Chapter 4

Brooklyn

I don't bring up the papers. I don't bring up the fact I found them while rummaging around like a mad man, and I sure as hell don't remind her we're still married. Not when she's beaming and happy from us discussing Blake's party. It would be wrong to go and shit all over her good mood for no reason. I mean, it's been five years since we split. It can wait a few more days. Then I might be able to stomach the idea of bringing the topic up again. Maybe after, when Blake's party is all said and done. If she was so worried about being divorced, she would've asked for a copy of the papers before now. Right?

Now is not the time to panic.

I'll tell her when the time is right, and then we'll just file again. It's not like it can't be done. Even as I'm putting my hand on the small of her back as we walk outside the cafe, waving to Aunt May on the way out, I know that I'm kidding myself. And I'm chicken shit once again.

"So, I'll text you when I've got the Harry Potter books organized," I say. "May need a Plan B in case the special copies are all sold out."

"You could always get her a new saddle?"

Eden always has the best ideas. I've done well over the years because she guides me with all the present buying. We went through the My Little Pony and Barbie stages. And I know every single Wiggles tune there is to know. Wags the dog ain't got nothing on me.

Luckily Blake has always been an outdoor girl — she doesn't care much for video games and watching television.

"Great minds think alike." She's still wearing her reading glasses. Instinctively I reach for the sides and slide them up on top of her head, pushing her curls back. "You'll get sore eyes driving with these on."

For some reason, she flushes. I see the faint pink dust over her cheeks. I stop, my heart hammering in my chest. Is it just me or is it stuffy out here all of a sudden?

"Uh, thanks." She pulls the glasses off her head and folds them down. "I'd forget my head if it weren't stuck on."

I laugh. "So, that's that then. The cake was sorted, you said?"

Eden makes a face. "Shit! I forgot to tell you, when Verne called me to offer her services I told her your mom was making the cake, there was just about World War Three."

Verne makes the best pastries in town, everyone knows it. She runs the local bakery in Stoney Creek.

My eyes go wide as I try to hide my amusement. "What the heck?"

"So I backpedaled and said that your mom was making the cake, and she could still make the cupcakes with the pink frosting. I thought she was going to shoot lasers from her eyeballs."

I chuckle. "So effectively our daughter's having two cakes?"

She winces. "I know. I just didn't want to make waves. Verne has always made those pretty pink butterfly cupcakes, but when your mom asked to do Blake's birthday cake, I couldn't really say no."

That's Eden, always trying to keep the peace. "So she'll have two cakes. It'll be fine."

Eden chews on her lip. It's a cute habit she never grew out of. "It'll be sugar overload since Georgia is in charge of stuffing the party bags, but they'll burn it off running around the farm."

"God help us." We stand outside for a few seconds as I palm the back of my neck.

"Okay, so we're done here?" Eden says. "I've gotta go see what destruction Daisy and Noodle may have caused."

I chuckle. The pair of them together is amusing. Noodle will be the ringleader for sure. "Oh, I'm sure they've torn the house up already. At least Noodle can't be blamed for chewing furniture." That part is true enough, but I know Daisy has a fetish for Gabe's expensive shoes and heaven help if any socks are left lying around.

I want to ask her if Kirk will likely RSVP to the invitation, not that I can really say no to him coming. I mean, she made out he would be there and I don't want to look like a douchebag. It isn't like my daughter is gonna start calling him Dad anytime ever. But I meant what I said; I'm protective of my girls. I want to be sure Eden is making the right choices and not getting her hopes up if this guy lives in another state. All the same, Blake is still young and I don't want her to be confused. I've never had a woman over when she's been around; I save that for the week she's not with me. It would be irresponsible. And though she's almost eleven, I still think meeting Kirk is premature if they're only recently dating.

I wonder if they've slept together.

My blood runs cold at the thought of him touching her.

"…in the next few days, then we can see how the plans are going…" Eden continues, but I'm not paying attention.

I'm imagining someone else in her bed. Her calling his name, instead of mine.

"… I'm sure with all the family together we can get it done in time…"

Eden laughing at one of his jokes… Him making her smile…

"… I can't imagine the tables would weigh very much, but having Beau and Callan there would be helpful…"

My mood sours when I think about them in the barn. In our spot. The place where our love blossomed. It's sacred. And I know it's stupid of me to think that. There's no way she'd take him there, it's on our property anyway.

