by Josie Kerr
She was busy making a projection chart when the doorbell rang. She saved the document, shut the laptop, and went to the door.
Son of a ham sandwich.
Kat stepped back from the peephole and thought hard. Amanda the Ex was outside. Amanda the Ex, who hated this little town yet drove close to three hours here. She debated pretending not to be home, but when Amanda knocked loudly and yelled, “Calhoun, I know you’re in there. Your car is in the driveway!” she got a little irritated. No, she got a lot irritated.
In fact, Kat got angry every time she thought about how this wretched woman treated Cal. This would be a perfect opportunity to confront her, so Kat took a deep breath and opened the front door.
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Kat Fahey was all Cal could think about during the morning’s hardware-store run—what they were going to do, what was next, everything. He wanted nothing other than to get his woman alone somewhere, anywhere, and make some damn plans for their future. He was ready to get on with the next stage of his life, and so far, things were going swimmingly. He had signed the last of the paperwork needed to close out his father’s estate, Nolan was healthy and working the perfect job for him, and Tobias seemed to be pulling out of the depression he’d been in since She’d left. Most importantly, Kat was right by his side.
Yet, Cal couldn’t get escape the nagging feeling that things were going a little too well. He didn’t normally count himself as the suspicious type, but if the past predicted the future, he was about due for some sort of catastrophe. Toby pulled into the long driveway that led to Cal’s house, and there it was. Or rather, there was the catastrophe’s transportation. Range Rovers were not that common in this part of Owlcreek, and the expensive car with a monogram in the distinctive pink, blue, and purple jellyfish-patterned vinyl was definitely out of place in front of his house.
“Isn’t that . . . ?” Toby’s voice trailed off. “Oh, hot damn. I actually kind of want to see this. Kat’ll eat that little girl alive.”
Cal groaned. “Toby, the last thing I need is you stirring shit. I’ll grab the door out of the back, and you can be on your way.”
Tobias scoffed at his brother. “I didn’t say I was going to do anything, I just said I kind of wanted to see it. I’ll grab the door. You go do damage control.”
Tobias pulled his truck to the side of the driveway, and Cal made his way to the front door. Previously, Amanda had a tendency to just happen to run into him, especially if he just happened to be with a woman, regardless of if that woman was a date or a business partner. Most likely, someone had seen Cal with Kat at Foley’s and then told Amanda, and she’d had to see for herself the woman who had taken her place. He paused outside the door, then chastised himself for being a chicken.
Just do it, Cal.
He hoped for the best, and just as he put his hand on the doorknob, Amanda burst out of the front door. Cal stepped back to avoid getting smacked in the face and to let Amanda out. She stumbled onto the front porch and ran right into Cal, who wasn’t going to let her pass without finding out his ex-wife’s purpose for visiting his house.
“Amanda.”
Amanda started when he said her name, and when she raised her head, Cal was shocked to find her normally impeccably made-up face smeared and streaked.
“Cal? What are you doing here?”
“Well, I live here. What are you doing here? You hate this town.”
Amanda sniveled and her lip quivered. “This place is horrible. Horrible, Cal. How can you choose to live here instead of in our house in Buckhead? It was perfect.” She sniffled. “Do you have a tissue, or are you still carrying those gross handkerchiefs?”
“Still carrying the snot rag. Now answer my question, Amanda.”
“I just wanted to see what she looked like,” Amanda admitted. “She’s really different from me, huh?”
“Yeah, she is.” Cal huffed a small laugh. “Completely different. Amanda, what are you doing?”
Amanda laughed, the sound small and slightly hysterical. “I don’t know, Cal. I’m almost twenty-five and I don’t have a clue. David kicked me out of the internship program—oh, who am I kidding? My own brother fired me because I’m an idiot! He told me that I just needed to get married and have dinner parties.”
“You throw a mean dinner party, Mandy. You could be a party planner.” She looked so pitiful that he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. “But I’m not helping you. You need to start living your life, not the life you think you’re supposed to live.”
