Taming My Whiskey

by Melissa Foster

  “That shirt is classic Dixie,” Izzy said.

  “Agreed,” Quincy said as he slid into the booth beside Izzy. “Dix, you said ‘love sucks,’ so I’m assuming this has to do with a guy? I’m going to tell you what I tell the people in NA when they’re facing tough situations.”

  “Please don’t,” Dixie said flatly.

  Izzy and Penny shook their heads, warnings flaring in their eyes.

  “We’re handling it,” Izzy assured him.

  “‘Handling it,’” Quincy repeated, looking unconvinced. “Who’s the dude?”

  “There’s no dude.” Dixie dug her spoon into the thick brownie, chopping off a hunk and shoveling it into her mouth.

  Quincy arched a brow. “So this is about a chick? Wow, that’s not something I expected. Things just got even more interesting.”

  Dixie pointed her spoon at him and said, “You need to stop talking before I stab you with this.”

  “You’ve always been there for me, Dix. I just want to help,” Quincy insisted.

  The sincerity in his voice brought a sliver of guilt. “Thanks, but I’m good, or I will be. If you really want to help, you’ll keep your mouth shut around anyone outside of this store. You never saw me stuffing my face. Got it?”

  “Sure. Whatever you need.” He leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “But you know I’m happy to catch a flight to the Cape and teach some asshole a lesson.”

  Dixie gritted her teeth. Jace was not an asshole. She loved him, and damn it, she was sure he loved her too. But on the off chance that she’d lost her ability to read people and he turned out to be a bastard who had played her like a fucking fiddle, he still hadn’t promised her a damn thing. This was on her, not him.

  “Quincy,” Penny said sharply, pulling him to his feet. “Why don’t we catch up another time?” She ushered him toward the door. “I’m sorry. It looks like I’m closing early.”

  Dixie felt horrible for sending him away. It wasn’t Quincy’s fault she’d spent the last several days trying to put her shattered heart back together while also dodging so many questions and comments from the guys at the auto shop and Diesel and Bullet at the bar that she was ready to rip someone’s head off.

  “No, he doesn’t have to go.” Dixie pushed to her feet, feeling a little light-headed. Had she forgotten to eat lunch again? She grabbed her backpack and said, “It’s fine. I have to get to work at the bar anyway.”

  “Want me to take your shift?” Izzy asked, snagging Dixie’s keys from the table.

  “Nope. If I go home I’ll just…” Cry or punch my pillow. “I need to go to work.” She held her hand out for her keys.

  “Oh, no, bourbon girl.” Izzy took her arm and said, “I know you can hold your liquor, but in fifteen or twenty minutes you’ll have a nice buzz going. There’s no way I’m letting you drive.”

  “Fine, whatever.” Dixie leaned over the table, shoveling more brownie and ice cream into her mouth. After she scarfed that down, she said, “Thank you, Penny. I owe you a real bottle of bourbon. And, Quincy, remember, you open your mouth about any of this and I’ll have to kill you.”

  “Got it. Call me if you want a guy’s perspective on this non-guy-related situation.” He hugged her and lowered his voice to say, “Whoever has upset you is making a huge mistake. I’m sorry you’re going through whatever this is.”

  Tears burned Dixie’s eyes, and she turned away before he could see them and said, “Let’s go, Iz.” She pushed through the door and filled her lungs with the warm evening air. Her stomach burned, her heart ached, and the buzz from the bourbon was already taking effect, but instead of dulling her tangled emotions, it magnified them.

  “You’re gonna cry, aren’t you?” Izzy asked as they headed for her car.

  “Not if I can help it.”

  Dixie climbed into the car and rolled down the window, thankful that Izzy knew her well enough not to try to talk about what was or wasn’t going on with Jace. She cranked the radio, giving Dixie a chance to try to pull herself together on the way to the bar. The ice cream and liquor hadn’t helped. She felt a little woozy, but maybe that was because her heart was so confused it wasn’t functioning properly and her brain wasn’t getting enough blood.

