Page 12 of Whiskey Reveals

“Fox, did you hear me?”

He looked up at the sound of his mother’s voice and blinked. “No, apparently, I didn’t. Sorry, I was woolgathering. What was it that you wanted?”

His mother gave him a weird look, then smiled. “Well, Dare asked you to pass the potatoes, but Loch took care of that for you. I wanted to know what you were working on now. I know you take care of every aspect of the paper, but do you have an editorial coming up?”

This subject he could tackle easily, even if it once again reminded him of Melody. “I’m working on that article on Ms. Pearl.” He shook his head and then corrected himself. “I should say I was working on that article. The first part is on the site as we speak since I put it up right before I came over. The rest of the article is going in tomorrow’s newspaper. If it goes well, as I hope it will, I’ll be able to write more pieces on her. Her history is worth so much more than a single article.”

His mom beamed. “I absolutely adore that woman. Why didn’t you tell us earlier that your article had already been published? And why is it on the website before it’s in print? I know I’m not a doting great-grandmother or from the Stone Age, but I still don’t understand how media can work the way it does on the internet.”

“Nobody really does,” Fox said dryly. “And we only put up a little teaser to get people to actually read the rest tomorrow in print or on the site. They say print is dying, but in small towns like this, that’s not always the case. And the paper still makes money even from the website. So don’t worry that you’re going to have to deal with me moving back into your basement and eating all your food.”

“No, that would be Misty and me,” Loch said, causing the rest of the table to laugh. Fox joined in but he couldn’t help but watch his brother’s face as he did so. Misty was noticeably absent at dinner, even though Loch was a single dad who never had time off from his daughter. Things had been harder when Misty was a baby and Loch had been forced to carry the infant around at all points of his job, but between school and a very understanding best friend in Ainsley—who was practically helping his brother raise the little girl, and another subject they didn’t talk about—Loch was actually able to catch up on some sleep these days.

But Misty wasn’t with Ainsley or any of her friends today. Instead, she was with her maternal grandparents for one of the meals that Loch had agreed to. It was awkward as hell, and Fox truly didn’t know how his niece or his brother felt about the get-togethers once they were done, but it wasn’t his place to question it unless someone asked for help. He knew his brother didn’t like Misty not being with the Collins family, and he knew calling the relationship with Misty’s maternal grandparents strained was an understatement, but there was nothing Fox could do except be there for his family if they needed him. And because he had a feeling he wasn’t the only one with his mind running along those thoughts, he went back to talking about the famous Ms. Pearl.

“I don’t want to tell you everything that will be in the article, but did you know the stories about how Ms. Pearl actually danced for the Rat Pack are true?”

The rest of them caught onto the conversation and asked more questions that he was deliberately coy about. He wanted his family to read his work, even if he was a little self-conscious about it. He was a writer, he had levels.

“What about her granddaughter? I know she’s opening up that dance studio in town, so dancing must run in the blood.”

At his mother’s words, he did his best not to react. The last thing he needed was questions from his mother—or any of his family members for that matter—about why he reacted the way he did at just the mere mention of Melody.

“We didn’t go into Ms. Pearl’s family for this article, but if I get to do more with her, I know that’s an angle we’ll want to get into.” That was as detailed as he could get without mentioning the fact that he had the hots for the granddaughter. Plus, he didn’t know what had happened to Melody’s parents, and he had a feeling that wasn’t going to be an easy story.

“I’m so glad that she’s opening that dance studio,” Kenzie added. “I took ballet for years as a little girl but fell off the wagon. I already signed up for her barre exercises.”

“And I’m excited to see you in a tutu.” Dare winked, and Fox rolled his eyes.

“And Mom and Dad and Kenzie signed me up, too.” Nate talked through his food before setting down his fork when his dad gave him a look. “My friend said dancing is just for girls, but Dad said those kids can go—”

Dare quickly placed his hand over his son’s mouth as the rest of the table fought not to laugh. Nate had a tendency, just like his cousin Misty, to repeat every single thing the adults said.