All of a sudden, she's waving a hand in my face. "Yoo hoo, earth to Brooklyn?"

I snap out of it and my eyes flick to hers.

Amusement plays up her adorable smile. "You always were hard to pin down with your attention span."

I grimace. "Sorry. I've got a lot going on. My meeting with the family is later today… the new concept I was telling you about a while ago."

Her lips part. "Not the new bourbon range you were talking about?"

I smile proudly. "Yep. Moonshine, as I've been affectionately calling it. I have to get the go-ahead from everyone. Gray's in, of course, but convincing Gabe and Dad… let's just say they're cut from the same cloth."

She rests a hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "You have amazing ideas. Just remember they're both set in their ways, so it's nothing personal. Your dad's old school and Gabe isn't always open to trying things a new way."

"Tell me about it," I mutter. "Gabe has come around a little ever since Skye came along. She's mellowed him, which he needed. He has a goddamn stick up his ass half the time."

I love my brother, but he's a hard man in business. A lot like Gray, but at least Gray knew when to give it away. He's still involved but has taken a step back to build his house and work on our exports.

Eden laughs. "He's very passionate about what he does, like you are."

"Yes, but I don't go around yelling at everyone like he does. You call it passion, I call it being a hotheaded bull."

"Brook, that's a little dramatic." Her phone rings again and she glances down.

Kirk again. I see his name on the screen as I start to walk backward toward my truck. "Call me if you think of anything else, okay?"

She nods. "Okay, talk to you later." She turns and answers the phone as she walks away.

Fucking Kirk. What kind of a name is that anyway?

Jealousy rears its ugly head as I try to push thoughts away of the two of them together.

It's more than possible she's been with other men besides me, in fact, I'd bet on it. I mean, it's been five years since our split, and three since our actual divorce. She wouldn't go that long without sex…would she? I've never seen her with anybody local in town, but that isn't Eden's style anyway. She wouldn't just go around sleeping with anyone. There are some guys that come through town though, on the way to the Smoky's or Nashville, so it could've happened here. Not that I can see her having a one-night stand, but then again, how would I know? And how come I've never paid more attention?

Now it's irking me.

I climb into my truck and grip the steering wheel. I need to get a fucking grip already.

I can't keep thinking about Eden this way.

While she was ticking things off in that notebook of hers, I could barely keep a straight thought in my head. I wanted to pepper her with questions about Kirk and how serious it was. Then again, it has to be semi-serious if she's calling him her boyfriend and inviting him to our daughter's birthday party.

I rest my head on the steering wheel, hoping that might bring some clarity. I'm never going to get through this fucking birthday without ringing someone's neck. And I'm not even a violent person.

I don't like the idea of him being around the things that belong to us as a family. The farm. My home. The barn. My daughter. My wife.

I suck in a breath.

Breathe, you fucking idiot.

This isn't the way to keep in Eden's good graces, in fact, it's a sure fire way to get in her bad ones. And after the non-divorce papers, I fear that her annoyance is well and truly forecast in my direction. And that forecast is a shit storm.

Tell her after the party.

I will. I'll tell her after the festivities are over and hopefully she'll just blow it off and we can laugh about it somehow. Maybe I'm dreaming.

Though, it would be funny to just rub it in Kirk's face just a little. Not with the children around, of course, but man to man. I'm sure he'd have a few things to say about that.

And I'd sure as shit love to tell him to stay the fuck away.

I crack my neck and start the engine. I can't sit here all day or I'll tear my hair out.

I put the truck into reverse, making my way to work, vowing to erase all thoughts of Eden from my mind so I can get through the meeting with my family.

I can already tell it's gonna be a long ass day all round.

My cell buzzes while I'm driving, breaking my reverie about the past and everything I just discussed with Eden.

It's Gray.

"Hey, man." I put him on speaker.

"Hey, Brook. Where are you?"

"Just heading in. I was with Eden discussing Blake's birthday coming up."

"Oh, yeah. I heard Mom and Georgia talking about the party and using the barn."

"Yeh, Eden just said the same. Probably a good idea, testing out the venue on eleven-year-olds and family could be a good test run." The barn is almost complete, so it couldn't hurt to get a feel for things.

"Are you trying to distract yourself from the meeting today?"

I chuckle. "Would I do a thing like that?"

