Maybe for You--A Whiskey and Weddings Novel

by Nicole McLaughlin

  “Ready to go?” he asked quietly.

  She nodded. Once they were inside she dug through her purse and pulled out a credit card. “Here, use this at the parking toll.”

  He started up the engine and placed his hand behind her on the headrest as he looked over his shoulder and backed out. “I got it.”

  “Uh, no. You were in short-term parking for over three hours. It’s going to cost a fortune.”

  As he put the vehicle in drive, he looked her in the eye. “I got this, Alex.”

  She sighed in mock annoyance, silently vowing to pay him back in another way. Jake was sweet and having him as a friend over the past year had been a surprisingly critical part of her healing process. Who’d have thought the playboy of the Stag group would be her new BFF. But that’s sort of what he’d become. It had started the night of the uncasking party last July when he’d made sure she wasn’t alone and then let her cry on his shoulder. Most guys would have been horrified by a sobbing woman grieving a dead fiancé, but he’d been there for her, even if it had been because she was Dean’s little sister and it was the right thing to do.

  After that, when she’d left, they’d started messaging. Slowly at first, she’d share photos of her new place, the town and the base, and then eventually her visits to other cities on the weekends. She felt free to tell him when she’d had a particularly sad day, which had been most days in the beginning. He’d listen to her talk about her feelings, about Nathan and their relationship, and all without trying to fix it or tell her she should move on. In fact, his lack of concrete advice was one of the things she loved about talking with him. He’d always encouraged her to trust herself and her own feelings.

  On the flip side, he’d update her about the Stag and his dating life, and ask her opinion on marketing social media posts and such. Gradually it built into a several-times-a-week correspondence. A little broken sometimes based on the time difference or what the other one had going on, but for the most part they’d been consistent. She didn’t think they’d gone more than three days or so without speaking for the past year.

  “You still want to surprise your brother at work?” Jake asked as he merged onto the highway to make the forty-five-minute drive south to Maple Springs.

  “Yes. I think that will be fun. He has no idea, right?”

  “None at all.” Jake said, staring out the windshield. “In fact, yesterday he mentioned how he wouldn’t be in next Wednesday because he had to pick you up from the airport.”

  Alex laughed. “Perfect. That’s what I told him when we Skyped last week. I hated to lie to him, but I’m just so excited for him to be surprised.” She glanced out the window, watching houses and farmland go by. “It’s so nice to be back here. Kind of weird though. I’m a little nervous to stay at Charlotte’s.”

  She looked at Jake and saw his eyes narrow. “How come? Charlotte’s cool.”

  “She is. I like her a lot. It’s just … now that Dean has moved in with her, it just kind of feels like I’m crashing. I don’t know. Before, when I’d come home to visit and stay with Dean, it was like home. But this will just be different.”

  “I get what you’re saying. But you know Charlotte is happy to have you stay.”

  “I hope so. She did seem excited the last time we talked. She kept telling me not to rush to find a place, that I could stay as long as I needed. But now I’ll get to inform them that it’s three months until I go back to Arlington. Too short to get my own place but a long stay as a guest.”

  She noticed Jake’s hand grip the steering wheel harder. “When are you going to tell your brother about this job?”

  Alex sighed and let her head fall back on the rest. “I haven’t decided yet. I need to do it soon because it won’t be fair to keep him in the dark knowingly. Plus he’ll wonder why I’m not making plans or looking for work. But I know he’s going to be disappointed.”

  “Yeah, he will. But I agree with you that sooner is better than later. He’ll get over it. It’s not like you guys can’t visit. Right?” He smiled at her quickly before looking back at the road.

  “Exactly. That’s what I’m going to tell him.”

  Before long they were parking down the street from the Stag. The front side of the building was mostly windows, so she and Jake had agreed that it would be best to park farther away to keep out of sight. He got out of the car first and headed down the sidewalk. The plan was for him to keep Dean out of the main room until she came in and surprised him.

