Whiskey Reveals

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  She’d needed a fresh start, and she was afraid she might have screwed that up with a single intense night with one of the sweetest men she had ever met.

  She had done a decent job of the brush-off, she thought, but if she were going to stay in this new town, she needed to grow a pair and talk to Fox like a human being.

  She just hoped it wouldn’t be as awkward as it already felt.

  Chapter 4

  The next morning, Melody stood in her grandma’s kitchen, coffee in hand, and tried to pry her eyes fully open. When she had dance practice and strength workouts before dawn back in the day, she’d been able to wake up easily. Or at least far easier than she was now since it took over an hour of coffee, a shower, and far too many yawns for her liking to actually feel like a human being.

  She’d stayed late at her studio the night before after she finished her dinner. Clown nightmares aside, she’d gotten a lot of work done on the places the contractors had finished so she could make it her own. She’d ended up getting so far into it that she’d stayed later than she planned. By the time she’d gotten home, her grandma had already returned and had gone to bed. She’d left Melody a note, but Melody still felt like a jerk for not being there for her grandma. That was one of the main reasons she’d chosen Whiskey as her home, and she felt as if she were already failing at it.

  Melody had spent the first years of her life never failing, always working hard to succeed. Nowadays, she never seemed to be able to work hard enough not to fail.

  “I need more coffee for this,” she mumbled. She was thinking far too deeply on only one cup of caffeine. Her grandma would be down any minute to get breakfast for herself, so Melody went into the fridge and at least prepared what she could for her. Grandma Pearl liked her cup of yogurt and a half of grapefruit every morning, without fail. Sometimes, she’d add a spoonful of granola to the yogurt for kicks, but other than that, her grandma had been having this same breakfast since the eighties.

  Melody held back a shudder. She’d had something similar for her first meal of the day years ago when her parents and coach had allowed to her have dairy. And then they’d moved her to the latest fad diet to keep her weight off while she danced. There was no way she’d be able to stomach yogurt this early in the morning, and perhaps any time of the day since the idea of that texture in her mouth made her want to hurl.

  On that pleasant note, she finished setting up her grandma’s breakfast and headed into the living room with her second cup of coffee so she could work on her laptop. She had a few social media things to do every day to make sure her presence was out there, and while she scheduled some of her posts, she couldn’t do them all like that. Plus, she was waiting on a few emails from those who ran the community center, as well as the mayor’s office since the town’s executive branch had a hand in everything its residents did. Melody didn’t mind since the people she’d talked to had been really helpful in helping her set up her place. She just hoped they continued to like her once the doors were open and classes began. She perused a few emails, swallowed hard when she read one from the mayor that was actually good news—if a bit stressful—and ignored the rest. At least for now.

  She chugged another gulp of her coffee since it was cool enough and opened her website from the back end. Today was the day she opened the official sign-ups for her dance classes. She planned to do a multitude of levels that either met weekly or daily in some cases, and she needed people to fill it. She’d been waiting on the okay from the mayor’s office to open it up, and now that she had that email in her inbox, she could officially open for business—at least online.

  And…maybe she wouldn’t throw up.

  Maybe.

  She quickly hit the commands on her site so she could open the forms. She didn’t have an extensive knowledge of website design, but at least for the start, she could do the small bits. If and when her business actually took off, she would be able to hire someone to make it look a little more professional. But for now, her sleepless nights and extra website building classes had paid off, and she was able to at least put out some form of product. She honestly didn’t know how she had come from wanting to dance professionally with dreams of becoming a prima ballerina to opening her own studio and dealing with all the business and math that came with that. She swallowed hard once again, remembering that it had, in fact, been her fault she was down this path to begin with. And now she just had to deal with the consequences. Just like she’d been doing for the past few years. Or, at least now, doing better than she had been.

  She hit save on the page and went to look at it live on her site. It was all there, the form open and ready for sign-ups. She would also have paper sign-ups at the community center, and at her studio where she planned to leave the door open while she worked on setting up. Hopefully, word of mouth would spread, and she would have more than just herself staring at a mirror with a ballet barre. Oh, God, she really, really hoped that.

  She went back to her emails and sent the website link once again to the community center and to the mayor’s office, just in case. They already had the link, but now that she could say it was live with the form open, maybe they’d be able to help.

  Just as she was about to close the browser, an incoming email made her pause. She frowned at the subject line that said You and nothing else. It was from an unfamiliar address, but instead of deleting it like she probably should have, she opened it instead. And froze.

  I know what you did.

  She blinked once, twice, then closed her browser and shut off her computer. She could hear her heartbeat echoing in her eardrums as she fought to control her breathing. It was nothing. Just spam that she should have deleted before she even opened the damn email. But something in the back of her mind told her that it wasn’t just a joke; wasn’t just a wrong email.

  There was a reason she had been running all this time.

  And while she wasn’t hiding any longer, she prayed that her past hadn’t once again found her.

  And now she was just being silly over a weird spam email that had nothing to do with her.

  “Melody, darling, thank you so much for my breakfast. Would you like me to make you something?”