“Dancing isn’t just for girls,” Kenzie put in. “There were plenty of boys in my class when I was younger. And there are even more boys now. And I know that you really love playing football, and being quick on your feet will be helpful if you want to keep being the amazing wide receiver you are.”

“Misty wants to sign up too, but we haven’t done it yet.” Loch frowned as he said it. “She has swim team, and I know as she gets older, there will be even more teams and activities, but if she wants to try dancing, I guess I should just bite the bullet and sign her up.”

Fox lifted his chin at his brother. “We’ll make sure she gets to dance class on time. Between all of us, we’ll make sure the kids get picked up, too. I guess that means I’ll have to get better at my videography skills so I can record my best niece and nephew dancing their hearts out. And I realize that’s usually the parents’ job, but since I am in the media business, and the only uncle without a child of my own, I might as well give myself a role.” That put a smile on his brother’s face, and he knew he had said the right thing.

Until recently, Dare hadn’t had the type of custody agreement with his ex that he did now. It’d been a long time coming, but Nate now lived with Dare half of the time, and that meant that Dare—and now Kenzie—could be there for things like dance practice, rather than just the performances. Loch, on the other hand, had been forced to do everything on his own, even though the rest of them had been there to try and help where they could. But his brother was proud and didn’t always let others help. That had changed over time, as the reality of having a young girl to care for all on his own had settled in, but it still wasn’t easy to let go of control and let his family in.

And, once again, Fox found himself the odd man out. The others started talking about what the classes would mean and how they hoped Melody would help their babies shine. He listened with half an ear, wondering how he’d gotten to the point where he was jealous that his family was starting to settle down. He was the only one without a child, but that had been true for ten years now. Well, not exactly, since Tabby didn’t have children either. But now, she was pregnant, and soon, he really would be the only one without a kid. Dare and Tabby were both married, and while Loch might not be, he still had Misty in his life. All Fox had was his work and the family dinners. He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that, but he knew sitting at his family’s table was probably not the best place to think about it.

Once again, he pushed those thoughts directly from his mind and sat back to relish his family. After dessert had been served, he waved off a second piece of pie since he knew he wasn’t getting any younger and he didn’t quite like the gym as much as his brothers did. Of course, if he could watch Melody in her very tight yoga pants and top, he might enjoy the gym a little bit more. Not that he was thinking about Melody. At all. Or ever again. Those were total lies, but he was just going to head home now and try not to think about her before he went to bed. Dreams of her had already kept him up late more than once, and jerking off to thoughts of her almost felt rude at this point.

When he found himself sitting alone on his couch holding his phone, he frowned. He wanted to text her, but he had no reason to other than to just say hi. That’s what friends did, right? Friends could text out of the blue just to see how each other were doing. It wasn’t as if he’d never had a friend before. But he’d never had a friend where their only connection was the fact that they had slept together. He was making things so complicated, so he growled at himself and flipped through his contacts until he found her name.

Fox: Hi.

He closed his eyes and groaned. Just one word. That was all he’d typed. Like a stalker. He may as well have typed something like hey I like what you’re wearing. For a writer, he would’ve thought he would be able to figure out exactly what to say—or at least say something more than a single word.

Melody: Hi there.

The relief that floated through Fox’s system was a little too much to bear, so he took a deep breath and texted again. After all, he wasn’t a teenager, he could totally do this. Of course, teenagers were probably better at texting than he was, but that was another subject for another time.

Fox: Did you have a good day? Your studio almost already?

Melody: It was an okay day. A lot of work online, trying to get the rosters ready and figuring out my lesson plans. It’s weird to think I’m going to have lesson plans since I never thought I’d be a teacher, but here we are. And my studio is almost ready. Before I know it, it’ll be opening day. I may just throw up again.

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