and honest man.”
Connor immediately regretted asking. But Emerson’s answer was so passionate, her eyes showing genuine hurt at the question, that he wanted to believe her.
“I’m sorry, but I had to ask. Stranger things have happened in business.”
Emerson folded her arms across her chest. “Well, you’re wrong. There must be a good explanation.”
“I’m sure there is,” Connor said. “For a moment, I forgot we were talking about your father.”
Who also happens to be Paul Dyer.
The man had a track record of stealing what wasn’t his. How could Emerson and his father’s view of the man be so polarized?
He shook the thought from his head.
Emerson stood. “I need to get into the office.”
Connor realized just how deeply his comment had sliced. “Emerson,” he said, getting to his feet. “Thank you for telling me what happened.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and ran his palms down the length of her arms until he could hold her hands.
She reluctantly let him.
“You don’t know my father,” she said, quietly. “He was a good man. Whatever he did was for the good of the distillery.”
But even as she said the words, Connor could hear the hint of uncertainty.
“Afternoon coffee,” Jake said, placing a mug next to her elbow.
Emerson closed her father’s laptop. She hadn’t been able to find any information about their insurance claim or the loan on it over the weekend, which was odd.
She glanced at the clock, noting it was close to five in the afternoon. “Thanks. How was the production run today?”
“Constance is like a new woman. Back in her groove after the service.”
“Perfect.” Relief flooded Emerson. A good Monday was helpful. A great week would be awesome.
“So, I drove over to see Liv on Friday night, and I was just passing yours when I noticed a fancy-looking Mercedes in your driveway.” Jake peered at her over the top of his own mug.
“My driveway is up the end of a long track that is nowhere near the main road, so do you want to be a bit more specific with your just passing story?”
Jake laughed, and his eyes—the mirror of hers and their mother’s—crinkled in the corners. She had a vision of him hiding beneath the very desk she was sitting at when he was about six years old. Hide-and-seek in the distillery on the weekends was not considered to be the major health and safety issue it would be now, with so many more staff operating at full tilt. She’d screamed when he jumped out at her after she found him, and she’d refused to play any more games with him.
“Remember when you pouted all day because I wouldn’t play hide-and-seek with you anymore?” she asked.
“I do…and good attempt at stalling. I was going to ask to borrow your lawn mower because mine gave up the ghost, but I did a U-turn when I saw you had company and borrowed Dad’s from Liv.” His eyes dramatically narrowed. “Fess up. Who owns the Merc?”
She wasn’t ready to share Connor with anybody yet. It was hard to believe that it was only three weeks since she’d met him. And they were already taking all the right steps toward something more intimate, more permanent.
At least they had been until he’d so easily and naturally suggested that her father might have been on some embezzling scam to screw his own company, and ergo children, out of the company. But she remembered how he’d tried to make amends over the weekend, and she was finally beginning to think she’d been too sensitive.
“New guy. Early days. His name is Connor.”
Jake leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His mug looked like a doll’s toy in his large hands. “I don’t know whether I should say something about being safe or ask if he treats you well or demand you to bring him for Thanksgiving next month.”
Emerson laughed. “Or you can just remind yourself that I’m a street-smart woman who knows how to take care of herself, and that at least two of those statements were suspiciously patriarchal, and that I don’t need you looking out for me in that way.”
Jake grinned. “Or you can just realize that I’m simply a younger brother who cares for his older sister, and get over yourself, and still invite him for Thanksgiving.”
“Fine, I’ll see if he has plans. But seeing as it’s a month away, I might wait awhile. See where things go for a little bit,” Emerson said.
Jake stood. “Well, seeing as his car was still in