Page 22 of Moonlit Thorns

“A shot to start, pick whatever. Then a whiskey sour.”

His eyebrows raise. Probably because I’m usually a beer girl. “Long week?”

“You could say that, yeah.”

He nods, knowing enough not to ask anything further. People in these parts are good about minding their business. At least in front of you. Magnolia Bend keeps the gossiping behind your back.

I pull the book I’m reading from my bag. I’ll read until I’m drunk enough that the words start to blur.

Sawyer slides a shot glass down the bar to me. I lift it and toss it back, coughing a bit when the taste of tequila hits the back of my throat.

“Lime?” he asks, hand on the bowl of limes in the middle section of the bar.

I shake my head and wave him off, picking up the whiskey sour he set in front of me to chase down the shot. It’s a good start, but I’ll need more if I want to push away all my intrusive thoughts. It seems as if the more time I spend isolated at Midnight Manor, the harder it’s becoming to turn away from the demons that chase me.

I sip on my drink as I read. The book I’m reading is a small-town romance about a large family who lives in Alaska. It feels worlds away from where I am, which is exactly what I need right now.

When I’m on my third drink within an hour, I hear my brother’s voice behind me, and I stiffen.

“Figured I’d find you here.”

It’s not that I don’t want to see Luke. It’s just that seeing him makes me think of the rest of my family, and not thinking about my father or my mother was the goal tonight.

I put the bookmark in my book and turn on my barstool to face him. “Hey.”

He frowns, probably either because he can tell I’m already half drunk or because he can see the sadness flooding from all the cracks in my armor.

“How come you didn’t come to the house tonight? Grandmother was worried.”

I shrug. “Didn’t have it in me to see Momma tonight. It’s been a long week.”

His forehead wrinkles, and he takes a couple of steps closer. “Are they forcing you to do something you don’t want to up there?”

I shake my head. “Nothing like that. It’s just a bad week, that’s all.”

His shoulders fall. “Well, I’m glad you’re here instead of up there, even if you’re not at home. The fleet was moving through town when I came in here.”

I rush over to the window and watch as a stream of expensive cars with blacked-out windows make their way through town as they do on the last Saturday of every month. No one has to wonder where they’re going because we all know—Midnight Manor.

I’d forgotten that tonight was the night for whatever weird shit goes on at Midnight Manor. It dawns on me that this is probably exactly why Asher Voss gave me Saturday nights off.

“Any idea what that’s about now that you’re on the inside?” my brother asks me on my left.

“None. The people who work there are nice, but they aren’t exactly forthcoming about anything to do with the Voss brothers.” A huge part of me wants to know why these mysterious strangers arrive at the manor once a month, but it’s not something I’m going to figure out tonight. “C’mon. I’ll buy you a drink.”

Luke follows me back to the bar, and I order us each a shot and a drink. I should be feeling really good after I finish these.

I chat with my brother about how things are going with him running the estate. He seems to have a pretty good handle on things but tells me that the coffers are pretty lean, and he needs to have a good year in order to keep things in the black.

“If anyone can do it, you can, little brother.”

He chuckles. “I appreciate the confidence, but I think you’re probably just drunk.”

I laugh and lean into him. “Maybe, but that doesn’t make it any less true.”

He smiles at me, and the way he does reminds me of before. Before my father died, before my mother fell apart, before I was beholden to a man I’m drawn to but know without a doubt could ruin me.

“What’s wrong? Why did your expression just change?” Luke asks.

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