Take the Chance (Top Shelf Romance #9) - Brittainy Cherry Page 0,219

earth is going to want to be seen with you now?”) although my grandmother had cackled with glee when she heard the story. My father seemed rather confused by the whole affair, and Buck was only sorry he’d missed it.

But we’d agreed that after a sincere apology to Mrs. Biltmore (made the following day when I’d had to go back and pick up my Mercedes since I’d been too drunk to drive it home), I should probably make myself scarce for the rest of the summer. “Or at least until someone else behaves badly,” Gran whispered. “I’ll keep an eye out. Nobody pays any attention to old ladies, and we see everything.”

“So tell me what you know about this client,” I said to Jaime, packing up the rest of what I’d need from my office over the next two weeks. Valentini Brothers Farm was in the thumb area of Michigan, about two hours north of Detroit. I’d rented a little cottage on Lake Huron that was less than a mile from it, and I figured I’d use the time I wasn’t working to relax in a beach chair, read a book, rethink a few things about the direction of my life.

“Not much,” admitted Jaime, perching on my desk. “It’s owned by three brothers. Quinn met one of the brothers, Pete, and his wife, Georgia, at a local farmers market and they got to talking. You know how Quinn is, he makes friends with everybody.” She rolled her eyes, but I saw the blush in her cheeks, which always appeared when she talked about him. Jaime didn’t like to believe she was a romantic, but she was head over heels for Quinn. “Anyway, the guy mentioned that they were struggling to grow their brand awareness and increase customer engagement—although he didn’t put it like that—and Quinn, of course, was like, ‘Oh, my girlfriend can help you. That’s exactly what she does!’ He gave them my card, and Georgia called me last week.”

“But they know it’s me coming and not you, right?” I stuck some pens and highlighters into my bag along with a stack of post-it notes.

“Yes. They were fine with that. I think they’re just anxious to get some advice.”

“Are they farmers too?” In my head I imagined a couple that looked like Auntie Em and Uncle Henry from the Wizard of Oz.

“No. I mean, I think Pete does work on the farm but there’s another brother who runs things. Georgia and Pete are both chefs, actually.” She cocked her head. “Or they were. But a lot of this I’m getting second-hand through Quinn, so you’ll definitely want to read the New Client form they filled out, which I just emailed to you this afternoon. That has more info.”

“Will do.” I closed up my laptop and tucked it into the case, then switched off the lamp behind me. “I’ll keep in touch with you while I’m there, and I’ll definitely be calling to consult with you.”

“Sounds good.” She stood up, a mischievous grin on her face. “I’ll be trying to picture you on a farm. Milking a cow. Riding a tractor. Maybe a cowboy.”

Rolling my eyes, I breezed past her. “The only thing I’m interested in riding is maybe a horse. I have zero interest in tractors or cowboys.”

“You never know,” Jaime said following me out of my office. “Maybe a roll in the hay with a strapping young cowboy, all big burly muscles and country drawl, is just what you need to get out of that dry spell.”

Halfway down the hall, I turned around and parked my hands on my hips. “I’m going up there to get a job done, Jaime. Then I’m going to hide out and just breathe for a while, and I don’t need any man, muscled or otherwise, to help me do it.”

She clucked her tongue, a glint in her eye. “You’re a scone cold bitch, you know that?”

I turned for the door so she couldn’t see the smile on my face.

I made it to Lexington shortly after seven that night, having made only one wrong turn on my way there, which I saw as a victory. Like all Thurber women before me, I have zero sense of direction. I seriously don’t know how any of them got around before GPS. “It was called a chauffeur,” says my grandmother.

The property manager had said to call her when I arrived and she’d come over with the key. While I waited for her, I wandered around the