  After waiting about five minutes, she left the Jeep and followed the same path Jake had taken. Once inside the Stag, she inhaled the yeasty scent of fermenting alcohol. Glancing over at the front desk, she saw a grinning Jen who tiptoed around the counter and gave her a hug.

  “He’s going to die,” Jen whispered. “Such a great idea.”

  “I hope he agrees,” Alex whispered in reply.

  Jen waved a hand. “He’ll love it. Even if he acts annoyed.” She nodded toward the hall. “Want me to call him out here?”

  Alex nodded. “Sure.”

  Just as Jen made her way back to her desk, Jake came down the hallway that led to their offices. He grinned at her and nodded at Jen, who opened her mouth and yelled, “Dean, I need your help.”

  There was no reply, and they all chuckled as Jen rolled her eyes. “Typical,” she mouthed. Then yelled even louder than before. “Dean!”

  “What?” He answered, clearly annoyed.

  “I need your help with something.”

  “You’ll have to wait a minute, Jen.” He called down the hall, “Where’s TJ? He’s supposed to be at your beck and call.”

  TJ came down the hall just then. “This one requires your expertise, man. Get out here.”

  “Is there a reason we’re all screaming like children?” Dean yelled.

  The old brick building carried voices well due to the tile floor and exposed ducting, and Alex swore she could hear Dean’s deep sigh and the creaking of his desk chair.

  “Here he comes,” Jen said, stepping back around the desk.

  The minute he came out of the hallway his eyes went straight to the front desk, so Alex called out, “Surprise!”

  His gaze darted to her and his mouth dropped open. “Alex?” His voice was a mix of shock and excitement. She was so happy to see him she rushed toward him, ignoring his question. “How did you get here?”

  The minute they collided she wrapped her arms around his torso and he pulled her close. “Holy shit, how did this happen?” he asked.

  “Teach you not to answer my calls for help,” Jen said behind them.

  Dean’s chest shook with laughter and he squeezed Alex tighter. “Somebody tell me what’s going on here.”

  She pulled back and looked at him. “I’m home!”

  “Well, yeah. But how? I thought you were coming next week.”

  “I wanted to surprise you.” She nodded toward the quiet man standing off to the side watching, hands in his pockets. “Jake picked me up.”

  Dean’s eyebrows nearly hit the ceiling. “Jake?” He looked over his shoulder at Jake, who just shrugged. “How did you arrange that?”

  Alex went for light, not ready to explain that Jake was her new bestie. “I asked him on Facebook.”

  Dean shook his head and hugged her again. “Okay. Well, this is a surprise. I guess I’m just glad you’re home safe.”

  “Happy surprise?” she asked, knowing that Dean wasn’t a big fan of things out of his control. But sometimes even the most type-A personalities needed a little excitement and something unexpected.

  “Very happy. I’ve been waiting for you to finally move home a long time.”

  Alex smiled and met gazes with Jake, who raised an eyebrow. “Me too,” she said.

  She’d tell him about her job soon. But right now was a time for happiness. Something she desperately needed to feel.

  *   *   *

  The following Monday Jake overslept, something he rarely did. For some reason he’d
struggled to fall asleep the night before, so he’d ended up watching television until nearly two in the morning. Also something he never did, but he’d been feeling a little off lately.

  He walked in to the Stag an hour later than he normally did and gave Jen a muttered “Good morning” before heading to his office. Before he made it to the doorway, he passed TJ’s office, and his best friend hollered at him.

  Jake backed up and peeked in. “Hey.”

  “Where you been?” TJ asked. There was no accusation in his tone, just mere curiosity. As co-owners, the three of them were careful not to make the others feel like they answered to one another. That had been working, for the most part, although lately he’d noticed TJ and Dean chatting together more frequently.

  “Slept in this morning.”