  Or maybe she was just buzzed and missing Jace.

  Izzy pulled into the parking lot at Whiskey Bro’s and threw the car into park. She turned to Dixie, looking concerned, and said, “Are you sure you don’t want me to take your shift?”

  “I’m sure, thank you. I’m just…I don’t get it, Iz. Maybe you’re right and I should reach out to him, but I can’t bring myself to do it. Every time I try to, I get upset. I mean, think about it. Let’s say I call and he answers the phone. Then what? I’ll sound like a child asking why he hasn’t called. I’m not that person, and he knows it. And the weirdest thing about all of this is that no part of me thinks he doesn’t love me. If you could have seen the way he looked at me, felt what I felt when he held my hand, kissed me, or…”

  “I know you feel that way,” Izzy said. “Do you think something could have happened to him? Maybe he got into an accident?”

  Dixie shook her head. “His sister Mia texted me the other night with a picture of a pair of Leather and Lace heels Jace had sent to her. If something had happened to him, she would have mentioned it.”

  “Did you ask if she’d spoken with him?”

  “No. I’m not that person either.” She grabbed her backpack and said, “I always thought I knew who I was, but I was wrong. Now I know the truth.”

  Izzy handed Dixie her keys and said, “Are you going to clue me in on what that is?”

  “Sure. I’m a badass Whiskey chick.” Dixie stuffed her keys into her backpack, trying to convince herself that what she’d said was all there was to it. The part she wanted to share with Izzy, but couldn’t for fear of being overcome with sadness, was that Whiskeys were only human after all. Whiskey strength wasn’t unbreakable, and the family she adored wasn’t everything she needed.

  “That’s not new, Dix. Not for me, or you,” Izzy said.

  Dixie opened the car door and put one foot on the pavement, prepared to flee.

  Izzy grabbed her arm and said, “Spill.”

  “Fine, but we are not talking about it. After I tell you, you are going to put this car in drive and get the hell out of here.”

  “Okay. Promise.” Izzy made a cross over her heart.

  Dixie knew she could trust Izzy. She just wasn’t sure she could trust herself not to blubber like a fool. “When Whiskeys give their hearts away, I’m not sure we ever get them back.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  DIXIE HEADED STRAIGHT into the bar without a backward glance, hoping to quell the lump in her throat. She was instantly sucked into the comfort of the familiar bar. The scents of leather, liquor, and testosterone, the din of the crowd, the sounds of balls sinking into the pockets of pool tables and darts hitting their mark wrapped around her like a warm scarf on a cold winter night. Bullet and Jed were manning the bar. Tracey was waitressing, chatting with a group of men as she took their orders.

  Dixie headed straight for the office, feeling the weight of Bullet’s eyes tracking her every step. She should have worn something different. The idea of fighting with Bullet suddenly made her feel even worse.

  “Hey, Dix,” Tex Sharpe said as she passed the table where he sat with two of the Bando brothers, who were also Dark Knights.

  “Our local celebrity,” Vaughn Bando, a brawny contractor, said.

  She didn’t dare slow down to greet them while she felt so unlike herself. She stepped into the office and closed the door behind her, exhaling a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. How the hell was she going to make it through this shift? Maybe she should just get it over with and call Jace. She tossed her backpack on the desk and dug out her phone. She saw she had a text from Shea and plunked down in the chair behind the desk as she read it.

  I emailed the schedule for your appearances.
Can you take a look when you get a chance and try to get back to me by the end of the day tomorrow?

  Jace’s voice whispered through Dixie’s mind. We’ll be traveling together to the in-person events. She’d been so happy when he’d said it, but now she realized he could have only meant that they’d be at the events together. He wasn’t exactly the most accurate communicator.

  Ugh. She hated ambiguity. And yet she’d allowed it throughout these last couple of weeks. Because I love him. Tears welled in her eyes. She’d told her mother she didn’t want to make excuses for him, but at the same time she wanted to make a million of them, because the alternative was excruciating. Her eyes caught on that tattoo on her wrist, and tears streamed down her cheeks. She closed her eyes against them, but they just kept coming. Why was this so hard? She dropped her phone on the desk, crossed her arms over the desk, and lowered her forehead to them, giving in to her heartbreak. Tears slid down her nose, her cheeks, wetting the desk.