  Melody turned at the sound of her grandma’s voice and smiled. Her grandma was larger than life packaged in a barely five-foot, stunning woman. She didn’t appear her age—a number Melody wasn’t sure of. She knew her grandmother had given birth to her mother later in life, and she had to be old enough to at least know the Rat Pack—at least according to local and family legend—but other than that, she honestly did not know how old the other woman was. Not that it mattered in the end, because no matter what, her grandmother was the only family she had left, and that meant she would cherish whatever time they had together. Because even though Grandma Pearl looked as though she could take on armies with her curves and grin, there was a reason Melody had come to Whiskey, and it wasn’t just for her own problems and business.

  “I’m okay with coffee for now, Grandma. Thank you.” Melody set her mug and her computer down on the coffee table and stood up so she could wrap her arms around her grandmother. They were about the same height, but Pearl seemed so much frailer than she had just three months ago. Maybe, though, that was all just in Melody’s head because she was worried and needed to feel needed—selfish as it was.

  “You need something more than coffee,” Pearl said with a raised brow. A brow that had already been perfectly drawn in with precision, Melody knew that it had taken years of practice to get it just right.

  “Oh, I know, and I’m going to get a piece of fruit and maybe some oatmeal or something. Or maybe an egg white since I don’t know if I can stomach oatmeal right now.” Maybe it was just nerves, but her stomach had been out of sorts for the past month or so. She really hoped that once her studio was open and she had people coming in and out the doors, her nerves would finally settle down. But knowing the blood that ran in her veins, that probably wouldn’t ever happen.

  Pearl
patted her cheek and smiled. “Okay, honey, as long as you are taking care of yourself as well as you are taking care of me. I am so happy that you’re here. It’s been a long time since I had someone else walking through these halls who wasn’t just here to help me clean them. Because, Melody, no matter how many times I say I can handle cleaning this monstrosity of a house by myself, I know that, in the end, I need a little help with the elbow grease. Why spend all my days scrubbing toilets by myself when I can ask for little help and enjoy the sun on my face later. I deserve it, don’t I?”

  “Of course, you do.” Her grandma had worked up until a few years ago. Yes, she had retired from her life as a showgirl many moons ago, but her grandma had always held down a job and still volunteered to help others. The family had money, and that was how Pearl had been able to afford this house to begin with, but Melody had learned from her grandmother that even if you had all the money in the world, you still had to learn what that money meant. Her parents, while loving in their own ways, hadn’t taught her that. Instead, they’d put all of their energy into her dancing, and when that career choice hadn’t panned out the way any of them wanted, things had never been the same. And then there wasn’t time to fix that.

  She quickly pushed those thoughts from her mind, knowing that this wasn’t the time to go down that path. She had known when she opened her studio, or at least started the process of it, that those memories would come back in full force, but she wasn’t ready to deal with them. And that meant repressing everything. Her psychiatrist would have a field day when she finally made another appointment, but for now, she would focus on her grandmother, her new business, and this new town.

  She helped her grandma around the house for a little bit and made sure Pearl was set up with her book and a nice cup of tea outside so she could spend the rest of her morning in nature like she had wanted, and then Melody quickly got ready for her day. Since she would be working inside a very dusty studio as the rest of her contract team got everything set up for opening day, she didn’t bother putting on anything too nice. Just old, form-fitting jeans, and a floral top that wasn’t her favorite but would get the job done.

  By the time she made it to her studio, her nerves had settled down, but she was really ready to get elbow-deep in work so she could focus on that instead of her memories and the email from earlier that wouldn’t quite leave her mind.

  Before she could open her door, though, a big man with even bigger muscles stood by her building, a broody expression on his face. She almost went for her keys so she could gouge out his eyes if he attacked her, but she stopped when she saw a familiar smirk on his lips for a bare instant.

  She had seen that smile, but on another face, and she realized she had indeed seen this man before, too. Fox had pointed him out at the bar that fateful night. This was his brother, Loch. She couldn’t quite remember if he was older or younger than Fox, but now that she got closer to him, she saw the similarities in their features. Fox had darker hair and was slightly more slender in build. Plus, Fox never really had that brooding expression on his face, at least not from what she had seen in their too-short time together.

  “Hello? Can I help you?” She pretended as if she didn’t actually know who he was because she wasn’t honestly sure how she and Fox would play this whole thing between them. She wasn’t very good at subterfuge, so she would probably make a mistake and end up telling his brother everything, but at least for an introduction, she might not work herself into circles.

  “Melody, right? The new studio owner? I’m Loch. I own the security firm and the gym next door.”

  “Security and the gym? How do you sleep if you do both?” He just stared at her, and she blinked. “I mean, hi, Loch. Yes, I’m Melody. And you’re standing in front of what eventually will be my dance studio.”

  He gave her a nod, studying her face as if he were memorizing every detail. Fox had done the same, but she knew for a fact that it had been done with very different intent. If Loch were in the so-called security business, he was probably making sure he could pick her out of a lineup. And at that demeaning thought, she let out a breath.

