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

by Jennifer Bramseth

  Lucy quickly grasped the importance of her evidence.

  “My information could kill his case, couldn’t it? Is that what you’re telling me?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

  “Then I’ll give you permission to reveal it. But I have a condition.”

  “I don’t know whether I can meet it, but let me hear it.”

  “That Walt and Pepper aren’t told about this. He needs a chance to come clean at his hearing—under oath before God and everyone—before this is revealed. He’s got to have a chance to make it right before I have to tell everyone how wrong he is.”

  “But he’s had that chance for twenty years,” Jon protested.

  “That’s true, but his time is almost up. And I’m the timekeeper,” Lucy said with a decisive nod. “I owe it to Glenda, poor thing. That Walt would tell this lie about her… just to try to make up with the bar and Pepper…” and she trailed off. Jon could see Lucy’s small frame shaking with anger.

  “So you’ll testify if—”

  “If he lies,” Lucy said. “If he can’t tell the truth, I’ll be the one to do it and resent every second that I have to. But those are my terms.”

  “I’m not sure Nina Cain will agree,” Jon said, “but I’ll try.”

  “Jon, you’re a lawyer,” Lucy said sweetly and daintily placed her crossed hands in her lap. “I’m sure you can make a deal on this. Give her a call.”

  Jon chewed on his lip. He’d forgotten something.

  “Actually, there’s someone else you should probably call before you decide to talk to her.”

  “But who would that be?” Lucy asked.

  * * *

  “I don’t think they went overseas,” Hannah said.

  “Why do you say that?” asked Nina.

  As they sat in the distillery café eating particularly good chicken salad sandwiches, Pepper, Hannah, and Nina discussed possible honeymoon locales for the Old Garnet master distiller and the Craig Circuit Court Clerk.

  “I remember hearing Walker saying recently he’d let his passport expire. We were talking about going to Europe to a trade show in the summer and I said there was no way I was gonna go. I’ll be big as a bourbon barrel by then and no interest in going anywhere, except to the nearest bathroom on a regular basis. Anyway, Walker mentioned he didn’t have a passport and suggested Bo go instead and take Lila since she’ll be out of school for the summer.”

  “So you have no idea where they went?” Nina asked.

  “Nope,” Hannah admitted. “I guess if they both come back with a tan, we can assume they went to the beach.”

  “Or a nudist colony,” Pepper suggested with a laugh.

  Hannah dropped her sandwich onto a paper plate and smiled knowingly to herself. “Strange you mention that. I heard a very interesting little story about Walker and CiCi—a story I have yet to ask either of them about. Not sure I will.”

  “Mentioning a nudist colony triggered something in your brain about Walker?” Nina asked.

  Hannah leaned over the table, and Pepper and Nina mirrored her movements.

  “The night watchman told me a story that one night last summer—it was that time when they were hot and heavy dating—he saw Walker and CiCi leaving the grounds really, really late. Like the middle of the night. There was a moon, so he got a good glimpse of them out here—and said their hair was wet.”

  “So?” asked Pepper.

  “Think about it: what does one do out in the country… in the summer… near a creek… in the middle of the night… with the object of one’s affections?”

  Nina’s mouth dropped open and she sucked in a long breath before laughing.

  “I think I’ll leave you two to swap stories about the most embarrassing moments of Walker and CiCi,” Pepper said, rising from the table. “I need to go talk to Goose about some tour scheduling issues.”

  “Good!” Hannah exclaimed. “He’s already stressing out about my maternity leave. Go and set his mind at ease if you can.” She thanked Pepper again for helping with the tours and said that Goose was probably in his office.

  Hannah and Nina refrained from resuming their conversation until Pepper was out of the café.

  Hannah sat back in her chair. “For whatever it’s worth, Walt Montrose is a lying, incompetent asshole and I wouldn’t trust him to tell me the weather if he were standing outside.”