“I know.” Amanda blew out a shaky breath. “It’s really scary.”
“I know.”
Just then, Kat stuck her head out of the door. “Cal, Toby’s gotten the door—oh. Hello.”
Amanda looked like she was going to either throw up or shriek and run off when Kat addressed her. Cal definitely felt sorry for his ex-wife, but not enough to prolong this conversation.
“Kat, darlin’, let me wrap this up. I’ll be inside in a jiffy.” He gave Kat’s hand a squeeze and brushed his lips across hers. She blushed and, with a little nod to him and Amanda, disappeared back inside.
“You never looked at me like that,” Amanda whispered.
“You never gave me a reason to, Amanda.” Cal sighed. “I’m sorry. I really am.”
Amanda sniffled some more before taking a deep breath. “Goodbye, Cal.”
He watched her wobble off, her high heels getting caught in the gravel. He waved after she got into her vehicle, and then she gave him a sad smile and drove away.
“I wasn’t mean to her.” Kat was peeking out the door, looking at the Range Rover at the end of the driveway. “I mean, I wasn’t exactly ‘Hey, let’s be friends,’ but I wasn’t mean.”
Cal chuckled. “I know.”
“She’s beautiful in that very blonde debutant kind of way. I feel sorry for her.” Kat joined Cal on the front porch. “I feel bad about making her cry.”
“You shouldn’t. You just told her what she needed to hear, what I’ve been telling her for a while. She doesn’t like that at all.” Cal gathered Kat in his arms. “But she doesn’t matter. I hope you know that.”
“Oh, I know. I just wanted to make sure she knew.” Kat wound her arms around his neck and couldn’t resist running her fingers through the hair that curled above his collar.
Tobias poked his head out the front door. “Come on, Little Brother, there’s plenty of time for canoodling. Let’s get this door hung.” He gave both of them a stern look and disappeared back inside.
“You’d better do what your brother says, Cal, and besides, the quicker you get finished, the sooner I can show you something really exciting.” Kat wiggled her eyebrows at him, and Cal practically ran inside the house.
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Cal was ready to drop trou and pounce on Kat five hours ago when she first teased him with her “something exciting,” and now he practically vibrated with need. Of course, Tobias kept dragging ass and delaying finishing the job, which he happened to think was hilarious. Toby’s dawdling made Cal want to throttle him. Tobias’s blurted “Holy sexy librarian, Batman!” as he’d left the house didn’t help matters, because now all Cal could think about was Kat in her business suits with stockings, garters, and no panties.
Cal knew he was leering at Kat now, but he really couldn’t help it. Something about her sitting in the living room in a tank top and leggings, her hair piled on her head and glasses perched on her nose, made him absolutely crazy.
“Okay, Miss Topknot, show me what you got.”
Kat gave him a saucy grin. “Okay, big man, come here and sit by me, and we’ll get started.” She patted the cushion next to her, and Cal was on the horrible floral couch in an instant. He was all ready for sexy times, but she pushed her glasses up on her nose and adjusted the laptop so he could see it.
“So, if you ask me, which of course you didn’t but I don’t really care because I’m going to tell you anyway, He
mlock Creek Tavern is completely viable as a sustainable business if you go back to the farm-to-table, craft booze, townie business model.”
“Hold on, darlin’. Give me a chance to get the blood directed to my brain again.” Kat snickered and handed him the mouse. Cal took a deep breath and began clicking through the spreadsheets. He asked questions about some of the figures and acronyms, but mostly he was just in awe that Kat had pulled all of this information together in such a short time, and for him.
“So, what do you think?” Her lip-chewing habit had reappeared.
“I think, darlin’, that you are amazing.” He gathered her hands in his. “And that you’re going to push me like I’ve never been pushed before, and that’s a good thing—no, the best thing. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Oh, Cal. You’re going to make me cry.” Kat’s chin wobbled a little bit, and Cal put his lips to hers. “That’s not really helping me on the ‘not crying’ front, Calhoun Harper,” she murmured.
