Page 23 of Untethered Heart
“Well, I’m the designer, you’re the builder,” Beth fires back. “It’s your job to figure out how to make what I see a reality.” Her eyebrows pinch as she smothers her whole plate in gravy.
He throws his hands up, eyes searching the heavens for patience to deal with our sister. “Exactly! I’m a builder, not a magician.”
Beth pauses her pouring, slowly directing a murderous gaze at Mason. When footsteps enter the room, she clears her face of fire and adopts a look of rehearsed innocence.
“Daddy.” Her voice is dripping in syrup as my father takes a seat beside me. As the youngest and only daughter in this family,she’s used to getting her way with that pout. “Mason said I can’t have a wagon wheel chandelier in Gage’s new bar.”
Gage’s head pops up from his plate. “A what in my bar?”
Mason scoffs. “She wants it to look like it’s floating mid air like fucking magic.”
His hands fist on either side of his plate as he scrunches his face back at our sister. “It has electrics and weight, Beth. It needs to be attached to something that supports those things.”
An immense stare-off between them starts. Mason, with a look of overzealous confidence, straightens his back to appear more authoritative over our sister, but she simply arches a brow in challenge, followed by the barest hint of pursed lips. Mason slumps back in his chair and returns to his endless plate of peas. I guarantee we’ll be seeing wagon wheel chandeliers in Smoke and Barrel.
I half-heartedly load my plate. My head has been a kaleidoscope of confusion ever since I dropped Lex back home last night.
Maybe it’s because I was expecting the reaction I normally get from women. The fawning. The renewed interest. It makes it easier to move on when they show their true colours. I’m not interested in fake or phony. Gold diggers, or attention seekers. Before Lex, I wasn’t interested in anything more than a single night.
Lex, however, couldn’t get away quick enough. Even worse, she started dismissing what had happened between us. Like it was something I could find anywhere. Just snap my fingers, and along comes the next woman to knock me off my feet. I can guarantee that women do not knock me off my feet. Only sirens do. And I’ve only ever met one of those.
“Well, like you said. You’re a builder, so figure it out,” says Beth.
“I don’t remember anything about fucking wagon wheel chandeliers.” Gage stares down the table at Beth. His Heart green eyes full of fire, his jaw rolling as he chews his food like a maniac.
Beth is none the wiser as she cuts her roast chicken, satisfaction coating her face.
“I added them to the design this week. Don’t you think they’ll look fabulous?”
She still hasn’t noticed the less-than-amused expression he wears.
“No.”
My father, sitting beside me, silent until now, quickly covers the bubble of laughter in his fist. Beth pauses and finally looks up at Gage.
“No?” She sputters. “What do you mean, no?”
“No, I don’t think they’ll look fabulous,” Gage says. No emotion and no apology.
Mason sits back in his chair, where he’s stuck between Beth and Gage. He looks up at me with a bob of his eyebrows.
Beth waves a hand in Gage’s direction. “You just can’t visualise it. Trust me,” she says and digs back into her dinner.
“Beth, I don’t want wagon wheels. I want the design that we pitched to the High Rollers. That was the look.”
“Those were just concepts, that wasn’t final.”
Gage’s face turns hard with resolve. “Yes, it was,” he says slowly.
I see Mason rolling his lips in, hiding his delight. “You know, I think I’m going to side with Gage on this one,” he says.
“Shut up, you mama’s boy,” Beth says.
“Hey!” Mase says in outrage.
“Beth, darling, don’t be mean to your brother,” Grams says as she enters the room, passing behind their chairs. She runs an affectionate hand over Mason’s head before taking a seat at the head of the table next to Gage.
“Grandmama’s boy,” I hear Beth whisper.
