Bourbon Springs Box Set: Volume II, Books 4-6 (Bourbon Springs Box Sets Book 2)

by Jennifer Bramseth

  “Pepper wasn’t happy, but there’s nothing to be done about it. Problem with some survey, but we got it resolved. Now everything’s a few weeks later than we anticipated. Give me about ten or fifteen minutes, and I’ll take you up on your lunch offer.”

  Jon told Drake to come and find him in his office on the second floor.

  In the meantime, Jon decided to make his own phone call. But then he stopped.

  He couldn’t tell his mother that Pepper was going to have to move into an apartment. She was now technically a firm client and he owed her a duty of confidentiality. He couldn’t talk about her housing problem with anyone but her.

  So he called her.

  “Yes, I have to get an apartment,” Pepper said. “Something about an easement or a boundary that they have to get nailed down. I don’t know. All I know is that it’s a pain in the ass because I’m going to have to move twice instead of once.”

  She was exasperated and snippy, but Jon couldn’t blame her. Pepper told him she was in the middle of boxing up some of the last of her things and was waiting on the moving truck.

  “Pepper, call my mom,” Jon implored her. “When she finds out that you’re in this mess but didn’t call her, she’ll be hurt.”

  “I don’t want to impose, Jon. I’ve done enough of that for the past twenty-odd years.”

  “C’mon, call her,” he coaxed.

  “And if I don’t, you’ll call her. I get it.”

  “No, I can’t.” He explained how she was a firm client and he couldn’t talk about something as simple as her moving plans. “It relates to the firm’s representation of you—the closing—that you’re in this situation, and I’m not going to—”

  “Go ahead and call whomever you want,” Pepper said in a tone that signaled surrender. “You have my permission, not that I think you needed it. Find me a place to live for the next two weeks other than the dive I rented.”

  Jon smiled at his little victory and promised to call her back soon. But when he called his mother, he discovered she had the flu. She’d been to the doctor that morning, and the diagnosis had been confirmed.

  Flummoxed, he then had what he considered to be one of the more inspired ideas of his life.

  “Hannah? Jon Buckler. Hope I didn’t interrupt your lunch.”

  “Not bloody likely. I’ll be lucky to grab a bite today. We’re still crazy with tourists wanting to see the place where the baby was born.” She filled him in on how later that week they were installing engraved floorboards on the site where Jacob Elijah Craft had been born amid the mash tubs less than two months earlier. “I really have no cause to complain. Business is wonderful but wearing us out. So I hope you’re calling me with some good news.”

  “Actually, I have a favor to ask.” He explained Pepper’s dilemma. “I don’t know if you have any room up there at your house to let her stay for two weeks, but if you do, I would think it would be a great way to get off to a new start with your new neighbor across the road.”

  He didn’t mention Pepper’s idea about joint tours, even though Pepper had told him the idea when she hadn’t been a firm client. Jon didn’t feel right about making the revelation, and hoped that Hannah and Pepper would just naturally hit it off.

  “Sure we have room,” Hannah said. “There’s a suite on the first floor we rarely use. Pepper’s welcome to it for however long she needs it. And I’d love to get to know Old Garnet’s new neighbor! It will be great to have someone actually living on the property.”

  Jon and Hannah talked briefly about the logistics of getting Pepper to Hannah’s house and where to put her few items of furniture and packed boxes. Hannah said there was ample room in her three-car garage since she and Kyle only had two vehicles. Exceedingly pleased with the success of his mission, Jon said he’d call Pepper and convey the invitation. “I can’t stay with Hannah Davenport!” Pepper protested. “I barely know her!”

  “Well, Mom is sick so that’s out. So unless you want to move to that dive you were talking about or move in with me for the next two weeks, I think you’d better take Hannah Davenport up on her hospitality.”

  “Move in with you? You’d let me do that?”

  “If you want,” he said, surprised she’d even noticed his offer.

  “Thank you,” Pepper said softly.

