Page 1 of Matchmaking the Rival

Chapter One

Cade

“Ihave great news,”I announced, looking around the table. My brothers and I were all gathered at my grandparents’ home. I paid particular attention to my grandmother and grandfather, looking forward to seeing their expressions once I made my announcement. I knew it would mean a lot to them. Ever since our father left, my brothers and I were very close to our grandparents. “The Boston Coffee Expert will participate in The Fair-Trade Choice competition.”

“That’s the best news I’ve heard in a while.” Grandfather looked at me with pride in his eyes.

Grandmother smiled. “Oh, you’ve done so well, Cade.”

“In the first stage, all the competitors show off their blends in Harvard Square. I’ll set up a booth. You’re all invited. Once we’re up and running, I’ll probably only drop by the event a few times, but my team will be there to carry it through.”

“We’ll stop by,” Grandfather said. “I have a good feeling that we'll win.”

I was going to make sure of that. My grandfather founded the company fifty years ago. Then my father ran it for a decade and ruined everything my grandfather worked so hard to build. After my brother Jake discovered Dad’s infidelity and his other family, he hightailed it out of town. Needless to say, he fucked up both the business and the family.

"Good. I look forward to coming and tasting everything," Jake said. He was the second oldest of us Whitley brothers. Since he’d only recently returned to Boston, we were all still getting used to seeing him at the family gatherings. "Maybe then I'll understand why you give me so much grief about coffee."

I'd always had an obsession with coffee. I was a connoisseur. Some people prided themselves on knowing wine. I knew coffee.

I turned to my eldest brother. "Colton, will you drop by too?"

He gave a noncommittal shrug. "I'll do my best."

I shook my head. "Man, you can't stay in your office all day."

He grinned. "I don't. Sometimes I go to the lab for a change of scenery."

"You know what I mean."

Colton was a workaholic. When he was working on a breakthrough invention, we struggled to pull him away from his building.

"When does the booth open?" Spencer asked.

"Next week."

"Got it. I'm going to be there."

Spencer was my twin. We weren't identical, so we looked nothing alike. My hair was a shade darker than his, and so were my eyes. When we were growing up, Grandmother said I was the one always stirring up trouble, and he was the one trying to fix things. As adults, we were both pretty good at causing trouble. The downside for me was I had to fix my own messes now.

"To The Boston Coffee Expert," Grandfather said, and we clinked our wineglasses. "I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you for everything you've done for Whitley Industries over these past years. Jake, you deserve a special thank-you. You truly went above and beyond."

"Will you look at that?" Gabe said. "The rest of us have been working hard for years, but the golden boy returns home and takes all the credit."

Our youngest brother was joking, but Grandfather still frowned. "We’re grateful to all of you in equal measure. After your father left, those companies were up in the air, and you all stepped up to the plate without even having been asked."

It was my turn to frown. "It’s our family legacy. I never felt anything but proud, continuing it."

My father had left a stain on our name, but I was honored to bring back its former glory. Of course, there were some wrongs we couldn't right. There was absolutely nothing we could've done for our mom. But with our combined efforts, we kept Whitley Industries from sinking. Colton was in charge of the biotech branch. Gabe ran the craft distillery. Spencer had taken over the publishing arm, and a few months ago, Jake bandaged the bleeding wound of Whitley Industries: Whitley Advertising. My older brother specialized in management consulting. He had a company in New York that turned around businesses for a living and had successfully done the same with Whitley Advertising. Now Jake had moved back to Boston to run it full-time.

The only positive thing about my father's double life was that we had three additional half brothers. I still couldn’t believe he'd actually managed to have two families and neither of the women knew until the end. Ours was located here in Boston, and the other was in Maine. It was difficult to look back upon those years even though it was over a decade ago.

"I, for one, can't wait to taste all those new blends you told us about," Grandmother said. "You've been obsessed with our perfect roast since you were in high school. I've never seen a teenager so interested in coffee, except perhaps Meredith."

“Is there any reason you're bringing her up again?" I asked suspiciously. Meredith Porter had tutored me in math in high school. We’d been good friends, but I hadn’t seen her in years.

I noticed Gabe looked strangely at Grandmother, and Spencer also gave me a warning look.Wait a second. What does that mean?I cocked a brow at him before glancing back at Grandmother.

She'd mentioned Meredith when we celebrated Grandfather's birthday at Jake's property on Martha's Vineyard last week. It made me suspicious—two references in one week when we hadn't spoken about her in years?

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