Page 53 of Stronger Than Blood
“Okay, well,” he said, looking around the room, then leaning in and whispering. “Um, I spoke with my buddy, who’s an expert in high-end liquors. I took pictures of what you had and sent them to him.” We all nodded, sitting on the edge of our seats. “Well, let’s just say it’s a good damned thing you didn’t give it away yesterday.”
“Why not?” Mick asked.
“’Cause if what he told me is correct, you might have all the money you need to start this venture of yours.”
I looked at Kalinda, who was still smiling, then over at Mick, whose mouth was hanging open.
“You should keep that safe locked tight, and don’t tell anyone what I just said until, you know, we can get an assessor out to review the inventory.”
“Okay,” Mick said.
“Okay,” he repeated.
When Jonah left, I looked at Kalinda, eyebrow cocked. “You knew this was happening, didn’t you?”
She shrugged. “I knew something good was coming, and when I saw Essie, I knew she was the one who was bringing some of it. Jonah, well, he’s so good-looking it’s hard not to think he’s bringing good news.”
I chuckled. I hadn’t noticed Kalinda looking the middle-aged attorney’s way until now. “Is romance in the air?” I asked.
“You need to keep those thoughts to yourself, but I’m not averse to anything at this point. It’s nice that life is working out so easily. Unfortunately, we have some tough times coming,” she said, looking at Mick. “Having a few good things in our lives is definitely something I won’t complain about. Now, we need a name for this venture of ours, wouldn’t you agree?” Kalinda asked.
I chuckled, knowing my friend and mentor was deliberately pushing the attention away from her. She wasn’t wrong though.I winked at her, and then heard the words, “Eddie’s Spirits,” in my ear.
Mick’s eyes grew wide and Kalinda laughed. “Um, I believe your uncle has weighed in… and I agree… Shall we name it after him?” she asked.
Mick swallowed hard but nodded, as did I. “Then, Eddie’s Spirits it is!”
Chapter thirty-six
Mick
As fate would have it, I loved Essie as much as I did her uncle and cousin Rebecca. She was funny, tough, and didn’t mince words about what her expectations were when it came to good food, but then I wouldn’t expect any less from someone Brenda was considering to replace her.
Bev was a total surprise. She, like Essie, was in her mid-thirties but small and petite. I would’ve never put the two women together, except I knew how much opposites attract. I also wouldn’t have thought Bev would be the kind of person who wanted to distill spirits until I learned that she’d worked in bars and restaurants since she turned twenty-one.
Of course, the more she talked, the more her eyes sparkled. We walked through Uncle Eddie’s store, and damn if even I could feel how happy my uncle’s spirit was at the thought of what was happening.
“Are you capable of starting a microdistillery on your own?” Rory asked Bev, but she shook her head.
“No, not by myself. I apologize. I’m still learning, but I’m convinced I could run it once it’s set up. However, my mentordoes this for a living. He travels all over the country setting these up. He’s even a distributor for some of the best distillery equipment out there. I know ’cause I’ve used several different brands, and his is by far the best.”
“So, can you contact him to see if he can come by?” Kalinda asked.
She chuckled. “He’s in the Florida Keys at the moment, but I’m sure he can stop here on his way back up to St. Louis. I’ll give him a call.”
She went outside and made her call before coming back in, smiling. “Yep, said he can stop by tomorrow. Apparently, he’s spending the night in Atlanta and planned to be in Nashville tomorrow.”
“Aah, Bev, that’s perfect,” Kalinda said.
“Don’t thank me yet. The guy is a bit of a shark; he’ll bleed you dry if you aren’t careful, but I trust him when it comes to distilling. You definitely want him to be a friend if you plan to do this.”
After that, I hung out with Rory as Kalinda and Bev sat chatting about our plans.
“All this is overwhelming. Before you and Kalinda blew into town, I lived a quiet, simple life.”
Rory smiled and leaned over, kissing me. “I know, life is coming at me fast at the moment as well, but in my experience, when that’s the case, it’s best just to go with the flow. Let’s get out of here.”
We waved at Kalinda and Bev as we walked over to the hotel and up to his room. “Speaking of going with the flow,” I said as we entered his room. “I-I wouldn’t mind taking things to the next level… if you’re willing.”