  “Up late?” TJ asked, eyebrow raised. Jake knew exactly what his friend was insinuating, probably because normally he’d be spot on. Today, however, it just pissed him off.

  “No,” Jake said a little too tersely as he sat down in the chair in front of TJ’s desk.

  TJ stared at him a moment.

  “What’s up? You need something?” Jake asked, not in the mood for small talk. He was still tired and had shit to do.

  “Actually, I do.” TJ clicked with his mouse, staring at his computer screen full of Excel files and all manner of screens that Jake wouldn’t understand. As the geek-in-residence, TJ was the business-and-money brains behind the Stag. Made sure they were profitable, paid their bills, and kept track of anything that had to do with numbers. Dean was in charge of product production, knowing the ins and outs of the distilling process. He was also assisted by their newest member, John.

  As for his part of the process, Jake was the marketing and publicity guy. He dealt with their website and social media and did promotional tours. Nothing that required a high IQ or a Master’s degree, thank goodness. He’d lucked out with this job. At least that’s what his parents liked to say. Most of his school career he’d been told he probably wouldn’t go to college and would need to learn a skill to have a decent future. His high school guidance counselor had encouraged him to apply to trade schools or find an apprenticeship. There was nothing wrong with any of that, but he’d resented the fact that no one pushed him to do more. Or even thought he was capable of it.

  Thanks to a solid pitching arm and an amazing senior season, he’d gone to a state college on a baseball scholarship. For a couple of years, anyway. But he knew his parents were right. If it wasn’t for his friendship with TJ, and the two of them meeting Dean, he would probably be doing manual labor or working retail somewhere. So while he was grateful, he sometimes felt a little paranoid. And bitter.

  “Everything okay?” He asked TJ.

  “Yeah,” TJ said, but the way his brows narrowed had Jake worried. “But there is something I need to talk to you about.”

  Jake inhaled, his pulse picking up speed. He folded his hands together. “Okay.”

  TJ rested his elbows on the desk, and it occurred to Jake that he really wasn’t crazy about this setup. TJ in his favorite attire of dress shirt and pressed slacks, sitting behind his desk, while Jake sat on the other side like he was ready to take a tongue lashing from the principal. This exact scenario was a solid part of his youth that he hated to recall, although his well-honed charm had usually been his saving grace. These days that usually only benefited him in one arena, and this wasn’t it.

  “First thing is, I just took a call from the mayor of Olmstead, Tennessee.”

  Jake’s brow furrowed. “What for?”

  “I don’t know if you saw it on the news back in May, but they suffered a tornado that practically leveled their tiny town.”

  “In Tennessee? Wow, that’s awful. I don’t recall hearing about it.”

  “They’re doing a benefit concert on August seventeenth. Since it’s located so near to Nashville, several local musicians are performing, and a couple of big names have agreed to headline. Anyway, the mayor wants to have a reception the night before to honor all the first responders who came from around the area. He’s asking for free liquor to be shipped, but I feel like we can do better.”

  “You want me to add it to my trip,” Jake said, catching on, and starting to feel a little relieved. Why had he been so paranoid about his place in this business lately?

  “Yeah, I figured it made sense, seeing as you’ll be there around that same time. You can be there to serve the people directly. I’m happy to help out, but I’m not against using this for marketing.”

  Jake nodded. “I agree. I’ll do it then.”

  TJ went on. “Problem is, he said they’re expecting about two hundred people. That’s a lot.”

  “I’ll make it happen. No big deal.”

  TJ’s eyebrows raised. “You don’t think you should have help?”

  Jake hesitated, his thumbs rolling around each other. “I’ve never taken help before.”

  “I know. I just … well, we could hire someone there. To serve and help.”

  “I can handle it, TJ.”

  TJ backed down, putting a hand up. “Okay, it’s just, this will be the final leg of your tour, which as you know is the biggest tour you’ve done so far. You’re gonna be tired. It will have been a long two weeks.”

