by Darcy Burke
Her face was crinkled with concern, but upon seeing Aubrey’s face, she smiled. “I was going to ask what’s wrong, but it looks like I need to ask what’s right. Did you get the decision from yesterday’s hearing?”
“Winner, winner, chicken dinner!” Aubrey grinned so wide, her face hurt.
“Yes!” Stephanie came over and gave her a high five. “We should celebrate. I’ll pour champagne in the kitchen.” They kept some on hand for occasions just like these.
“Definitely. Just let me give Uncle Dave a quick call.” Aubrey sat back down and dialed her uncle’s cell.
“This is Dave,” he said.
“It’s Aubrey, we won.” She was too excited to say anything else, and anyway, he’d know exactly what she meant.
She had to hold the phone away as he whooped. This was followed by a minor coughing fit. “Hey, don’t hurt yourself,” she said, wincing.
“I’m fine. Don’t I sound better? Your aunt says I sound much better.”
“You do sound better,” she said. “Better than last night even.”
Aubrey had spent last evening at their house having dinner and giving Uncle Dave the play-by-play from the hearing. She’d left out the Whitney Parker confrontation, however. What would be the point in sharing that?
“I still wish I could’ve been there yesterday to see you in action. Next time,” he said. “Because you’re going to get a lot more work like this, I’d bet.”
“Yeah, maybe.” She wouldn’t mind that. After what Alex had done to her, she’d removed wills and trusts from her book of business entirely, handing them all off to Stephanie. So Aubrey could actually use more land-use cases.
“Have you told the Archers yet?” he asked.
“Not yet. I wanted to tell you first.”
“I appreciate that.” A smile was evident in his voice. “But don’t keep them waiting.”
“I won’t. I’ll call Emily Archer and have her set a family meeting for tonight. Stephanie’s pouring champagne to celebrate—wish you were here.”
“We’ll have another celebration soon.”
“I’ll hold you to that. Thanks again for everything, Uncle Dave. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“You could’ve, but I was and always will be happy to help. Love you.”
“Love you, too. Bye.”
She hung up and smiled broadly. Every bit of anger from earlier with Liam had completely dissipated in the wake of this extreme joy. Damn, it felt good to win. She could hardly wait to tell the Archers.
She picked up the phone again and called Emily Archer, the one person she could trust to keep a secret. As the phone rang, she wondered if she should tell Emily about Liam’s plans. Hadn’t she agreed to do that when they’d spoken a few weeks ago? Didn’t Emily deserve to know that he was taking an increased risk this weekend? Someone should know—what if something happened to him? He really was a selfish jerk.
Emily answered. “Hello?”
“Hi, Emily, it’s Aubrey. Can you call a family meeting at say, six o’clock?”
There was a sharp intake of breath, but it wasn’t quite a gasp. “Is it the decision?” Emily asked.
“It is.”
“Should I chill champagne or not?”
“Can you keep it a secret?”
“Of course. I’ll call it dinner, not a meeting, how’s that? So champagne or not? You’re killing me!” She laughed nervously.
Aubrey grinned, loving this part of her job. “Champagne.”
Emily practically squealed into the phone. “Take that, Russ Parker! He always was an ass.”
So was his daughter. “So, I’ll come a little after six, sound good?”
“Yes. Thank you so much, Aubrey. They’re all going to be over the moon. We owe you so much. I know it hasn’t been easy, everything Alex asked you to do . . . but I deeply appreciate it.”
Emotion clogged Aubrey’s throat. How could she not tell this lovely woman what Liam was planning? “I’ll see you later.”
“Can’t wait!”
Aubrey ended the call feeling slightly less exuberant than she had a moment ago. Her gaze fell on the box on her desk. She’d take that tonight and give it to Liam. Then she’d tell him he had to talk to his mother before he did this BASE jumping training. If he didn’t, she would. Oh, that would go over like gangbusters.
“Aubrey, champagne’s ready!” Stephanie called.
Aubrey picked up the box and slipped it into her purse. She’d deal with that later. Right now, she had a date with a glass of bubbly.
