Page 78 of Moonshine and Magnolias
But why? Why take a second job, and why keep it secret?
Wendy swallowed the pain of her cousin’s deception. Surely there was an explanation. Instead of assuming the worst, she ignored the churning in her stomach and led Rob through the building to her cousin.
Brandi gasped when she noticed them. She handed something to a member of the group, and they toddled off. Brandi set her shoulders, like she always did when faced with a particularly accurate player at home base, and waited.
Wendy sucked in a deep breath and forced a casual attitude. “What is this place?”
Brandi shot her a doubtful look, then spread her arms and turned in a small circle. “Welcome to Belle’s Medicinal Brewery.”
This was too surreal. “Belle’s was illegal moonshine.”
“Was. I guarantee now we pay our hefty share of taxes, though I can see why Caroline wanted to keep it all from the government.” Brandi glared at her. “How did you find us?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She leaned into the solid strength of Rob’s body.
“That’s why you always had the scent of unbaked bread around you,” he said.
“I haven’t yet found a detergent that washes it completely away. Especially when someone else does my laundry.” She took a deep breath. “I wanted to tell you, Wendy. Every time I had to skip out on a shift. But I was sworn to secrecy.I’m sorry.”
Okay, there was the explanation, even if it didn’t make much sense. “Why the cloak and dagger?”
“During Prohibition, only one or two family members knew what was happening, for everyone’s safety. It became tradition.”
“That’s when it was against the law. There’s no more need for plausible deniability.” The scent of peaches that had always been so familiar now made her feel like a stranger. “I had to play detective to figure out you had a job somewhere else.”
Brandi cleared her throat and adjusted her hat, keeping her eyes averted. “It’s not exactly a job. This was part of my inheritance.”
Wendy’s world spun away too fast for her to handle. Rob put a hand on her shoulder. Not their inheritance. Brandi’s inheritance. When Wendy had to work her butt off to cover their shared legacy and failed to keep her career going in another city.
“How did you find out?” Brandi asked.
Wendy relayed the part Gerald Mitchell had played in sparking her curiosity.
Brandi nodded. “And how are you doing with finding the missing source of income?”
“You knew about that? I thought about asking you, but you always hated numbers.”
“Eulalee was supposed to get the books to our accountant, but you swooped in and started organizing everything. Both the Hall and Belle’s are owned by the same parent company, though they act independent of each other. After the employees and suppliers and taxes are paid, everything is put back into the business.”
“Which explains the extra money.” Wendy tugged her hair. It would have been better if she had never gotten involved with the inn. If she had stayed in Atlanta and let her mom and cousin and aunt deal with everything the way they had assumed she would. To let Brandi run Belle’s and Eulalee take charge of the Hall.
But then she’d still be the same woman struggling to mold herself into whatthought she needed. Never would have met Rob.
A woman approached them while tapping her wrist. “Hey, Brandi. You’ve got that phone meeting coming up with the distributors in Macon.”
“Thanks, Ona. I’ll be right there.”
Wendy waited until the woman left. “Do our moms know?”
“Yours might suspect. If mine knew, we’d have no product to sell.” She took her cap off and ran her fingers over her hair before putting it back on. “Look, I have to get back to work. But I won’t if you need me.”
“That’s fine. Go.” This work ethic was something Wendy hadn’t seen much of at the Hall. She flapped her hand in the direction Ona had taken. “See you tonight.”
Brandi enveloped her in a quick hug. “I’m so glad this is out in the open now. You have no idea.”
Oh, Wendy had some idea.
She and Rob rode back to the Hall in silence. Too many contradicting thoughts swirled through her mind. She ought to be more pissed off. Brandi and Eulalee had danced around the truth, avoiding outright lies by omitting the pertinent information. Wendy had had to deal with the effects without knowing the cause. It wasn’t anything she could have controlled.
