Page 95 of Enchanting the CEO

As Diane spoke with Colton, Zoey, and Celia, I went to my half brothers. "Thank you for joining us, guys. This means a great deal to Diane."

"We couldn't miss it," Nick said on a chuckle. "One of the things I never thought would happen was you being in a relationship with someone."

“Or not wincing when the word relationship comes up!" Leo added.

“We couldn’t miss your big gesture,” Maddox said, playing right off them.

"This is the big gesture?" I asked.

Maddox patted my shoulder. "You're doing good. Don't sabotage yourself."

Leo cleared his throat. "But there's another reason that I was actually glad we have the chance to meet up. It’s about Dad."

The mood between the four of us instantly shifted. By the surprise on Maddox's and Nick’s faces, it was news to them too.

“For fuck's sake. We need to find a better way to get these updates about that," Nick said. “Otherwise, the rest will guess, and we said we didn’t want to alarm everyone.”

"Let's hear it," Maddox said.

Leo sighed. “He's looking at a property in Essex. It's huge."

"How huge?" I asked.

As he gave me the specs, I did a quick calculation in my mind.

"It would be big enough for the distillery," I said.

Leo cocked a brow. “You had me looking at Stockbridge.”

"Yeah, but I'm flexible. Essex is fine, and the property is actually big enough for a distillery and a hotel," I said more to myself than to my brothers. "How's the permit situation?"

"I'll look into it. As far as I know, he's checking the same thing right now too. I should have news at Grandpa's birthday party."

"All right." I nodded. "Looking forward to hearing it."

“Now, why don’t you focus on Diane?” Leo suggested. “Or your grand gesture will end up being a bust.”

***

Diane

I couldn't believe it. This afternoon was magic. I'd had a huge group, and everyone had fun. Yes, I knew that technically it was cheating, but I was taking it as a good omen nonetheless.

"Ice cream, my treat," I announced, pointing across the street at one of my favorite shops.

"Babe," Gabe said. “You don’t want to spend all your tips.”

"I insist."

"Fine." Gabe looked at the group. "It'll give us all a chance to talk about how we're going to convince Grandmother to use a catering company for Grandfather's birthday."

He then looked at me. "Want to join me and this crazy group in a few weeks for the celebration?"

I felt like my chest was expanding even more, although I didn't think that was possible. "Of course. Now, what's that about catering?"

"Leave things to us," Penny said.

Meredith nodded. "We'll talk her into it.”

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