Cal chuckled, then smiled, and then hauled her into his lap, where he kissed her again. “I love you, Kat. I truly, honestly, do.”
“I love you, too, Cal. I love you, too.”
Four Months Later
Cal tapped a spoon on the side of his glass.
“Excuse me, everyone. Excuse me.” The tavern crowd, packed to capacity, quieted down from its earlier raucousness. “Hey, folks. Thank you so much for coming to the grand re-opening of the Hemlock Creek Tavern. You know, I had this speech all planned out, but if the past six months have taught me anything, it’s to just roll with whatever comes your way because, chances are, it’s happening for a reason.”
“Serendipity for the win,” Tobias called from the back of the tavern, and Cal heard chuckling from the crowd.
“That right there, Toby, that’s it. Now, let’s see how many more clichés I can pack into this little speech, all right?” That got more chuckling from the crowd. “ ‘When it rains, it pours’—y’all know what that means, right? Six months ago it was raining. And, well, I don’t know what it was raining, but it wasn’t good. And then I got on a seven-hour flight to Dublin, Ireland, for a conference I couldn’t really afford, and met a woman who was having a run of luck that was worse than mine. But fast forward six months, and now I’m standing here in front of all of you, blathering like an idiot, and she’s standing back there laughing at me—y’all say hi to Kat because if she hadn’t kicked my ass into acting on what she knew would be a good thing, this tavern would now be just another chain restaurant.” Cal waved at Kat, and every head in the tavern swiveled to look at her. She blushed and gave a shy wave before blowing him a kiss.
“See? She’s awesome, right? But anyway, I wouldn’t change a thing that’s happened during these six months—all the help, all the ass-kicking, everything that’s transpired. So I’m gonna say thanks and then shut up and let y’all enjoy selections from local farms and dairies, Robbie Mac’s Owltown Muscadine Shine, and music from everyone’s favorite award-winning grouch, Tobias Harper.” The audience laughed loudest at the last statement. “So . . . thanks, y’all!”
The patrons of the Hemlock Creek Tavern erupted in applause and cheers as Cal made his way off the stage and Tobias took his place. Cal shook the hand of every person in the place because every single person in this room had done something to ensure the success of the Hemlock Creek Tavern, and he was determined to do everything in his power to guarantee that good fortune rained down on them like it had on him.
“You did well.” Kat had slipped up to Cal’s side and gave him a little squeeze. “See? That wasn’t so bad, right?”
“I suppose not, but if you give me some sugar, it’ll be a lot better.”
Kat gave him a peck on the cheek and a coy look. “I’m going to save the really good stuff for after we get home.”
“Ooh, I am definitely looking forward to that.” He gave her another peck on the lips.
“Do you need to slip into the storage room or something?” Tobias had finished his set and was settling down with a flight of local craft beers. Cal was tempted to flip him off, but Tobias beat him to the punch and gave him a friendly shove before his face grew contemplative. “Good job, Calhoun. I’m proud of you.”
“Toby . . .” Cal got ready to be mushy, because it was just that kind of night, but Toby held up his hand and drained one of his beers.
“Don’t even think about it, Cal.”
Kat and Cal were both chuckling at Tobias’s grumpy face when Cal felt a touch on his arm. He turned and saw Tally Douglas of The Backward Glance. Tally, along with the whole Backward Glance crew, had helped update the interior of the Hemlock Creek Tavern as well as Cal and Kat’s house.
“Hey, Miss Tally, welcome back.” Kat gave Tally a hug. “Did your trip go smoothly?”
“Yes, it did. A lot smoother than I ever expected. Mama tends to catastrophize things, but it ended up fine. She was reluctant to come back, but she knows that Bunny needs some help and he’ll never, ever admit it. But I wanted to say hello and tell you congratulations before we took off.”
“Oh, is she here?” Cal looked around the great room for a moment, but then he stopped because he had no idea what Tally’s mother looked like.
