Page 38 of Stronger Than Blood
We also had plenty of carbs with a pizza Mick ordered and donuts Madam had left over from the day before.
The next morning, we were all glad she’d insisted on the water and food because the headaches were intense but at least not horrible. Madam and Mick fell asleep on the bed, and I somehow ended up sprawled partially across the chair and the floor.
“Ugh, my head and my breath. I can actually taste my breath,” I said, causing Madam and Mick to laugh.
“Come on, we need breakfast,” Madam said. She didn’t even appear to have a headache. She just brushed her teeth, flipped her hair around a few times, and came out looking like she’d just spent an hour getting ready.
“How do you do all that after a night of bingeing?” I asked.
“Practice, my dear boy, practice.”
We followed her down the hallway and out the front door. Mrs. Danforth, the lady who ran the hotel, looked at us and chuckled before winking at me. For some reason, I couldn’t see any humor in what we’d just done.
Luckily, the restaurant was open early, and there weren’t many people, so the noise wasn’t horrible. “Coffees,” I said before Mrs. Kennedy could respond. She looked between us, then back at me, and said, “Yep, you’re a Kennedy, alright. Go on and help yourself to the buffet, and I’ll bring coffee and water.”
I nodded approval and stumbled over to what I was beginning to think of as my spot. A few moments later, Mrs. Kennedy dropped off the coffee and water, and shortly after that, Elias joined us. “So, do the pale-green complexions mean you stumbled upon Ol’ Eddie’s stash?”
“Wait,” Mick said, looking up from his coffee. “You know about that?”
Elias just chuckled. “I know he was an avid consumer, so I assumed he had to have had a stash in there somewhere. I’m surprised you didn’t run up on it sooner.”
“Did you used to… to frequent his establishment?” I asked, causing Elias to laugh.
“I will neither confirm nor deny that, but I will say our county was a dry one for a very long time. Before the bar opened up across the railroad tracks, there was only one person who had anything to wet the whistle, if you know what I mean.”
“Why, cousin Elias, I had no idea you were such a scoundrel.”
He laughed out loud. “I’ve matured a lot over the years, but at one time, yes, I was a bit of a tomcat. Anyway, so you found some good stuff? Think you might like to share?”
Mick laughed. “Maybe, but we need to figure out what’s what and make sure we don’t end up in jail first.”
“Well, here’s the man to help you do that. Jonah,” Elias said and waved him over, “this is my cousin Rory, and you already know Mick, and this is Rory’s friend, Madam Bellamy. Did I get that right?” he asked her, and she nodded.
“Mick has run up on his uncle’s… let’s say valuables, and he wondered if you could help him sort out what’s legal and what’s not.”
The guy cocked his eyebrow and shook our hands. “Do you think it’s contraband or drugs? If it is, an attorney isn’t who you need.”
Mick shook his head and leaned over the table, forcing Jonah to lean down. “No, it’s a bunch of old bottles of whiskey.”
Jonah leaned back and smiled. “Oh, you’re fine then. Those laws are long ago off the books… for the most part, but yeah, come by the office, we’ll make you an official client, and I’ll seewhat I can do,” he said then dashed quickly toward the buffet to fill a to go box and heading out the front door.
“See, nothing to worry about. Now,” Madam said, standing up, “I’m going to go eat my weight in biscuits and gravy, and I recommend you two do something similar. Nothing like some simple carbs to fight the aftereffects of the day before.”
While we ate, Elias filled us in on the life and times of Uncle Eddie—the name everyone called him, not only his nieces and nephews. At some point during the conversation, Mick slipped his hand under the table and took mine. The gesture was discreet, but it sent waves of pure pleasure through me, as he was obviously over his fear of touching me now.
Elias filled in the gap about Popcorn, the name on the moonshine, and said he was the last popular moonshiner to be arrested by the police before the state legalized the operation of a licensed still. “The poor guy committed suicide and never saw the laws change,” Elias commiserated.
When we finally finished eating, Elias had already left, needing to get over to the pharmacy before “someone burned the place down,” he’d told us.
“Your uncle sounded fun. Did you know him well?” I asked.
Mick shook his head. “No, he was old when I came into town. I remember going to the store a few times before he got sick and had to be placed in the nursing home. They closed his place down, and it’s taken until now for all the probate stuff to get worked out. He died without a will.”
“But your grandmother owns it all now?” I asked, making sure he didn’t need to hold off before claiming all the vintage alcohol, which I was convinced would be worth a pretty penny.
He nodded. “She and my cousin Joann, the only other descendant on that side of the family, split his estate: Joann got the money, and Granny Ida took the store. I think, more thananything, to make sure Joann had something to retire on. You know they don’t pay teachers or principals nearly enough.”
We were about to leave when I asked Mick what his plans were for the day. “Oh, I need to get back over and tend to the garden. Joann called yesterday and said it was about to be overcome with weeds. I swear those things are ridiculous this time of year.”
