Page 24 of Whiskey Chase
I knocked once and peered through the glass.
She was folded over, digging through her refrigerator, when I knocked.
She slammed the fridge and danced to the door. Scarlett smiled brightly when she welcomed us, but I saw the shadows under her eyes. It looked as though I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t slept last night. But my thoughts had been occupied by the kiss. I doubted that hers had.
“Morning, boys. I have some bad news. I’ve got one egg and two strips of bacon.”
Jonah and I both looked around us in wonder. She’d taken the interior of the cabin and turned it into a sanctuary with green plants, soft quilts, and worn furniture. It was cozy, friendly. Her skinny coffee table was occupied by a laptop and a neat stack of work orders. The kitchen was the size of a shoebox. Tiny and L-shaped with about a foot and a half of usable counter space. The floors were pine. The walls were stucco. Above the stone fireplace’s thick wood mantel hung a twisted iron heart.
Jonah said something about not needing much more than coffee for breakfast.
“Oh, no. I promised y’all breakfast,” Scarlett said. “We’ll just go to Moonshine.”
“It’s a diner,” I told him before he could ask. “Great pepperoni rolls.”
Scarlett beamed up at me, and I instantly felt ten feet tall. If I had that face smiling up at me every day, there wouldn’t be much in life that I couldn’t accomplish. I wanted to kiss her again or at least ask her about the kiss. What it meant? Would I be lucky enough to get another one from her? But not with an audience.
I should have backed out, let the two of them go together. But I knew I’d have to answer to Scarlett’s brothers if I were to leave their baby sister with a stranger. Plus, if I was being honest, I wanted another pepperoni roll.
I volunteered to drive. Scarlett rode shotgun, and Jonah took the seat behind her so he’d have more room for his legs. Scarlett was unusually quiet on the short drive, focusing her attention on her phone.
When she caught me looking, she flashed the screen at me. It was a group text between her and her brothers. I wondered if we’d end up with more Bodines for breakfast.
Moonshine was busy, but Clarabell wrangled a table for us in the back.
“You sure keep comin’ in here with some attractive men, Scarlett,” Clarabell said with a wink of her blue-shadowed eye.
“I’ve got a reputation to uphold,” Scarlett joked and opened her menu.
Clarabell hustled off to get our coffees, and Scarlett eyed Jonah. “Question that I’m gonna need an answer for real fast. Are you okay with folks here knowing you’re my half-brother?”
Jonah looked up from his menu and scanned the restaurant. “I suppose so.”
“Good, because secrets don’t keep in Bootleg, and I figure I’ve got about forty seconds before someone comes up and wants to know who you are. And that family resemblance is gonna have tongues a waggin’.”
Jonah shifted uncomfortably in his seat. I felt bad for him. No one really wanted to face that kind of scrutiny.
Scarlett reached out and patted his hand. “There’s no sins of the father here in Bootleg. No one’s gonna blame you for existing,” she promised.
“Tell me they’ve got eggs benedict today.” Bowie appeared over my shoulder and snatched Scarlett’s menu from her hands.
“Hey!”
“Mornin’ all,” he said, sliding into the chair next to Jonah.
“Glad you could make it,” Scarlett said, stealing my menu.
“You think I’d really miss our first family breakfast?” Bowie quipped.
“Well, here’s yet another gorgeous hunk of man,” Clarabell cooed, dropping off mugs. She looked back and forth between Bowie and Jonah, and I saw the recognition hit her like a ton of bricks. “Well, I’ll be…”
“Clarabell, this here is our half-brother Jonah,” Scarlett said as casually as if she were discussing the spring weather.
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Jonah. I expect you’ll be staying with us for a while.”
Let the fishing begin, I thought with a cough to hide my laugh.
“I’m playing it by ear,” Jonah said, flashing her a friendly smile.
