Page 22 of Wine Whiskey & Lipstick

“Crazy and sad. We lost seven people. Not that it matters, but none of them were from Summer.”

“Yeah, I know.”

A bar was no place for Selah to work anyway. Little did she know, but last night would have been her final one at Frank’s. There were too many strangers lurking around, and Ben couldn’t keep an eye on her like he needed to. Selah could have gotten hurt or worse. For now, Ben would keep those thoughts to himself.

Selah cracked a small smile that probably looked more like a grimace while walking closer to her brother.

Ben didn’t return it. Impatience was written all over him.

Selah pushed on. “Did you see Lucas get dumbstruck by Palmer?”

“Palmer?”

“Yes. That’s the woman who left him gapping like a fool. It was a thing of beauty. Something I’ve never seen before. It’s usually the other way around.”

He responded with disinterest. “Hmm. I must have missed it.”

You missed it because you were doing the same thing with Dillyn. Selah could see his patience was wearing thin.Ben had never been particularly good at small talk, but he was being purposefully ornery.

Ben was irritated at the pace of their conversation but tried not to show it. Selah was his baby sister. He loved her more than life and did his best to be patient, especially since they lost their parents. “Well, now you can finally agree that Frank’s is, was, dangerous.”

It was not dangerous!“Frank’s has been around forever, and save for an occasional bar fight, the people there are pretty harmless. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Do they know what caused it?”

“Haven’t heard yet.”

Selah shook her head. There was nothing more to say about the explosion. She’d beat around the bush as long as she could.Here goes.“Before all that craziness started, did you see how excited everyone was to meet Dillyn, Palmer, and Cat?”

Ben had no idea what direction their conversation was going. “Yep.” Ben kept his answer short and sweet. She had no idea that Ben had already met Dillyn before. He decided to keep that bit to himself.

Selah’s eyes sparkled. “They’re awesome.” Her words began to tumble out of her mouth. “They are so smart and funny. My goodness, are they funny.” It was clear Ben was losing interest. Selah rushed on. “Dillyn does something with computers. I’ve never even heard of it before. Palmer is some kind of fancy-schmancy real estate broker, and Cat is a master sommelier. She’s like one of just a few in the entire world! Together, they plan to turn that old orchard on Mr. Steele’s property into a profitable winery. My goodness, they have this energy that is so contagious. It’s hard to believe they would want to move here from New York.”

Shit.That’s what this conversation is about. “No.”

Irritated, Selah placed her hands on her hips. “But I haven’t even asked you anything yet.”

“No reason to ask when the answer is no.”

“Ben, I’m twenty-two!” She stomped her booted foot. “I’m not a child.”

It almost made him laugh. “No. You’re not, but you are also not spending the summer in New York.”

“It’s not fair. You, Lucas, and Wyatt have all left to do other things.”

“New York is not a place for a young girl.” She had no idea how a city like that could eat a person up and spit them out.

“First, I’m a young woman. And second, that’s so sexist! I can’t prove that I can handle myself if y’all don’t let me. I have to find my own way.”

“You can figure things out right here.” Ben knew that Selah was restless. She was clamoring to explore the world. She was ready to fly the coop and make her own mistakes, just like the rest of them. He just wasn’t ready.When did she fuckin’ grow up?It was a question he kept asking himself but never received an answer.

“How can I figure things out when y’all hover so much? I can’t even do the simplest things like date?! You know darn well that you and Lucas weren’t at Frank’s last night for a beer.”

“You’re right. I was there for whiskey. But it’s a pretty good thing we were, though, wasn’t it?”

Selah refused to answer. “Mypointis that the guys around here are too afraid to ask me out.”

Good! We’re doing our job.Ben turned to pat Whisper on her head but mostly so Selah wouldn’t see his grin. “The right one will be brave enough to ask.”

Her voice was shaky from frustration and unshed tears. “You guys are smothering me.”

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