  “No disagreements here. But I’m not sure I can prove that.” She described what little bit of background information she had on Walt. “Pepper wasn’t much help, but I didn’t expect her to be. Her contact with Walt has been limited.”

  “That whole scene in the cemetery,” Hannah said disgustedly. “What a crock.”

  “So anything you can tell me about him?” Nina asked. “About what he’s like now?”

  “His appearance in the cemetery was the first time I’d laid eyes on him in years. But I remember what he did, and I’ve heard chatter about him in Bourbon Springs forever. Most of the people who remember him hate him. And with good reason. Stole money, got the hell out of town, left his family, and never looked back.”

  Nina was about to bring up Walt’s reason for staying away from Bourbon Springs; Hannah was an attorney and extremely shrewd. Walker spoke highly of this woman, and Nina felt she could trust her and that any advice she would have would be worth listening to.

  But Nina’s phone rang as she was about to make the revelation, and she saw that the caller was someone she’d hoped would contact her—Jon Buckler. They’d exchanged contacts, she with the hope that he would get back with her with some little tidbit of information to help the case against Walt. She apologized for taking the call, but Hannah took no offense.

  “I have what you need,” Jon said immediately after Nina picked up. “But there are conditions.”

  At that point, smelling the smoke of the proverbial gun through the call, Nina excused herself from the table and went out to the lobby of the visitors’ center.

  “Why are you putting conditions on this?” Nina asked.

  “Not me, a client.”

  “Understood.”

  “My client has authorized me to say that she will agree to give you certain information, but in turn you must promise not to reveal this information to Walt or Pepper Montrose prior to the hearing.”

  “What?”

  “She wants to give Walt a chance to tell the truth before it has to come out,” Jon explained wearily.

  How could she agree to such terms? Like buying pig in a poke, as her father was often fond of saying.

  “This information—what will Pepper think about it?”

  “It will—it will devastate her,” Jon said in a shaky voice.

  “Where are you? I’m at the distillery right now and could meet you in a few minutes.” She described her purpose in Bourbon Springs that day.

  “Just a second.” She could tell he was putting her on mute so he could talk to the client, who must have been in the room with Jon as he’d made the call. “Can you meet me—and the client and her new attorney—right now in town?”

  “Give me directions and I’m on my way.”

  23

  Over the next several weeks, all the horses from the old facility arrived at GarnetBrooke. The farm was fully populated with thoroughbreds, and Pepper and Rolly were in active communication with people in the horse industry, getting the word out that GarnetBrooke was available to take more residents.

  By Rolly’s estimation the farm could still handle twice as many horses as they had, or up to a hundred more. The foundation had been established, and Pepper was happy to get the mayor, the school superintendent, a local insurance agent, and a few horse industry notables on the board. Jon had decided he didn’t want to be on the board due to his personal relationship with her.

  The weather was warming up, and the fields had exploded into brilliant emeralds and chartreuses. The snowy fullness of the blossoming pear trees gave over to the radiance of pink and white dogw
oods, and Pepper delighted in seeing the grounds around her home bubbling to life. Around the house she spotted large clumps of dutch iris shooting blades up through the ground, and patches of deep red tulips were erupting from the earth in her backyard. The previous owner seemed to have a thing for the tulips; they were planted around almost every grave.

  While Pepper liked tulips, they had the disadvantage of not lasting very long. She decided to plant red roses in the cemetery, the symbolism of the flower connecting it to Kentucky’s most famous horse race—the Derby. No Derby winners were buried at GarnetBrooke, but several were descendants or ancestors of same. It only seemed right to honor them with this little bit of symbolism.

  She had finally accepted the wonderful reality that she was deeply in love with Jon. They were together practically every day, and he’d been staying at her house more than he’d been at his own. They made love almost every night—a mixture of the slow, sweet kind and that combustive passion that had ignited their relationship. In fact, most of the time their couplings were of the burn-the-sheets-and-peel-the-paint-off-the-walls type of sex. She had wondered whether their physical relationship would gradually alter after the fireworks of their first sexual encounters, but the blistering, searing need they felt for each other continued to need an outlet, and they found it in each other’s arms with regular ferocity and satisfaction.

