Page 55 of Stronger Than Blood
Then he handed me the paperwork Granny Ida needed to sign to give permission to sell the stash. He also assured me he could handle all the legal ins and outs of selling the collection Granny Ida had inherited, even if she hadn’t known that she had.
I left town and headed back to my apartment feeling confident that things would work out, at least in my career.
Chapter thirty-seven
Rory
It was mind-blowing how quickly things moved. One minute, I was living in Memphis; the next, I was about to move to a small town, preparing to open a distillery, of all things, and falling for a man I hadn’t even had sex with.
That was something I knew I could remedy sooner rather than later, especially now he’d given me the green light. I just needed to get him alone.
Unfortunately, there’d been no chance for that to happen yet. He spent the night in Chattanooga after staying with his granny the day before. Then Bev’s mentor came in, and he was, as she predicted, a fountain of information.
I trusted Kalinda’s instincts, and the way she smiled as he showed us distilling equipment made me think we were fine.
Of course, it helped that Bev didn’t hesitate to give him the business, asking him to “discount this if we did that,” and the frown he often gave her confirmed she was indeed working in our best interests.
Then Bev stuck a piece of paper in front of him to sign a nondisclosure agreement, and when he did, she showed him thestash. His eyes grew as big as saucers. When she let him listen to some of the stories we’d gathered, he actually clapped with glee.
“Oh, this is a nice fortune you have here,” he said to Mick.
“Do you think you can auction this off?” Bev asked.
The guy shook his head. “I mean, yes, I can, but they’d be better off allowing Mr. Jimmerson to buy it outright. He’s likely to give you more than we could get from private investors.”
I looked at Kalinda, who was eyeing him closely. The smile had dropped from her face.
“Kalinda, what do you think?” I asked, wanting her to share her insights with Mick.
“I think Mr. Roark may be correct, but my guides are telling me competition never hurt anyone. Mick,” she said, turning toward him, “if you want my advice, you’ll have Mr. Roark set up an auction, and then Bev and he can invite this Mr. Jimmerson to view the stash. If he wants it, he will make an offer that can’t be refused. If not, I would recommend you take your chances at the public auction.”
Mr. Roark frowned so hard I almost laughed. I’d be willing to bet he had some agreement with the rich buyer that led to him getting a better commission if he was able to avoid any public sales.
“What say you, mentor?” Bev asked.
When he glanced over at her, his frown melted, and he sighed. “I guess it is what it is, but, you know, Mr. Jimmerson will be annoyed we didn’t give him a chance to make an offer before we started talking about auctions.”
“So he can lowball us,” she said, and I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that she’d included herself in the equation.
“So be it,” he said and left shortly after.
Kalinda looked at Mick and shook her head. “The cat is out of the bag, Mick. I suggest you move the stash to a secure location.My instincts tell me it will no longer be secure here, even if it’s in the safe.”
He nodded. “I… well, I think Jonah might have a suggestion on where it can be stored.”
“Oh,” she said, her smile returning. “I-I’m about to meet him now. I’ll ask.”
I looked at the floor to avoid her seeing my smile. Meet with him, indeed. In the year I’d known her, I had never seen her flirt outright with a man. However, she didn’t even seem to be trying to hide her feelings for Jonah. Not that I could blame her; he was a handsome man.
Bev left shortly after to meet Essie. I guessed the couple had serious discussions to have. Essie taking over the café, and Bev running the distillery for us. It must be pretty intense for her.
“Rory, will you and Mick be around a little longer? I was supposed to meet Christian to give him the keys to do the reno upstairs. He was already supposed to be here, but… well, he did say he was driving here from Nashville.”
“I can stay,” I said, and Mick nodded too.
“Thanks. See you both soon then,” she said and quickly exited, heading toward Jonah’s office.
I immediately went over to Mick and drew him into my arms, kissing his lips when he turned his face toward mine.
