Page 105 of Bourbon and Secrets

“I’mnotgoing to tell you how I want your mess. And I won’t tell you how you are exactly the kind of chaos I want mixed with mine.”

She tries biting that favorite lip of mine.

“You didn’t involve me in anything I didn’t want to be a part of, Peach.” Her pretty green eyes pool with more tears as she listens and searches for every truth I’m giving her.

“There’s so much more here than I ever planned.” I give her lips the kiss that they’ve been begging for, just tender enough to let her know that I’m not going anywhere. “So I’mnottelling you how much I want you to stay and be with me. And my girls.”

She smiles, letting out a small laugh, one filled with relief. “Alright.”

I don’t want this to be lost in all of the emotions swirling around tonight. “When we’re past this, when you’re ready to hear those things from me, you tell me, okay?”

But the clearing of the doctor's throat pulls her attention from me. “Miss Calloway, your sister has lost a lot of blood, but I’m confident she’s going to be okay. We will need to get her into surgery. The wound along her back was deep enough that I want to make sure there isn’t more damage. I’ll be able toanswer questions once we’ve taken a better look. For now, she’s comfortable, but I’d like to get in there sooner rather than later.”

My phone keeps vibrating in my back pocket, and when I pull it out, I see Hadley’s name lit up on the screen. There has been a succession of missed calls from her and texts from Grant.

I kiss Faye’s forehead and swipe my phone to answer. Hadley’s voice comes rushing out. “You better be alright.”

Faye squeezes my arm and walks toward the lobby of the hospital as my brothers and Griz bypass the front desk and head straight for us.

“I’m okay. We’re okay,” I tell her.

“And Faye, is she?”

Grant tilts his head and kneels to look Faye over. I can see them making sure she’s alright and the sight of her folded into my family makes my chest ache. This is how it’s supposed to be.

“She’s okay,” I tell Hadley as I turn and stare at my forearm in the reflection of the window. I zone out, studying the outlines of my tattoo and the things that are most important to me—my girls, my bourbon, and the one that’s empty. “If I hadn’t gotten there when I had?—”

Hadley cuts me off, “But you did.”

I clear my throat as my brothers and grandfather stand in front of me. “But I did.”

“Listen, Laney and I are at your house. Grant wanted to come to you, so if you needed him, he’d be there. My guess is Ace and Griz aren’t far behind.”

“I’m staring at all three of them right now,” I tell her as Griz grips my shoulder with a squeeze. His eyes close for a moment, his face squinting, the worry falling away as I lean into his hold.

“Both of the girls are asleep and in their pajamas. Kit too, which is a whole level of cute, by the way.”

“And Dottie?” I ask.

“Your cow is tucked into the barn across the street. She was there when I came over and hadn’t left. I think it’s too chilly for her—seems like a summer kind of gal. Doesn’t matter,” she says with a laugh. “We’re good here. You take care of your girl, and we’ll be here, okay?

“Thanks, Hads. You’re the greatest, you know that?”

She exhales dramatically. “No shit, bestie. Love you, bye.”

When I hang up with her, Ace grips my other shoulder as Griz says, “Del called Grant. Said there had been an accident.” He lets out a stuttered exhale. “You boys are the most important thing in the world to me—” His mustache tips up to the side as he tries to bite back the emotions. “Need you to stick around long after I’m gone. Not the other way around. You hear me?”

I look at Grant, who understands as well as I do how quickly things can be taken away. We might not hug it out with each other, but a heavy hand and tight grip on a shoulder carry more weight between us than anything else. It’s always been that way. I squeeze Grant’s shoulder, and he grips Ace’s. The four of us take a moment together—a touchpoint to make sure each of us is accounted for and okay.

The double doors to the hospital wing swing open as the doctor passes through. She stops short when she sees all of us. Faye leans against the wall with a smile, watching our exchange. “I’ve been asked to bring Faye and Griz back with me to see Maggie.”

Faye looks at me for a moment, but before she does anything else, she walks right into my arms and kisses me. I can’t help but smile against her lips. Just as she pulls away, she whispers quietly, just for me, “I love you.”

I don’t have a chance to wrap my arms around her tighter. She turns away and loops her arm with Griz’s. I watch her walk away and move toward the double doors.

“Peach,” I call out. “You’re going to need to be a little louder with that later.”

She looks over her shoulder with a smile that I burn into memory.

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