Page 31 of The Prince Who Loved Me

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Brandi pulled in to the Belle’s parking lot, glancing at Carolann in the seat beside her before turning off the ignition. A tour with her mom was all Brandi needed on top of a night wracked with doubt and indecision.

This was Sebastien. And he felt right. But he felt so, so wrong.

When Carolann had asked to follow Brandi around to see what her work was like, she had jumped at the diversion. Even if Belle’s was supposed to be a semi-secret. Carolann rarely showed interest in Brandi’s life outside of men, but maybe her mom was changing. Brandi had, after all. Carolann could, too.

Carolann pulled down the visor and bared her teeth to the mirror before getting out of the car. “And this is where you spend all your time. No wonder you’re rarely at Fountenoy Hall.”

“This is it.” Brandi approached the outbuildings and spread her arms wide. She inhaled the earthy smell of grains and oak overlaid with the tangier alcohol. Usually the scent brought her a sense of calm, but now her thoughts were all jumbled by her prince.

Not her prince. A prince. Just an average, compassionate, gorgeous, really knows how to kiss prince. Who wasn’t hers.

“It’s so…” her mother paused. “Big.”

It was also too quiet for the mashing that was supposed to be taking place. The distiller was running, but it was missing the constant backdrop of the ventilator. Brandi bypassed her office and found Ona and Gerald with some others in front of the machine, her mom trailing behind. The sweet scent of sugarmixed with the pungent one of ethanol in the heavy air.

“Brandi, hey.” Gerald put his hands on his hips. “The ventilation just went out.”

“How long has the masher been going?” Brandi grabbed the clipboard attached to the machine and checked her watch. “It has only about a half hour left?”

That was good, at least. They could rotate into the building if the machine needed attention, keeping away from the heavy fumes.

“What does this machine do?” Carolann stepped closer to the distiller.

“Mom, no.” She snagged her mom’s arm. “You don’t want to inhale too much.”

“We’re outside,” Carolann said.

Didn’t matter. There were safety measures in place to keep exposure to the fumes to a minimum. “That there’s the main office. Why don’t you look around while we figure this out.”

Her mom tucked a loose hair behind Brandi’s ear. “I can come back another time if you’re busy, baby.”

That would be for the best, but who knew if Carolann would follow through? And having her mom by her side kept her thoughts from straying to Sebastien.

“You go, Brandi,” Ona said. “We can tackle the problem when it’s done.”

Gerald nodded. “It’ll be fine. Just has to be cleaned when this is over.”

Gerald and Ona could both handle the problem, but Brandi was responsible for it and the safety of her employees. “Rotate out while the mashing is going and let me know when it’s done. Okay?”

“Sure thing, boss.”

“Who’s coming to get the grains after the sparging?”

Ona checked the clipboard. “Clayton County Farms.”

Last time they had brought a pig over in trade for the leftover feed. Belle’s had a nice barbeque the following night. “You guys let me know if something else happens in the next half hour.”

“Will do.” Gerald tapped a finger against the leg of his jeans. “I emailed a file to you. Has my day-to-day work attached to it.”

“Thanks.” She barely held back a sigh. “Okay, Mom. Let’s me take you on tour.”

She led her mom down through the buildings, showing her the mixer in the ground, where they kept the distilled water, the process of labeling each bottle. She skipped the building holding her wine experiment. The masher gave a constant backdrop to everything Brandi said, and she kept an ear out for an unnatural silence.

“I’m so proud of you, baby,” Carolann said when they wrapped up with the building filled with an impressive amount of oak barrels. “My daughter, the professional.”

Her words brought a spring to Brandi’s step. Carolann rarely complimented anything that wasn’t about Brandi’s hair or clothes or the degrees of her smile. “Thanks, Mom.”