  “Well, is that what you want to do? I’d need to clean up the—”

  “No, no,” Pepper interrupted him. “If Hannah’s offering and has plenty of room, best not to upset your tidy little world.”

  “You’re making a mighty big assumption about the level of cleanliness at my house,” he joked.

  “Then all the more reason to go to Hannah’s. But thanks for the offer. I mean it.”

  “You’re welcome. And I’ll be over soon to help you get out to Hannah’s.”

  “What? You don’t have to do that.”

  “Actually, I think I do. See you soon.”

  “No, wait. The moving truck won’t be here for another two hours. That’s when I’ll really need a hand. So if you’re hell-bent on helping me, at least show up when you’ll be helpful.”

  Jon promised he’d be there. As he hung up, Drake appeared in his office ready for lunch.

  “Over a Barrel?” Drake asked.

  “No, The Rickhouse,” Jon said, recalling how he’d taken Harriet there her first day at the firm.

  Jon wanted to get to know Drake since they would be working together and Over a Barrel wasn’t the best spot for quiet conversation. They were quickly seated.

  “So how’d it work out with the closing problem?” Jon asked as the server took their menus.

  “Got it resolved but still delayed. They wanted another two weeks beyond the two weeks they already delayed the thing, but I raised hell. Pepper won’t be happy, but at least she won’t have to stay at some dinky apartment for an entire month.”

  “She won’t have to stay in any apartment.” He explained how he’d made arrangements for Pepper to stay with Hannah and Kyle. “Want me to tell her when I see her? I’m going over this afternoon to help her move.”

  “Yeah, tell her, by all means,” Drake said. He seemed annoyed.

  “What did I say?”

  “Sorry. I just wish I could’ve done that for her.”

  “Well, I know Pepper and I know Hannah. I thought my mother could do it, but she has the flu.”

  “She’ll think I’m stupid for not being able to help her.”

  “Of course she won’t,” Jon said, not understanding why Drake seemed upset about the situation. “Look, I didn’t mean to interfere. I know she’s your client, so if I did something to offend you or cause a problem, I’m sorry.”

  “No, no, it’s not that. The problem is that Pepper is my client.”

  “How could Pepper be a problem as a client? She just won a big chunk of money, has tons of legal work to do, and is a nice person.”

  “But that’s exactly it,” Drake admitted. “I think Pepper’s nice. Very nice, in fact.”

  “Oh.” Jon fidgeted with his silverware, which was wrapped in a dark red napkin.

  “I guess someone should know this—it’s not like I want to talk to Bruce about it. I don’t think he’d understand,” Drake said, glancing around the restaurant.

  Jon sighed. “If you’re going where I think you’re going, you’re right. He definitely would not understand. The firm just went through this sort of thing with Harriet and Goose. That problem resolved itself with an ethics opinion and when Harriet finally left the firm. But if you’re saying you’re interested in Pepper, Bruce is not going to like it. At all.”

  Drake shifted in the booth and leaned forward.

  “Okay, I’ll just put it out there. I asked Pepper out a few times over the past few months—before she won the lottery. We’ve done some volunteer work together out at the animal shelter and at the state nature preserve along Old Crow Creek. But she blew me off—nice, but still turned me down. And then out of the blue she calls and wants me to
represent her after she’s got all this money! At first I was flattered, now I’m incredibly frustrated. It’s nice being around her—but I’m just too damned distracted by her sometimes, you know?”

  “I guess,” Jon said and looked down at the table. He didn’t like the idea of anyone else being interested in Pepper, although he hadn’t been that bothered when she’d gotten married years ago. But his feelings had decidedly changed.

  “I still have a lot of work to do for her.” Drake leaned back in the booth and ran a hand over his face. “The closing isn’t done on the farm, and I’m still setting up the foundation to run the new facility, although that should be done fairly soon, actually. What I don’t get is why she didn’t go to you, Jon. I’ve been dying to ask you that question. Haven’t you known each other since you were teens? I remember you guys in school—you two were a few years older than me—and I saw you together a lot.”

