Page 12 of Tennessee Trouble

“Are y’all close?”

“Ish. We’re all very different, but in a complementary way. We all work together, running the family business, so we have to be. But we’re still siblings and we have our moments.”

Like when Mikayla tried to break up Kyra’s wedding last year. That was a moment if there ever was one.

“So you’re close in age then?”

I nod. “Pretty evenly spaced. My older sister is thirty-five, my older brother is thirty-three, and my younger sister is twenty-nine. So we’re all right there.”

“So that makes you…”

“Thirty-one.”

Brewer chuckles, shaking his head, like my answer was the punchline to his own personal joke. Clearly, I’ve missed something.

“Why, how old are you?”

Oh dear Lord, please let him be legal…

“I’ll be forty-one next month.”

I let out a sigh of relief. I don’t know why I would think he’d be underage; he doesn’t look like a kid. Brewer is definitely all man. Then again, looks can be deceiving.

“My baby sister is twenty-nine,” he continues, staring out over the town. “Our middle sister is thirty-eight. To say the youngest in our family was a surprise is an understatement. We’re really close though. I know that sounds crazy, since there’s such a gap, but we’re two peas in pod. Always have been. Middle sister is the crazy one. She’s made some…questionable life choices.”

“Which one is married to your best friend?”

Brewer turns to look at me, his smile growing. “You remembered that?”

“Well, it’s not every day you meet someone who says best friend slash brother-in-law. My brother-in-law certainly isn’t my bestie.”

Then again, Davis was Kyra’s bestie, before they got married in a whirlwind scheme so he could avoid paying taxes. No, scheme isn’t the right word. That would insinuate that it was done nefariously. It wasn’t. Davis has loved Kyra for forever and simply saw an in to finally tell her.

It was a weird way of going about it, but it worked for them. That’s what matters.

“The baby. So there’s a twelve-year gap between them too.” He chuckles again, smirking as he meets my eyes. “It was weird at first, and I didn’t handle it well when I found out, but they’re good together. It’s also why I may never live it down when they find out that the girl I met on vacation is ten years younger than I am.”

“Who says they have to find out?” I shrug. “About any of it.”

“Point taken.”

Silence falls over us, nothing but the rustle of the breeze through the leaves and the odd snapping twig filling the air. It’s relaxing, comforting, and romantic all at the same time. An ease to it—no need to fill the space with anything. It’s a little weird, since I’ve never been this comfortable with anyone, especially a stranger. At the same time, it’s perfect.

There isn’t anywhere else I would rather be. No one else I’d rather be with.

The breeze picks up, much cooler now that the sun is down, hitting my bare arms and showing its teeth. It’s not an all-out bite—more like a nibble—but it’s enough to make me react. A shiver ripples through me, and no matter how much I try to hide it, my movement doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Cold?” Brewer reaches around me, drawing me in closer and rubbing the exposed skin of my arms with his hand to try to warm them up. “Wanna head in?”

I nod, hating to give up sitting here with him, looking out over my town. But I also know what the wind is like up here. It’s still only March, and there is a lot of weather left to be had this spring.

Without skipping a beat, Brewer is on his feet, bending down to pick me up. He scoops me into his arms with ease, drawing me into his chest. The powerful smell of Irish Spring hits me again, releasing a new set of butterflies inside my chest. I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to smell that soap again and not think of him.

At least I hope not. I want this night burned in my memory for the rest of time.

Wherever the moonshine leads us…

Three large steps later, we’re inside, Brewer somehow managing to kick the doors shut while still holding on to me. I swoon slightly, not bothering to hide it. If the man can carry me into an old miner’s hut and manage to shut out the wind at the same time, that deserves a swoon.