"You've got nothing to worry about. I've also got news to break to the family, it'll soften the blow. I just had a major win with our exports to Australia. Two major franchises have picked up our brand. We're gonna be busier than ever, brother."

"That's good and bad, you know that," I muse. Good in the sense it's great for business and pushing our bourbon even further afield than it's been before is amazing. But bad in the fact it pushes production and our resources to the limit. I knew it was coming, it's not a major shock, and I'm happy for Gray. He's been working hard these past few months being back working with the family again, pushing exports left, right and center.

"I know it. But things are moving and growing all the time. I think it's a great time to introduce the new malt."

So quite a while back I started tinkering in the vault with a new flavored bourbon. Other distillers are doing it, and there's a billion flavored beers now on the market and it sorta sparked the idea. I've been perfecting a Tiramisu blend as a starting point before getting into the more robust creations. It's a smooth, rich blend of coffee and chocolate, which has its own unique kick from the bourbon.

I also have in the works a coffee and hazelnut with hints of vanilla, and a sweet, strong espresso with undertones of raisins, chocolate and current. I like to think of it as a mocha on steroids, and a whole new level of bourbon.

The branding will be a completely new label where we will add the classic Bassett bulls head logo in theme with our current trio; straight bourbon whiskey, original cask strength, and our American blended rye, but it will be uniquely its own too.

"Well, you know better than anyone I've been perfecting this for a while on the sly," I sigh.

"Me and Beau are definitely on board, he's here with me now."

"Not buried in the books for once?" I joke. Or the rickhouse where we store everything. He helps me with the packing process and keeping tabs of stock levels. He'll pretty much go wherever he's needed.

"I heard that," Beau hollers in the background.

I chuckle.

"Another brother on board could be all we need to make this work when it comes to the family vote," Gray goes on. We all agreed to take a family vote on the Moonshine production.

"Georgia surely won't say no to her favorite brother?" I scoff.

"I'm the favorite brother," Beau calls out again. "Since I'm her twin and all."

"Minor details," I say. "So there's the four of us and as far as we know, Gabe is on the fence-line. Dad didn't like the idea before, not sure about Mom, or Uncle Jack and Aunt Patti. I think Callan will be gung-ho for it."

"I do too," Gray says. "You know what it's like sometimes with the old folks; they have it in their heads things need to be a certain way. Change can be scary and all, but it can only better our brand. Our current trio are here to stay after all. We're trusted and respected; that all helps when you're launching a brand new product."

"I couldn't have said it better myself," I agree. I also believe it's good practice to stay relevant, whilst keeping integrity for the products that have made our bourbon a household name for decades.

"Well, I'd say now is as good an opportunity as any to start unleashing the beast," Gray says.

"And Gabe is all loved up with Skye at the moment, just sayin'. It couldn't be a better time to slide it under his nose while he's in his love haze." Beau always knows how to get to the heart of things.

I laugh heartily. "That'll be the day he lets anything distract him from BBB."

"Watch this space." Beau clearly agrees with Gray.

I love my brothers dearly, but they do talk some trash at times. Gabe never drops a single ball. Sometimes I wish he would so we'd all get a break.

One thing I do agree on with Gray is that he's been pretty loved up lately.

Not that he's dancing his way into work or singing from the rooftops, but he's absolutely relaxed ten-fold since he and Skye took their relationship public.

I'd say she's having more than a positive effect on my brother. It's a good thing, and I meant what I said to Eden; he deserves to be happy.

If Eden had left me to focus on her career when we had a newborn and not want to be my wife or a mother to Blake anymore, I wouldn't have made it out in one piece. I'm not even sure what I would have done in a situation like that. But he dug himself out of a huge hole, and I'm proud of him for that. It was fucking hard for a long time.

"I'll see you guys in about fifteen," I say. Feeling a sudden burst of energy about my Moonshine meeting. Eden thinks it's a goer, and she has impeccable taste with most things she puts her mind to. Her words of wisdom back at the cafe weren't lost on me.

I've always appreciated her opinion and input.

"Bring your game face, Brook," Beau chuckles. "You might need it."

"Don't need too many gimmicks, brothers, but appreciate your support."

They both know this is a big thing for me to be putting my pitch forward because I never have too much to say about anything in the company. I just stick to what I know, and what I do best.

But it's been fun and intriguing creating something new for our brand.

If there's one thing I'm not short on, it's ideas.

I just hope the family goes for it.