A Taste of You (Bourbon Brothers)

by Teri Anne Stanley

  God, he was an asshole.

  Which was exactly why he had to leave. Eve’s feelings might be hurt now, but she’d be better off in the long run. Her mother was right. He was no good, and she had no future with him.

  Please let her see this and go away before he made a fool of himself.

  But he was not so lucky. He deserved to have his face shoved in it a little more. After all, she’d counted on him to help her, and he’d let her believe he was worth her trust. Hell, she’d let him into her house. Into her body.

  Her mouth twisted up, and her eyes were shiny when she nodded, and with an honesty that he’d never be capable of, said, “I knew going into it that we weren’t going to be a long-term thing. I guess I got ahead of myself and started imagining…things.”

  So had he. That was part of the problem.

  “Aw, Eve.” Against his better judgment, he pulled her into his arms. She came, her resistance melting after a second, and she put her arms around his waist, buried her head under his chin. Right where she fucking fit. Right where she couldn’t stay. “This is for the best. Let’s face it. I’m a barely employed carpenter and a drunk who barely finished high school. You—you’re everything I’m not. I bet you had a four point ten G.P.A. in college, and you never go over the legal limit with booze. And you’re heir to a bourbon fortune. I can’t be in your life and my world would extinguish you.”

  She released him and stepped back. Her eyes clearly stated that she thought he was full of shit. But she opened the notebook she still held. “I’ll get out of your way then. Let me know if you need anything, and I’ll try to keep my mother from coming down to direct traffic.”

  And with that she was gone, pushing past Raleigh as he carried a stack of boards back inside.

  “I’m going to use these to start on that carving now. Are these the right ones?” His dad pointed to the lumber outside next to his chair. “They’ve got green sticky notes on ’em.”

  “Yeah,” Nick said. “Just look at the book.” He gestured toward the damned flight plan Eve had made him draw up for every step of the job.

  “Great. Make sure you don’t fuck anything up in here while I’m working outside.” And as his dad shuffled away to sit in the shade with Franklin and his carving knives, Nick wondered how the hell he’d gotten to the place where he was in charge of this job. The next couple of weeks were going to be hell.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Nick didn’t even make it across the Napier County line before his cell phone rang. He sighed and hit the hands-free button on his steering wheel.

  “Where did you put the can of wood polish?” Raleigh asked without preamble.

  “It was empty. I threw it out. Why?”

  “The bar needs another coat.”

  “No it doesn’t,” Nick told him. “I went over every centimeter of it before I left. It’s fine.”

  “It looks like shit, and I’m going to have to redo the whole thing before Mrs. Pain in the Ass McGrath comes down tomorrow morning with her fancy TV people.”

  “It’s fine,” Nick reiterated. “Eve said it was perfect.” Or rather, she’d texted him. She hadn’t actually spoken to him in the two weeks since he’d told her he thought they should cool it. Every time he saw her from a distance, he reminded himself that it was good she wasn’t coming near him, wasn’t talking to him, because he’d have found himself on his knees begging her to forget what he’d said, asking her to give him another chance, swearing his undying fealty, or whatever the hell it was King Arthur’s boys did.

  “She’s a nice kid, but she doesn’t know dick about carpentry,” Raleigh said. “I’m telling you right now, if we don’t add another coat, it’s gonna look like shit and we’re not gonna get paid for this job.”

  That wasn’t going to happen. Eve had sent the last payment already. All that was left to do was for Raleigh to clean up the last of the odds and ends they’d left behind. Nick probably should have done it himself, just to get some…closure, or some shit, but frankly, every day he’d been at Blue Mountain and not been able to talk to Eve, to see her smile, smell her, touch her—each day had been worse than the last. So much so that when an employee had pulled up to the tasting center with the first delivery of bourbon bottles, Nick had considered snagging one for himself. He hadn’t thought of actually drinking in years, and to have that thought pop up at this stage of the game scared the shit out of him. It was time to leave.

