run get it, and we can get these tires off?”

  Freddy waved off the suggestion. Stared silently at Adam for a long time. When he finally spoke, his voice was gruff. “Let’s do the tires tomorrow. You go through the RV, and I’ll go through the house, and we’ll meet in the middle.”

  Adam was too choked up to speak, suddenly, so he nodded. He made his way through the RV, marveling anew at how amazing the place looked. The bed was still in the nook, but without the kitchen, the space was open and airy. There was a little seating area with a small TV, and more bookshelves. He’d left the plants, at Freddy’s insistence, though they’d started making cuttings so they could adorn the cabin with greenery, too. Many of the surfaces were littered with the beginnings of new plants in water. He looked forward to bringing them across.

  Adam’s new life had somehow retained all best parts of his old life—the RV, Kellynch—plus…Freddy.

  “What’s the hold up?” Freddy shouted. And if Adam had been distracted by the lump in his throat, he was cured of that when Freddy added, “Get your fine ass over here!”

  It was a little out of character for Freddy to summon him by yelling. Usually if he wanted Adam to go somewhere, he was the perfect mixture o
f chivalry and filth, slipping his hand into Adam’s but then leavening that gentlemanliness by whispering something deliciously lewd in his ears. He claimed to love making Adam blush and said that since the first phase of their relationship had been conducted exclusively at night, he’d made it his mission to trigger as many daytime blushes as possible.

  He was really good at it.

  To wit: Adam was already blushing, for no reason at all, really, when he reached the door of the RV.

  They had achieved a pretty snug fit between the RV and the log hallway. The contractor would have a straightforward time of it tomorrow. All that was left was to replace the steps down from the RV with a more permanent set, and they would be—

  “Stop admiring our handiwork and come here.”

  It was hard to stop admiring their handiwork, though, theirs and that of the builders. As Adam walked along the hallway, he ran his hands along the warm red-brown logs that made up the walls. He’d been inside it before, of course, but never like this, never when it was an internal space, connected up to the RV.

  It was really something to behold. It was—

  “Careful!”

  Freddy’s hands shot up to steady Adam. Up because Freddy himself was on the ground—Adam, who had been busy fondling the walls, had almost tripped over him.

  Freddy kept both hands on Adam’s waist for a moment and then, seemingly satisfied that Adam had found his equilibrium, he let go with one hand, dug into his front pocket, and produced…

  “Your ring?” It was the old wooden ring, the one Freddy had given him that magical night eight years ago. Seeing it took his breath away.

  “Your ring.”

  “But—”

  “Sophie found it when they had a tree removed from near the barrel room. I should have given it back to you months ago, but—”

  “It’s not mine.”

  “It is, though. I made it for you.”

  “But that’s not logical.” Freddy used to say that back in the day, too, insist that he’d made the ring for Adam. It had been the sweetest thing then. It was now, too. Adam wasn’t sure why he was arguing. “You didn’t even know me when you made it.”

  “I hoped for you.” Freddy shrugged. “Same thing.”

  “You are adorable. I know you don’t want to hear that because you’re such a badass, but you’re adorable. Illogical, too, but—”

  “Will you shut up and let me propose?”

  Wait. What?

  His face must have telegraphed his confusion, because Freddy rolled his eyes good-naturedly and said, “When someone kneels in front of you and hands you a ring—in your brand-new house that you’re going to live in together—what do you think is happening?”

  He might as well have turned on a tap, because tears just started leaking out the side of Adam’s eyes.

  “Oh, shit!” Freddy jumped to his feet. “Don’t cry.”

  Adam waved him off, wiped his eyes, and ordered himself to get his act together. “It’s happy crying.”

  “So that means you’re going to say yes?”

  Adam chuckled even as a few stray tears fell. “I don’t know. What was the question again?”

  “The question was ‘Will you marry me?’ There was a speech before that, too. Do you want to hear it?”

  “You’d better believe it.”

  “Well, I was going to say that the first night I walked you back to Kellynch was the best night of my life. But I actually think maybe it was the day my sister texted me that she’d found this ring.” He held it up between them. “Because it came with a sisterly lecture about not letting pride get in the way of what I truly wanted.”

  “And what did you truly want?”

  “You. You’re all I’ve ever wanted. And then I woke up and found those fish and chips, and it was like—”

  “I’m so sorry—”

  He held up a hand. “No more apologies. I wasn’t blameless. You were too easily swayed by Rusty and your family, but I was too proud. I ran off and changed my phone number and never looked back. Was incapable of entertaining the idea that you could change your mind. But I learned. You did, too. I heard you tell off your mother that day. We both learned our lessons. Would we have learned them if we’d stayed together?”

  It was a good question. “Maybe we had to lose each other first. Maybe we had to feel how high the stakes were.”

  “Like leaving and coming home again on your own terms.”

