Page 92 of Love You Anyway

Chantal looks like a puppy. If I tossed her my mic, she’d probably catch it in her teeth. But I don’t do that. “Yes?” She scoots to the edge of her seat.

“The woman I was spotted with, PJ Corbett, is a woman I love more than space exploration itself, and that’s been my life’s work, so…you can see why I’d want to keep that away from public consumption. Which is why I denied the rumors when they surfaced. But she deserves better.” I look into the camera, hoping PJ can see the interview on the monitors in the green room. “She deserves it all.”

Chantal swoons. She actually leans back in her chair and puts an arm over her forehead like I’ve just knocked the wind out of her. “That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.”

I really hope so.

Chapter

Thirty-Two

PJ

Two Weeks Later

Colin’s interview has gone viral, and because he talked about our relationship, the attention has spilled over to Buttercup Hill. We’ve had so many daily visitors coming for tastings and tours that we’ve had to double our staff.

Domestic and international orders for wine have tripled in a week.

It’s certainly not going to be enough to shore up our finances after our dad gave our half brother millions of dollars to buy Duck Feather Vineyards, but Colin is still determined to be the silent partner who keeps us afloat.

Now that I know he’s doing it for the right reasons, it’s easier to accept.

Having a brother, on the other hand, is still a lot to handle. I don’t think any of us can really wrap our brains around the fact that our father had an affair with Graham’s mother, who may have even worked for Buttercup Hill at the time. Graham says hedoesn’t know much because he doesn’t have a relationship with her now, but we’re not about to drop the issue.

Archer has extended an olive branch and invited him over to Buttercup Hill to meet us all, but he’s turned him down so far.

“Is Colin coming for dinner tonight?” Beatrix bustles through Butter and Rosemary carrying a charcuterie platter, and I follow with a basket of bread. She’s hosting our family dinner tonight, but we’re eating at the restaurant because she hates to cook.

“Yes, but I think he’s running late.” The space launch went off without a hitch last week, and he’s still fielding media calls about it. I’ve been giving him advice on how to handle the publicity, and he’s become a media darling almost overnight. He says just enough to satisfy reporters, and then he walks away and regains his privacy.

Colin sometimes uses the helicopter to come up to Napa during the week, but weirdly, there’s even traffic in the skies. Sometimes he has to wait for air traffic controllers to give him the thumbs-up to fly.

Most of the time, he makes it here in time for dinner or a late-night grilled cheese sandwich, which I know he likes as much as I do.

I drive down and spend weekends with him. The two-hour drive flies by, and I’m always happy to sneak off to Colin’s lab and look through the telescopes at the stars.

“No big deal. It’s just family.” We climb up the top two stairs and push open the door to the rooftop terrace of the restaurant. There’s a private area where we’ll have our dinner away from the other restaurant guests.

But that’s not where Beatrix goes. I follow her to a regular table off to the side that’s set for eight. “Oh, we’re eating over here? Is there a private party in the back?” Not that it matters. My siblings are loud, but if we’re eating with the rest of thediners, maybe I’ll be spared another game night, and Colin and I can go back to my house early.

He spent last night in Palo Alto, and I miss him.

“Yeah, private party. We’re over here.”

I follow her back down the stairs, where we retrieve individual plates of salad from the kitchen. We each balance several dishes and make our way back upstairs. Beatrix is funny in some ways. She’s not interested in cooking dinner herself, yet she refuses to let the staff at the restaurant serve us when it’s her turn to host the dinner. Carrying everything up to the roof herself makes her feel like she’s doing her share of the work.

After a few more trips, we have everything set up for the first course of dinner, including wine and all the place settings. The table looks good, and Dash and Archer arrive together in the middle of a heated discussion.

“I don’t want to have anything to do with the guy,” Archer insists, crossing his arms.

Dash shrugs and brushes a lock of hair off his forehead. “Don’t think he’s going anywhere anytime soon, so I just say we deal with him sooner rather than later.”

I already know they’re talking about Graham. It’s all any of us has talked about for weeks, but we agreed to let the financial issues settle out with Colin’s investment before we stir anything up with our father or our new half brother.

“I’m still too angry.” Archer looks up when Beatrix steps right in front of him and uncrosses his arms. She reaches up and smooths the crease between his brows and pats him on the shoulder.

“I know it sucks. We’re all in it together. Can we agree not to talk about it tonight? I want it to be nice.”

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