  The door opened, and Dixie jerked her head up as Bullet blew in and said, “Are you—”

  She wiped her arm over her eyes, spinning the chair around so he couldn’t see her face. She heard the door close and choked out, “I’ll be right out for my shift.”

  “Like hell you will.” Bullet strode around the desk, staring down at her, angry and worried. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She sniffled and spun the chair the other way.

  Bullet grabbed the back of her chair and whipped it around. “Bullshit. Bear said you’ve been crying on and off at work, and last night you told me you hurt your fucking knee. You think I’m buying that shit?”

  She pushed to her feet, her heart pounding. “I don’t care what you’re buying. So what if I’m crying? Big deal! People cry, Bullet, even Whiskeys.” She pushed past him.

  He grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks. “Dix, talk to me,” he said less angrily. “Do I need to call Justin and find out for myself what the hell went on up there?”

  “No! God!” She yanked her arm free. “Don’t you get it? This is my life to break or fix or do whatever I please. I’m not crying because of anyone but myself! I got together with someone at the Cape and made more of it than I should have. That’s all this is. That’s on me, Bullet, and you don’t know the guy anyway, so back off.”

  He gritted his teeth and seethed, “You want me to just sit back and watch you like this?”

  “No. I want you to go back out there, do your job, and let me do mine. I can take care of myself.” She crossed the room and threw the door open.

  Bullet stormed past her, hands fisted, teeth gritted, and said, “I’m going to fucking tear Stone’s head off.”

  “Bullet!” she hollered.

  Bullet turned just as the door to the bar opened and Jace walked in, sending Dixie’s heart into her throat. Jace looked exhausted and gorgeous. He smiled when he saw her. She wanted to run to him, but she was too hurt, too angry, and too fucking confused to do anything more than spew venom. “What are you doing here?” she fumed, striding toward him. “You can’t spend days acting like you love me, making love to me, and then leave me hanging!”

  Jace’s face morphed to a mask of confusion. “Dix, I had to—”

  “Stone!” Bullet growled, nostrils flared, eyes cold and dark.

  As Jace turned, Bullet’s fist slammed into his jaw. Jace stumbled back, and all the men in the bar sprang to their feet. Before Dixie could blink, Jace plowed forward, grabbed Bullet by the collar, and threw him against the wall.

  Jace crushed him against the wall, hand fisted in Bullet’s shirt as he growled, “That was your one free shot.”

  “You hit him?” Dixie hollered at Bullet. “If anyone gets to hit Jace, it’s me!”

  She cocked her arm, and Jace’s other hand shot out, grabbing the front of her shirt, keeping her and Bullet at arm’s length. The door to the bar burst opened, and Biggs and Red rushed in.

  Jace’s eyes flared angrily as he snarled, “I can’t fucking believe I want to marry into this crazy-ass family.”

  Dixie wobbled on her feet, the room tilting around her. Marry into? She tried to make sense of what he’d said, but days of anguish had her heart racing, her head spinning, and his words just fueled her rage.

  Jace glowered at Bullet and said, “I’m going to let go. If you hit me, I will fuck you up.”

  “Bullet!” Biggs hollered as he and Red pushed through the crowd. “Stand down.”

  Bullet’s cold, dark eyes remained trained on Jace.

  “Now,” Biggs commanded.

  Jace lowered his hands and turned toward Dixie, just as she cocked another punch and let it fly, hitting him square in the jaw.

  “Fuck,” Jace shouted, rubbing his jaw.

  “Oh Lord,” Red said.

  “What the hell, Dixie?” Jace’s eyes drilled into her.

  “What the hell yourself? It’s been days since I’ve heard from you! You think I’m just sitting around waiting for you to march in here and play with my heart? I cried for you, and I don’t fucking cry! You didn’t call. You didn’t text—you just forgot me!”