  That was it. That was exactly what they were doing. That’s why Adam had been so fixated on the walls earlier. He had a home back at Kellynch again. A bigger, transformed version of everything he’d loved about his home before. He suspected Freddy felt the same. The chip on his shoulder was mostly gone—he was still a little grumbly about Bishop’s Glen, but Freddy’s grumbly-ness was part of his charm. And he was doing the kind of cooking and food growing that felt right to him right now.

  But it wasn’t just true about the house. Adam had lost Freddy, too, and then found him again. And like the house, his heart was bigger and stronger for it, even if it was cobbled together from some previously broken bits.

  And here was one more thing he’d lost that had miraculously come back to him—the ring.

  Freddy held it out. “I love you so much. I never want to be anywhere else but here in this shithole of a town, with you. What do you say?”

  “I say yes. Of course. Yes.”

  Freddy’s hands shook as he closed the ring into Adam’s palm. “I can make you a new one that actually fits.”

  “I want this one,” Adam said, his voice reflecting the fierceness with which the sentiment arose in his heart. “I’ll wear it around my neck like before, except outside my clothes this time.”

  But maybe Freddy wanted to see Adam wearing a proper ring on his finger—he did have that throwback chivalry thing going. Adam could be down with that—very down with that. “Is it weird to just wear it around my neck? I could maybe do both—keep this as a necklace and get a proper ring?”

  “Nah. Not weird. We can do what we want.”

  “We can do what we want,” Adam echoed. It was such a lovely sentiment. Hard-earned, too, and all the more treasured for it.

  “However,” Freddy said, “there’s one thing we have to do—go to the store for brunch fixings and champagne, because I invited your family over for a celebratory brunch tomorrow.”

  “You did?” While Freddy got along okay with Mark and Betsy—Freddy’s wealth and fame had conferred a kind of amnesia on Adam’s siblings—Wilhelmina had not budged. She was as frosty as ever toward Freddy, probably because she couldn’t admit that she’d been wrong all those years ago.

  Which was fine. Adam didn’t have the same kind of relationship with his family anymore. He still loved them—he always would—but he’d freed himself from their orbit. And once he’d stopped feeling responsible for them—and for pleasing them—they’d receded in importance.

  Also there was the part where they were busy—they’d finally had to get jobs. Ha. Adam couldn’t help but take a twisted kind of delight in that aspect of things. When William turned on them, they’d come back to Bishop’s Glen and rented a place in town. Adam had financed a stint in cosmetology school for Betsy, and she’d gotten a job at a local spa, where she was known for her elaborate nail designs. Wilhelmina had been working at a boutique, and after doing up the store’s holiday window, she’d stumbled into some interior design gigs and was gradually building up her own business. Which was pretty much perfect for her—her penchant for appearances and for having things just so was finally being monetized. Adam suspected they probably still lived way above their means, but he was making that not his problem anymore.

  Because of his mother’s treatment of Freddy, they didn’t see her very often. Freddy tried, knowing it was important to Adam, but honestly, Adam wasn’t okay with it. So he sometimes met his mother for lunch in town, but for the most part, he kept her where she belonged—in a secondary role. Freddy had told him all thos
e years ago to choose, and he’d finally made the right choice.

  So it was a bit surprising that Freddy had invited her for brunch. “You just called her up and invited her over?”

  “Yep. I believe my exact words were ‘Come over to the low-classy house on wheels in which I’m debauching your son on a nightly basis for a celebration.’”

  “How did you know I’d say yes?” Adam teased.

  Freddy smirked. “I didn’t tell her what the celebration was for. She probably thinks it’s just about the new house.” He laughed snarkily. “She is going to lose her mind when she finds out we’re engaged.”

  “We’re engaged!” Adam exclaimed.

  “We’re engaged,” Freddy echoed, looking very pleased with himself. But then his face grew serious. “And really, though I will enjoy the hell out of telling her that, I just thought you might like to celebrate everything with your family. I invited Sophie and Geordie, too.”

  “It sounds perfect. Thank you.”

  “So what do you think? Grilled cheese and champagne?”

  “Perfect. Let’s go.” Adam fished out his keys. “You want me to drive?”

  “Nah. Let’s walk.”

  At the sound of the w-word, Mr. Collins started jumping so furiously, he was practically levitating. Freddy rolled his eyes but clipped a leash on the beast.

  Then he grabbed Adam’s hand, and they walked.

  Acknowledgments

  The wonderful phrase “the armpit of the Finger Lakes” comes from my friend Jason Haremza. I’m thankful to Sandra Owens and Julia Ganis for reading early drafts, and to Courtney Miller-Callihan for the fine and steadfast career shepherding. Thanks to the folks at Riptide Publishing for giving this book its start—and for reverting it to me when I asked.

  Connect With Me

  Connect with me

  Sign up for my newsletter at jennyholiday.com/newsletter. I send newsletters when I have a new release or a sale, and I sometimes include giveaways and access to freebies only for subscribers. Or you can find me on Twitter at @jennyholi or Instagram at @holymolyjennyholi. (I’m technically on Facebook, but I’m rarely actually there.) Visit my website at jennyholiday.com.