  “Why are you so worried about me this time? I’ve handled things just fine until now.” This would be his fourth trip in their Stag Wagon. A fifth-wheel RV they’d purchased and renovated a couple of years ago. It had proven to be a great investment since they not only used it for these tours, but sometimes parked it around town for brand exposure, and even used it for local events around Kansas City.

  So far Jake had taken it through the South, up to Chicago, around Texas, and even to Denver. His traveling had gotten them a lot of new accounts—liquor stores and restaurants and bars—and even more customers over the years. It was just a great marketing gimmick and kept their social media accounts interesting and popular. That was all his doing, and rarely did the other guys mention or notice what he’d brought to the business, both being so caught up in their own jobs.

  “I know you’ve always handled things amazingly.” TJ looked down, and Jake could tell by the way his desk was vibrating that his friend was bouncing his leg up and down. A classic TJ sign of nervousness.

  “What’s going on, man?” Jake asked.

  Blowing out a hard breath, TJ looked up at him. “I got a call the other day from Amanda Frye of Favorite Entertainment.”

  “What about? I just talked to her last week about this weekend. Did she ask for you?” Jake said, completely confused. He usually dealt with all the booking agents and event contacts for his trips. Amanda was kind of a ball-buster, but he’d always gotten along okay with her, considering she did events in Memphis and Nashville.

  “She asked to speak with the owner. You were gone, apparently picking up Alex, and Dean was in the distilling room. So Jen gave it to me.”

  He was going to try not to be offended that she didn’t realize he was an owner. “What did she want? Everything is square for that event in Memphis this weekend.”

  “Well … she wanted to bring to our attention that she’d received complaints from your last two events with her.”

  “What?” Jake said, eyes wide. “Complaints about what?”

  “What do you think, Jake?” TJ said, and his tone was so full of condemnation that Jake felt like hitting something. He could think of only one thing, but he didn’t want to say it. He leaned forward and looked at the floor.

  “Apparently, Chuck Ross caught wind that his daughter had been spending time with you when you came for the Boots and Beer Festival. He is the main donor for that event.”

  “Yeah, I follow,” Jake said, feeling sick to his stomach. He put out his hands. “So I slept with his daughter. She’s an adult. How did he even find this out?”

  “Hell if I know,” TJ said. “Maybe she told him.”

  “No way. Can you imagine a daughter saying something like that?
”

  TJ gave him a long look. “You’ve met the people I grew up with, TJ. I don’t put anything past anybody. People do crazy shit. But the point is, we’ve known this is a problem.”

  Jake’s head jerked back. “We have? And who do you mean by we? You and Dean?”

  “No, all of us. You can’t deny that you’ve had a hell of a good time on these tours the past few years. It’s obvious by the social media posts that you’re drawing in a crowd of ladies.”

  “And that’s a problem?” Jake asked. He knew he was getting defensive, but every time he went on a tour, their online following jumped by the thousands.

  “We’ve never really sat down and discussed what we want our online branding and social media presence to look like. It’s just sort of happened organically.”

  Jake froze. “So what you’re saying is, I haven’t done my job well.”

  “No.” TJ shook his head. “That is not what I’m saying. Not at all. You’re great and you know it. It’s just that … I went over our social media accounts this morning. It’s a lot of bikinis, drunk women, and good times.”

  Wow. So he had taken an interest—when someone complained. Interesting. “Did you happen to see that our Instagram alone has over three hundred and seventy thousand followers? And I’m not sure if you understand something.” Jake was pissed now. “We sell hard liquor. People drink it and they often get drunk. Our business name is the Stag and it’s run by three single guys.”

  “Not anymore,” TJ said flatly.

  “Ah, so is that what this is about?” Jake asked. He laughed bitterly, running a hand over his chin and down his neck. “I’m now the lone bachelor who is ruining the brand by fucking around and having a good time. Is that it? Are we now supposed to become the classy drink of pussy-whipped douchebags everywhere?”