Page 1 of Tennessee Trouble

1

BRANDT

This is bullshit.

It was a damn joke…

Errr, well, it was supposed to be a joke. It most certainly didn’t land that way.

And all because of that one silly sentence, on some silly Internet video, I’m on a professional apology field trip.

Yay, me.

I don’t get worked up often. That’s simply not who I am. I can count the once in my life that I’ve lost my shit in an epic fashion.

Yes, just the once.

In my defense, a lot of men would lose it if they walked into the bar they own with their best friend, to find said best friend’s head buried in their little sister. And yes, I do mean buried like that.

That’s behind us though.

Milo and Brenna are now happily married, the three of us finding a balance between working together, being family, and them agreeing to not make out in front of me.

Seeing both my best friend and my little sister so deliriously happy also helps to even out the weirdness. The two of them complement the other in ways that I will never understand. In ways that make me more than a little jealous, if I’m being honest.

My truck engine revs as I hit the gas, hugging the curve of the tight, tree-lined mountain road. Newly forming leaves peek out of the branches, spring starting to show off here in East Tennessee. I’m a long way from home —a solid six hours on the road under my belt at this point, with another to go—but in some ways, this doesn’t look all that different from Hickory Hills. In other ways, it reminds me a little bit of Colorado, where I spent my college years.

Then I see the haziness hovering over the mountains, and I’m reminded that these peaks are like no other. Sure, the Rockies are cool, but the Smokies? They’re magical. There’s something about them that holds an air of mystery—like they’re holding on to a secret. One they are dying to share, but know they can’t. So instead, they’ll taunt you, their misty, opaque clouds whispering that they know something you don’t know.

Maybe Brenna was right—I do need this.

A weekend of fun. An adventure. Some time away to recenter.

If only that’s all this was…

Life has been pretty much all work, no play lately. Which is weird to say, considering I’m living the dream. I own a brewery with my best friend, creating all sorts of fun new concoctions and selling them to the world. Our work is play.

At least until you make a bad joke on the Internet.

Sigh…

Letting out a long breath, I add a chuckle, fully owning the fact that my baby sister was right. It’s like she knows me or something. Brenna might be twelve years younger than I am, but we share a bond. Two halves of the same bun. Our middle sister, Bryce, being the weird mystery meat between us.

Palming my steering wheel, I round another switchback curve, this one tighter than the last, and I finally crest the top of the hill, coming out of the trees for a moment, bright sunshine greeting me. Damn, that’s bright.

I pull over into the scenic overlook, throwing my truck into park and climbing out, sucking in the sweet mountain air. The Smokies have already started their taunt.

One thing is for sure—scenic is an understatement.

Dense forest lines the rolling hills spread out before me, evergreens showing off their bristles, while the bright green growth surrounding them I was admiring before shimmers even brighter now in the sunshine. A small town is off in the distance, the roofs of downtown and the church steeple giving them away in the midst of the forest.

Hello, Trouble.

At least I think that’s Trouble down there. GPS said I was getting close, and there’s not exactly a whole lot of towns in this part of the state. Hence the appeal.

That and the moonshine.

My first love.