Page 2 of Whiskey Reveals

Chapter 2

“I haveeleven inches of copy, but I need to cut it down to ten,” Nancy, his sports writer, said as she frowned down at her work. “They’re a damn good eleven.”

Fox resisted rolling his eyes since this wasn’t the first time Nancy had come into his office wanting more space for her work. He kept his gaze on the balls in front of him, juggling so he could keep his mind on task rather than floating to the million and one things he needed to get done before they got the paper out in the morning, as well as the countless stories that needed to be done during the week for the online editions.

“I’m sure they’re good. But you have room for ten inches, so cut.” He set one ball down on his desk and caught the other two in one hand. It had taken him years to get that trick down, but he couldn’t smile in victory while being the boss. He didn’t usually juggle while his reporters were talking to him, but Nancy had come into his office unannounced, and he hadn’t bothered to stop what he was doing. When he needed to think about his work and couldn’t get in the right mindset, he juggled, and Nancy had interrupted that. Again. But this was his job, so he didn’t grumble like he might have otherwise.

“But I have eleven.” She raised her chin, and he held back a sigh. “At least read it and tell me what you think.”

He nodded. “Send it over.” In all honesty, the eleven inches were probably better than great, but he didn’t have space for that extra inch. They’d make it work if needed, but that wasn’t the point.

Nancy beamed. “Thank you.” She pressed something on her tablet, and his computer beeped, signaling an email. “I’ll be out there working on my next story.” She gave him a nod before leaving him alone in his office. Thankfully, she shut the door behind her so he could get his thoughts in order.

He had two large pieces he was currently working on that would take a couple of days to get done, plus an upcoming editorial that he’d been looking forward to for the past few months. He needed to get his interviews scheduled, look over the next set of stories coming in, and do a few more admin things before he headed out for the day, but he was getting things done—even if he was still exhausted from not sleeping well enough. He could blame his imaginary blonde all he wanted, but he knew it wasn’t only her. Not this time. He was the one dreaming of her, after all. He needed to get her out of his head and away from his dreams.

He’d met her once at his brother’s bar. Had far too much whiskey, and had taken her home where he’d proceeded to have the best sex of his life. She’d been gone the next morning with just a note saying “thank you.” That was it. No number, no promises, just the memory of her taste and her torn panties on his floor.

Of course, now, he was thinking of the fact that she’d left his house in a dress wearing no panties, and he had to force himself to think of hockey stats so he could keep his erection under control. He was at work for hell’s sake.

He looked down at the time on his computer and shook his head. He wasn’t getting work done in his office today, so he’d just take his work to his brother’s place and get the buzz of tourists and the town into his system. If anyone from the office needed him, they knew how to get ahold of him and where to find him. Most of them worked outside the office a couple of times a week since sitting in one place for too long wasn’t always conducive to writing.

He let the others know where he was going, packed up his laptop, tablet, and the other things he needed to get his work done, and headed down the street to the Old Whiskey Bar and Resturant with the Old Whiskey Inn attached to the top levels. He didn’t know how his brother handled all of that on his own. Well, he did since Kenzie managed the inn, and Dare had a whole staff for the restaurant side, but in the end, Dare did most of the work, especially after their parents retired. More often than not, Fox came in and helped out behind the bar on the weekends since that’s what family did, but Dare could have done it without him. His former cop brother was that capable and more. And now that he had Kenzie in his life, Fox had a feeling Dare would get even better at managing all aspects of his life.

Hell, he already handled being a father and working the hours he did. And their other brother, Loch, did the same with his daughter, Misty—and Loch didn’t even have the girl’s mother in the picture like Dare did with Nate’s mom. Their sister, Tabby, was a newlywed out in Denver and managed a whole company as well as her husband Alex’s photography career since she was just that damn good at scheduling. Somehow, Fox felt like the slacker of the bunch without kids and with only one job, but he worked really long hours.

Maybe Fox needed a new hobby or something to make sure he kept up with his siblings. Then he remembered that he was already taking night classes for such a thing and owned the Whiskey Chronicles. He was doing just fine, damn it, and he needed to stop forgetting that. Fox ran a hand over his face, thinking it might not be too early for a drink. Of course, the thought of the last time he’d had a glass of whiskey entered his mind, and he quickly shut it away. No use getting hard and annoyed in front of his family.

Fox passed the hostess station at the bar and nodded at Claire, Dare’s front of house manager, as he walked into the building. She smiled, and Fox couldn’t help but smile back. Her crisp, white shirt just set off the glow of her dark skin, and every time he came by for dinner, she always took care of him herself. There was no attraction between them, but they were friends who cared about his brother. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kenzie moving fast on her sky-high heels as she went up the stairs. Since the inn was on top of the bar and restaurant, she was forever moving from level to level, and because she seemed to be in work mode—something he needed to get into soon—he didn’t bother her.