FROM THE GROUPING of cars parked between the garages at the Archer house, it looked like everyone was there. Aubrey slipped her purse over her shoulder and walked to the back door, where she let herself inside.
The moment she stepped into the kitchen, Kyle jumped out of his chair. “I knew it!” He looked at Emily, smiling. “I knew this wasn’t just a dinner. Otherwise, you would’ve asked me to cook.”
Emily narrowed her eyes at him but without heat. “I’ve been cooking for this family longer than you have, and I’m every bit as good. Okay, maybe not that, but I do get to cook sometimes. I’m your mother. Sit down.”
Everyone laughed, and Kyle blew her a kiss before sitting back down.
Emily turned her head to look at Aubrey. “Good evening, Aubrey, would you care to join us?”
“Sure. But first I have some news.” Every head had already pivoted to look at her, but now those whose backs were to her fully turned in their chairs. There was excitement, tension, worry. There was also no Liam. Where was he? “Not everyone’s here,” she said.
Emily pressed her lips together. “Liam isn’t answering his phone.”
Aubrey heard the edge of concern in her tone and vowed right then and there to tell Emily about his BASE jump weekend. Then maybe skewer him.
“Don’t keep us hanging,” Dylan practically growled. Of everyone, he had to be the most on edge. He’d spent the last year building a commercial property, and if it couldn’t be a commercial property . . . Well, it went without saying that he’d be devastated.
Aubrey’s pulse sped up. “I heard back from LUBA this afternoon. They declined the Parkers’ appeal.”
The shouts and exclamations of joy started as soon as she said “declined” and drowned out the rest of her sentence. They leapt out of their chairs and hugged each other, exchanged high fives, waved their excited hands in the air. Then they descended on Aubrey, practically mauling her in their jubilation.
She laughed and grinned until her face hurt. Emily and Rob appeared with four bottles of chilled champagne, and Rob popped the first one open. The sound of the bottle opening elicited more whoops and hollers, and the clink of champagne flutes lining up on the granite peppered the background.
Rob handed the first glass to Aubrey. “Thank you.”
She nodded her head. “You’re welcome.”
Soon everyone had a glass, and they looked around at each other, probably to see who wanted to say something first. “Tori, you go,” Sara urged.
Tori looked to Aubrey and smiled. There were tears in her eyes. “I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done to bring Alex’s dream to fruition. It might’ve been his idea, and we were his minions, but you were the engineer behind the scenes ensuring that this could even happen. To Aubrey.” She lifted her glass, and everyone followed suit.
Aubrey took a drink and managed to swallow past the lump in her throat.
Kyle raised his glass. “I want to thank Aubrey for showing the Parkers which end is up. You were a total firecracker in court. They might’ve had some fancy, legendary counsel, but we had the better lawyer. Cheers to you.”
Everyone joined in saying cheers, and they all drank again.
Aubrey had already had two glasses of champagne at the office earlier. She needed to be careful she didn’t end up like she had after girls’ night at the pub. “If you all take turns, we’ll need to pace ourselves.”
“Agreed,” Chloe said, c
huckling. “We speak from experience.”
While the girls laughed, Emily suggested they finish the dinner she’d made. Aubrey joined them, and they spent the first part of the meal reliving the high points of Tuesday’s hearing before moving on to excited discussions about the soft opening.
“We need to get cracking on promo,” Kyle said.
“It’s a soft opening, remember?” Sara pointed out.
“We still need promo,” Evan said. “I’m on it.”
Aubrey listened to the joyous conversation and settled into a haze of contentment. Until she remembered that Liam was still missing. Where the hell was he? That reminded her of the box in her purse, which she’d left on the counter in the midst of her overwhelming arrival.
Seated between Emily and Chloe, she murmured, “Excuse me for a minute.” She stood and grabbed her purse, then made her way up the back stairs. She’d had a tour of the house at one point last year and knew exactly which bedroom was Liam’s. She went straight there and stepped inside.
