Page 25 of A Taste of Chardonnay

The sheriff came in, head scanning the crowds. When he spotted Brady, he nodded and made his way toward us.

“Hey Brady, sorry to bother you,” Sheriff Holt said. “But I don’t know what to do. It’s your dad.”

Brady’s jaw tightened.

“I tried to take him home, but he insisted he had an appointment today, and you were taking him. I tried to tell him it was Halloween, and it was nighttime, but I couldn’t reason with him.”

I glanced at Brady, and his eyes met mine. I finally was able to see beyond the costume to the man. He looked tired.

“The appointment was yesterday.” He ran a hand over his slicked hair and turned to the sheriff. “I’ll talk to him.”

“I’ll keep an eye on things here,” I said, hoping that gave him some peace of mind while he sorted this all out.

The tension in his jaw eased slightly. “Thank you,” he said to me, before following the sheriff. I watched as he went, wishing I could do more. I couldn’t imagine having to help take care of a man who had treated him so awfully. It shouldn’t be his problem, but Nero was right. Brady would make it his problem because he thought it would be the right thing to do.

I walked to the bar to order a drink. The new bartender walked over, a massive smile on her face. “How can I help you?” she said, loud enough for me to hear her over the crowd.

“Can I get an old-fashioned?”

“You absolutely can!”

“Are you new here?” I asked, curiosity poking at me.

“I am.” She reached her hand over the bar and I shook it. “Name’s Meadow.”

“Chardonnay.”

“I love it! Are you Brady’s girlfriend?”

A laugh burst from me so loud and unexpected, I almost slapped my hand over my mouth to control it. “Definitely not.”

“Oh. I just assumed because the night I came to ask for a job, I saw you leaving.”

“I was just dropping something off.”

“I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“You didn’t.”

“Okay good. I hate to make a bad first impression. It’s so hard to reverse it, you know?”

I nodded in agreement. She had a point. But I had a feeling she didn’t have many bad first impressions. She had a light about her that was joyous and inviting. She handed me my drink, and I thanked her. “Brady had to run outside. I told him I’d keep an eye on things, so if you need anything…” I tried not to go into my normal mode of taking charge. Brady would hopefully be right back, and I didn’t need his jabs. Besides, he’d built this distillery from the ground up. As much as I wanted to designate tasks to people, he didn’t need me to.

“How sweet,” she said. “I have it covered, though. This is nothing compared to a dive bar in a college town after the football team won their division. I can pretty much handle anything after that.”

She proved that by taking two more orders, closing a tab, and wiping the bar before I finished my first sip.

She was pretty. Very pretty. Was that why Brady hired her? And why the hell did I care?

Odette, who was dressed like a clown, waved to me as she made her way to the bar. Sherry was in a corner with Ben, laughing at something he said. The rest of my family were all in couple costumes.

Lainey was dressed as a sexy butterfly with black and orange wings that flared out when she opened her arms. Her cleavage was on full display, and Nero, who was dressed as a butterfly catcher, kept staring directly at them. That boy wouldn’t know subtly if it bit him in the ass.

Franc and Quinn were dressed as Sully and Boo from Monster’s Inc, a movie my nephew had played so much, the entire family could cite it word for word. He was at home, probably begging his babysitter to eat more candy.

Rose and Wyatt were elaborate, as always. Wyatt in a full-blown Beetlejuice costume and Rose dressed as Lydia in the red wedding dress. Even Rhone and Sutton, who were not a couple, were dressed in matching salt and pepper shaker costumes.

I was the only one who didn’t have another half. Normally, it wouldn’t bother me, but for some reason tonight, it felt lonely. Not something I was accustomed to feeling, and it bothered the hell out of me.

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