Page 59 of Bourbon and Lies

My mouth waters as I take a taste of the sample she sliced for me. There’s no way I’m leaving here without being completelyand utterly stuffed. I’ve already polished off a cheddar and jalapeno waffle on a stick, some thyme and local honey-infused kettle corn, and I’m managing to keep the sweat at bay with my quickly melting mint julep slushie.

“Romey, this is actual heaven.”

She smiles big and wide as she moves to bag up a dozen or so for another few people who have huddled around her table. There are easily a hundred tables set up throughout Fiasco’s downtown green, and I’ve only managed to hit a handful so far.

“It was nice to have a new face at book club,” she says while tying a ribbon.

“I’ll take a box of these and another one of these pistachio-coated ones too.” I smile at the two women who are sipping on their own slushies, looking out across the table of treats.

“Do you think you’ll come to the next one?”

I answer her truthfully, “I don’t know. I had some choice words with a couple of the girls who said some shitty things about me when they thought I wasn’t listening, and I’m not interested in spending energy on things or people that don’t make me happy. Not anymore.”

“I can guess who that might have been.” She gives me my bag as I hand her the cash for my chocolates. “I wouldn’t worry about them coming to the next one. I think Griz may have overheard what happened. He was very clear about who is and who isn’t coming to the next book club.” She winks.

I raise my eyebrows. I wasn’t expecting that.

“Plus, I don’t think Grant Foxx goes around throwing punches, but he knocked some sense into that man, Waz, outside of Midnight Proof. I heard you were the reason why.”

That’s why didn’t he come back inside?I knew he went out there, pissed off, but I’ve been racking my mind about why he didn’t come back. I haven’t heard from Grant or seen much of him over the last day or so.

And while I’ve been busy with a few last-minute items that Lincoln needed done for an upcoming event at the distillery, I’d expected to at least see him at some point. I look down at my phone and the unanswered texts.

LANEY

You disappeared on me. Thought you might be up for a nightcap?

LANEY

Julep left me another “present” this morning. How much skin can a snake really shed? It’s borderline ridiculous.

LANEY

Do I need to send nudes for you to respond?

Now my text messages seem less amusing and more desperate without a response from him peppered in there. I told him a lot over bourbon and candy—more than I had planned to share. My stomach drops. Oh god—while I was naked in his horse trough. What was I thinking? How can I unsend that last message? Maybe I can pretend it was a drunk text. Those don’t count.

But Romey smiles at me, and then nods over my shoulder, and I can guess who might be there if I look. “Let those women swallow that gossip. It’ll sting going down knowing that they don’t have any Foxx boys fighting over them.”

My face must be showing exactly how I’m feeling, because Romey pats my hand when she says, “Laney, it wouldn’t matter at this point if you didn’t even know the man, when the gossip starts in this town, it’s treated like local news. Andthatparticular Foxx is not like his brothers. Grant ignores most people, never mind starting and ending fights over someone. Idon’t think he’s so much as looked at a woman, much less dated one, since Fiona.”

Fiona. Hadley had mentioned it when she told me about the losses connected to the Foxx brothers. “I wish he hadn’t closed himself down the way he did. He’s a good man. Quite the sight, too!”

That has me turning around. And she’s right—a helluva of sight. Especially walking toward me. Lark is hoisted on Grant’s back, while Lily is on Lincoln’s shoulders. The way they love those girls is swoony, but even more so is how much everyone in that family cares for each other. It feels good to be in their orbit. To absorb some of that affection, even if it is fleeting.

When Lily spots me, she tries waving her hands, one filled with a stick of cotton candy and the other a stuffed giraffe. Lincoln looks over and sees that it’s me who has her attention, smiling and waving. But it’s Grant who stands just slightly behind him whom I can’t seem to look away from. Grant lets Lark down from his back and suddenly I wish it were me still hoisted there. He held on to me so effortlessly; it was the most intimate I’ve been touched by someone without it being sexual. It felt good to be held.

“Laney!” Lily says, out of breath and giggling as she comes up to me.

“Hi, girls.” I can’t help but mimic their excitement. Glancing behind them, both brothers walking up in jeans like the material was specifically made for them. Lincoln, sporting a Foxx Bourbon t-shirt with the logo displayed prominently across the front, while Grant wears one more faded with the sleeves cut off. His thick, strong arms, that feel more than good wrapped around me, are a product of hard labor, and golden from the summer sun. It’s entirely possible that I’m drooling. I’ve never wanted to lick a bicep and smell someone’s skin the way I have the urge to right now. Jesus, I’m pathetic. Pair all of that with hisblue baseball hat and he’s easily the most handsome man I have ever seen. The brim is low enough that it casts a shadow over his face, but it doesn’t hide the fact that he won’t look at me for longer than a passing second. It feels like a gut punch.

“Hey, cowboy.”

When his eyes meet mine, it’s not the interest or fire that’s usually looking back at me. This is different. This looks more like guilt, maybe even regret. I recognize it, as I’ve experienced plenty of both.

“Uncle Grant isn’t a cowboy,” Lily laughs out.

“No, flower, I’m not.”

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