  “We’ve been friends all our lives and close friends since her dad’s trouble.”

  Drake nodded in understanding. Almost every Bourbon Springs native knew of Walt Montrose’s disbarment, imprisonment, and abandonment of his family.

  “So why didn’t she hire you?”

  “I guess it’s my time to come clean.” Jon told Drake how he’d angered Pepper when she’d called him after her big lottery win. “Bruce doesn’t know, okay? So you know my secret and I know yours.”

  “So she didn’t hire you because you pissed her off? Damn. The woman can hold a grudge.”

  “You’re telling me.”

  “But you’re going out to help her move today?” Drake asked, apparently realizing that the two images didn’t quite align. “Are you trying to make it up to her?”

  “Something like that, I guess.”

  The truth was that he wanted to make amends with Pepper, but he also simply wanted to see her again. Part of him felt like a jerk for listening to Drake’s confessions when he was secretly harboring even stronger romantic sentiments for his long-time friend. In the past weeks, his feelings had intensified along with his frustrations. He still had no idea how to approach Pepper about his change of heart.

  “Look, if you two are on the mend, why don’t you take her on as a client instead of me? The conflict doesn’t attach to someone else in the firm. It’s personal to the attorney who is or wants to be involved with a client.”

  “You think I can change Pepper’s mind?” Jon asked and laughed. “You don’t know her very well, do you?”

  “I think that was the entire point of this conversation,” Drake muttered, “and that I’d like to get to know her a lot better. But I get your point. Set in her ways, huh?”

  “Yes. Very. Thought you would’ve picked up on that by now since she’s your client.”

  “I’ve seen it,” Drake admitted.

  “Look, even if I somehow magically got Pepper to agree that I take over her legal work, that doesn’t mean she’ll go out with you. I’ve heard her say that she’d never date an attorney. I can’t really blame her, after what happened with her dad.”

  “So she really can hold a grudge. She’s holding one against the entire legal profession.”

  “That’s a good way to put it.”

  “So what do I do?” Drake asked as the salads were served.

  Jon was taken aback by such a direct plea for advice. And he was torn.

  Because he had his own little personal conflict of interest going on inside his gut and heart.

  Not that he was about to reveal it to Drake, even if he was his law partner.

  He decided to point out the impracticalities of Drake’s infatuation.

  “If you go after her, do you realize that the firm could lose Pepper as a client completely?” Jon asked as he picked up a fork and prepared to attack his salad. “Because once you say you’re interested in her, you’re done with the representation. But that doesn’t mean she’ll accept Bruce or me as a substitute.”

  Drake shrugged. “Well, maybe I can bide my time and hope no one else comes along for her. But it’ll be damned hard. She’s…”

  A smile slowly snaked its way across Drake’s face. And Jon didn’t like that smile.

  He realized at that moment that Drake should get out of the representation; he was too distracted by Pepper, and that wouldn’t be good. Drake needed to concentrate on his client’s legal needs, not his own very personal needs.

  But Jon didn’t believe that Pepper would go out with Drake, and feared that she’d leave the firm rather than have him do her work. Jon hadn’t forgotten her words about being the unluckiest guy in Bourbon Springs, and he really didn’t want Bruce to find out what he’d done to lose her as a client.

  Yet losing Pepper as client had a very big advantage.

  It meant he was free to pursue her.

  Not that he’d tried anything or even knew how. To make such a move would likely freak her out. He’d been trying to think of the right way to talk about how he was starting to feel about her, but anything he rehearsed inside his head sounded stupid and trite. The scenarios he played in his mind usually ended up with her being shocked and saying they really needed to stay friends or with her laughing in his face. His little daydreams never quite concluded with a kiss—or more.

  So he was going to bide his time too, and hope that maybe their time had finally come.

  In short, he was putting his hope in change, and the power of change over time. That was a concept with which any resident of Bourbon Springs was familiar.

  It takes a few days to distill the mash into the white dog, and it takes years to age that white dog into Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey.