  Besides, it was almost time for Mom to start moving stuff into her classroom, and he’d promised her he’d be there.

  So he was on his way back to Knoxville, to the place he hoped he’d be able to find his serenity again. He had a bad feeling, though, that he was going to have to put in some hard time before he got back to a place where he didn’t long for a certain dark-haired Tinkerbell.

  “Well, I’m gonna go get another can of that shit and go over it one more time anyway,” Raleigh finally said.

  “Fine.” It wasn’t necessary, but it wouldn’t hurt anything, either. And if it gave Raleigh something to do, all the better.

  “You sure you won’t come back home and stay until after that big shindig they’re having?” Raleigh asked. “That little gal of yours could probably use a date.”

  “No, Dad. I’ve got to get home to Knoxville.” He wasn’t sure if he was reminding Raleigh, or himself, that Tennessee was his home now, not Kentucky. He didn’t bother pointing out Eve wasn’t his little gal, and since she hadn’t come around for the past couple of weeks, she probably was more than happy to have anyone else in the world as a date than him.

  “Listen, I’ve got to go now. Traffic’s getting heavy,” he lied. “It sounds like you’ve got everything under control there.” He hung up, but in spite of his encouraging words, had a bad feeling about leaving Raleigh to finish up the Blue Mountain job. It was no doubt more about his own unfinished business there, though.

  Eve couldn’t put off going to the tasting center during daylight any longer. For the past couple of weeks, she’d managed to wait until Nick left for the day before she went down to check on things and to help set up the gift shop with Lesa. But now, she needed to go in and make sure the supplies were all ready for the party, and that it was spic and span for tomorrow morning’s grand unveiling before the local news. Sometimes those segments were released over a broader audience, and Blue Mountain could use the exposure, not just for their business, but for the fundraiser.

  Besides, if Eve was honest with herself—and she’d worked long and hard to try to be upfront about her feelings—she couldn’t take not talking to Nick one more day. She’d kept away. She’d forced herself to stay out of his orbit for as long as she could, but knowing he’d be gone in a day or so was like a ticking time bomb. It was a long shot, but she had to talk to him one more time. To see the way the light played with his hair, to bask in his smile. Even if it hurt six million times worse when he rejected her all over again, she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t at least put herself in a place where he could talk to her if he wanted to. In case he’d changed his mind.

  Nick’s truck wasn’t parked in front of the tasting center when she pulled the golf cart around to park it, but that wasn’t unusual. He usually rode with Raleigh, or Raleigh rode with him. Not that she’d watched for him every day of the past two weeks or anything.

  She nodded at the landscaper, who was spreading the last of the mulch around the new bushes near the front porch of the tasting center. The new rocking chairs gleamed and waited for guests to sit a spell while they admired the rolling hills in the distance. A mockingbird called from atop the little ornamental maple next to the steps.

  The place had turned out better than she’d imagined. Better than her dad would have imagined. Lorena hadn’t even had much to gripe about when it came to the building. All of that was due to Nick and his diligent work. He’d followed the spirit of the project through to the last detail. When they had the David and Jamie McGrath Open Barrel Fundraiser in two days, it was
going to be the highlight of everyone’s season; she just knew it. Lorena would collect more money than she imagined and do more good for more people. Not all due to Nick, of course, but he deserved a huge part of the thanks. If he hadn’t agreed to help her in her hour of need, she wouldn’t be looking forward to this grand opening party so much.

  Country music was playing on the old boom box on the bar when Eve went inside, but only Raleigh was in the main room, fussing with something next to his toolbox.

  “Hi, Mr. Baker,” she said.

  He jumped. “Oh, hello, Miss Eve. I was just getting a few things together before I put one last coat of polish on things.”

  “Another coat?” she asked. “Isn’t that gilding the lily? It already looks great.”

  “I’m just not satisfied yet,” he told her. “I’ll just give it another once-over to make sure it’s good.”

