Distiller's Choice (Bourbon Springs Book 4)

by Bramseth, Jennifer

  “She can’t help,” Walker whined. “She’s got an auditor, a circuit judge, and the sheriff with her right now.”

  “Then you’re only left with Jana, unless you have any better ideas.”

  He didn’t, and gave in.

  “Walker?” Jana answered after the first ring.

  “Hi, sorry to bother you. I’m afraid I need a favor,” he said. Both Evelyn and Nina were watching and listening as he made the call.

  “Anything.” Her tone was just a little too eager, which didn’t surprise him and set him on edge.

  Walker explained his predicament and how he couldn’t get anyone else to help. “Although I’m sure you’re busy at the distillery today,” he added.

  “I’ll be there shortly after three,” Jana declared and ended the call.

  Walker announced that Jana would be there to help, but not for a few more hours. Since it was already past noon, Nina volunteered to go get something to eat since Walker had tossed most of his food, and what he did bring with him from his apartment wasn’t nearly enough to feed himself, much less three people. While Nina went to The Windmill to pick up sandwiches, Walker was alone with his mother. And as he expected and dreaded, she brought up the confrontation he’d had with his father nearly a week earlier.

  “I’m tired of all the sniping comments, Mom,” Walker said after his mother’s mild rebuke at how he’d gotten angry and left. “I don’t owe him an explanation. He owes me one for all the crap he keeps giving me.”

  “I agree with you.” Evelyn took a seat in the chair next to the couch where Walker remained with his leg elevated. “Just remember that he has his own reasons like you have yours. Now tell me about your girlfriend,” she said, and he was happy she’d changed the subject.

  Walker knew he was babbling, but he didn’t care. He loved to talk about CiCi. He told his mother how long they’d known each other, how they’d gone on all those little dates at The Windmill before their “real” date, and how he’d eaten so much pie he thought he’d burst. He even found himself going on about CiCi’s hair and her house, noting it was nearby on Main Street and how she walked to work nearly every day.

  “So you’ve known CiCi for half a year?”

  “I guess,” he said. He tended to date his relationship with CiCi from their first lunch together at The Windmill. But it had all started that day back in December. And continued with every committee meeting, every little encounter, every lunch at The Windmill.

  Evelyn grinned. “Are you in love?”

  No fooling your own mother.

  “Yes,” he said in a low voice as he felt a blush creep up his neck to his face. “And just why am I telling you all these things?” His mother had pulled his feelings out of him in just a few minutes.

  “Because you like to talk about her. You love her,” Evelyn said. “Have you told her?”

  “Not yet.”

  “You mean you two haven’t said it yet,” Evelyn said. “Because if she’s only half as gone for you as you are for her, she’s in love with you.”

  Nina returned within the next few minutes with lunch. Sitting around his kitchen table, the trio ate burgers and fries, and Nina, being the brilliant woman she was, had picked up slices of bourbon pecan pie.

  “Had this flavor before?” Evelyn asked, winking at her son.

  After eating, there were still two more hours until Jana’s arrival. Evelyn told her son to take a nap and that she and Nina would go downtown and do some window shopping to pass the time.

  “Besides, I want to get some bourbon balls,” Evelyn announced. “You told me that they had really good ones at a little place down there.”

  “Over a Barrel.”

  “Cute name. I can remember that,” she said, picking up her purse. “We’ll be back soon. You get some rest. That ankle needs it.”

  “Thanks, guys,” CiCi said.

  She gave Brady and Kyle quick hugs.

  They were standing outside the front doors of the Craig County Courthouse. It was nearly three, and they were done.

  “Glad to help,” Kyle said and checked his watch. “Better get home and get showered. Hannah wanted to go out tonight.”

  “Might see you if you end up at The Windmill,” CiCi told him.

  He bade CiCi and Brady good-bye and headed for his sheriff’s cruiser, parked in front of the building.

  “Tell Rachel hello for me,” CiCi said, but Brady didn’t hear her, looking very preoccupied.