Dare was behind the counter, cleaning glasses like any good barkeep when Fox made his way to the left side of the building where the bar was. Each half of the restaurant served food and drinks, but Fox tended to like the left more since it wasn’t as formal and he could hang out with his family. Plus, the other side wasn’t open yet since he was here during that weird time between lunch and dinner when the restaurant was setting up for the latter.

“Hey, I thought you were supposed to be working.” Dare moved to the soda nozzle and looked up at him. “Though you’re probably working here, right?” Fox nodded. “So, no booze. Soda water, or are we going heavy today with something with lots of sugar and caffeine?”

Fox grinned and took a seat on the barstool in front of him. “Soda water with lime. It’s not that bad of a day.” And it really wasn’t. He’d just been forced to do a lot of admin work and other things that weren’t on his plate when he’d just been a reporter. Being the owner of the paper was a far different matter than just working at one, and as each day, month, and year passed, he discovered that fact more and more.

“Well, then, one soda water with lime coming up.” Dare slid the glass down the bar like in the old movies their mom had made them watch, and Fox caught it, thankful that his reflexes were sharp. He’d never have lived it down if he missed. Loch and Dare were the more athletic of the four siblings with Tabby now running a close third with her boxing lessons from her husband. Fox could hold his own, but he was still the guy with his head in his books and the clouds most days. He didn’t mind, but he also couldn’t be the one to break a glass in Dare’s bar. He had principles, after all.

“Thanks.” Fox saluted with his glass and took a sip. It wasn’t his favorite drink in the world, but he’d done his best to cut out excess caffeine and sugar from his day. He wasn’t going to count those three cups of coffee as excess.

“So, what are you working on?” Dare went back to cleaning and going through front inventory since it was the slow time of the day, and Fox and another couple were the only ones in the bar.

“A few admin things to get out of the way, but the copy’s ready to go for tomorrow. After that, I finally get to get a few notes down for my next project.” He couldn’t help but grin at that. He’d been waiting to get this interview and piece down since he’d first thought about it for his small town, and though it wouldn’t be breaking news or something that would change the world, the person involved had changed Whiskey’s world with her mere presence. And for that, he was excited.

Dare’s eyes lit up. “You finally getting to know Ms. Pearl?”

Fox nodded. “Yep. It’s about time Whiskey gets to know their Ms. Pearl.”

Ms. Pearl was practically a historical figure in their already historical town. Local legend said that before she settled down in Whiskey, Pennsylvania, she had been a showgirl in Vegas. She had been friends—or at least acquaintances—with the Rat Pack, and Fox was pretty sure she had even more stories to tell. Whiskey had been formed under prohibition law and had the tourist tales to show for it. When Ms. Pearl showed up, she had blended right in with the culture. Of course, when it came to Ms. Pearl, there was nothing blended about her. He didn’t know if all the stories he’d been told over the years were true, but he was finally getting his chance to hear it from the woman herself. He didn’t always get to write editorials about key figures in the town that was part of his soul, but now he would be able to do something he’d always wanted to do. No, it wouldn’t change the world but maybe, just maybe, it could change Whiskey.

“Sounds like you have your hands full with Ms. Pearl.” Dare grinned and went to take an order from someone who’d come up to the bar. Fox hadn’t been there that long, and it was already starting to pick up in business. There was never really any downtime when it came to food and drinks in his town.

Instead of getting distracted by the comings and goings of those around him, he took another sip of his water and opened his computer so he could finish up his admin work for the day. He still needed to read the eleven inches of words from Nancy, and he had a feeling once he got through them, he was going to have to call his department and see what they could do about that extra inch. It wasn’t anything new when it came to a small-town paper, but it did make for a headache after a long day of not writing.

He knew he would probably get at least an hour of work done while Dare scurried around him. Kenzie would end up sitting beside Fox at the bar, and then he wouldn’t be able to get much work done at all. His future sister-in-law always took his attention because he liked talking with her. But he didn’t mind. The two of them had become friends, and he liked that Kenzie was in his life, too. She had changed his brother’s world, and for that, he would be forever grateful.

And now that he thought about what day it was, his parents would probably show up soon to catch a bite to eat, too. They had at least one meal a month at his folks’ house where it was a huge get-together with plenty of food, lots of talking, and just good people. But ever since the couple had retired, they had taken to eating at either the bar or the restaurant once a week. Considering that they used to work at the same building Dare now owned, Fox knew it probably had more to do with family rather than what they ate that kept them coming back every week. Of course, the food was really good, too.

Since his parents would most likely be there for dinner soon, that meant Loch would probably show up with his daughter, as well. And where his daughter went, Loch’s best friend Ainsley usually wasn’t far behind.

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