  Pepper had even thought about asking him to move in with her. But she knew the time wasn’t right. The mood that she had sensed in him—that sad, clingy feeling—had deepened. She’d asked him about it, and he’d admitted that the partnership was going to break up, but professed relief at the prospect and escaping Bruce Colyard. Jon’s comments about the man over the past weeks had been bordering on the contemptuous. Although he wasn’t sure what he was going to do other than open his own firm, he was looking to the future. He expected to be gone from Colyard and Borden in mid-May or early June, after he and Bruce had wrapped up their business affairs.

  Yet beyond his work issues, Pepper intuited a change in him and she wondered whether his professional turmoil had derailed his intentions toward her. Had he been about to propose when work troubles got in the way?

  Her own mood became more dour as her father’s hearing date approached in late April. Jon tried to cheer her up as best he could, and took her on fun weekend daytrips around the area. They went to Shakertown, Perryville Battlefield State Park, and toured Commonwealth Cooperage in Littleham. She got to meet one of the cooperage owners, Prent Oakes. Pepper had never met him but knew him by reputation—he’d left her doctor, Miranda Chaplin, at the altar a few years earlier. Despite his reputation, he seemed like a nice guy.

  The week of the hearing, Jon insisted on taking her out to eat somewhere fancy in Lexington as a special treat, but Pepper turned him down.

  “I’m much happier at The Windmill.”

  So the night before the hearing, Jon took her on a big date to the little diner. To their pleasant surprise, they encountered Walker and CiCi and joined them. They finally heard the tale of the honeymoon. Walker had spirited his new bride away to the beach, which most had suspected when the two had returned with nice tans.

  “If we weren’t in bed,” CiCi said, making Walker turn red, “we were on the beach, drinking Garnet and soaking up the sun. It was heaven,” she said. “We didn’t want to risk bringing a flask of Center Cut on the plane in case it got confiscated—Walker wanted to pull some from the barrels just to take on our honeymoon, but I talked him out of it. Couldn’t find a bottle of Center Cut where we were. So we had to settle for regular Old Garnet.”

  “Settle? Did you just say you settled for regular Old Garnet?” Walker interrupted. “I think I’m insulted.”

  A few minutes later the group noticed Kyle had entered the diner and was standing at the front counter picking up two milkshakes.

  “One for you and one for Hannah?” CiCi called to the sheriff.

  He shook his head. “No, one for her and the other for James Christopher.”

  “James Christopher? Who’s that?” Walker called back.

  “The baby. We found out today we’re having a boy!”

  Upon this announcement, everyone spilled out of the booth to offer Kyle hugs and congratulations before he returned home with the two chocolate milkshakes. The three men lingered a bit at the front of the diner and talked while Pepper and CiCi returned to the booth.

  “Give it up, Pepper,” CiCi urged. “Are you two secretly engaged yet? Or married? What’s the deal?”

  “What? Neither! Why would you think that?” Pepper spluttered in response as she glanced over her shoulder at the guys who were still laughing it up.

  “You’ve both got that look,” CiCi said. “But he’s really got it bad for you. He looks at you like he could lose you any minute, even though you’re sitting right next to the man.”

  “Well, we’ve got some pressures right now.” Pepper explained about the firm breakup and her scheduled testimony the next day in Frankfort at her father’s hearing.

  “I’m sorry to hear about the firm,” CiCi said. “I’d heard rumors and hoped they weren’t true. But Jon will land on his feet. He’s a great attorney.”

  “I’m not really worried about him in the long-term, but I think this breakup with his law partner has hit him hard. He’s worked for that firm since he got his license. And he’s loved doing the work for the distillery.”

  “Maybe they’ll keep him on.”