  Only then is the heat of the spirit finally felt and appreciated, after the bottle is unstoppered and that smooth bourbon glides across the tongue and the liquid warmth slips down the throat, blossoming into an internal hug through the chest.

  Jon could only hope that Pepper wouldn’t make him drink alone.

  4

  Pepper stood in the middle of her kitchen, fists on hips, looking at the taped-up boxes and anxious for Jon and the moving van to arrive. It was still early, but she was nervous and had no idea what to expect when it came to getting all her stuff into Hannah’s garage.

  She didn’t know Hannah well, but she’d always been friendly when they’d run into each other in the grocery or other places around town. She’d known Hannah since she was a teenager; Pepper had been a tour guide at Old Garnet a few summers during high school and college and had often seen Hannah around the distillery during those days. Most recently, she’d helped Hannah adopt a new cat for the distillery, a cream tabby now called Mash. Yet Hannah wasn’t exactly a friend, so for her to open her home to someone who was basically a stranger was remarkably generous.

  Pepper took the elastic out of her hair and resecured it into a ponytail, marveling at Jon’s hand in the arrangement. If Hannah’s offer of a home for two weeks was extraordinary, Jon’s ability to secure her such a spot was equally so.

  And Pepper was grateful although suspicious. She knew Jon was trying to make nice with her after losing her as a client. She figured since Drake was joining Colyard and Borden, it was only a matter of time before Jon wanted to do legal work for her. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that idea, considering how snotty he’d been to her at a time in her life when he should’ve been there to support and celebrate with her. Nevertheless, Pepper was willing to entertain the idea. Her exasperation with him was wearing away with the passage of time. She supposed that was the gradual process of forgiveness.

  She smiled when she thought of Jon and how she was messing with him, just a little bit. Teasing him was fun and familiar; he should expect it from her. Perhaps they could start working on smoothing out the rougher edges of their relationship.

  Because the truth was that she missed him.

  She’d been pleased when he asked her to accompany him to Bo and Lila’s wedding, and at that event he’d been the Jon she remembered: fun, comfortable, familiar.

&nbs
p; But something had been off at Christmas. He’d acted like he wanted to talk to her, but they never had a chance for a moment alone. Her mother had consumed her attention that day, and perhaps she’d imagined Jon’s mood.

  Pepper heard a vehicle door slam and went to the front of the house to see Jon heading up the front walk.

  “Moving van not here yet?” He stepped through the front door and unzipped his coat to reveal an old gray T-shirt with the logo of the local hardware store on it. Jon was wearing battered jeans and work boots, ready to get to work, and seemingly happy to be there.

  “No, but it’s still early,” she said and checked the time. “I’ll show you around. There’s not that much to do.” Jon threw his coat on the couch and followed her through her small soon-to-be-former home. Pepper’s worldly possessions were meager, and she’d actually gotten rid of some furniture. He commented on the sparseness, and she confirmed his observation when she revealed she’d sold a few older pieces, including her mother’s bedroom set. “It was old, and I’ll get new furniture after I move and determine what I need at the new house. So there isn’t that much,” she said as they returned to the kitchen. “Just these boxes you saw in the other rooms and these few in here.”

  “Oh, yeah. Right,” he said distractedly.

  She pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips in the standard pose of someone who was exasperated. “Were you listening at all?” Despite it being February, she felt flushed and her chest heaved with impatience.

  He swallowed and reddened. “Um…”

  “What’s wrong with you?” Pepper dropped her hands from her hips and tilted her head to consider him.

  From outside, a horn sounded announcing the arrival of the movers.

  “Um—I—your shirt—” Jon stammered and pointed at her. “Might want to deal with that before movers get in here.”

  She looked down and saw her shirt had become unbuttoned in an extremely embarrassing and revealing fashion; it was open nearly to the middle of her torso, revealing her bright blue bra. Her hands went to her chest and she rectified her wardrobe malfunction, amused at Jon’s embarrassment.