  “Oh, yeah,” he said. “Sorry, just wanting to get home. We finally got the pool ready for the season. Anxious to finally start enjoying it this year. Getting ready for the baby slowed us down.”

  CiCi kissed him on the cheek. “You are so sweet. Go home to that wife of yours. I’m sure she’s fine.”

  “Yeah, she is… I mean, sure, yes. I… um… have a nice evening.” Brady waved good-bye and walked to the back of the courthouse to find his SUV.

  CiCi smiled and watched as Brady disappeared around a corner of the courthouse, then turned to face Main Street. She wanted to go straight home—no, she wanted to go straight to Walker’s place. She knew he could use a hand, and she wanted to meet his mom and sister. CiCi called Walker’s cell; no answer. She sent him a quick text, telling him she was on her way and would be there after dropping by her house.

  But instead of turning right and toward her house, she spotted Over a Barrel across the street. Now CiCi had bourbon balls on her mind; a short detour before heading to Walker’s place wasn’t unreasonable.

  There was indeed a line at the deli, and she was the fourth or fifth person in it. There were two women who were together ahead of her, a mother and daughter judging from how they spoke to each other, and she couldn’t tell at a glance whether they were going to order together or separately. As it turned out, the mother only ordered bourbon balls.

  “Half dozen bourbon balls, please,” the woman requested.

  “Sorry, ma’am, we’ve only got four left,” said the clerk.

  “Then I’ll take them all.”

  As she pulled out her wallet, CiCi let escape a disappointed whimper. The woman and her daughter turned in unison as CiCi started to leave.

  “Is this why you were here?” the woman asked as she took the bag from the clerk and handed him her money.

  “Yeah,” CiCi said. “I’m surprised they had any left at this time of day.”

  “Here,” the woman said, reaching into the bag. She took a bourbon ball and a small piece of wax paper the clerk had stuffed into the bag and offered the candy to CiCi. “I feel bad that I swooped in and took them all.”

  “No, no,” CiCi said, backing away. “Take them. You’re probably from out of town and can’t get those just any old day. I live here, and I can get my bourbon ball fix whenever I want—provided I get here before they sell out.”

  “Are you sure?” The woman still held out the bourbon ball as her daughter watched the exchange with interest.

  CiCi nodded. “Absolutely. What kind of Bourbon Springs girl would I be if I took bourbon balls out of the mouths of tourists?”

  The woman smiled and put the candy back in the bag as the trio stepped away from the counter so the person behind CiCi could move up and place his order.

  “We are from out of town, but not exactly tourists. Here to visit family.”

  “That’s nice,” CiCi said absentmindedly while she checked her phone. No messages from Walker. The trio exited the deli, turned left, and headed north up Main Street.

  “This is such a lovely little town,” the younger woman said.

  “Lived here all my life except for going to college. I’m a native,” CiCi said.

  “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” the older woman joked.

  By the time they’d reached the sidewalk in front of CiCi’s house, CiCi had learned the women were from Frankfort and outside Louisville.

  “Um, you’ve walked beyond any of the shops,” CiCi advised them, thinking they were looking for more places to peruse.


  “Oh, we know,” said the younger woman, “but this is the way to our relative’s house.”

  CiCi stopped in front of her house. “Well, here we are at my place. Have a nice time while you’re here.”

  She waved and walked up the front walk of her house to the porch but turned when she sensed that the women were looking at her.

  She nodded, waved again, and went into her house. Not home for more than a minute, she heard the doorbell.

  “Hello again,” CiCi said when she answered her door and saw her recent companions standing there. “Are you lost? Need help?”

  “No, just curious,” the older woman said, smiling. “Are you CiCi Summers?”

  “Why, yes, I am.” CiCi opened the door a little wider and tilted her head in confusion.

  “I’m Evelyn Cain.”

  Evelyn extended a hand as CiCi’s eyes grew wide.

  “Oh! You’re here to help Walker!” CiCi shook Evelyn’s hand, then Nina’s, as they all got introduced. CiCi insisted they come into the house. “I stopped here to go to the bathroom and get a drink of water before I headed to Walker’s new place,” CiCi explained as the women followed her into the kitchen.