  “Jon isn’t sure, and I can tell he’s worried. But it’s not just the business that he’ll miss. He loves working with Hannah, Bo, Lila, Goose, Walker—everyone at Old Garnet.”

  “And what about you? You okay with testifying for your dad? That’s got to be some pressure on you.”

  “I’m not testifying for him,” Pepper corrected. “I’m a witness for the attorney regulation office. Nina came down and interviewed me recently. Not sure what I really have to say—very little, in fact. But I’m going up to Frankfort tomorrow to say my bit and get out of there as soon as possible.”

  CiCi pressed her lips together, her cheerful mood gone. Pepper noted the reaction and asked her what’s wrong.

  “Just worried for you. I’ve seen enough court proceedings in my life to know that even the most ordinary thing can get crazy really fast.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Pepper assured her.

  “Is Jon going with you?”

  “No. He asked to, but I told him this is something I need to do by myself.”

  “You should have someone with you, Pepper,” CiCi said. “I’d be glad to go with you.”

  “But you work.”

  “I’m the boss,” CiCi emphasized. “And even though I just took some time off, it’s not like I’m hurting for leave time. Let me go with you.”

  The door of the diner closed behind her, indicating Kyle’s departure and presaging the return to the table of their menfolk. “No need. I’ll be fine.”

  “Call me if you change your mind, okay?” CiCi made her promise before the guys reseated themselves, and Pepper agreed.

  After everyone finished a piece of pie, the consumption of which was highly recommended if not compulsory at The Windmill, the little dime-store dinner party broke up and the couples went their separate ways.

  Pepper and Jon went home with full bellies and somewhat heavy hearts since both knew that the following day was not a day to which either of them was looking forward with any degree of happy anticipation.

  Jon had to meet with Bruce early in the morning to start trying to work out some kind of partnership dissolution agreement. And, of course, Pepper was going on her own journey to Frankfort.

  “If I can’t change your mind about letting me go with you in the morning,” Jon said once they arrived back at GarnetBrooke, “at least let me stay with you tonight.”

  “Of course,” Pepper said as she hung up their coats.

  They stood together in the hall in an embrace, with Jon’s chin on top of Pepper’s head. Knowing
his need as well as recognizing her own, Pepper silently led him up the stairs.

  The room was dark, and Jon urged her not to turn on any lights as they stood before the bed in each other’s arms.

  He was trembling, and she wondered why he seemed so on edge. He held her tightly and so close that she had to tilt her head back to meet his lips in a kiss that began soft but quickly turned into something tense and needy—just like she could feel him becoming against her leg.

  He pulled back, his eyes raking over her features. Pepper felt like he was holding something back, and she was worried.

  “Always remember: I love you. Remember that tomorrow. Take it with you.”

  “I always take it with me, Jon.”

  “And someday I’m going to ask you to take it—and me—with you forever, Elizabeth Joy Montrose,” he said as he held her head in his hands. She’d not heard him call her by her full name in years; the usage signaled something significant.

  “Are you… asking me…?”

  “Am I proposing? No, not now. Not in a darkened bedroom the night before a day I know you’ve being dreading for weeks. You deserve better than that kind of proposal—much better, Pepper. But I promise you this: I am going to propose to you someday, and soon, and there will be absolutely no mistake or confusion about the fact that I’m proposing. It will be wonderful and romantic and crazy, even though I have no idea what I’m going to do.”

  “You can do romantic?” she teased. “You’ve always been so—uptight,” she said, struggling a little for the right word and hoping not to insult him.

  “I’m not uptight in the bedroom. You can’t tell me that I’ve been reserved between the sheets, my dear,” he taunted, nibbling her earlobe.

  “No, I’d never say that.” She sighed as his hands slipped under the waistband of her jeans and down her ass. “But I’ve just never seen you as the romantic guy in a tux and a bunch of red roses and violins playing in the background and all that. Not… not that I really need that,” she gasped as he moved a hand around to her front and then lower to stroke her folds.