Chapter 5

chapter

five

Cooper

I don't like how we left things.

I skim a rock across the lake, the circles illuminated in the misty, pre-dawn light.

The lake is where I do my best thinking.

We have a contract with Harmony and Summer. They will open a shop in Gold Hill, with our backing. We toasted with champagne. Everyone laughed about Summer mistaking me for Carter.

I made it abundantly clear to Harmony that we were friends and nothing more.

Everything should be fine.

And yet here I am, unable to sleep or concentrate on anything until I do some good thinking.

I don't know Harmony well, but I've seen the hunger in her eyes.

I've also seen how she defers to her more outgoing, younger sister.

Harmony goes along to get along, for everyone's benefit.

But after the hours we spent together, just talking, I know she deserves to have a voice.

Hell, I knew she had strong opinions when she threatened to karate chop me for staring at her like a dummy at the business expo.

Her opinion deserves to be heard. And I wish she would say it more.

She doesn't want to open the shop in Gold Hill. I saw her hesitation when they signed the paperwork. I saw the look on her face when I shat all over her town when we first met.

I'm an idiot.

There's only one solution to this. And I think it's a terrible idea, but Carter needs to listen.

We must honor the girls' wishes, even if we don't like it.

And if their dream fails? It'll ruin everything. Carter and Summer's budding romance, and my friendship with Harmony. That's the risk.

Behind me in the distance, the door to the main kitchen creaks open and closes again. Carter's found me.

What's he doing up at this hour?

Regardless, we need to talk.

Carter's leg is driving me crazy.

He sits next to me on the bench, his knee bouncing away. It does that when he's nervous.

The First National Bank of Fate lobby is quiet except for my brother, me, and a row of tellers doing their morning tasks. A door labeled "bank manager" stands ajar; the aroma of brewing coffee and the whoosh of emails come from that office.

My twin and I crunched the numbers and decided early this morning that we can't ask the girls to put their store in Gold Hill. And we're going to back them, whatever they want to do.

The only problem is they're not answering our texts. So we're straight-up ambushing them at the bank.

We're here to intercept Harmony and Summer before they make the biggest mistake of their lives, which we initiated. They think they're about to apply for a bank loan for the remainder of the funds they need for a Gold Hill store. But we can't let that happen. We need to cancel the contract and convince them to let my brother and I finance the whole damn thing, right here in Fate.

I can't take the bouncing of Carter's knee anymore so I pace the lobby while I wait for Harmony and Summer to show up.

"What time did they say their meeting was?" I ask Carter.

"I didn't ask. It's supposed to be sometime today."

"So you're saying I could be pacing for hours," I snap.

I need coffee. I need sleep. Mostly, I need to see Harmony.

Everything will work out once I see her.

Just then, a well-dressed woman who looks like an early-60-ish version of Harmony glides through the entrance. She nods at one of the tellers as she moves through the room like she owns the place.

One of the tellers calls out, "Good morning, Ms. Mosley!"

My ears perk up. Mosley?

I turn to Carter. He heard it too.

The well-dressed woman heads straight to the office of the bank manager. "Brenda!"

"Hi Donna! The girls will be here in a few minutes but I wanted a moment to visit with you."

"Aren't you sweet. How's that grandbaby?"

"Perfect! Obviously!" The clank of a glass carafe is followed by coffee pouring. "Don't tell Owen, but I took Graham to McDonald's the other day and he ate his first Happy Meal. He got ketchup all over my bag!"

The bank manager cackles. "Not the Hermès!"

"Is that what it's called? I told Stephan to stop giving me expensive things. When I'm not with him, I'm on babysitting duty."

His interest piqued, Carter stands. The two of us inch toward the bank manager's door, keenly listening to this conversation.

"That's got to be their mom," Carter murmurs.

"Yep."

"Oh my goodness, Brenda," chirps the bank manager. "I can't wait to retire so I can get into trouble with my babies. Fill 'em up with sugar and send 'em on home."

The two women laugh and swap quick anecdotes, one-upping each other on who spoils their grandchildren the most.

"The girls tell me they succeeded in finding some additional financial backing at that expo yesterday in Gold Hill," Brenda says.

My ears heat. They're talking about us!

"That's wonderful. Was it from the Bryant family? That's so exciting. I've always wanted to meet that Esme character," says Donna, lowering her voice to a loud whisper. "You know, they say she never leaves that house."

"I don't think so. You know Harmony. She would have put blast all over me with that news. Or however the kids say it."

"Hmm. I think that phrase means they're actually calling you on the carpet."

Brenda sips her coffee loudly. "Oh I can't keep up with it all and I'm too old to care."

"Well, maybe those two young men eavesdropping outside my office can explain it to us," says Donna.

