Tess in Boots Read Free Page A

admit, Sara was pretty great. I couldn't help but like her. She was a sweet girl who put up with my brother. What else could I ask for in a sister-in-law?
    “ You and Sara bought land?”
    “ Well, no. We inherited it. From Sara's great uncle. And it's not land. It's a vineyard.”
    “ A vineyard?”
    “ Yes. A vineyard. You know, with grapes and stuff?”
    “ I know what a vineyard is.”
    “ You seem tense, Tessy.”
    “ I'm… I'm fine. Sorry.”
    “ That's why I called. Because I knew you were feeling tense. My twin powers were tingling. You need a vacation.”
    “ I told you I'm fine.”
    “ Okay, we can pretend you're fine, then. So let me put it to you this way: I need you.”
    Oh here we go . Here is where Jake tells me he's broke, and he needs to borrow a few bucks, but only for a little bit. Like the time we were in high school and he convinced me to lend him five-hundred dollars for a junk car he found for sale in the paper. “It’s an investment ,” he said. The car died after a couple months, and I never saw a penny of the money Jake promised he’d pay back with interest. But it wasn’t a total waste, because it gave me some leverage when he approached me about investing in an alpaca farm a few years later. I reminded him he still owed me five-hundred dollars for the 1976 Toyota Corolla, and he quickly changed the subject.
    “ Jake—”
    “ Let me finish, Tessy. I know what you're thinking. But this is not another one of my crazy schemes, and I don't need a cent. I need you. Your ideas. I want to try and make something of this place. It's a little off the beaten path and a little run-down, but it has potential. Serious potential. Come help me get the word out, oh great marketing genius. Come for a week, a month, the summer, whatever. Just come.”
    I sat there listening to the wind whipping on the other end of the line. I did need a job… Would this count?
    No, Tess. Don’t be ridiculous.
    “Jake, I can't pick up and go to… where are you anyway?”
    “ North Carolina,” he said.
    “ Right. Well I can't drop everything and head down there. I have a life here.”
    “ With Britches?”
    “ His name is Logan.”
    Jake nicknamed Logan Britches after he spent a weekend with my family a few years back. Logan wor e khakis to breakfast and Jake, who’d slept in his swim trunks and was still wearing them that particular morning, couldn’t get over why anyone would willingly wear khakis on the weekend, let alone before noon.
    “ Right,” he said, “Logan. That's what I meant. Look, Tessy, come for a week. One week. I have a place for you to stay and everything. All you have to do is pack a bag and get in the car. Come spend some quality time with your big brother.”
    Jake was three minutes older than me, but he never missed an opportunity to refer to himself as my big brother.
    “What do you say, Tessy?”
    I sighed. “I'll think about it.”
    “ Great! I'll put clean sheets on the bed.”
    “ I said I'll think about it.”
    “ I'll text you the address.”
    “ Jake, I'm not—”
    “ See you soon.” His end of the line went silent.
    I let out a frustrated grunt and slid my phone across the kitchen table. It bounced off the cardboard box and clattered to the floor. I didn’t bother picking it up.
    I rested my chin in my hands and debated Jake's offer. He was right; I did need a vacation.
    For seven years, I’d thrown most of my waking energy into my job. At the end of the day, whatever was left went to Logan. Tomorrow, I wouldn't wake up to the sound of my alarm telling me it was time to go to work. And Logan was out of the country for ten days. Our last moments together were so strained. It was obvious he’d been put off by my pathetic and desperate attempt to tie him down.
    One week. I could go for a week and be back before Logan even knew I was gone. Because when he returned, I want ed to be here waiting for him. I was sure he would come over and… and what?
    And pretend