  “Oh.” She didn’t know what to say, then. She looked through the open door to the gift shop and didn’t see anyone there.

  “He left,” Raleigh said. “He decided he was done here and scurried back to his mama just a couple of hours ago.”

  A tsunami of disappointment knocked her back a step, but she forced herself to hold on to some dignity and said, “That’s too bad. I wanted to thank him for his hard work.”

  Raleigh snorted. “Whatever.”

  She looked closer at the old man—his expression was tighter than she’d ever seen it. A muscle ticked in his jaw. He was devastated that Nick was gone. She wasn’t alone in her loss, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

  Nick and his dad hadn’t managed to bridge their differences after all. She’d have thought working together so closely might have allowed Nick to put aside his resentment for the way his dad had messed up his childhood, and that Raleigh might have been able to see where Nick was coming from—why he’d felt he’d had to live with his mom and not stay to help his father in his business.

  “Well, then, I’d like to thank you for doing such a good job,” she said, though it sounded lame.

  “No problem. Thank you for keeping your mother out of our hair.”

  “I just wanted to check and make sure everything’s ready for tomorrow’s big media unveiling.”

  “It will be in a couple of hours,” he told her, holding up a big can with a brush sticking out of it. “I’ll finish this up and clear on out.”

  There was really nothing more to say then, was there?

  Her phone buzzed with a message from Allie.

  Come on, we’ve got to get to the salon.

  Of course. Allie had managed to provide one last Lorena distraction—a spa night so she didn’t spend the last night before her big party driving everyone crazy with last minute details. By the time they got home tonight, their mother would be massaged and facialed and mani-pedied into total relaxation. At least until first thing tomorrow, when the news crew arrived.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Do you want this frappucino? They accidentally made me one with caffeine, so they gave it to me anyway when they did one the right way.” Allie thunked the enormous green and white container of calories and caffeine on the kitchen counter in front of Eve.

  Of course she wanted it. With a grateful sigh, she grabbed it with both hands and drank deeply.

  “Whoa!” Allie commented. “You didn’t even ask if it’s skinny or regular.”

  “I don’t care. I’m desperate.” Spa night might have worked for Allie and her mother, but Eve was exhausted. She hadn’t been able to sleep more than fifteen minutes at a time last night. Every time she drifted off, she had a nightmare. Either something went terribly wrong at the fundraiser or something was terribly wrong with Nick, and she was too far away to help him. She tried to remind herself that he wasn’t her problem, but she’d drift off again, and there he’d be, lost in the woods or being chased by high-heeled bartenders in fishnet stockings.

  “We’re in the home stretch,” Allie reminded her. “You don’t need to look so worried. Everything’s going perfectly.”

  Eve flipped a page in her planner. Even having the next two days filled to the minute wasn’t helping her stay focused right now. There was something she should have done this morning already, but she hadn’t written it down.

  “Oh, hey. They’re here!”

  Well, whatever it was, it was too late now. The news people had just pulled onto the property.

  “Are you ready?” she asked Allie.

  “Oh no. I’m not doing this. No TV for me. Not until the Creature from Loch Gargantua lets my body free.” Allie patted her stomach and its resident giant monster affectionately.

  “I’m not going to be on, either. But we do have to be there to answer questions. Mom has the party program memorized, but if she has to go off script, she’ll freeze.”

  “Evelyn? Allegra? Why are you still here? Shouldn’t you be down at the tasting center?” Lorena’s heels clipped crisply on the kitchen floor as she tucked an earring into one ear. Her lipstick was perfect, not a wrinkle in her linen suit.

  “Wow, Mom, you look fancy,” Allie said.

  “This is an important event,” she said, eyeing Allie’s yoga pants and stretched out USMC T-shirt. “Someone has to take things seriously here.”

  “I’ll drive the golf cart,” Allie said, snatching the keys off of the hook by the back door. “You can tell everyone I’m the soon-to-be-unemployed chauffeur.”

