Jim Beam

by Jen Talty

  Jim Beam

  It’s All In the Whiskey

  Jen Talty

  Copyright © 2020 by Jen Talty

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  JIM BEAM

  Book Description

  Note from Jen Talty

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  About the Author

  Also by Jen Talty

  Praise for Jen Talty

  "Deadly Secrets is the best of romance and suspense in one hot read!" NYT Bestselling Author Jennifer Probst

  "A charming setting and a steamy couple heat up the pages in a suspenseful story I couldn't put down!" NY Times and USA today Bestselling Author Donna Grant

  "Jen Talty's books will grab your attention and pull you into a world of relatable characters, strong personalities, humor, and believable storylines. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll rush to get the next book she releases!" Natalie Ann USA Today Bestselling Author

  "I positively loved In Two Weeks, and highly recommend it. The writing is wonderful, the story is fantastic, and the characters will keep you coming back for more. I can't wait to get my hands on future installments of the NYS Troopers series." Long and Short Reviews

  "In Two Weeks hooks the reader from page one. This is a fast paced story where the development of the romance grabs you emotionally and the suspense keeps you sitting on the edge of your chair. Great characters, great writing, and a believable plot that can be a warning to all of us." Desiree Holt, USA Today Bestseller

  "Dark Water delivers an engaging portrait of wounded hearts as the memorable characters take you on a healing journey of love. A mysterious death brings danger and intrigue into the drama, while sultry passions brew into a believable plot that melts the reader's heart. Jen Talty pens an entertaining romance that grips the heart as the colorful and dangerous story unfolds into a chilling ending." Night Owl Reviews

  "This is not the typical love story, nor is it the typical mystery. The characters are well rounded and interesting." You Gotta Read Reviews

  "Murder in Paradise Bay is a fast-paced romantic thriller with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end. You won't want to miss this one..." USA Today bestselling author Janice Maynard

  JIM BEAM

  It’s All In The Whiskey book IV

  USA Today Bestselling Author

  JEN TALTY

  Book Description

  Nearly five years ago, Cheyenne Hawkins came to Whiskey Ranch for one thing: to train to be the best. When she left, she was confident she’d be at the top of the rodeo circuit until a dizzy spell landed her in the hospital and she found out she left the ranch with much more than she expected. However, Cheyenne was already engaged to someone else. Cheyenne told herself it was for the best if she stayed away from JB. She told herself she loved her fiancé, and she had a career to chase. And that’s exactly what she did. Five years later, divorced, she’s one of the best cowgirls in the circuit, and her four-year-old son, Jimmy, couldn’t be prouder. The last thing Cheyenne wants is to see JB Whiskey, but when he shows up at a rodeo and spots her with their son, she realizes she must face the music and tell him the truth.

  She can handle his anger. She can even deal with JB not wanting anything to do with her or her son, but nothing could have prepared her for the idea that JB would demand she allow their son to come to the ranch for an extended visit so they could get to know each other.

  Jim Beam (JB) Whiskey never thought he’d be living alone. He always believed his brother JD would be his roommate forever. They both shared one major common bond: a broken heart. But his brother went off and did the unthinkable and found himself the kind of love that heals a wounded soul.

  Well, JB had done that once, and Cheyenne ran out him, leaving him to pick up the pieces for the second time. He vowed there would never be a third. That is until he sees a young boy with a double shot of JB’s eyes and a hauntingly familiar smile. JB doesn’t need a paternity test to know he’s Jimmy’s father. However, he is going to need to find a way to forgive Cheyenne for leaving him all those years ago as well as proving to her that he can change and be the kind of father Jimmy needs and the kind of husband Cheyenne deserves.

  To Alyssa. Thanks for sitting with me and keeping me company!

  Note from Jen Talty

  Jim Beam is the youngest of the WHISKEY siblings, but this is not the end of the IT’S ALL IN THE WHISKEY series! Coming in the fall, I will start introducing some of the many characters who live and work at Whiskey Ranch along with some of the Whiskey siblings’ cousins and other extended family members.

  First up is Whiskey Sour, which comes out September 21, 2020 and it’s already up for pre-order! You won’t want to miss this one! Thanks for coming along for the ride, for without you readers, my stories would fall on deaf ears. Now, sit back, relax, and let the romance roll in…

  Prologue

  Five years ago…

  Jim Beam Whiskey, better known as JB, leaned against the fence and watched as Cheyenne Hawkins dismounted Sparky, one of the best broncos on Whiskey Ranch. JB wasn’t sure if he was more impressed with Cheyenne and her ability to tame the wild beast or Sparky’s determination to buck the sexy rider. Either way, in the last four weeks, Cheyenne had sharpened her skills to the point she should take the circuit by storm.

