“And now I’m scared.”
“Don’t be, I’m gentle.”
“That has not been my experience.” He made a stretching sound. “So what does your desk look like?”
“A mess.”
He laughed. “Do you work from home? Or do you have an office?”
“Home. I have access to a flex space if I need a boardroom, but most of the time, I work from here.” It was a beautiful space, even though the desk was covered in stacks of books and notepads. What she’d once hoped would be a nursery had been Brent’s gym when they’d lived together. When he moved out, the first thing she did was buy a stunning set of executive furniture, feminine and strong, and re-painted the walls a glorious pale yellow that energized her and made her feel good every time she came in.
“I’m still at work,” Evan said into her ear. “In theory, I’m having dinner with my brother, but he’s in the basement working on a new blend with a visiting guest from Germany, and when they get going on the science stuff, they can be all night.”
“That’s kind of cool.”
“It is. Ty’s a beast.”
“Was he at Liam’s wedding? Have I met him?”
Evan made a stretching sound, like a long sigh. “Yeah, probably. He was there, but he may have holding court in the tasting room.”
“I’ll have to find him the next time I come down.”
“I’ve got a list of people I want you to meet. DeShawn Williams, Chase Miller…”
She scribbled down the names as he listed them. She recognized some sports celebrities in the mix, but the others she would have to Google before her next trip to Wardham.
Her strategy for re-branding the beach would be to have as many allies in the business community as possible, so when Carrie—the counsellor in charge of beach signage—spent a reasonable amount of money on a new sign for the beach, her guerrilla campaign to de facto re-name it would just…happen. Organically. Seemingly by magic.
Hashtags.
Google search results.
Blog posts, like the top ten beaches within a day’s drive of Toronto. Best beach towns to overnight in. That sort of thing.
And then it wouldn’t matter that the town council was stuck on not wanting to modernize the town’s tourism campaign, because they’d have done it around that, not mentioning the town except in passing.
It was quite Slytherin of her, and she loved it. Campaigns like this were why she left corporate life to be a freelance consultant.
“Did you get my email on the new naming ideas for your subdivision,” she asked when Evan finished giving her a list of names.
“Yeah. You can deal with Liam directly on that if you want. I’m really just the landowner, he’s the primary contact person.”
Five years ago, when she met Liam at the start of their MBA program, she never would have guessed that the Toronto-born-and-bred silver-spoon kid with an engineering degree and a banker father would turn into a contractor jack-of-all-trades in a small town.
Of course, she wouldn’t have seen herself as running a boutique marketing firm out of her should-have-been-a-baby-nursery spare room, either.
Life was funny like that.
“Will do.” She twiddled her pen between her fingers. They didn’t really have anything else to talk about, but she found herself not wanting to say goodbye just yet. “Any sign of your brother?”
“Nope.”
“Where are you going for dinner?”
“Another winery down the road in Kingsville.”
“Fun.”
