Page 123 of Blue Jean Summer

Mason walked past the glass doors that led out to the rose garden. Hallie’s gaze lingered long after he had disappeared from view.

Savannah snorted. “Go get laid by the hunky bull rider. They do a decent job of using their hips.”

“Savannah!” Hallie gasped, patting the redness on her cheeks that now matched my own.

“He’s not a bull rider,” I said. “He was a steer wrestler.”

Hallie let out a flustered breath. “Thank you.”

“And I agree,” I added. “Hallie and Mason should bang.”

“Catherine!” Hallie shrieked. “Hush your mouth. Someone could hear, and that someone could be my son.”

Savannah cupped her hands around her mouth to make her voice carry. “Hallie and Mason sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S—”

“Will you stop it!” Hallie hissed. “Zach is right upstairs.”

“Probably with the door shut, playing video games with his headphones on,” I said. “We’re just teasing you.”

Hallie’s sharp gaze landed on me. “Fine. If we’re teasing each other, then let’s talk about the little love nest Mason found in the loft this morning.”

Savannah’s jaw dropped as she turned to me. “Spill.”

“Oh my god,” I grumbled as I covered my face with my hands. “I knew leaving the pillows and blankets there overnight was a bad idea.”

Hallie snickered. “Just don’t get hay in my washing machine.”

I clapped my hands together. “And with that, I’m gonna go ask Hayes if we can serve Walt’s moonshine.”

Hallie nodded. “I’m stealing Sav. We’re going to the store for reinforcements. Holler if you think of anything you need from town.”

I grabbed my purse from the coat hook by the kitchen door. “Take my card.”

Hallie snatched it from my hand and left the kitchen in a hurry with Savannah on her heels. As soon as they disappeared, I opened the banking app on my phone to make sure there was money to cover whatever they needed. The next $5,000 deposit that Hayes sent me each month wouldn’t hit my account for another week and a half. I had paid off a chunk of my debt at the beginning of the month. Even though I had used Hayes’s credit card for most of the grand opening expenses, I had still been covering a lot out of my personal accounts.

Huh.

That couldn’t be right.

The payment that should have gone to chipping away at my debt hadn’t processed, and the money was still there. It was supposed to have been automatically deducted a week ago.

“Everything alright?”

I looked up and found Hayes slipping out of the study with worry etched on his face.

“Yes? No?” I huffed. “Everything is falling apart. I just sent Hallie and Savannah to the store with my card since the caterer fell through. I checked my bank balance to make sure it wasn’t going to overdraft and saw that a payment that was supposed to autopay never did. So I’m probably past due on that because of some computer error. And we don’t have a bartender, so now I need to ask you for a huge favor and hope you’ll say yes to letting us serve some of your granddad’s moonshine and wine collection, so we have drinks and—”

Hayes kissed me, shutting me up.

I went stiff as a board. Even though he looked absolutely sinful in his boots, jeans, and button-up, I was too flustered for sex.

“Yes,” he said as he cupped my cheeks.

“We can serve the moonshine and wine?”

Hayes chuckled. “Granddad wouldn’t have wanted it to sit down there forever. Just make sure the pour isn’t heavy-handed. It’ll burn your esophagus.”

“I’ll tell Savannah.” I sighed as I looked down at my phone. “I don’t have time to deal with a bank error right now, but if I don’t call them before five, I’ll have to wait until Monday, and then—”