Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
“He distributes to forty states and wants to add us to his catalog,” she tells me. “He says he’s going to personally make sure that everyone tastes our whiskey.” I smile at her. “Do you know what that means?” I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her flush with my chest. “Charlie, this is massive.” She puts her hands on my biceps. “This is—”
“You did it,” I say softly. “You worked your ass off, and look at everything you did.” I kiss her lips. “And it paid off.” I slide my tongue with hers as we make out in her office. “We should get out there,” I say once I let go of her lips.
“Um, yeah,” she agrees, stepping out of my arms. “You kissed me”—I tilt my head to the side—“in front of everyone.”
“Okay.”
“Are we doing that now?” she asks, and I put my hands in my pockets. “Like, we kiss in private.” She wrings her hands together. “But we’ve never, you know, in front of everyone.”
“Do you not want to kiss me in front of everyone?” I ask, getting pissed.
“That’s not exactly what I said,” she retorts, and I raise my eyebrows. “It’s just that everyone is going to see and, well, then you know how gossip is...”
“Are you ashamed of me?” I chuckle nervously.
“Charlie,” she says, “don’t be ridiculous. I’m doing it to protect you.”
“Noted,” I say. “But I don’t give a shit if people gossip. I don’t care if people take pictures and post it on flyers in the middle of the town square.” I shake my head. “So now that we’ve concluded this portion of our talk, how about we get out there so we can celebrate?”
“Okay,” she agrees, walking to me and taking one of my hands in both of hers, “that sounds like a plan.” I pull open the door and walk out with her. “Also, we are going to discuss the dress.”
She looks down at her dress. “What’s wrong with my dress?”
“You’re missing a whole piece in the back,” I explain, pushing the door to the bar open as she laughs at me. I spend the night by her side, her hand in mine most of the time or my arm around her shoulders. There is no mistake at the end of the night that we are together. We get a couple of raised eyebrows and a couple of finger-pointings, and each time I make sure to lean down and kiss her lips. “Give them something to talk about,” I mumble to her each time.
We spend the night at my house, her dress in a heap at the front door, the rest of her clothes beside the bed. Her body curved into mine. Everything else is not even a blip on our radar.
The next morning, I bring her coffee in bed. “Will you come with me?” I ask as she looks up at me. “I want to take you somewhere.”
“I’ll go anywhere with you,” she agrees, getting up and sliding into her dress again. We go to her house, and she changes before I take her to the cemetery. She looks out the window as I drive up. “You okay with this?” I ask when I put the truck in park, and she nods, getting out of the truck.
I slide my hand in hers as we walk over to the grave. “I haven’t been here in eight years,” she admits to me softly. “I couldn’t.” My thumb rubs hers as we stop in front of Jennifer’s tombstone. “I miss her,” she says. “There isn’t one day that goes by I don’t think of her at least once.” She wipes the tears away from her face, looking up at me. “She loved you so much.”
I nod. “The feeling was mutual.”
“She must be pissed at me now that I’m with her man.” She laughs through her tears, and I look down at her.
“I don’t think she cares,” I say honestly.
“Then you don’t know anything.” She lets go of my hand and wraps it around my waist. “I would be pissed if you got with my best friend.” I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her closer to me, kissing her head. “But then Jennifer was nicer than me.”
“She might have done this,” I suggest. “She knew the both of us were hurting and needed each other.”
She looks up at me and then looks back down at the tombstone, squatting down in front of it. “I miss you so much,” she now whispers to her, “there is so much that has happened.” She laughs now as she wipes away a tear. “I bet you know already.” I smile as I listen to her talk to her. “I promise that I’ll take good care of him.” I close my eyes, blinking my own tears away. “We both love you so much and we’ll never forget you.” She presses two fingers to her lips before putting them on Jennifer’s name.