Chapter 24 – Conner

Here I was about to embark on a new business, and all I could think about was the one moment I let myself lose control. If I were honest with myself, I wanted to kiss Lena Contreras long before last night. Maybe ever since she pushed me into the bay. 

And now, I couldn’t get the taste of her lips off my mind. 

The way she’d responded before pulling away and deciding it wasn’t a good idea. She was right, of course. If we were going to be business partners, I had to keep my distance. 

Even when that was the last thing I wanted to do. 

I sat in my office, staring out a wide window where I could see our vineyards in the distance. Work had been piling up, but I needed a moment to think. 

It wasn’t long ago I was telling Carter to stay away from Lena, that our families didn’t mix. And here I was, not only tying us financially, but thinking about her way too often. I knew why my brother was drawn to her, whether it was romantically or not. She was honest, down to earth, so different from the women I’d known. 

She worked hard for her family, just like I did, and wanted nothing more than to keep the family legacy going strong. It was how I felt about our wine business. I not only wanted to lead it down its current path, but I had plans of expansion, of becoming more than what we were. 

If my father would let me. 

Despite my responsibilities, I had little true power in the company. That had to change. My father and I did equal shares of the work. He was about the age my grandfather had been when he turned over the business to his one son who wanted to keep it going. 

I had no hopes my father would do the same. 

“You look deep in thought.” My grandfather stood in the doorway, his weathered face showing hints of concern. 

I planned on seeking him out today because of the digging I’d done about the land Lena and I wanted. A file was open on my desk with all the documentation, but I wasn’t sure if it made any difference. My grandfather wasn’t one to defy my father. 

“Just a lot on my mind.” 

He walked farther into my office. “You haven’t told your father yet, have you?”

I wasn’t sure how this man could always read my mind. “He won’t be pleased.”

“That’s an understatement.” He dropped into a chair across from my desk and leaned back. “You need to be prepared for his anger. If you expect it, you can weather the storm.” 

“Is that what you’ve always done?” 

He sighed. “The man has always had a temper. He believes his opinions are always the right ones and doesn’t like to be contradicted, but he isn’t a bad man, Conner.”

“I know that.” I rubbed my eyes. My father never laid a hand on his kids. He wasn’t violent or even cruel. He’d let Conrad leave the family business without a fight, and Carter got away with anything. And Jorgie, she was his favorite. “He’s stubborn.” That was the truth of it. “And afraid.”

I’d always known that too. My father loved my mother more than anything, and then he lost her. He knew his attitude drove his family away. His brothers rarely spoke to him. He hardly had contact with any nieces or nephews. I was his only kid who had much to do with him.

My grandfather nodded. “He thinks control is the only way to prevent losing everything else.” 

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the desk. “But it only pushes us further away.”

“He will either change or learn that the hard way.”

“And you? What will you do?” I lifted a single document and held it out to him. It was the deed of ownership to the plot of land Lena and I needed. “It was not purchased by the Ashford corporation, but by Willard Ashford.” 

His hands shook as he held the paper. “I forgot I put this in my name.” A smile curved his lips. “It’s no secret I loved your mother like she was my own daughter. I bought this land for her as a birthday present.”

“What did she need land for?”

“She wanted to open a second facility to make specialty wines, experimental wines.” 

“My mom—” I hadn’t known that about her. She’d been like me in the barn I’d outfitted for that purpose. I tried to recall everything I remembered, but as the years had passed, my memories of her had grown hazier. 

My grandfather handed me back the document. “You can have the land.” 

I shook my head. “I don’t want it given to us. Lena is already skeptical of having one Ashford as a partner. If we’re going to do this, we need to buy the land and put it in her name.” 

He smiled again. “Your mother would have liked her.” 

“There would be no reason for my mother to have known her.” I frowned. “She’s my business partner. I’m her investor.” 

He didn’t look convinced. “Tell me, can she lighten even the hardest of Ashfords? That was what your grandmother did for me. Your mother did it for your father. He used to be so easy going, so light. And you, my serious grandson, does she make you smile?” 