“Tally, honey, Ace, Bunny, and I are going to head out. You can stay—”
“No, I’ll go with you, but let me introduce you to some people. Everyone, this is my mama, Elizabeth. Mama, this is Kat Fahey, and Cal and—”
“Hello, Tobias.”
“Hello, Liddie.”
The two of them stared at each other, the electricity between them almost palpable.
Elizabeth was the first to look away. “It was nice meeting or seeing you again. We’re going to go.”
“I’ll go with you, Mama.” Tally smiled apologetically and scurried off behind her mother.
Both Kat and Cal snapped their attention toward the eldest Harper brother.
“Toby? Who was that?” Cal watched Tobias carefully.
“That . . . was a damn ghost.” Tobias finished the flight, draining glass after glass. “I gotta go pack up.”
Tobias lumbered off toward the stage, leaving Kat and Cal looking at each other in confusion.
“What in the world?” Kat exclaimed.
Cal scratched at his beard. “I have no idea. I’d better go—”
“Cal, no. I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Kat shook her head, still looking completely befuddled. “Give him a few days, I think.”
Cal looked over at Tobias, who had an amp cord in his hand and was staring out the door. He had a vague, half-formed memory in his head, but he knew Kat was right: confronting Tobias for more information wouldn’t do anyone any good. So he turned back to Kat, his Celtic queen, and spun her around in his arms, because in this life, his life, a bad pour wasn’t always a disaster; sometimes, it was quite the opposite.
The End
Drunk on a Plane — Dierks Bentley
Fix a Drink — Chris Janson
Sunshine & Whiskey — Frankie Ballard
Drunk on You — Luke Bryan
Live Free — Son Volt
I’ll Name the Dogs — Blake Shelton
Written in the Sand — Old Dominion
Beer Can in a Truck Bed — Old Dominion
Sangria — Blake Shelton
Love You Like That — Canaan Smith
Muscadine — Blackberry Smoke
Home Alone Tonight — Luke Bryan with Karen Fairchild
You can find this and other playlists on Josie’s Spotify station.
Turn the page to get a preview of Sounds and Spirits, the next book in the Hemlock Creek series, and Clincher, Nolan’s story from the DS Fight Club series.
Excerpt from
Sounds and Spirits
(Hemlock Creek #2)
The two men stood side by side in their small kitchen, blocking the doorway and making Liddie Hopewell Douglas uneasy, or rather, more uneasy than she already was. Her uncl
es were acting squirrelly, jumpy, and nervous, and that was never, ever a good thing.
“Liddie, there’s something you need to know before we go to the Hemlock Creek Tavern tonight.” Horace Hopewell’s apologetic tone didn’t soothe her misgivings one bit, nor did the fact that Thurgood Bunsen found his shoes very interesting.
“Mom! You’re up!” Tally Douglas threw her arms around her mother as if she hadn’t seen her in months, but the truth was it had been only a few weeks since the younger woman had ventured back to her mother’s hometown to help run the family’s salvage and vintage shop. Tally stepped back and examined her mother from head to toe. “You’ve lost some more weight, Mom. That’s not good.”
Liddie waved off her daughter’s concerns. “It’s not like I didn’t have some extra padding, sweetie. Besides, with Bunny’s cooking, there’s no way I’m going to keep it off.”
Bunny shook his head. “Not anymore, Liddie. We’re all about the low-fat, higher-protein, mostly plant-based diet these days.”
“Cancer can go fuck itself,” Ace groused. “I say, I’m dying anyway, so let me eat whatever the hell I want.”
“Uncle Ace!” Liddie gasped. “You don’t know that.”
“I do, too, Liddie. We’re all dying from the moment we take our first, squalling breath.” Ace sat heavily in a straight-backed wooden kitchen chair and pulled his oxygen tank closer to him. “But Bunny here seems intent on keeping me around a while longer, so I guess I’ll eat his damn rabbit food.”
Liddie snorted. “Is this what you had to tell me about tonight?”