Yikes.

"Shit!" mutters Carter. "I'm not ready to meet her mother!"

I nudge him to stand up straight as Brenda marches out of the office, a genteel smile on her face. The resemblance to Harmony is uncanny.

"In or out, gentlemen!"

"We'll wait here," Carter says awkwardly, then dashes back toward the bench where we started.

I'm left standing face to face with the woman.

"Hi," I say, extending my hand. "I'm Cooper MacKenzie and I'm here for your daughter."

She draws her perfect eyebrows together, studying me like a new and strange insect.

Oh god. "I'm here to meet your daughter. Meet."

She arches a brow. "Whatever Summer does on dating apps is none of my business. But I must tell you, a coffee date is usually the way to go, if you want my opinion."

Her referencing Summer has the skittish Carter back on his feet. "He's not dating Summer."

"We're here for both of them."

"Suppose you tell me exactly what's going on before I roust Roy over there from the thrall of the Reader's Digest crossword puzzle." Her eyes cut toward the vestibule, where an elderly security guard sits, peevishly erasing something from a magazine.

"Ms. Brenda, what is a five-letter word for vigilant?" asks the security guard.

"We'll never know, will we?" Brenda says with a sigh.

"Let me start over," I say. "We're the MacKenzie brothers representing Gold Hill Investments."

The crinkle in her nose is so like Harmony's that my chest aches. Where is she? Where's my girl? And why doesn't she respond to my texts?

"And," she says blandly.

"We met Harmony and Summer yesterday, and they signed a contract with us last night."

Her face softens. "Oh, that's wonderful! You should have led with that."

Carter seems ready to vomit, he's so anxious.

As I'm not already in a relationship with one of her daughters, I don't have as much at stake as Carter. Which is why, what I do next is the only thing a twin brother in my position is bound to do.

"Come meet my brother. He and Summer really hit it off. He's entirely responsible for the whole agreement even happening."

"I'm going to murder you," mouths my introvert brother as I lead Brenda across the lobby to meet the man who just did several unspeakable sexual things to her youngest daughter last night.

"I'm faster than you," I mouth back.

Carter better thank me later because Brenda doesn't ask a lot of questions. As we wait for Harmony and Summer, she regales us with tale after tale of Harmony and Summer's various enterprises, from their summer lemonade stands charging five dollars a glass, to their bright idea in middle school of making homemade cookies to compete with the Girl Scouts.

"I notice the two of you aren't wearing wedding rings," she notes.

"Much like no one's good enough for your daughters, our aunt Gabby never approved of anyone the two of us brought home," I say.

"Smooth," Carter mutters.

Brenda glances from Carter to me. "Your aunt…is Gabriella MacKenzie."

"The very one."

"Once again, you should have led with that. Perhaps you should take a class on how to market yourself better, young man."

Carter snorts. She's right, though. My degree is not doing me any favors at the moment.

"So tell me about her! I want to know everything," Brenda pushes.

This takes some pressure off Carter and myself. Aunt Gabby is the easiest subject for us to talk about, and soon enough, we have Brenda on the edge of her seat.

Things are going perfectly, and then Harmony and Summer arrive. Carter almost got away from Brenda scot-free. Almost.

He did it to himself, honestly.

After the conversation in which the four of us realize we're all on the same page, Carter gives himself away.

"We don't want to do it in Gold Hill. We want to build our shop here, in Fate," Summer tells us. Harmony nods.

Carter just can't keep his hands off Summer. "Sweetheart, that's exactly why we came here."

And then he kisses her. I glance at Brenda, whose eyes widen.

I catch Harmony's eye, and her cheeks bloom a deep pink.

"Oh my," says Brenda. "You naughty boy! You never mentioned you were dating my daughter. But I approve!"

Well, the cat's out of the bag.

Inside, I'm relieved. If Carter has Brenda's approval, then that paves the way for Harmony and I. Hopefully. One day.

Harmony's arms cross in front of her, in her usual stance when I get too close.

And that's fine.

"But we have something else on our minds. We don't want you to owe money to anyone," I say.

Harmony looks up at me, and the ache lessens in my chest, but only a little. "What does that mean?" she asks.

I tell her that Carter and I are funding the entire project, and that's that.

The sisters say nothing, but Brenda is excited. "Guess you don't need me to co-sign after all!"

There's more discussion about the terms, but to my surprise, Harmony agrees first.

But with one condition.

"I'm not dating you," she says.

What can I say? I can't argue about it.

"Fair enough."

Harmony gives me the biggest smile yet.

And I'm falling harder for her. Falling, falling, falling, with no parachute. No guarantees.

Except a thread of hope she leaves me with every furtive glance.

Someday.