Page 4 of Shelter from the Storm

No.

There was something in her eyes—a vulnerability—that had captured his attention and held on to it.

“So, you got any big plans this weekend?” Sam asked. “Now that the harvest is over, Jace and Maverick are chomping at the bit to go out. Apparently, picking grapes has cut into their,” Sam finger-quoted, “prowling for women time.”

Theo snorted. “I haven’t exactly noticed Mav suffering too much from longer work hours. Didn’t he hook up with Susie Watkins that night we all went to Whiskey Abbey for ladies’ night?”

“He did,” Sam replied. “But as he pointed out, that was all of three weeks ago.”

“Guy better pace himself or he’s going to run out of women available for one-night stands in Gracemont soon,” Theo commented, though a part of him was concerned about Maverick’s horndog, never-gonna-settle-down ways. Mav was two years younger than Theo, and at thirty-two, his brother was way too young to be so jaded about love and relationships.

“I hear that,” Sam seconded, walking back around Theo’s desk and reclaiming the chair he’d vacated.

While Theo and the rest of his brothers didn’t date much, that didn’t mean they weren’t looking to find a girl and settle down one day. Levi going out with Kasi and making serious plans for the future had lit a place inside Theo that he’d locked in the dark for too long.

He didn’t live like a monk, but he wasn’t out every weekend, hooking up with single women like Maverick, either. Whenever anyone asked, Theo blamed his lack of dates on the fact he worked long hours, saying he preferred hanging out with his brothers, playing video games and chilling after work.

However, that wasn’t the whole truth.

While Theo could list a million things that were awesome about living in a small town, there was one big downside—he’d already met every available woman in his age range. Hell, he’d gone to school with almost all of them, because very few people moved into Gracemont.

As such, he knew the woman he was looking for didn’t live here. Sure, there were plenty of girls he’d dated for a short time, but ultimately, none of them had set his heart racing or had him thinking about rings and kids and white picket fences.

Which meant he needed to widen the search. Something that wasn’t easy because…well, refer to his first excuse. He really did work a lot. Maybe having Gretchen here and taking over some of his tasks would offer him more free time to date.

“Maverick thinks we should bypass Whiskey Abbey and head over to Henley Falls Saturday night. Apparently, some local band he likes is playing in a bar there,” Sam continued.

“You going?”

Sam shook his head. “Hell no. I’ve agreed to attend the fall craft show the ladies auxiliary organized to raise money for the fire station that afternoon. I suspect I’ll be all peopled out after that.”

Theo chuckled. “Too early in your campaign to wear out on people.”

“Which is why I intend to pace myself,” Sam said. “But you should go. When’s the last time you went out on a date?”

“You sure you want to throw that stone?” Theo joked. “Because your entire house is made of glass.”

Sam smirked. He and his brother had discussed the lack of “the one” in Gracemont before, Sam feeling the same way he did. They were both certain their Miss Right didn’t live in town. They also agreed that fact sucked. Big-time.

“I’m just saying,” Sam began, “we need to at least try to put ourselves out there. I mean, I’m sure if we’d asked Levi six months ago if his dream woman was in Gracemont, he would have said no. Yet, Kasi’s been here all along. Hell, she practically grew up on this farm.”

“She did.” Theo had to admit his brother had a point. There was always a chance he’d overlooked someone, though that seemed unlikely.

“And now, here’s Levi, uprooting his whole life for a woman he’s known since she was a kid,” Sam added.

Levi, in addition to moving out, had also given up his current job managing the Stormy Weather Farm’s vineyards and gardens. A born farmer, he’d spent every single day with his hands in the dirt. However, his agricultural interests over the years had evolved from working with the grapes, to growing vegetables, to starting a small patch where he could plant hops and barley for the brewery.

Levi was always interested in learning new things—something that had served their businesses well. With his move to the Mills’ farm, his brother would now have enough land to grow all the barley and hops they required for the brewhouse, as well as other produce that could be incorporated in their beer or served in the B&B their parents ran. Mom was a huge fan of farm to table, so now they wouldn’t have to outsource their produce anymore. It was a win-win for Levi—finding true love as well as an exciting new farming direction.

Theo rolled his eyes. “Which is why our too-serious brother is suddenly smiling all the time. And whistling. And walking around with an actual goddamn spring in his step.”

“Because none of that is annoying. At. All,” Sam replied sarcastically, the two of them laughing. They were happy for Levi, but damn if it wasn’t a bit of culture shock, seeing their stoic big brother fawning over a woman who was thirteen years younger than him.

“Regardless,” Sam pressed on. “You should go check out the women in Henley Falls. Who knows. Maybe your girl lives the next town over.”

“Wouldn’t that be nice?” Theo mused. “But I think I’m going to sit this weekend out. Gretchen starts on Monday, and I’m trying to get my ducks in a row. I need to finish making a list of job duties then run it by Nora. Plus, the contractor is coming that day as well to do one final walk-through of the barn.”

Sam gave him a commiserating look. “I’m glad it’s finally built. Talk about a major pain in the ass. I swear I kept expecting you to lose your shit at some point and take a match to it.”

---