The Prodigal Son

In the foyer, she made a right turn, her steps slowing as the sound of her daughters’ laughter reached her.

She inhaled for the count of five then exhaled heavily before stepping into the kitchen. “Something smells good,” she said, forcing a smile.

“We’re making cinnamon rolls,” Abby said, not looking up from the dough Diane was helping her roll out.

“And look, Mommy.” Payton held up a metal bowl filled with what appeared to be brown sugar. “I made the filling all by myself. And I get to sprinkle it over the dough, too.”

Abby straightened. “I get to pour the melted butter over it, don’t I, Diane?”

Diane straightened and used a towel to wipe flour from Abby’s cheek. “You certainly do.”

Payton jumped off the stool and raced over to the refrigerator. “And did you see? Diane put our thank-you cards on the fridge.”

There, in the middle of the shiny stainless steel, held on by round magnets, were the handmade cards Payton and Abby had made to thank her for the Christmas gifts she’d given them.

“I put them there because all works of art should be displayed,” Diane said, stretching the dough by hand into a large rectangle.

Connie got a heavy red mug from the cupboard next to the refrigerator and filled it with coffee. She leaned back against the counter and watched Diane instruct Payton on how to sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the dough.

“Is everything all right?” Diane asked her. “Is it your mom?”

Connie shook her head. “Everything’s fine. Mom’s fine. I spoke with her earlier and she sounded good.”

Diane patted her cheek. “I’m glad to hear it. But you know if you ever need me for anything, to take her to a doctor’s appointment or to watch the girls for you, you just let me know.”

“I will. Thanks.” A lump formed in Connie’s throat. She took a swallow of too-hot coffee to wash it away. “I just came from Aidan’s office and saw Matt there.”

“You make it sound like you just ran into the Loch Ness monster.”

“Well, it was a…rare sighting.” She frowned. “Come to think of it, I can’t remember seeing Matt up there since Tom died.”

“All my boys dealt with their father’s death in their own way,” she said, her voice taking on that note of grief, of longing it always did when she spoke of her deceased husband. “Aidan couldn’t bear to change anything in that office to keep the memories alive, while Matt avoided both the room and the feelings those memories evoked.”

“And Brady?”

“Brady went off to war, away from us all.” She crossed over to the stove and unwrapped a stick of butter before putting it in a small saucepan. “Who’s to say any of them were wrong?”

Well, Connie could say. After all, Brady and Matt had left Aidan and Diane when they needed them most. But, she thought with no little amount of pride, she’d been there. For them and for the Diamond Dust.

Finishing her coffee, she rinsed the cup in the sink. “I’d better get back to work.”

“Why don’t I bring the girls over to you after lunch?” Diane asked.

“That’s fine. I’ll be out in Pinot Noir block if you need me. You two behave,” she told her daughters.

“We will,” Abby assured her. “Bye, Mommy.”

Connie went out the back door. There was no way she was going to take the chance of running into Aidan or Matt again. It wasn’t until she was safely back in her office with the door shut that she realized she was still carrying the folder with her proposal.

She laid it on her neat desk. God, it was almost laughable. She’d spent half her life wanting nothing more than to be a part of the Diamond Dust, to be a member of the Sheppard family, and she was too scared to go for it.

For sixteen years she’d worked hard to prove her loyalty to both the family and the winery. To prove her worth. When Tom lost his battle with pancreatic cancer, she was the one who’d helped Aidan make the transition to winery president. Matt and Brady had both been long gone, but she’d stuck. And she’d busted her ass to keep the Diamond Dust going.

Connie snorted. Who knew? Maybe her mother had been right all this time. Maybe she really did need to stop wishing for things that weren’t going to happen. That weren’t meant to be.

She sat down, and after a moment, put the folder back in the bottom drawer.

“CAN’T YOU DO SOMETHING that will guarantee he’ll agree?” Diane asked Aidan later that day as they waited for Brady and Matt in her large kitchen.

“No problem.” Aidan sat at the table, tipped his head side to side in an effort to ease the tension tightening his muscles. “If Matt shows up, I’ll put him in a choke hold so you can point a gun to his head.”

Diane’s mouth flattened into a disapproving line. “I’m being serious, Aidan.”

