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“You have a robe?” he asks, and I shake my head. “Then put a long shirt on and come walk me to the door.”
“You can go by yourself.” I point toward the door. “You know the way.”
“Yeah, but then I can’t kiss you goodbye.” I don’t know why, but the words make my heart skip a beat. “I’m late as it is.”
“You were the one who wanted to fuck me in the shower,” I remind him as I drop my towel and grab my shorts and tank top, slipping them on. “You could have showered without me.”
I walk to the end of the bed, where he waits for me. “What fun would that be?” He takes my hand in his, bringing it to his lips and kissing my fingers before walking to the back door.
I follow him out as he takes one step down and turns to me. “I’ll see you later.” I don’t know if he’s asking me or if he’s telling me. He puts his hands on my hips. “Have a good day.” My hand comes up to brush his wet hair back before I kiss his lips.
“Have a good day, Charlie,” I say softly as he turns and walks down the rest of the stairs. I lean against the post, watching him disappear into the forest, taking a second to take a deep breath in and out before walking back inside and getting dressed.
I pull up to the office earlier than normal because I decided to have coffee at my desk. My father’s truck is already there, and when I walk in, I hear his boots as he walks out of the office. “Morning, sweetheart, I got you coffee.” He smiles at me as I walk up to him and hug him, not thinking about the fact that he’s gotten a bit skinnier since I’ve been here.
“You are my savior.” I look up at him. “Always.”
“Always will be,” he mumbles before letting me go, and I walk into the office. “Have a couple of things to discuss with you,” he says. “Sit down.”
“This sounds official.” I try to make it light, but his tone is anything but.
“It is,” he states, “I’m not going to beat around the bush.” He sits and puts his hands on his desk. “One, I found out that you took your own money to put into the company.”
“Okay,” I reply, and his eyebrows shoot up.
“I thought for sure you would try to make up a lie. Second, you are taking it all back today.”
“I’m not.” My tone is dead serious. “The company needs it. I’ll take it back when I can.”
“And when do you think that will be?” he snaps at me. “I already have nothing to give you when I die. The last thing I want is for you to lose it all.”
The minute he says those words, my chest gets tight. “The company is getting better.” I try not to let my voice quiver.
“It is,” he agrees, “but then what?”
“Then nothing,” I retort, “this is what you are leaving me.” I point out to the distillery. “This and your legacy. It’s worth everything.”
“Don’t be silly.” He shakes his head.
“I’m not.” I slap the desk. “Now I know that it’s been tough and I know we have a big hill in front of us, but we aren’t going to get anywhere if we are just looking at it and not doing anything about it. So I’m going to do what I can and you two,” I mention my brother, “are going to have to suck it up and let me.” He glares at me. “The new blend that Brady made,” I say. “We are going to have a private party to debut it and limit the invites to a hundred people for now. If people enjoy it, hopefully, it will attract more customers to the bar. Then we can host more events over the next few months, and if we are profitable, we can talk about adding tasting rooms and private rooms to hold the events. I’ve started working on a mailing list, and we’re going to extend the invite to all of the people who’ve come in and ordered bottles of whiskey. We will charge them a fee to cover the cost of the food and some other things. We’ll also include a tasting menu with different whiskeys, and fingers crossed, they’ll like it and will order some of it.”
“You think that will help?” he asks honestly.
“I have no idea, but I know we have to keep trying.” I get up from my chair. “We’ve hidden for long enough.” I swallow. “I’ve hidden for long enough. I did nothing wrong. I should have never let them run me out of town. But I’m back, and I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to walk with my head high.” I close my eyes. “Okay, not like making direct eye contact, but I’m not going to be afraid of them anymore.” He laughs. “But we are doing this party, and we are going to brace for the worst. But hope for the best.”
He leans back in his chair. “After the party, you take back your money,” he counters.
“After the party, we’ll see how it goes, and I’ll take back ten percent.”
“You’ll take it all back.”
“Twenty percent,” I counter, and he glares at me. “Also, that look doesn’t scare me. I’m not a little girl anymore.”
He tries not to laugh at me. “No, you aren’t,” he agrees. “I can see that being back home, you’ve got your backbone back.” He nods. “Twenty percent, and if you don’t take it, I’ll fire you.”
Now, it’s my turn to laugh at him. “I think I own a third of the company.”
He pushes back and gets up from his chair. “I had an idea about how to bottle the new blend,” he tells me. “Take the bottle they used to use in the Prohibition era, and on the front, we do what they did back then, a doctor’s note.” He picks up a picture he must have found, and I see the front on the bottle.