  “Nice to meet you. The gym is my full-time job, I do some training in self-defense and other classes that I thought the town might need over time. And since we are such a small community, I’m the only one qualified right now to add in security systems and other things like that. So, if you want something for your studio, let me know. I know you have the Henderson boys working on your place for contracting. They’re the best of the best, so you chose well there. But if you find yourself in need of a handyman and can’t get into the Hendersons’ schedule, give me a call. I’m right next door.”

  Melody’s eyes widened. “You do all of that? You really are a Jack of all trades.”

  Lock smiled and, this time, it went all the way to his eyes. It made him look a lot hotter, though still not as sexy as Fox. And she needed to stop thinking like that.

  “I started in security years ago before I moved back to town. I opened the gym because I needed a job. The handyman thing came because my brothers and sister and I constantly broke shit when we were kids. Someone needed to figure out how to fix it all so my mother wouldn’t wring our necks. I actually didn’t come over here to sell you my business like I just did, though. I just can’t help myself, apparently.”

  “So why did you come over?” It seemed to her that Loch had a lot of layers, and if she were in a place to deal with that—and hadn’t already slept with his brother and was trying to ignore that connection—she might’ve wanted to figure out how to peel those layers back. But as it was, he was so not for her.

  “Mostly to welcome you to Whiskey. And to say that I don’t know how you’re planning to get clients to your studio—though I figure since you’re opening the business you probably already have a detailed plan—but if you want more business, I have people constantly coming in and out of my gym. I figured we’re both in the same sphere, so we might as well figure out how to work together. I don’t offer dance as a form of exercise or even an art at the gym since I’m not qualified and have two left feet, but if you want, we can work together to try and help out the citizens of Whiskey and each other.”

  She hadn’t been expecting that and couldn’t help the warm feeling that spread through her at the thought of such a welcome. Not a single person had stood in her way so far, and now they were literally opening their arms and trying to help her. She swallowed back a knot of emotion in her throat and tried to smile as if a hundred different things weren’t going through her head at that very moment.

  “Thank you so much. I just opened my sign-up forms today, actually. I haven’t checked if anyone has signed up because I’ve been a little too nervous to look and possibly see it completely empty. But I put up flyers with the mayor and with the community center, too. If you let me, I’ll give you a stack as well for the gym. I don’t know how I could possibly repay you, but I’ll figure out a way.”

  “We’ll make it work. The place that will now be your studio has been reincarnated into a few different things over the years. For once, I would really like it to actually stay and be something the town needs.”

  They talked for a few more minutes, and then she finally walked into her studio after saying goodbye, her nerves even more on edge than usual. It seemed that people were talking about her new dance studio, and she had no idea what that meant. If Loch wanted her to succeed, could that mean that others wanted her to, as well? Or were they just waiting to watch her fail like she had failed at so many other things?

  On that thought, her nerves finally got the best of her, and she ran to her newly finished bathroom, ignoring the looks of the guys working on one of the sections of her studio, and threw up in her pristine toilet.

  Well, at least she had christened it herself thanks to her nerves and whatever had been going on with her stomach for the past month or so. She had moved to town, trying to change her life, and if her body let her, she might just make it work. At
least, she hoped.

  Chapter 5

  Fox loved his job, loved the days when he could focus on his projects and not just other writers’ copy, and he had a feeling today was going to be one of the days he remembered. Always. At least, that’s what he hoped. He’d been working on his research for Ms. Pearl and the piece he wanted to do on her for a few days now, though he’d had the idea for the story for a couple of years. He’d been waiting until the time was right, and Ms. Pearl was ready to share. He’d finished the other two editorials that would go out in the next two weeks since he didn’t write full articles like he was doing now every day. In fact, this would be one of his longest pieces if he had anything to say about it. His goal was to make it like a series for two or even four weeks over the next few months. From what he could tell from what he’d dug up on this woman with such a rich backstory, if she let him, she could be a whole book on her own. Fox didn’t write novels, though, so perhaps he would just make her story a serial that people could come back to.

  All of this, of course, was just in his head until he heard the stories directly from her lips. Until then, he wouldn’t know exactly what he had beyond a short biography.

  His nerves didn’t help matters, and he hadn’t been sleeping well at all since he saw Melody at the bar a few evenings ago. He’d been shocked as hell that she was not only back in town, but, according to Loch, also moving here permanently. Apparently, she was opening up a dance studio next to his brother’s gym. He didn’t know when that decision had happened, but apparently, he should’ve asked more questions. However, at the time, he’d been memorizing every single curve on Melody’s body.

  Jesus, he really needed to get his head out of the gutter and on to his work. Just because she was moving back to town didn’t mean she wanted anything to do with him. And, frankly, he wasn’t sure what he wanted if the option presented itself to him. Their evening together was only supposed to be a single whiskey-filled night. Yet he couldn’t get her out of his mind. And, now, she was in his town, and perhaps in his life permanently. She would be working right next door to his brother. The damn building next door to where he went four times a week to work out. He wasn’t a gym rat, and frankly wasn’t as strong as either of his brothers, but he hated to be left behind. And his sister trained even more than he did thanks to her husband. He was slowly falling behind on the athletic curve, but that was nothing new when it came to him. He’d always been the one in his books and his words while trying to catch up with his gangly arms and legs that he felt were just now getting toned.