Page 46 of A Little Bit Whiskey
CARTER
Carter leaned back and stared at the smoke billowing from the end of the cigar. It had been years since he’d picked one up. Over a decade.
Weezer was going to kill him.
Right after she made him get undressed, outside, and then take a shower before enteringherhouse. Of course, he’d still have to sleep in one of the other six bedrooms.
Six fucking bedrooms.
He loved that damn house. Raised his family in it. But they were all grown and gone.
Malbec and Eliza Jane had built a beautiful home on the winery over the ridge. It overlooked the vineyards on the north end of the property. Carter saw their kids almost every day and loved every second of it.
Chablis and Dax lived on the outskirts of town about ten miles away with their two kids. He saw them almost as much.
Reisling and Trey and their brood lived ten miles in the other direction in a massive house they built. Trey was a good man and took great care of his girl. He was a fine doctor, and Carter would forever be in the man’s debt for saving his life.
Merlot and Talbot had found each other again. Reuniting them had brought Carter more happiness than he could have ever imagined. Finding out about Corbin had been an unexpected joy. They had settled in nicely in a house outside of town. Their family was about to get a little bit bigger.
Zinny and Toby, after great deliberation, moved into Carter’s family home. Keeping that house in the family warmed his heart. It was meant for love, life, and laughter. His daughter, her husband, and their kids, needed a home like that and he was thrilled to give it to them.
Nebbiolo had shocked the family by running off and marrying his dog trainer. But who he’d married hadn’t come as a surprise at all. The second Carter and Weezer saw them together, they knew without a shadow of a doubt that Nebbiolo had found his soulmate. June owned her own home, where they planned on settling and starting a family.
Carter figured that June was already pregnant.
Hence the quick wedding.
Whatever it took for his kids to find happiness. He didn’t care. June was the one.
Noir had Tamsyn. Finally. Carter had been watching that love bloom for years. Every girl Noir dated was just someone he passed time with until Tamsyn came around. Carter felt bad for the other women, but this was one situation where even Weezer didn’t dare interfere.
Too much history.
Too much pain.
And now they were living in the tiny cottage, which was really a studio. It had been built by his wife’s grandfather for nonfamily member employees who needed a place to crash.
It was too small for a couple to stay long term. Malbec and Eliza Jane learned that real quick.
The main house had a pulse, but it was weakening. It needed more than he and Weezer could offer it anymore. It needed a family. It needed youth again.
It was time to pass the torch and there was only one child left.
“What are you doing out here in the cold, old man?” Silas stepped in front of the fire.
Carter puffed on the cigar, making a big smoke ring. He watched it float toward the star-filled sky until it broke apart in the cold winter night.
“Weezer’s going to serve your head on a platter for supper,” Silas said.
“After the day we had, maybe she’ll forgive me.”
“Right after she shoots you in the foot with a BB gun.”
Carter chuckled. “She never meant to do that. It was an accident.”
“Doubtful. You were flirting with another girl. One she didn’t like. Your wife is a jealous woman and she shot you on purpose.”
“It wasn’t me she was aiming for.” Carter leaned back in the Adirondack chair, tugging his coat tight. Everyone complained about the cold. In all his years in New Jersey, it never bothered him. He enjoyed the changing of the seasons. He liked the snow in the vineyard. And then watching the grapes blossom in the spring. “I was the dumbass who tried to stop her from hitting Mary Sue in the ass. And for the record, I wasn’t flirting with her. She was hitting on me.”
