“Shit,” he laughs low under his breath, “you sound miserable.”
“How does‘what’s up’sound miserable?”
“Tone of your voice.”
I want to tell him I’d rather be in the house fucking around with the nanny, but instead I go with the story about the pouring fucking rain.
“This weather. I thought maybe we were going to see a break after we got a little bit of sun yesterday. I’m sick of it. Got a fence line down, horses on the run, a creek that’s rising, you know… shit everywhere. What about you?”
“Not quite that bad, but I’ve got a lot riding on this party tonight. Fingers crossed the rain doesn’t fuck it all up.”
Another cold sheet sweeps sideways across the pasture, rattling the roof of the barn.
“You believe the news? They’re saying the storm tonight is going to fuck a lot of shit up. They’re calling for flooding straight through to Wildwood County.”
“All I need are half a dozen folks to come and fall in love with Dad’s whiskey. We get that and we’re gold, considering the deal I made with the rednecks at the bar down the street.”
“You didn’t tell me about a deal.”
“It’s not official yet, but they offered to buy some of Dad’s whiskey and sell it at their bar.”
“How the hell is that a deal?”
“They want thirty percent of the sale, we take seventy, and they agree to point folks in our direction if they want more. It’snot perfect, but since we’re collaborating, they should stop their bullshit, and we’d finally be selling the whiskey.”
I huff under my breath. “Unless they don’t sell the whiskey.”
“They’ll sell the whiskey,” my brother groans, as though he’s already found the best plan and doesn’t want me pissing on it. “People want small batch orders. That’s why they’re nervous. Most of what the rednecks sell is brewed states away. Dad’s classic whiskey is local, legendary, and brewed right on Main Street. They should be scared of that.”
Thunder rolls in low and distant as I tighten the last of the wire around the post and ride down to wrangle in the horses. I don’t know what I’m thinking about this deal, but I don’t have time to process it right now.
“I’ll catch up with you at the party later. Let me know if you hear anything else on the weather.”
“Will do.” My brother hangs up the line as I ease the side-by-side forward, following the horses at a slow crawl toward the open pasture. Once they’re moving steady again, my mind shifts back to Violet.
While I have a new problem with the distillery and the rednecks, I managed to make it through the call without any talk about the fact that I touched my best buddy’s daughter last night. That I laid with her. That I slid my fingers inside of her and finger-fucked her until she came. That I licked her come clean off my hand and dreamt about spreading her virgin pussy wide all night long.
Keeping it silent in and of itself is a miracle, because right now it’s all I want to talk about. It’s all that’s on my mind.
I always saw myself as a good man, but a good man would know better than to do the things I’ve done. A good man would think about his kids, his friend… literally anyone else.
I need to stop this. I need to end it all right here, right now. She’s here for the kids. They love her. I can’t risk letting that all fall apart.
I have to keep my distance.
For the kids.
Chapter Seven
Violet
What am I doing?
I stand at the kitchen sink, holding the plate of pancakes and eggs I made for Cash. It’s getting cold and I need to move, but I’m stuck standing in the window, staring out at the farm as the rain pours down.
I should’ve told him about the job. I need to tell him about it,but what am I even going to say?
Do I even want the opportunity? Dallas is a half a day’s drive away from here. I’ve never been that far away from home, not for good. Plus, what does that mean forthis.