  “Forgot you?” Jace looked up at the ceiling and grabbed the sides of his head, emitting a tortured groan. He lowered his chin, stalking toward her with eyes as serious as they were loving. “Jesus, Dixie. You’re not doing this to me again. I left last time, and I’m not leaving you again, so stop giving me shit long enough to hear me out. I couldn’t forget you if I wanted to. I have been running all over creation so that I could do this!” He pulled papers from his back pocket and pressed them into her hand. “I didn’t call because I knew if I heard your voice—the voice that is constantly in my head, driving me out of my fucking mind—I’d tell you what I was up to, and damn it, Dixie, I told you I wouldn’t make empty promises. I wasn’t about to show up to your parents’ house empty-handed to ask your father for his blessing to marry the toughest, brightest, most stubborn and beautiful woman in all of Peaceful Harbor.”

  In a state of shock, she looked at her parents. Her father nodded in confirmation. Her mother’s hand covered her mouth, but a smile shone in her eyes.

  “Fuck, Dix,” Jace said in a pained voice. “I’m doing this all wrong.”

  He dug something out of the front pocket of his jeans and sank down to one knee. He lifted his hand, looking up at her with the most honest expression and so much love in his eyes, Dixie’s knees weakened. In his hand he held a gorgeous ring with a stunning round black diamond surrounded by smaller white diamonds.

  “I have never answered to anyone since the day I moved out of my parents’ house,” Jace said emphatically. “I have never wanted to put down roots, or start a family, or live my life for someone else, until now. Until you, Dixie. You captured my heart as a beautiful, confident young woman of eighteen, and not a day has passed that you weren’t on my mind. I messed up by not calling, but that doesn’t mean I’m not head over heels in love with you. It means I’m not perfect, and I may never be. But for you I want to try. I’m sorry I didn’t call, but in the last four days I’ve been to Boston, LA, New York, and now here, taking late-night flights, rearranging my life so I could spend the rest of it with you.”

  Her heart leapt into her throat and tears streamed down her cheeks as her heart healed one loving word at a time.

  “In your hand is proof of sale for two properties. The first is for your favorite spot and mine, the property in the woods where we went the first time you rode on the back of my bike. You were right that day, Dixie. I knew exactly what it meant to have you ride with me. I want to make a life with you, Dix, to build a house and fill it with kids. The second proof of sale is for Silver-Stone’s new Peaceful Harbor manufacturing plant and headquarters, which is my home office from this day forward.”

  He rose to his feet, gazing deeply into her eyes, and said, “Dixie Lee Whiskey, I am so in love with you, it hurts. I can’t eat, can’t sleep, and I know it’s Whiskey fever, but I don’t want a remedy. I want to put down roots
and have them tangle with yours until they’re inseparable, here with all the people you love, so you never miss being Auntie Dixie.”

  Dixie couldn’t breathe. Tears blurred her eyes as he took her hand in his, his own eyes dampening as he said, “If you can see past my faults, if you’re willing to try to teach an old man new tricks, then say you’ll marry me, Dixie. Be my wife. Let me learn how to be the man you deserve. I promise to text you three times a day if you want me to. I’ll always be faithful, and above all else, I promise to never, ever call you kitten again.”

  A choked laugh escaped her lips.

  He brushed her tears from her cheeks and said, “I love you, Dixie. I love your green eyes and fiery hair, your beautiful, generous heart, and your fierce spirit and determination to get everything in this life you deserve and not accept anything less. Will you be my wife, my queen, and let me give you the world?”

  “I don’t want the world,” she said through choked sobs. “All I’ve ever wanted was you.”

  “You’ve had me since day one, baby, and if I have my way, you’ll have me forevermore.”

  “If you ever leave me hanging for days again, you’ll regret it,” she said, only half teasing.

  A rumble of laughter rose around them. She’d forgotten they weren’t alone.

  “As well I should,” he said with a smile. He held her hand, the ring perched in front of her finger, and said, “Say yes, Dix. Please say yes.”