The Wedding Bargain

“She poops on the lawn.”

Sophia ignored her youngest child’s lack of discretion and poured a cup of coffee for Michael. “The lawn is a vast improvement over the carpet in the family room,” she said in a droll voice.

He picked up the coffee cup, laughing. “Thanks, Mom.”

The little bichon frise had been Ben’s birthday gift from the family last year. He called her Poppy because she had looked like an oversize kernel of popcorn, which happened to be his favorite food, and it was an easy word for him to say. He had gone through a worrisome period of leth argy that had puzzled the doctors and troubled the family. They’d tried everything to coax him out of it, but nothing worked. Nothing, until Poppy had come into his life. His mother had reluctantly agreed to the dog, in part because she’d been so worried about Ben and also because Ginny and her husband had promised to take it if it didn’t work out with Ben. They had hoped that having a dog would help to keep him active, and it had paid off.

“Have you been taking her for a walk every day?” he asked his brother.

Ben’s head bobbed enthusiastically. “Two times.” He held up one hand and displayed all five digits, then tried to cover several of them with the other hand.

“We walk her through the vineyard twice a day,” their mother said. “Every morning and again before dinner.”

Michael tousled his brother’s hair. “Good job, Ben.”

Ben beamed.

“Lexi called last night. She said she has to work today.” His mother gave him an admonishing look. “She said she’ll drive up in time for Ben’s birthday dinner tonight.”

Michael set a squirming Poppy on the floor. “It’s not my fault she’s working all day. I asked her to take a look at a property I’m interested in, but she didn’t have to do it today.”

“You knew very well she wouldn’t postpone something like that.”

True. Neither would he. He appreciated Lexi’s prompt attention to this, since this latest prospect was the best he’d seen so far. Tonight he would find time to have a private talk with her about checking out the Whiskey Sour—surreptitiously, of course—because he was becoming convinced that he should hold off making an offer on the other location until he’d had dinner with Jess. Her place needed a lot less work and could be open for business much sooner than the dump he’d seen yesterday. That meant he could even sweeten the deal for Jess and it would be a win-win situation for both of them. She’d been pretty adamant about not selling, but money had a way of changing people’s minds.

“You and Lexi are both cursed with the Morgan workaholic gene.”

As far as he was concerned, not putting off till tomorrow what could be done today hardly made him a workaholic, and it sure didn’t seem like a curse. In the eight years since his father had passed away, he had taken Morgan Estate Winery from a small family-owned-and-operated cottage industry to a large, successful company with numerous vineyards throughout the Napa Valley, and now an expanding chain of wine bars in San Francisco.

“What are you and Ginny up to this morning?”

“She’s wrapping up the marketing campaign for the new pinot noir we’re releasing this fall and wants me to take a look at it.”

“Ginny shouldn’t be working at all. It’s only been two months since she was—” His mother paused and glanced at Ben, who was watching television in the family room. “Since she was in the hospital.”

Michael sighed. His sister wasn’t sick, she’d had a miscarriage a month ago and she seemed to be doing fine. “Ginny’s the most conscientious person I know. She wouldn’t be working if her doctor hadn’t green-lighted her.”

“She might be fine physically, but she’s still emotionally vulnerable.”

“Then keeping busy is probably good for her.” He covered one of his mother’s hands with both of his. “It’s what you would do.”

He could tell from her reaction that he was right and she knew it.

“I know you want to protect us and make everything perfect, but we’re all capable, responsible adults.”

She cast another look at Ben, but this time her eyes were filled with love and just a hint of longing for something that would never be.

He knew what she was thinking. All of you except Ben.

He knew she worried about his future, about what would happen to him when the day came that she couldn’t look after him. Michael and his sisters had made a commitment to continue contributing to the trust fund their father had set up for Ben, but that’s not what concerned Sophia Morgan. Since no one knew Ben the way she did, no one could possibly love him as much as she did. Which wasn’t true—Michael and his sisters doted on their little brother, even though they’d never talked about who would look after him if their mother couldn’t. Partly because no one was ready to accept the reality that their mother wasn’t getting any younger and partly because each secretly hoped one of the others would step up and take on the responsibility.

Ben abandoned the television and wandered back to the kitchen.

“Would you like a scone?” Sophia asked.

“Juice.”

“Juice, please.”

Ben gave her an eager nod.

“Can you say it?”

“Yup. Juice puh-leeeeez.”

“Good boy. Sit with Michael and I’ll get it for you.”

Ben settled into the next chair. “Mikey wants juice?”

“No, thanks. I’ll stick with coffee.”

“Don’t like coffee,” Ben said. “Like juice.” As soon as his mother set the glass of orange juice in front of him, he grabbed it and took a gulp. “See? Mustache!” he said, pointing to his upper lip.

Sophia handed him a napkin.

Michael laughed. “I see that.”

“We’ll fix the car?”

“Not today,” Michael reminded him. “I’m going to see Aunt Ginny this morning.”

“Ginny’s baby got lost. Me ’n’ Poppy are looking for it.”

“Are you? Ginny must be happy about that.”

“Yup. Dogs are good at finding people.”

“They sure are.”

“What time did you say you’d be back?” his mother asked. She looked more tired than usual and he wondered if she was feeling all right.

“I should be back here by two o’clock.”

Ben drained his glass and set it on the table with a loud thunk. “Then we’ll fix the car?”

“Not today. But I met a mechanic in the city yesterday, and he’s going to help me find some of the parts we need. As soon as we get those, we’ll fix it. Okay?”

“Okay.”