Page 74 of One Chance to Stay
Seamus: Tie?
Patrick: You’re bad at this.
Seamus: I’ll text Grace.
Patrick: God bless your daughter.
As his truck pulled into the space in front of Harvest & Vine, I waited to see what Grace had come up with. He cut the engine, and as he stepped out, my jaw dropped. The sight of him in blue jeans, a button-down shirt, and a tie was enough to land a punch to the heart.
The way his eyes stayed down, I could tell his nerves were getting the best of him. He stopped in front of me, his hands awkwardly shoved into his pockets.
“You look handsome.” Understatement. Seamus would turn the head of every daddy-chaser at Spectrum.
“I do?”
Instead of confirming it with words, I took his hand and pressed it against my chest. His eyes shot up, and the edge of his lip curled up in a smile. There was no other proof necessary, just the quickened pace of the thumping in my chest.
“We should head in. The others are already here.”
“Others?”
“Yeah. Others.” To my dismay.
I opened the door for him. As we walked in, I stopped and savored the smell of pine and hickory. I worked with spirits every day, but the bar never smelled of anything other than sweat and raging hormones. I envied Julie and Reed for what they were creating.
Julie’s head spun about. Stopping her conversation with Jason and Simon, she rushed toward the door. She offered a slight bow, gesturing for us to continue inside. “Welcome to Harvest & Vine’s first whiskey tasting.”
“Whiskey tasting?”
“Good thing you gave me time to brainstorm the perfect date night.” I gave Seamus a slight elbow. “Otherwise, we’d be trying to ice skate, and my ass couldn’t handle that.”
“That’s what he said,” shouted a voice from behind Jason. The two burly bears parted, and I spotted Gloria and Agatha. The ladies had the same devious grins from earlier in the day. Oursmall,intimate whiskey tasting had been crashed by two of the sweetest-looking ladies in Firefly. Let me emphasizelooking.
Julie leaned in, holding her hand up to her mouth as she whispered. “I couldn’t say no. They promised to stock up on the way to guild meetings.”
As a new business, she couldn’t say no to anybody walking through her doors. “It’s okay. If nothing else?—”
“Seamus!” Agatha called. “If it isn’t my brother from a different mother.”
“It won’t be boring,” I finished.
At the back of the store, Julie had converted old barrels into small benches for the tasters. On each stood two sets of six glasses. When I suggested a private tasting, I hadn’t thought she’d take it to the next level. I should have known better. Nothing in Firefly had ever been done half-assed.
“Take your places and we’ll begin.”
I followed Seamus, taking our place around a table. I eyed the tumblers, each already holding a half-finger of alcohol. Julie had arranged them by color, lightest to darkest. As soon as I took my place, I leaned in, savoring the smell.
“Operation Waistbands is underway,” Gloria whispered.
Seamus raised an eyebrow. I shook my head. “Don’t ask.”
“Welcome to Harvest & Vine’s first couple’s tasting.” In her skirt and white blouse, she looked like every other distributor I worked with. It clashed with the weather outside. I’d have expected her to be in knitted sweaters like the ladies behind us.
“We’re going to work our way through the flights on your table.” I heard the familiar slamming of a glass on the table. “Gloria! This isn’t your kitchen. Stop pounding back drinks.”
We all turned. Gloria had the second glass halfway to her mouth when she froze. “Sorry.”
“Reed is going to walk you through a brief history of each. Then he’ll go through their profiles, you know, to help describe what you do and don’t like.”