  “You wouldn’t happen to have any crutches or a cane, would you?” Nina asked.

  “Um, no, I wouldn’t,” CiCi replied. “Why?”

  Chapter 24

  “We need to warn her about Jana,” Nina said.

  After Evelyn had told CiCi about Walker’s twisted ankle, CiCi quickly excused herself to the bathroom before they walked the short distance to Walker’s house.

  “Or maybe call Jana and tell her we’ve got it under control?” Evelyn suggested.

  “But I don’t have her number,” Nina said, taking a seat on the couch as she continued to check out CiCi’s house and its somewhat eclectic décor. She especially liked the old movie posters hung next to the fireplace and the brightly colored pink and purple pillows in a nearby chair.

  “Neither do I,” admitted Evelyn, her phone in her hand. “Deleted it when she and Walker broke up.”

  “This could get awkward fast,” Nina said. “Better call Walker and tell him to call Jana.”

  “I think not,” Evelyn said, slipping her phone into her purse.

  “What?” Nina looked at her mother as though she’d started speaking gibberish.

  Evelyn nodded, a faraway look on her face. “This is going to be very interesting.”

  “You’re courting trouble, Mother,” Nina said disapprovingly and got up from the couch to examine the framed photos along the mantel.

  “I don’t think so. We’re talking about grown adults, after all. Besides, we’ll get to see how this dynamic works.”

  “That’s not something we need to see,” Nina protested and turned away from the fireplace.

  Evelyn rose to examine the same photos Nina had been inspecting. “We’ll have to disagree on that point.”

  “Didn’t CiCi pass some little test back there in the deli? She had no idea who we were and was perfectly charming,” Nina pointed out.

  “That was awfully gracious of her,” Evelyn acknowledged. “But she’s not the only one who bears watching in this situation.”

  CiCi returned from the bathroom, and Evelyn told her that they’d called Jana to help since Walker had been reluctant to call any of the Davenports away from the distillery. While the development was dismaying, CiCi tried to mask her disappointment by noting she’d been at the courthouse with the two people who would have been perfect candidates to call for assistance.

  As they left her house, CiCi extolled the virtues of the sheriff and circuit judge, informing her new acquaintances that they’d probably meet Kyle someday since he was married to Hannah. CiCi then proceeded to grumble about the audit, mostly to explain her absence at Walker’s new home earlier in the day. Even though she knew she was babbling about her problems, she needed to vent. She also felt like she owed these women a damn good reason for her absence on Walker’s moving day.

  As they drew nearer to Walker’s house, CiCi saw a sedan parked on the street and suspected the vehicle belonged to Jana. The driveway was choked with Walker’s car, the trailer, and another car which CiCi reasoned belonged to either Evelyn or Nina.

  CiCi followed her new acquaintances through the open front door and back into the house.

  “We left him as he was about to take a nap,” Nina whispered to CiCi when they were in the front hall. “Hope he got some rest,” she said, and her mother nodded in agreement.

  When the three walked into the living room with Evelyn in the lead, Jana was bending over a still-sleeping Walker with her hand outstretched, as though she were about to touch his face. Jana’s head snapped to the side upon Evelyn’s appearance, causing her long red hair to whip around her head. Withdrawing her hand, Jana stood up straight and turned to greet the new arrivals.

  “Oh… oh, hi,” Jana stammered, immediately turning extremely pink. Her pleasantly embarrassed smile vanished as her eyes moved from Evelyn to Nina to CiCi.

  Walker grunted, roused awake.

  “We’re back, and we happened to bump into CiCi during our outing,” Evelyn said, gesturing to CiCi.

  “You’re hurt?” CiCi asked. She walked toward him on the couch.

  “Afraid so.” He rolled over and swung his legs to the floor.

  After CiCi had fussed over his scrapes and sprained ankle, Walker asked about the file-moving party. She briefly described the hassle and admonished him to stay seated. “Really, Walker, don’t do it,” CiCi said as Walker tried to stand.