He drummed his fingers where a shaft of sunlight hit the table through sliding glass doors that led to a bricked veranda. “We both know Matt will draw this out for as long as possible. You didn’t really think he’d go along with this idea willingly, did you? Or make it easy on any of us?”

“A mother can hope,” she murmured, wiping nonexistent crumbs from the granite kitchen counter with a dishcloth. She scrubbed at a spot by the stove. “Is it so wrong for me to want my sons, all three of my sons, working together?”

And that question was as loaded as the hypothetical gun Aidan had just mentioned. “What if one of those sons doesn’t want to be a part of the Diamond Dust?”

“Matt wants to be a part of it.” Crossing to the opposite wall, she wiped fingerprints from one of the double, stainless steel ovens. “He just doesn’t realize it yet. Just as Brady didn’t realize it until you convinced him.”

Convinced? Aidan rose and walked over to the fridge. Lily, who’d been napping in front of the large stone fireplace in the connecting family room, padded over to him, her nails clicking on the tile floor. He hadn’t convinced his brother to do anything, he thought as he got a can of soda. Nothing short of dynamite could move Brady once he’d set his mind to stay still. A trait all the Sheppards shared. No, it’d taken a good dose of blackmail to get Brady to start working at the winery.

Seemed his mother didn’t have a corner on that market after all.

But Brady’s situation had been different. Aidan hadn’t been trying to get him on board for his own personal agenda or to fulfill his father’s greatest wish. He’d done it for his brother.

Brady had been lost. Floundering. Drinking too much and being a complete ass—nothing new, really. But he hadn’t even wanted anything to do with his own kid after getting J.C. pregnant. Of course, J.C. being the sister of Brady’s ex-fiancée had complicated matters.

As did Brady continuing to hold on to feelings for his ex.

So when he’d pitched the idea of J.C. selling her home made chocolates at the Diamond Dust’s gift shop, Aidan had agreed—on the condition that Brady came to work for him.

His motivation was totally different from Diane’s when it came to Matt. To all of them.

Leaning against the wide, center island, he crossed his feet at the ankles. “Have you considered what this is going to do to your relationship with Matt?”

Diane frowned at him. “You don’t agree with what I’m doing.”

“No. I don’t.” He didn’t agree with her taking away his control. With her changing everything without get ting his opinion first. Without asking him what he wanted.

For the first time in his life, he could sympathize with his youngest brother.

“I just hope you’re willing to accept any fallout this decision might have,” he continued.

Diane refilled Lily’s water dish then slowly faced him. “Do you really think he’ll hold this against me?”

Aidan narrowed his eyes at her. Had he detected a nervousness in his mother’s voice? No sooner had the thought entered his mind than he brushed it aside. His mother didn’t get nervous.

“You’re asking him to give up a lot. Think about it. Brady has nothing to lose and everything to gain by this. But Matt?” He shook his head. “You and I both know he has what it takes to become one of the top names in the wine industry. And now he has to give up everything he’s ever wanted to save Dad’s company? To be honest, Mom, what you’re doing is pretty shitty.”

Her throat worked as she swallowed. “Desperate times and all that.”

But though her words were said lightly, her voice wobbled. Just a bit. Enough for Aidan to realize this hadn’t been an easy decision for her. “Desperate how?” he asked. “I don’t see why it’s so black or white… Why is it Matt or none of us? Surely there are other options.”

But just like she didn’t get nervous, Diane Sheppard also didn’t back away from something just because it was difficult. Like him, she ran toward those situations, ready to prove herself more than capable of handling everything on her own.

He just hoped that she hadn’t sacrificed her relationship with her youngest son.

“You’ve mentioned how this will affect Brady and Matt,” she said, ignoring his blunt questions. “But what about you?”

“I have nothing to lose.”

He’d already given it all up.

Reaching down, he rubbed Lily’s head when she nudged his thigh. “You should know what you’re getting into by asking Matt to come on board. We’ve always done things a certain way here—Dad’s way. But that might not be good enough for Matt. He’s not going to be happy running a small operation. You know his motto has always been Bigger Is Better.”

She waved his words away. “Oh, I’m not worried about that. I know you’ll make sure anything’s that done is what’s best for the Diamond Dust.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets, his fingers curling. And hadn’t that been the story of his life? Doing what was best for the winery. Putting his father’s company, and his family’s wants and needs, ahead of his own.

“Right.” He cleared his throat. “You know you can count on me.”

