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Gus shrugged to hide his surprise. “Sure. If you want.”
“You wouldn’t mind, would you, Merritt?” Dad asked.
“I would love it.”
Mom came into the room then, holding her phone. “Yes, dear. We will be there on the sixteenth. We can’t wait to see you both.” She sat down as Gus poured her a glass of orange juice. “Love you too.” She hung up.
“Where are you going on the sixteenth?” Gus asked.
“To your brother and Genevieve’s new house,” Mom replied.
“Oh, they bought a place?”
“Yes, a beautiful cabin at the base of a mountain with plenty of acreage for her horses.”
“Sounds nice,” he replied, trying not to sound cold.
“You’re going to the wedding, aren’t you?” she asked.
“Of course, we are.”
“Because Genevieve said you haven’t RSVP’d yet.”
“Does family have to RSVP?”
“Of course we’re going to RSVP,” Merritt cut in. “I meant to send it sooner, but it slipped my mind with our wedding and everything.”
“That’s all right, dear,” Mom said. “Are you coming on the sixteenth?”
“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Gus replied.
“I’m sure they’re going to call you.”
“I doubt it,” he said under his breath.
“We’re arriving on Sunday to be together as a family and help get things ready for the wedding.”
Gus frowned. He was still ticked that Sebastian hadn’t reached out to him in all the months since he’d been gone. Maybe he’d pushed his brother past his limit. Sebastian probably deserved to be cut a little slack about his wedding, but Gus couldn’t help but feel perturbed. He didn’t like being excluded. From his brother’s life or the family business.
“There will be some events throughout the week leading up to the wedding, some bonding time, horse riding in the mountains, decorating.” She looked at Merritt. “Genevieve’s final dress fitting and a spa day for the girls.”
Merritt’s face lit up. “That all sounds wonderful.”
“If we’re invited,” Gus muttered.
Mom gave him a disapproving look. “Of course you are. You’re family.”
It sure doesn’t feel like it. He almost said the words aloud, but he knew it would not help his cause.
The rich, chocolaty aroma of the Schultz Chocolate factory was one of Gus’s favorite things in the world. It was a scent that instantly transported him back to his childhood, to following his father around the building, to the first time he helped Granny make truffles. It was a part of him, following him into his adult life, reminding him of the role he’d had in the company and how badly he’d messed up.
Merritt seemed enamored by everything she saw along the tour. And Gus found her adorable, wearing a plastic cap, hard hat, and practically swimming in the white jacket that was probably two sizes too big for her.
Gus’s plan to impress them—mostly his father—with how much he knew about the process was foiled when Dad began to tell Merritt about the beginnings of the company, how he took over when his father got cancer, and some of the steps he had taken in the beginning to expand. She hung on his every word.
They moved through the factory from the roasting ovens to the machines that spun the beans and separated the nibs from the shells. Merritt asked question after question, which Dad was more than happy to answer, so Gus held back, disappointed that things weren’t going as he hoped.
Merritt was making a wonderful impression on Dad, though. Gus knew his father would like her. He only hoped that Dad would see the marriage as a positive and mature decision.