“Everything okay?”
Becca nodded, letting the frown wash off her face. None of this was Eliana’s fault, she’d always been a big supporter of Becca’s. “Everything is fine. I’m just trying to get things finished before the weekend.” She waited for Eliana to give her customary nod and walk away, but instead her elegant uber-boss stayed exactly where she was.
“I imagine you have a busy weekend planned. With all your lovely brothers.”
Eliana had met the Hartson brothers when they’d recorded an advertisement for the International Blend. It had featured Becca’s four brothers sitting in Gray’s backyard while they laughed and shot the breeze. Nathan had laughed that his mom had a thing for Gray, but she hadn’t shown it. Just watched quietly, in her usual way, her blue eyes noticing everything.
Her eyes were the same color as Daniel’s, Becca realized.
“I’ll probably see them. But not until after I sleep-in tomorrow. It’s been a long week.”
“It’s nice that your family is so close.” Eliana showed no signs of returning to her office. This was probably the longest she’d ever spoken to Becca. “The way families should be.”
Maybe Eliana was missing Nathan. Becca nodded, giving her a sympathetic smile. “I guess. Though we fought like cats and dogs when we were younger. And they still drive me crazy on occasion.”
“Are they a little over protective?”
“That’s an understatement.”
“Give them time. They’ll come around.”
Becca bit her lip. While Eliana was in a good mood, maybe she should take the opportunity to find out some information. “Um, can I ask you a question. If you have time, that is?”
“Of course. Shoot. Or fire.” Eliana frowned. “Whichever people are using these days.”
“I heard about the new single malt.” She wasn’t going to tell her Naomi was the leak. “And I was wondering why I hadn’t been involved as one of the distillers.”
“You heard about that? I suppose things are never secret around here for long.” Eliana patted her arm. “And the answer is because we haven’t really done anything about it yet. It’s an idea Daniel has, but it’s in its infancy. You’ll all be involved when it gets going, I’m sure.”
“Oh.” Becca breathed out a sigh of relief. “I was wondering if you were unhappy with my work.”
“Of course not.” Eliana shook her head. “Where did you get that idea from? Nathan always sung your praises very highly. And I’m sure Daniel will too when he gets to know you.”
The mention of Daniel’s name made Becca tense. “He doesn’t seem very happy with the International Blend.”
“Did he tell you that?”
Becca pulled her lip between her teeth, torn between telling the truth and covering up for Daniel. “Pretty much.” Okay, so maybe it wasn’t much of a choice.
“The International Blend is wonderful. It’s received great write ups in the trade press and the marketing campaign has really done the trick. Daniel’s a perfectionist. He always wants to make things better.” She gave a tinkling laugh. “When he was a child it drove me mad. He’d rebuild a LEGO project about a hundred times, throwing away parts that wouldn’t work exactly how he wanted. Do you know how painful it is to step on Legos in bare feet?”
Becca smiled. “I can imagine.”
“Please don’t worry about this. You’re a valued member of the senior team.” Eliana patted Becca’s upper arm again, as though she had no idea what else to do. “Now it’s late, and we should both be finishing up. I’m all for girl power, but we don’t need to be the last people left in the building.”
“Thank you.” Becca nodded. “Have a good weekend.”
“You, too, dear.”
“No.” Daniel shook his head, his jaw tightening.
“Why not?” His mother steepled her fingers together, leaning across the dining room table to look at him.
“I’m going to recruit for the lead distiller to work directly under me. Miss Hartson can stay working on the International Blend.”
“I thought you didn’t like her work on the blend.” Eliana’s lips twitched. “Or at least, that’s the impression you gave her.”
Daniel sighed. Why the hell were they talking about Becca Hartson on a Saturday night? Didn’t she haunt him enough during the week, now he had to think of her over the weekend, too?