Yes, she did. I pictured her fighting with me in front of the town, pushing me into the bay. “She’s maddening.” 

“That’s the best kind of woman.”

I shook off all these notions he was trying to put in my head. “We are in business together now. It doesn’t matter if she makes me … light.” Whatever that meant. “Besides, no matter what partnership we form, she is still a Contreras and I’m an Ashford.”

“Just names, Conner.” He stood. “Remember that.” 

When he was gone, I tried to get back to work, but I couldn’t focus. Giving up, I sent a text to Lena, telling her we got the land, which was our second biggest hurdle. 

Now, I had to face my first. 

I stood and reached for the suit coat I’d hung over the back of the chair, sliding it on. Taking a deep breath, I walked from the office. Some days, I worked from home, others were spent in the high-rise offices of the winery, a state-of-the-art facility. When my father was in town, he worked from here too. 

His office was down the hall and around the corner from mine. I nodded to a few people I passed and sent my father’s assistant a smile. “He here?”

She nodded. “Just got off a conference call.”

Perfect timing. A part of me had been hoping he’d be too busy to see me. 

I lifted a hand, knocking forcefully three times. My father respected strength, and that even applied to how one knocked, how they shook hands. 

“Come in,” his gruff voice called out. 

I opened the door to find him hunched over his keyboard, typing rapidly. He glanced up once before going back to what he was doing. “One moment, Conner. I need to finish this email.” 

I stood awkwardly, waiting for him to stop. Finally, he leaned back and met my gaze. “Do you have our third quarter profit projections ready?” 

That was what I’d meant to work on all morning. “I’ll have them on your desk by tomorrow.” 

He nodded, rubbing his chin. “What’s on your mind today.”

I just needed to rip off the Band-Aid, but this wasn’t going to be pretty. “Can I have a seat?”

He nodded wordlessly, waiting. 

“So …” I cleared my throat. 

“Conner, speak clearly and with purpose or don’t waste my time.”

“I’m investing in Selena Contreras’ new business venture.”

His brow furrowed in confusion. “Conner—”

“I know you’re going to say it’s a bad idea and that you refuse to let me use family money for the investment, but I have my own funds, plenty enough for this project. I believe in it, Dad. Forget who it is for a moment; we’re Ashfords, do we pass up good business opportunities?”

I waited for the explosion that didn’t come. Instead, he looked contemplative. “Well, no, we don’t. I’m confused. I read this girl was partnering with one of the Hillson brats.” 

The only family my father hated more than the Contrerases. I ignored him calling Lena a girl. One battle at a time. “She was, but the town came together to oppose it. They asked me to invest, practically demanded. You should see her business plan, Dad. It’s unbelievable. Even you would be impressed.” 

“You believe in this opportunity?” His expression was hard to read. 

“I do. I really do. And I realized that plot of land you refused to sell her is in Grandfather’s name, so even if you don’t approve, we’re moving forward. I want to make you proud, and I think I’ve done enough to do that, but making you proud isn’t everything to me. Not anymore. I need to make myself proud too.” 

“I don’t like it.” Where was the anger? I was prepared for it, just like my grandfather told me to be. 

“I knew you wouldn’t.” 

“If you’re going to do this, son, do it right. Silent partners don’t truly have to be silent. Make sure you get a big enough share to exert your control. I don’t like that family, but if they’re going to succeed, it will be with an Ashford pulling the strings.”

It made sense now, why he didn’t blow up at me. 

Control. 

He wanted me to control this business venture. 

I’d have laughed if I wasn’t so disgusted with him, because he obviously didn’t know Lena at all.

I didn’t want her to work for me. I wanted to work with her, to dream her dreams and experience her triumphs. 

Thoughts of her filled my head as I left my father’s office. I was right to use my own funds for this, not to let him anywhere near it. 

He might push businesses to great success, but he also sucked the soul right out of them. 

And I refused to let that happen to Lena. 

I refused to let her get hurt. By him or by me.