Page 55 of Gabriel & Skye

“I guess she might not want to stay a Bassett forever.”

He doesn’t look happy about me saying that.“Huh.”

“Weren’t you harping on about this on Saturday? If you have issues with Eden, you need to take it up with her,” I go on.

“It irks at me, okay? I don’t know why — I’ve been fine with it for years. But now things have taken a turn.”

“That’s because she wasn’t really dating anyone seriously.”

He considers this for a moment. “Surely this Kirk dude isn’t serious? I don’t like it.”

“He’s met your daughter, so maybe it is.”

He gives me a warning look to back off.

“Well, I’d keep your nose out of Eden’s business. For one, we need to keep her happy and get her onboard with the events for next year, and two, you don’t wanna start causing waves where there aren’t any.”

Brooklyn opens his mouth to say something, but then thinks better of it and closes it again. “You know when you just get that feeling.”

“Talk to her about it. You two talk about everything else.” I push up off the barrel. “I’ve gotta go meet Gray if you’re coming. Then I’m going to go home for lunch after I’ve done some emails.”

He gives me a strange look. “Go home for lunch?” Then a widespread grin takes over his face. “Oh, the nanny will be home. I get it.”

“She has a name. And no, not because of that. Though I do need to check how this morning went and make sure she doesn’t get too bored.”

“Who could get bored with you around?” he jokes, giving me a wink.

I disregard his sarcasm and start making my way toward the stairs. “That reminds me, what have you and Gray been secretly whispering about down here when you think no one knows?”

“I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”

“Cute, Brook. Real cute.”

He holds up his hands. “Look, you know how I had some ideas way back about some new and interesting flavors that might appeal towards a younger clientele? Well, I’ve been talking to Gray about that.”

“You know you can talk to me too,” I say, a little affronted.

He laughs. “Umm, you sure about that? You hate change.”

“I’m open to new ideas. You know what it comes down to in the end. And that goes on statistics, plus what facts you can give us, and then the family votes.”

“Fine, I’ll whip up a PowerPoint presentation for the fam.” He rolls his eyes.

“Not a bad idea.”

“I was kidding, Gabe. Geez.”

I shake my head as we both retreat out of the vault and back to the main stairs. “Well, come up with some kind of plan and we’ll take a look.”

“Already working on it.”

I’m not such a stick in the mud like he thinks I am, though I favor some of the old ways of doing things. Sometimes bringing in something new can be damaging for the brand — it can also be good if marketed the right way. But I’m eager to hear more. Whenever my brother is passionate about something, I tend to listen.

My thoughts flicker back to Skye. I wonder how they’re doing.

I might feel drawn to her, and that isn’t a bad thing. But something about the jitters I had in my gut this morning tells me I shouldn’t be having inappropriate thoughts about her. Nor should I be getting jealous that Brooklyn noticed she was cute. I’m not going to start crushing on my nanny. I want her to stick around, not run away.

That’s the plan, anyway.

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