Page 104 of Bourbon and Proof

HARPER

Just pulling in. You had better be right about this. If it’s not safe here, we’re going to have a bigger problem on our hands.

I hope you know what you’re doing.

Ah fuck, what the hell is Del doing here?

“I’m not ready to see you go anywhere, old man. You and I butt heads, but I need you around here to piss me off as often as possible.”

Hadley covers her mouth, a small gasp escaping just as the side door opens. The timing of it couldn’t have been any more perfect. A wafted breeze of clove cigarettes enters the room first, followed by a weathered and annoyed U.S. Marshall. And behind her stands a teary-eyed, and very much alive, Shelby Calloway.

“Oh, hell.” His face squints up, standing as fast as a man with a bullet hole in his leg can. He rights his emotions quickly when he asks, “What are you doing here?” Without waiting for an answer, he wraps an arm around her as she moves with him back to sit. She releases a cry filled with longing, burying her face in his neck.

Hadley squeezes her arm around me as she loops her other around Faye’s shoulder while we watch two people find their way back to one another. I let out a breath, knowing that it was all worth it for this moment, right here.

Shelby rests her forehead against Griz’s, and I can hear her tell him, “Every day.” Her lips press softly to his. “I think of you and my girls every single day.”

Griz swallows audibly, holding her tighter, and I can tell there’s not much he can say at the moment, his eyes closed as he whispers something to her that makes her choke out another sob. When she looks up and sees her daughter, she rushes toward her. Griz watches on as she and Faye hold one another. Loud words of “missed you” and “so happy you’re here” are peppered between cries. I know regardless of how we got to this moment, it was all worth it.

Hadley glides her hands around me once more and searches my face, tears falling from her eyes as they meet mine. “You’re a good man, Atticus Foxx.” She leans in closer, kissing my lipsfirst, then my cheek as she says, “So much better than the fantasy.” We both smile as she whispers, “I love you, baby.”

Hearing those words, feeling them from her, hadn’t been in my plans for a long time, but not a single part of me is anything but thankful for it. I brush away the wetness on her cheeks and rest my forehead against hers, letting those words seep into me. Wrapping my arms around her, I hold on to her tightly, burying my face in her neck as I mumble out what all of this unknowingly proved.

“I love you, too.”

Chapter 42

Hadley

September: Teaching Lily and Lark how to beat their dad in chess.

Frozen grapes dipped in Pop Rocks . . . genius!

“It’s a downgrade when it comes to square footage, but it’s yours for whenever you might need it,” I say, walking through the foyer and into the main living space of my townhouse. I still have furniture here and paintings on the walls, but I’ve slowly been folding my things into our house.

“That black cat clock yours?” Ace asked as he flipped a pancake.

“So fun, right? The eyes tick back and forth, and the tail vibrates on the hour,” I said with a smile as I added the protein shake into my coffee.

With his lips tilted to the right, he sniffed a small laugh. Then he took a sip of his coffee from a hot pink mug withbright orange letters that read: Slut for Smut. “Could have done without the dick-shaped appetizer plates, but the rest of it feels like you.” His eyes flicked up to mine. “Feels more like a home now with you and your things in it.” Popping a strawberry in his mouth, he smiled, and I nearly slapped myself just to make sure this was, in fact, real life.

I squeeze Ace’s hand as I walk through my old galley kitchen. I wasn’t sure what to do with my townhouse at first, but keeping it means I can rent it out or, in this case, allow family to use it. “The walk to Hooch’s is about ten minutes from here, but with your golf cart, I bet you could make it in three,” I say to Griz with a wink. “And everything on Main is footsteps away. If you want, I can have the girls at Crescent de Lune keep a standing morning croissant order. Just say the word, and they’ll drop it off. It’s a nice little perk.”

“Might be nice to have some space of our own while the farmhouse is built,” Shelby says to Griz as she looks out the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room.

Griz gives me the biggest Cheshire Cat smile. And I can’t help but mirror it and follow it up with a fist bump. I know exactly why he’s considering moving into this space. I assumed he’d want some privacy to enjoy this fresh start with Shelby, but the urgency came when Ace decided to check on him early this morning. My husband got a full-frontal view of his grandfather as Shelby rode his face.

Ace rushed into our bedroom and shut the door behind him. Leaning against the door, eyes wide, he said, “Just saw Griz’s dick waving in the wind and far too much of Shelby.” He rubbed his eyes, looking like he didn’t know whether to be appalled or proud.

I think this apartment might be a good way to ease the adjustment of all these changes around here. First me, thenShelby. The eldest Foxx boys were going through some growing pains, and a little space wouldn’t hurt.

“Since my grandson is being so prude about how I like to fit in a morning ride, it looks like you’ve got yourself some new tenants, Hadley Jean.”

Ace wipes his hand over his mouth and grumbles out, “Jesus Christ.”

“It’s a big adjustment from where I was, but I like the change,” Shelby says as she sits on Griz’s lap. She combs her fingers through his gray hair. “But I’m ready for all of this with you. I spent too long thinking about what ifs and now I’d love to lean into the why nots.”

“Me too, sweetheart,” he says, tipping his head back to look at her.

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