It still bore the look of a teenager’s room, but it was flawlessly neat and organized, with hints of his personality and lifestyle here and there. The closet door was ajar, revealing a wet suit as well as a pair of hiking boots. A compass and a hydration backpack hung from a board with hooks on one wall. A skateboard leaned against the corner. She hadn’t realized he’d been a skateboarder in his youth. Maybe he’d been born an adrenaline junkie, and Alex’s request had only encouraged him to embrace it.
She withdrew the box from her purse and looked around for a place to put it. His desk, which held his closed laptop and was clearly where he’d been working, given the stack of paperwork, seemed the most logical choice. She set the box next to his computer and stepped back. She ought to leave a note but didn’t see any spare paper. Instead, she whipped out her phone and texted him.
I left you something on your desk.
She tried to think of what else to say, but there really wasn’t anything. Except about talking to his mom. After a moment of consideration, she typed more.
You HAVE to talk to your mom about this weekend. She’s already worried that she can’t reach you tonight. You’re going to do what you want anyway, what does it matter if you tell her first? So you have to listen to her counsel for a bit. There are worse things. I’d love a mother like yours.
Too much? No, it was just right. She hit send.
She stuffed her phone into her purse and left. When she got back to the kitchen, she saw that dinner had been cleared and champagne glasses were in the process of being refilled. She was ready to call it a night.
She cleared her throat. “Thank you, everybody, for this great celebration, but it’s actually my second one of the day, so I think I’m done.” She was glad things had turned out so well. “I appreciate all of your kind words so much. I’m excited to get to the finish line on this project. You’ve all worked really hard, and you deserve massive success.”
“It’s all due to you,” Maggie said, smiling.
“Thanks.” Everyone took turns hugging her, including Rob and Emily. Aubrey inwardly vowed to follow up with her on Friday morning to make sure Liam had done what he was supposed to. If he hadn’t, all bets were off.
As she drove off into the night, a thread of melancholy wound its way into her heart. The project now had an end in sight, as did her interactions with the Archers. Sure, she called them friends, but without the project to throw them together, would they maintain this level of closeness? She knew how friendships worked—they ebbed and flowed as lives changed and evolved.
One thing was certain, she didn’t have to maintain anything with Liam. The acknowledgment pinched her chest but also gave her a sliver of relief. Maybe now she could really move on.
LIAM WOVE HIS bike through the cars parked between the garages. Clearly he was missing some sort of get-together. He wondered if they’d heard back on the zoning hearing, but he didn’t see Aubrey’s car.
Maybe not, then.
After stowing his bike and helmet in the garage, he walked into the house and immediately heard voices coming from downstairs. He poked his head into the kitchen, found it empty, and went to the lower level.
Everyone was gathered in the rec area—on couches, at the bar, standing here and there. Geez, they were a massive family now. And they were drinking champagne. He was definitely missing a celebration of some kind.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and saw three missed calls from his mom, as well as a text from her asking him to call as soon as possible. Then he read Aubrey’s text. His stomach dropped into his feet. Of course she’d love a mother like his—who wouldn’t? But it was more than that. She’d had a terrible mother, while he had the best and wasn’t treating her very well by not being honest about his activities. At least that was the implication.
“Hey, there’s the loser now,” Kyle called out. “Can’t find your phone? Oh wait, I see it right there in your hand. You missed out, bro. Come on over and grab a glass of champagne. We’re celebrating.”
Liam walked forward, feeling completely on edge. He’d gone for a long ride to try to clear his head after arguing with Aubrey earlier. From reading her text, she was clearly still irritated. So was he, although not necessarily at her.
“What are you drinking to?” He didn’t head for the bar.
“The Parkers went down in flames,” Derek said from the couch, where he sat with his arm around Chloe. “The Alex is now a fully commercial property, and we are full steam ahead to open in July.”
Everyone with a champagne flute raised it and took a drink.
Liam knew Aubrey wasn’t there, since he hadn’t seen her car, but he looked around for her anyway. “Where’s Aubrey?”