To keep things running smoothly. To fix any problems that might arise—whether those problems were his fault or not.

She laid her hand on his arm. He forced his muscles to relax. He loved his mom. He really did. But there were times when he just got tired of being Mr. Fix It.

“Have I told you how much I appreciate you?” Diane gave his arm a squeeze. “I couldn’t have gotten through your father’s death, kept the company going…any of it really…without you.”

And as quickly as it had come, his anger dissipated with his mother’s sincere words. How could he be angry about fulfilling his responsibility? Taking care of his family?

He kissed her cheek. The softness of it, her floral scent, so familiar to him. “You’re one of the strongest people I know. You would’ve gotten through just fine on your own. But I’m glad you didn’t have to.”

Stepping back, she sniffed and dug a tissue out of her sleeve. Taking off her glasses, she dabbed at her eyes as the back door opened.

“Am I late?” Brady asked in his low voice as he shut the door behind him.

Aidan finished his drink. “No. We’re still waiting for the man of the hour.”

Lily trotted over to Brady, her tail wagging. He sat in the chair Aidan had vacated and scratched the dog’s ears. “Anyone consider what’s going to happen if Matt says no?”

His question hung in the air for a moment. Their mother kept her gaze on the floor, her fingers entwined.

“The way I see it,” Aidan said, rinsing out the soda can and putting it in the recycling bin, “no matter what he decides, we’re going to be dealing with a whole new set of headaches.”

They’d have the tension of trying to run a business together or the pain of losing their father’s company. In Aidan’s mind, they were screwed either way.

Lily barked twice. A moment later, Matt sauntered into the room from the hallway, his too-long hair wild around his face, his jacket unzipped over a rumpled shirt. “I’m here,” he said, neither his tone nor his expression giving away his thoughts. “Let’s get this over with.”

CHAPTER FOUR

“DOES THAT MEAN YOU’LL accept the partnership?” his mother asked in what Matt could only describe as a hopeful tone.

Teeth clenched, he sat on a high-backed stool at the island, deliberately laid his arm on the back of the one next to him in a pose of nonchalance. “That depends. What are the terms you’re offering?”

She seemed taken aback. Did she really think he’d just meekly go along with whatever stipulations she set out? “The terms,” she said, “are that you and your brothers agree to run the Diamond Dust upon my retirement, at which time I will sign over all shares of the company. Until then, the three of you will remain in Jewell, working at the winery under its current management.”

Aidan grinned—an unusual and completely unnerving event. “That’d be me.”

Matt was already shaking his head. “No way am I taking orders from him.”

“It’s not about taking orders,” his mom said, sending Aidan a reproachful look. His grin only widened. “Aidan has been President of the Diamond Dust for the past eight years. It’s only reasonable that the structure remains the same until I step down as owner. Besides, until that happens, I’ll still have final say on any and all decisions.”

“And when is this retirement scheduled to take place?” Matt asked.

“July 27.”

“That’s the day Mom and Al are getting married,” Aidan put in.

“Yeah. I knew that,” Matt lied. He straightened, clasped his hands together on the cold counter. Met his mom’s eyes and asked quietly, “And if I…if any of us…don’t agree?”

“I’ve told you—”

“No. You haven’t. Not straight out. I need to hear you say it.”

For a moment, he wondered if she’d back down. But then she lifted her chin and he remembered that his mother was made of stronger stuff than that. Strong enough to risk alienating one of her own sons just to make her deceased husband’s dream come true.

“If any of you don’t wish to be a part of the Diamond Dust,” she said, her voice steady, “then I will sell the company, the property and this house to Lester Caldwell.”

Sliding to his feet, Matt looked at his brothers. Aidan stood in front of the large windows of the breakfast nook, the setting sun casting his profile in shadow. Brady sat, one hand flat on the table, the other on Lily’s head.

“Is this what you both want?” Matt asked them.

Brady studied him with his cool, hooded gaze. “Does it matter?”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah,” he admitted, not sure who he’d surprised more, his brothers or himself. “Yeah, it does.”

Instead of answering, Aidan crossed to the island, pulled the contract from the envelope and, after flipping a few pages, signed his name with a flourish. He then handed the contract to Brady, who signed, as well.

Looked like he had his answer.

Son of a bitch.

His mother picked up the contract and pen and set them in front of Matt. “It’s your decision.”

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