“Please.”
“Fine. I’ll leave it alone.”
“Thanks.” Beth sighed a little.
“For now.”
Way too many men were telling her that today.
* * *
Family meetings were an unavoidable fact in the Wingate family.
Usually those meetings were at the company headquarters, but for whatever reason, Ava Wingate had insisted this meeting be held at the family ranch. Boasting forty acres of prime Texas ranch land that had never actually been worked, the Wingates kept horses for personal riding and plenty of chickens for their kitchen needs. The barn and stable were on one side of the property and the guesthouse on the other. The main house sat on the highest point on the property, affording views of untouched rolling hills, a private lake and stands of oaks.
The house itself was sort of a mix of Southwestern and California ranch, made of cream-colored stone and stucco. There was a red clay tile roof, a wide front porch and a wraparound balcony on the second floor.
Beth loved it. She lived at the main house, along with her mom, Sebastian and Sutton. The house was palatial in size, so everyone had privacy and plenty of space. The Wingate cousins, Luke and his twin, Zeke, lived in the guesthouse, so they were close enough to be a part of everything and far enough away that they could get space when they needed it.
Sitting in the formal dining room at a table that could easily seat twenty, Beth glanced around. There were paintings of the ranch dotting the cream-colored walls and the heavy, dark wood beams added interest and a sense of timelessness.
Beth’s brothers were on one side of the table while Luke and Zeke sat beside her. Everyone was waiting on Ava and wondering why they were there in the first place.
“The gang’s all here,” Piper Holloway said brightly as she hurried into the room. She took a seat next to Sebastian and looked around at all of them in turn. Piper was forty, looked thirty and was Ava’s younger sister. She was more of a sister to all of them, too, than an aunt. Tall and slim, she kept her dark brown hair in a short, edgy style that looked perfect on her. She owned an art gallery in Dallas, but came home to Royal often. Her dark green eyes were filled with questions as she grinned at Beth.
“Anyone know why we’re here yet?”
“No,” Beth said. “Mom’s running late.”
“Was there an apocalypse?” Piper’s eyebrows went up. “Ava’s never late.”
That was true, too. Starting to get worried, Beth leaned into Zeke. “What time is it?”
“Ten minutes past when she said she’d be here.”
Beth sighed. She still had to meet with the owners of the local wine store about their donation to the TCC charity masquerade.
“So fill me in,” Piper said, looking at all of them. “What’s new at the company?”
Sebastian looked at Luke. “You’re the VP of New Product Development...”
Luke grinned and leaned both forearms on the shining walnut table. “We’ve got some interesting drones coming out of R & D.”
“Drones?” Beth asked. “They’re not new, right?”
“These are.” Luke held up one hand, palm out. “They fit in the palm of your hand, and they’re so easy to use kids will love them.”
Zeke jumped in. “I’ve got our top guys working on ideas for digital ads as well as commercials already. Luke’s drones are awesome.”
Zeke and Luke were the sons of Ava’s older brother, Robert, the product of his marriage to Nina, an African American woman. When Robert and Nina died in an accident, Ava had insisted that Luke and Zeke come to Royal to be with family. Now it felt as if they’d always been there.
The twins were both tall and gorgeous, with caramel-colored skin, closely cropped black hair and bright green eyes. Zeke was the VP of Marketing while Luke was in charge of New Product Development. The genius of Luke’s creative mind was its flexibility, and Zeke’s inner adventurer kept everyone on their toes. Beth was nuts about both of them.
Thankfully, they weren’t identical, because Sebastian and Sutton were sometimes hard to tell apart. Beth shifted a look at her brothers.
They were tall and handsome, with dark blond hair and the Wingate green eyes. Sebastian was the CEO of Wingate Enterprises, Sutton was the CFO, and Beth was grateful the four guys did the majority of the worrying and working on the family business.
Piper was nudging Sebastian, trying to coax a smile out of him. Meanwhile, Sutton was kicked back in his chair, grinning at something Zeke had said. Zeke elbowed Luke to bring him in on the joke, and Beth smiled to herself, just watching them.