  The drive to the tasting center was mercifully short, and they arrived just as the news crew was disembarking from their satellite van.

  “Eve, will you make sure that the inside of the center’s ready for guests?” her mother asked before turning to smile warmly at the reporter. Lorena loved this part of things. She was really in her element, greeting the news people and schmoozing, showing off Blue Mountain Distilling and her charity work. For all of her quirks, her mom had it going on there.

  Mr. Baker’s truck was still parked in the lot. Had he forgotten something? They’d returned from the spa so late last night, she hadn’t come down to check that he’d finished his last coat of whatever, but surely he hadn’t stayed all night to do it?

  The inside of the tasting center was dark when she entered. The windows were shuttered, so it was hard to see much beyond outlines.

  “Mr. Baker?” she called. “It’s Eve. The news people are here. Mr. Baker? Raleigh?”

  The smell of bourbon from the emptied barrels they’d used for part of the cabinetry was even stronger than usual, held in by the closed-up building, competing with a chemical smell. Some sort of cleaning solvent, she supposed.

  “Rrrow! Rrrow!” Franklin appeared from the utility room, where he took his naps.

  “Where’s your dad?” she asked, hoisting the little guy into her arms. He licked her face and panted.

  The front door of the tasting center opened, admitting light and the voice of her mother— “And if you’ll come in here, you’ll see that— Oh, dear.” She laughed. “You’ll see that our lighting system still has some kinks. Eve?”

  “Yeah, Mom. I’ve got it.”

  “If you’d like to come on in, we can have a grand unveiling.” Lorena coaxed the news team inside.

  Eve worked her way around the bar and felt for the switch. She kicked something—something heavy—along with glass that clattered across the plank flooring.

  The sound of the empty bottle faded, followed by a groan from somewhere in the middle of the room.

  What the—

  There was that light switch. She hit it just as the cameraman turned on his spotlights, showing her, and the whole central Kentucky viewing audience, the barely conscious form of Raleigh Baker, right before he vomited all over her mother’s feet.

  Nick was just carrying the first of his mother’s dozens of boxes of classroom supplies into the building when his phone rang. He put the box down and looked at the Kentucky area code. Not his father or Eve—not that he’d expected to hear from her. Or hoped. He’d been second-guessing himself ab
out leaving since he’d gotten in his truck yesterday, and he needed to get over that.

  This call was from Mason. Who he hadn’t said good-bye to. Again. Another person he’d managed to fail without even trying.

  “Are you going to get that?” his mother asked, shuffling into the room with a stack of file folders under one arm, her always-present cane in the other hand.

  “I guess.” He pushed the button. “Hey.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. I’m sorry. I just had to make another hasty escape. I meant to call you before I left town, but—”

  “That’s not what I mean. You’re an asshole, but I have your phone number now, so I can harass you anytime I want. No, I meant about your dad and that Blue Mountain shit.”

  A chill ran down his spine. He’d deliberately not called his dad last night when he got home, knowing that if he did, Raleigh would just complain at him for leaving. “What are you talking about?”

  “You don’t know?”

  “Obviously not. You wanna clue me in before I jump through the phone and shake the hell out of you?”

  “Fuck.” The curse was almost under Mason’s breath. “Can you get YouTube on your phone?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Look up ‘Bourbon lady meltdown’ and call me back.”

  “Shit.” He tried to pull up the app, but the school’s wifi blocked it, and his 4G wasn’t working in there, either. “Mom, do you have some way to get YouTube on your desktop?”

  He made his way to his mom’s desk, where she was entering a ridiculously long string of characters to get free of the child-proof blocks the school used to keep its kindergarteners from watching porn.

  “What are we looking for?” she asked him, concern in her eyes.

  “I’m not sure I want to know, but I have a feeling I need to find out. It’s about Dad. Something happened since yesterday.” He typed in the search terms then hesitated. “You sure you want to see this?”