  His stomach flipped and flopped. It had been a long time since a woman gave him butterflies, and he didn’t like it. Not one damn bit. But what was worse was that she’d be leaving tomorrow, and he was far from prepared to say goodbye. He lifted his Stetson and wiped the sweat off his brow. The sound of spurs clicking against boots caught his attention. He turned to see his brother JD strolling in his direction. “What brings you out here?” JB didn’t have to ask the question. Even though he was close to all his siblings, he and JD had a unique bond. Maybe it had to do with them being less than two years apart. Or maybe because they’d been living alone together since they were seventeen and nineteen respectively.

  “I was watching Cheyenne from the office and got an itch to get on the saddle. Damn, that girl is good,” JD said, shoving a toothpick in his mouth. He leaned over the railing. “I haven’t seen that kind of raw talent since you were a kid.”

  “I hate competing.” JB left the rodeo circuit when he graduated high school to focus on college and the family business. He let his big brother, JW, chase the trophies, and JW was about to hit the world record for staying on the backside of a bull. JW had more talent in his pinky than everyone on the ranch.

  Except maybe Cheyenne.

  Only she wasn’t staying.

  Nope.

  Worse. She wasn’t even from Idaho. She lived in the great fucking state of Texas.

  JB hated Texas more than he hated competing in rodeos. It was flat and hot and humid. Nothing like Idaho. And it certainly didn’t have Whiskey Ranch or his siblings.

  “You’ve been acting quite melancholy the last couple of days.” JD climbed up on the railing, perching himself on the top.

  JB jumped up, sitting next to his brother and best friend. Ever since they were little, and especially after their parents had died, he and JD spent many a late night confiding in one another. It wasn’t that he didn’t share with his sister Georgia Moon or his oldest brother, JW, it was just that he and JD shared a commonality that he didn’t
with his other siblings.

  They’d both had their hearts broken.

  Not in the same way, but their blood pumped differently. And now JB found himself in a situation he never thought he’d be in again.

  “You haven’t told her how you feel, have you?” JD asked.

  “I don’t see the point. I don’t want to be the reason she doesn’t chase her dreams.”

  “Loving her doesn’t mean she has to quit the rodeo. All you have to do is tell her she can have both you and the career she wants. You know it’s possible and very doable.”

  “This coming from a man who won’t even—”

  “Don’t say it,” JD said. “Not unless you want to find yourself facedown in horse shit.” He pointed to the pile of manure five feet away. “Besides. What happened to me is very different from what Veronica did to you, and Cheyenne is no Veronica. We’re comparing apples to oranges.”

  JB laughed. “Only in your world. But it doesn’t change the fact I don’t want to put that kind of pressure on Cheyenne. I don’t want her to feel like she has to choose between me and the rodeo. She’s so fucking good; she could be the best. Hell, I think she is the best. She beat me this morning and not just by a sliver of a second, but by points. No one on this ranch has ever done that before, except JW and Luke.”

  “You say that with pride.”

  “Well, I have spent the last month teaching her everything I know.”

  “In and out of the sack,” JD said with a chuckle.

  “Don’t be a dick.” JB eyed Cheyenne as she continued to cool down Sparky. He glanced at his watch. They’d made plans to have a nice picnic dinner under the stars at the gazebo. He had no idea if he’d be saying goodbye or saying I love you.

  Both seemed so unfair.

  But the words seemed impossible to utter.

  “I’m trying to lighten the mood.” JD pulled the toothpick out of his mouth and waved it around. “You’ve been acting like a moody teenaged girl since yesterday, and it’s only because you don’t know one way or the other what she’s thinking. You need to talk to her. Even if you don’t tell her you love her, you need to at least find out if she wants to continue the relationship.”

  JB knew his brother spoke the truth. Fear was an unwelcome emotion, and JB didn’t feel it often. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the Whiskey Ranch golf cart heading in his direction with his sister behind the wheel and a stranger in the passenger seat. “Who the hell is that?”

  JD turned his head. “Well, sure the fuck isn’t Luke. One of these days those two will figure out they are attracted to each other.”

  “They have such an odd friendship, and it still gets a little under JW’s skin.” JB jumped from the fence. The closer his sister got, the more he wondered who the hell was in the cart. He and his brothers were insanely protective of their sister, and whoever rode shotgun looked more like a city slicker than a cowboy. JB strolled toward the approaching vehicle, his brother at his side. “Hey, sis.”

  She rolled the golf cart to a stop and adjusted her hat. “Is Cheyenne done with her training?”

  “She is,” JB said, glancing over his shoulder. Cheyenne had Sparky on the far side of the corral with her back turned. “She’s just cooling down the horse.”

  “Good,” the man said, stretching out his arm. “Are you JB Whiskey?”

  JB nodded, taking the man’s hand and giving it a good shake.

  “I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Scott McCauley, Cheyenne’s fiancé. She says you’re the best she’s ever worked with.”

  The air in JB’s lungs flew out like a cat chasing a mouse. His knees buckled. He had to grab the side of the cart to hold himself steady. “I’m glad she’s happy with all that Whiskey Ranch has provided,” he managed to croak out. He would not lose his composure in front of a stranger or his siblings. Not over a woman, especially when that woman was Cheyenne. “I’m sorry I seem so shocked, but she didn’t mention that you’d be here. Otherwise we would have rolled out the red carpet.”