Tori set her glass on the bar where she was sitting. “She was here earlier but took off a bit ago. Sorry you missed her.”
He was, too. He knew they’d win, but the confirmation was incredibly sweet. Except he wanted to share it with her. For so many reasons, not the least of which was that she’d made it happen and, hell, he was pretty sure he was falling in love with her.
Mom came up to him and gave him a hug. He held her close for a second, and when they parted, she smiled up at him. “I’m glad you’re here. But I wish you would’ve answered your phone.”
“Sorry—really. I was on a ride and out of cell service. Plus, I don’t pick up when I’m riding. Too dangerous.”
“Well, I appreciate you being safe.” She patted his shoulder, and Liam felt like a dick for not telling her right then about the FJC that weekend. He should. He would. Just not here. Not now.
Dad cleared his throat loudly. “Now that Liam’s here, I want to make another announcement. Seems like good timing, what with everyone clutching a champagne glass.”
Sara nodded toward Liam. “Not everyone has a glass.”
Kyle jumped up from one of the couches and grabbed a wineglass from the bar. “No flutes down here, sorry.” He filled the glass and handed it to Liam.
“Thanks.” Liam wasn’t really in the mood for champagne but didn’t say so.
Kyle sat back down. “What’s the news, Dad?”
Dad exchanged a look with Derek before continuing. Liam tensed. “As some of you know, I’ve decided to officially launch Archer Brewing with Derek as president. And, this is the real news, I’m going to sell the real-estate division.”
Everyone turned to stare at Dad. “Wait, what?” Tori asked. “You’re going to sell the business that our great-great-whatever-grandfather started?”
Dad nodded. “It’s time. It’s never been my thing. I talked it over with Derek to see if he wanted to manage the division, but like me, he’s ready to turn his complete focus to the brewpubs and bottling beer.” He smiled at Derek, who lifted his glass in response.
Liam felt numb. This shouldn’t have surprised him. He’d told Dad repeatedly that he didn’t want the real-estate division, that he was too committed to, too wrapped up in, too happy with his own company. Only he wa
sn’t happy anymore. About anything, it seemed.
“What about Liam?” Sara asked. She looked at Liam. “Why aren’t you taking it over?”
“I’m, uh, busy. I’m good.” Liam was so far from good it wasn’t even funny. He was desperate to get back on his bike and try to find the high he hadn’t been able to attain after arguing with Aubrey. Was that bliss-filled flight with her earlier the last adrenaline rush he’d ever know? Right now, it seemed completely beyond his reach. And because he didn’t like the scrutiny currently being cast his way, he raised his glass in a toast. “Congrats, Dad.”
Everyone joined in, and conversation resumed. Liam ended up downing his entire glass, then managed to extricate himself so he could go upstairs and see what in the hell Aubrey had left for him. His anxiety mounted as he climbed both sets of stairs to the top floor. Was it some sort of lawyerly fuck-you letter that laid out the various ways in which he’d been a total prick?
He went into his room and stalked to his desk, his gaze immediately landing on the brown-paper-encased box. Frowning, he pulled the wrapping off and saw that it was the original package of an old Christmas ornament—the lion he’d gotten when he was, what, twelve? All the kids had animals associated with them, and starting when they were eight or nine, Mom had bought them an ornament of that animal every year. Liam’s was a lion.
He opened the box and stared at the contents. A flash drive. It had to be his letter from Alex. At last. Aubrey couldn’t even print the letter off for him?
He pulled out the drive and tossed the box onto his desk. Then he opened his laptop and stabbed the drive into the USB port on the side. There was one file on it, and it wasn’t a letter. It was a movie. Named For Liam.
A bead of sweat gathered on the back of his neck as he opened it. The still image that greeted him was not what he expected to see. It was Alex.
He slammed the laptop lid down and pushed back from the desk. The perspiration on his neck turned ice cold.
A knock on his door startled him.
“Liam?”
It was Dad. Liam wiped a hand over his face and willed his heart to stop racing. He turned the chair toward the door. “Come in.”