  “But I’ve got to be able to move around to get out of here,” he griped.

  “And that won’t be for a while,” Jana said. She put her purse down on the kitchen counter and started rummaging around in it and finally extracted a hair elastic and put her hair up. “We’ll unload everything while you sit.”

  “And do what?”

  “Not walk,” Nina said. “It’s time to get everything unpacked, and you’re going to sit there and take it easy.” She demanded his car keys.

  Walker surrendered his keychain, and the women unloaded his car and the trailer. During this parade of activity, Walker sat on his couch watching others do the work, occasionally grumbling that he wanted to get up and help. His mother rebuked him, his sister laughed at him, and his ex-wife told him the work wasn’t that difficult, which was obviously an untruth. CiCi, who was sweaty, achy and still grumpy after her work at the courthouse that afternoon, fetched him a glass of water and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

  “You owe me one,” she said.

  “I owe all of you,” he responded, taking the glass.

  “Yeah, but I know exactly how I want to be reimbursed,” she whispered against his temple after a quick kiss.

  By six o’clock, everything was in the house and everyone was sitting in the living room resting and asking Walker how his ankle felt.

  “I guess a distillery tour is out of the question now,” CiCi said. She was sitting on the couch next to Walker and casting worried looks at his knee and ankle.

  “I can walk using this thing,” Walker insisted. He pulled up onto his feet using a cane Nina had found abandoned in the basement. “But there’s no way I can give a tour.”

  “No matter, dear,” his mother said. “We’ll do it another day.”

  “But I wanted to take you two out to the distillery.” He hobbled across the floor to a front window and took a peek out the blinds. “We could just go see the visitors’ center since you’re already in Bourbon Springs. I mentioned to Hannah that I was going to try to bring you two out there this evening. She’s probably expecting us.”

  “Surely not, if she knows about your ankle,” Nina said.

  “I did tell Hannah that I’d try to get everyone out there,” Jana said, “but I also mentioned the ankle thing.” Walker pulled out his phone and announced he was going to call Hannah, but Jana stopped him. “Wait,” Jana said, rising from her seat to join Walker a
t the window. “Perhaps I could give you two a quick tour,” she suggested, looking at Evelyn and Nina. “You could always come back for a special behind-the-scenes tour given by Walker himself. And Jeb could come too.”

  At the mention of Jeb’s name, even from across the room, CiCi saw Walker’s body tense.

  “Well, I would like to see the distillery before we leave,” Evelyn said, casting a quick look at her daughter. “But if Walker doesn’t feel like going, I don’t know…”

  “Oh, I can go. I want to introduce you to my boss,” he said, limping away from the window.

  Jana called Hannah to announce the group’s imminent visit, whereupon Hannah insisted on giving the tour, much to CiCi’s delight. CiCi then quickly volunteered to drive Walker to the distillery, but he reminded her that the trailer needed to be returned, and Nina offered to tag along to help with that task. CiCi was happy for Nina’s company; she already liked the young woman and hoped to get to know her better.

  And truth be told, she was irked at Walker about the whole Jana thing. Maybe it was for the best that Nina had come along. CiCi was now cranky, tired, and a touch hungry as well as irritated at her boyfriend. That was a recipe for an argument.

  “Hello and welcome to Old Garnet!” Hannah greeted the group after all had arrived at the visitors’ center.

  After introductions and thanking his boss for giving his family an after-hours tour, Walker parked his posterior on one of the couches in the cavernous visitors’ center while Hannah gave Evelyn and Nina a brief walk-through of the center. CiCi sat with Walker while Jana disappeared into the gift shop, saying she needed to check on whether an order of new souvenir shot glasses had arrived.

  “Now off to the distillery and old rickhouse.” Hannah locked the door of the tasting room behind her and led her two tourists out of the building, leaving CiCi and Walker alone.

  CiCi leaned back onto the couch, crossed her arms, and considered her companion. “I gotta ask. Why in the world did you call Jana?”