  “She has no idea. I thought it would be a nice surprise.” Scott had a huge smile plastered across his face. “This is the longest we’ve gone without seeing each other since we started dating.”

  “You might need to get used to that when she goes out on the circuit,” JB said, letting out a small dose of venom that caught a nasty glare from both his brother and sister. He couldn’t care less at this point. “I’ve got to get going. It was nice to meet you.” He didn’t wait for a response from anyone. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and took long strides in the direction of his home. It would take thirty minutes or so to get there on foot, but he wasn’t about to ask Georgia Moon or JD for a ride, and since he’d come with Cheyenne, well, he wasn’t going to be leaving with her now; that was for damn sure.

  “Hey. Wait up,” JD called.

  “Fuck off,” JB said.

  “Come on. Maybe she’s going to call it off with him.”

  “Don’t care. If she’d cheat on him with me, she’d do it to me with someone else.” In his heart of hearts, he knew that to be true. Once a cheater, always a cheater. “Unless you want to go get drunk with me, then leave me the hell alone.”

  “All right, let’s go get shit-faced.”

  “Sounds good to me.” This would be the last time JB let a woman take his heart, rip it from his chest, and stomp on it like a wild filly. For the next five minutes he walked in silence until his phone vibrated in his back pocket. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen.

  Cheyenne: Let me explain.

  JB: Have a nice life. Good luck on the circuit.

  Cheyenne: Don’t be like that. We need to talk.

  JB: No. We don’t because at dinner tonight I was going to say goodbye anyway. Take care. No hard feelings. I mean that.

  He stuffed his cell back in his pocket. No reason to be an asshole. No reason for her to think he was heartbroken. He could let her go so she could live out her life with whoever the fuck she wanted.

  Not his problem.

  And no woman would ever be his problem again.

  Three months later…

  Cheyenne rubbed her ass. Her entire backside ached. It was the third time in a week she’d nearly fainted, but this time it could have been really bad as she’d just come out of the chute on a bucking bronco just as a wave of nausea hit her gut, making her lose her grip. The horse tossed her a good three feet and nearly stomped on her legs.

  Scott pulled back the curtain. “I hate hospitals. No one knows anything, and they make you wait forever.”

  She glanced down at her silver wedding band. They’d run off and eloped two weeks after she’d left Whiskey Ranch. Perhaps her quick agreement to his proposal had been driven by guilt for her love affair with JB.

  Or maybe she’d done it out of spite since JB had refused to take her calls or answer any of her texts except for on the day she’d left.

  “We’ve only been here for two hours,” she said, trying to keep Scott from pacing a hole in the floor. “It takes time to get blood work back.”

  “Well, at least we know nothing’s broken. That’s good news.” Scott sat at the edge of her bed and held her hand. When she’d first left Whiskey Ranch, he’d made a few comments about her being withdrawn. Distant. She’d contemplated telling him about JB, and twice she almost called off the engagement altogether, but JB hadn’t loved her, and she was so confused about her feelings in general that she made what she knew deep down had been a mistake and married Scott anyway.

  The marriage wasn’t miserable, but it wasn’t going to last forever. She was going to have to end it. She just didn’t know how, and he’d been so supportive of her career and now all these dizzy spells. Scott had been by her side, and he deserved better.

  The doctor stepped into the exam room rolling some piece of equipment, snapping her out of her thoughts.

  “We have some of the tests back that we ran,” the doctor said. “You’re anemic for one. And your hormones are all out of wha
ck.”

  “What does that mean, exactly?” Scott asked.

  “It means she’s pregnant,” the doctor said matter-of-factly.

  “I’m what?” Cheyenne bolted to a sitting position. “How can that be? We’re very careful with birth control.”

  “Nothing is one hundred percent,” the doctor said.

  “A baby?” Scott smiled. Having a family was something that he wanted desperately and putting it on hold while she chased after her dream had been difficult for him to accept, but he’d been willing to give her five years.

  Looked like that was cut short by four and a half.

  “Do you know when you had your last full period?” the doctor asked.

  She glanced toward the ceiling, as if the dates would drop from the tiles. She’d been so busy with the rodeo circuit she hadn’t really given it much thought. “I don’t really know. Maybe a month ago?” But she wasn’t even sure about that.

  “Well, this will help us figure out how far along you are.” He pulled up her gown. “Have you ever had an ultrasound before?”

  “Can’t say that I have,” she said. Her pulse picked up, and a million questions raced through her mind. None of the answers were good.

  “Don’t be alarmed if we can’t see anything this way. You might not be far enough along, and it could be necessary for me to send you down to the imaging center. But let’s give it a shot.” The doctor put some kind of jelly on her stomach. He fiddled with the machine that had a keyboard attached.