Page 4 of A Little Bit Whiskey
She shivered.
Anna and Fred had raised her from the age of ten, when her mother had disappeared. Anna had her own brand of distaste for the River family and she had made it clear that Tamsyn was to keep her distance. That hadn’t been easy to do. She’d been drawn to Noir at an early age, but their quiet friendship remained on the fringe. Their conversations through middle and high school were kept private through messaging apps or hidden under the football stands. They didn’t speak often. It was only out of necessity when the rumors reared their ugly heads. Or when the kids were unusually mean.
But no matter what, Noir had always been there for her when she needed a friend the most. He never judged her or made her feel that her need for answers was crazy.
“Fuck it.” Tamsyn tossed back the comforter and reached for a towel. She wrapped it around her body and raced down the hallway, pushing open the bathroom door, but Noir wasn’t in there. “Noir? Where are you?”
“In the kitchen,” he said.
“Is Nebbiolo out there?”
“Nope.”
Securing the towel, she inched into the small galley kitchen.
Noir leaned against the sink holding a piece of paper. “You’re not going to believe this one.”
“What’s going on?”
“My fucking twin ran off with the dog trainer lady.” Noir lifted his gaze. “They got married yesterday. Nebbiolo says they will be back in time for Merlot’s wedding.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe he did this without at least me.”
“Weezer is going to fucking kill him and then maybe June, although I kind of like her and you have to admit, she’s good for your twin.”
“Good for him or not, getting married before my folks even officially met her isn’t smart.”
Tamsyn’s memories of her mother were few and far between, but one had stuck to her brain like superglue. She couldn’t shake it if she tried and right now, it played through her mind like a bad horror movie.
She and her mom had gone to town after supper for some ice cream, and Weezer had stopped them in the middle of the sidewalk. Her mother had her sit on the park bench a few feet away, but Tamsyn had heard and seen the fight.
Stay away from my husband and my family. You’ve caused enough damage. We all know the truth and you perpetuating the lie is hurting the people I love the most in this world. Stop it, or you will live to regret it.
Weezer’s words reached deep into her soul to this day. They wrapped around her heart, sucking the life out of her slowly, making it hard to breathe.
Her mom disappeared two days later.
Noir crumpled the paper and tossed it in the trash. “He expects me to tell my folks in case he’s late. I can’t believe that asshole. He knows how my mom gets when she’s left out of big things in her kids’ lives, not to mention, she’ll take it out on me. Blame me for letting him run off and get married to a woman he’s only known for a few weeks. And to someone she hasn’t even met yet. This is going to suck.”
“If ever there was a time for me not to come to a family event, this would be it.” Tamsyn ran her fingers across Noir’s shoulder. “But I’ll go. For you. As moral support. As your girlfriend,” she whispered, nearly choking on the last word. Caring for Noir came easy. He was kind, considerate, and put up with all her rules. Being his official girlfriend would be hard as hell, though.
Carter had never taken to the streets with the proof. He didn’t feel the need. He’d told her that if she wanted to, that was her call. He’d back her decision no matter what. So would his wife and the rest of the family. The only reason she hadn’t was it would open up a whole lot of speculation and gossip that she didn’t want to hear.
“That wasn’t very enthusiastic.” He chuckled, wrapping his arm around her body. “What changed your mind? This letter or me?”
“You,” she said. “What Nebbiolo did has nothing to do with it. That should make me run for the hills.”
“Merlot’s going to rip him a new one if he doesn’t show. He and Talbot have waited a lifetime to be together. They deserve to have the whole family together for this.”
“You two have never really gotten along great with him. Why is that?” The River family dynamics had been difficult to understand, and she’d tried. While her friendship with Noir over the years had been mostly one-sided, dealing with her issues, she did occasionally listen to his problems. However, because she’d never been close to any of them, all she had to go on was rumors, unearthed secrets, observation, and her cop instinct.
Those four things were incredibly contradicting.
The rumors and unearthed secrets made the River family look like a bunch of criminals and liars. But as each rumor was debunked, and each secret revealed, it turned out the Rivers were victims of circumstance, something she could relate to.
Her observations and cop instincts told her that they were just another dysfunctional family that loved each other and would do anything to protect their own. That deep down, they were good people with good intentions, but had a wacky matriarch that often did things ass-backward, which didn’t make her look good and often affected her children and husband negatively.
“Nebbiolo and I have always been the black sheep of the family. While everyone else wanted to be part of the family business, even when it was going to hell in a hand basket, we wanted nothing to do with it.”
“But you’re working full-time there now,” she said.
