A Better Man(86)

Aunt Pippy came through the door too late to rescue him, but she did brighten the room with a purple and yellow geometric print dress with a wide vinyl belt, silver shoes, and dangly earrings in the shape of bananas and oranges.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, dropping her big yellow bag on a nearby chair. "Had to hit up the farmers' market first. Heard Mountain Ridge Cellars was having a wine tasting. Thought I'd go incognito and check out the goods."

Incognito?

His aunt's outfit glowed bright enough to be seen from outer space. 

"You've been hitting the bottle already?" Parker teased. "It's not even ten o'clock in the morning."

"Just a nip." She sat down across from Jordan and snapped up a powdered sugar donut. "They're charging ten bucks for five wines and they aren't even filling the glasses a quarter full. That's some profit they're going to take home."

"Maybe we should be following suit," Ethan said.

"I say we expand the wine-­tasting room right here," Ryan said. "Bring them to us instead of us going to them."

"How are we going to do that when we're in the red?" Jordan asked. "Have we found out any more about the missing money?"

Aunt Pippy had just taken a bite out of her donut. Powdered sugar lined her lips when she popped up out of her chair. "Anyone need more coffee? I'll make a fresh pot." And away she went, disappearing into the kitchen without even waiting for a response.

Jordan noticed that whenever they started to talk about the missing money she found a reason to vanish. But there was no way she could have stolen the money. She never dealt with the finances of the vineyards. Sometimes she helped out with picking the grapes at harvest, but for the most part, she didn't have much to do with the business.

Still, her behavior made him curious.

Ryan frowned. "We hired an investigator and a fresh pair of accounting eyes. We should have a report in the next week or so. Until then, we need to discuss what we're going to do about having someone live here in the main house with Nicki. Obviously she needs a full-­time in-­house guardian. She doesn't turn eighteen for several months, and even then, until she goes off to college, she can't be left alone. I can't uproot Riley from her home and routine. She's had a tough time of it already."

"No shit," Ethan said. "Poor kid."

"I can stay the nights when the food truck doesn't run," Parker offered. "But driving here every single night from Portland and being back at four a.m. would be a bitch."

"I can come back in a couple of weeks and help out," Declan said.

"I can stay for a few weeks." Ethan ran a hand through his newly cut hair. Jordan was happy to see the beard gone too. "Fire season doesn't start for a little while. I got an offer to fight fires down in Florida this month but I'll just take a leave of absence."

"I want to help," Jordan said. "But everything rides on what's going to happen next week in Dallas. If we win the series we go to round one of the playoffs. Then there's a game every other day for almost a week at a time. But I don't want to let Nicki or you guys down."

"We're big boys," Ryan said. "We can take care of ourselves. The playoffs are a big deal for you. We'll manage until your season is over. Then we'll reestablish where we stand."

"You sure? I'd walk on my contract but it would cost me around four mil. And I figure we could probably use that money around here for upgrades."

"Jesus." Declan's eyes widened. "Four million? Don't you dare walk away from that. We'll make this work."

"I'm just worried about Nicki feeling like we're tossing her around like a ball," Jordan said. "Like none of us can stick long enough to make her feel like she's important. But she is."



       
         
       
        

Aunt Pippy wandered back into the room without a new pot of coffee, giving them all the idea that she'd been in the kitchen eavesdropping.

"You boys have got your hands full right now. Best thing is for me to stay with her," Pippy said. "She's a might touchy these days. Maybe having a woman around full-­time will give her someone to talk to."

It made sense for their aunt to stay with Nicole. She'd been retired for several years and didn't work at anything other than keeping up with the local gossip. But that didn't make Jordan feel any less guilty for not being able to step in to help out like he said he would. He was doing exactly what he'd sworn he wouldn't do because he'd yet to find a way to make everything work.