Chapter Twenty-Six

Friday, September 23, 2022

Moonshiners

"All right," a male voice came from behind her. "It's time someone tells me what the hell's goin' on."

Violet spun around to see her cousin Brantley standing beside his husband, Reese. "As far as…?"

Brantley used his beer to gesture between her and Simon. "This is a thing?"

"It's a thing," she confirmed. "Simon, you remember my cousin Brantley. Brantley Walker meet Simon Jennings. Again."

"You were at the wedding," Brantley said, shifting his beer to his other hand so he could shake Simon's.

"I was. Congratulations. Again."

Brantley smiled. "Thanks."

Violet noticed the way he took a microscopic step closer to Reese. It was cute how over the moon those two were. Not that she would ever accuse her Navy SEAL cousin of being cute. The guy would burst an artery if she did that.

"My husband, Reese," Brantley said, nodding toward Reese.

Reese shook Simon's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Now, maybe you can tell me why you're all over my little cousin," Brantley stated.

Violet laughed. "We're not even touchin'."

Brantley shrugged one shoulder. "Still counts."

"Does it, though?" Reese asked, looking at Brantley.

"Hey." Brantley's gaze shot to Reese. "I've got a contract that states you'll back me up no matter what."

"You think that's what it says?" Reese laughed. "You're in for a big surprise, Navy boy."

Brantley shook his head, turning his attention back to her. "Is it serious?"

Violet held up her hand, showing him the ring.

"Mother fucker." Brantley grabbed for her hand. "Damn. That's a rock."

"Congratulations," Reese said.

"Yeah." Brantley whistled. "What he said."

"Thank you." Violet smiled, her chest warming as it did whenever someone said that, which had been a lot over the past forty-eight hours. From the second she told Elana—which had been before they left the house they were now buying—her best friends had been attempting to show every person in town the ring, proudly announcing the engagement.

With a grin, Brantley released her hand and turned his attention back to Simon. "What is it you do, Simon?"

"I host a podcast."

Brantley frowned.

"You might've heard of it," Violet told them. " Havoc Your Way ."

Reese's eyes widened, but he managed to school his reaction quickly.

"Sorry. No," Brantley stated. "I don't watch podcasts."

Reese laughed. "That's because you listen to 'em."

"Oh." Brantley shook his head again. "No. Sorry. I don't listen to podcasts." He looked at Reese. "Do you?"

"On occasion. Yeah."

Brantley gestured toward Simon. "Do you listen to his?"

"From time to time."

Movement to Brantley's left caught Violet's attention. She smiled as Archer approached.

"Sorry, I'm late. I was makin' sure Spencer didn't need anything else for the offer."

Nice try, big guy. Violet could see right through this man. Not that she would call him on it. She was happy to sit back and watch that romance unfold. It hadn't yet, but she was sure it wouldn't be long.

"You know we took care of that online already, right?" Simon told him.

Archer smirked, then looked over at Reese and Brantley. "Didn't mean to interrupt."

Violet peered around him. "Is Spencer here?"

"He'll be here in a bit."

She held Archer's stare, trying to read his mind. He winked but gave away nothing.

"You want somethin' to drink?" Simon offered.

"Coke. Thanks."

While Simon turned to the bar, Violet made introductions. "Archer Halligan, this is my cousin Brantley Walker and his husband Reese Tavoularis. Y'all, this is Archer. He works with Simon."

"You do the podcast thing, huh?" Brantley asked as the two big men shook hands.

"I'm more of an investigator than a podcaster."

"Is that right?" Brantley's gaze snapped to Reese. "You know this guy? From your podcast?"

Violet watched the interaction, unable to keep from laughing. Brantley sounded so serious, but there was a twinkle in his blue-gray eyes. One that always seemed to appear when he was near the man he loved.

Reese shook his head, grinning as he reached around Brantley and held out his hand to Archer. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

"You're lookin' at property here?" Reese asked.

"Simon put an offer in on a house," Archer told him.

"Seemed the logical thing to do since they're movin' down here," Violet added, wondering why Reese would ask that.

"Is this podcast thing steady work?" Brantley asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"For the most part," Simon said at the same time Archer answered with, "No, not really."

"It barely pays the bills," Paige stated as she joined them.

"And they've multiplied again," Brantley muttered. "You are?"

"Paige Avery. I keep these two in line."

"Investigator?" Reese asked.

"No. That's Archer's thing." Paige frowned. "Wait a minute. Y'all run that task force, huh?"

"We do," Brantley responded, cocking an eye at Violet.

She grinned. This was better than Violet had imagined it would be. For the past couple of days, she'd been working on a plan to make a more lengthy introduction between Simon and Brantley. According to Simon, it would go a long way to getting the information he needed for the story. He hadn't put a final stamp on it yet, although Violet knew he was leaning heavily in that direction. Enough that they'd outlined a very rough draft of the season.

"What is it that you do?" Paige inquired.

"Our focus is on finding missing people," Reese explained.

Violet grabbed her drink and took a gulp. She considered asking Brantley to help her find a missing person, but she still wasn't sure her father was missing. Her mother insisted he was because no one had seen him since before the wedding. Granted, Violet knew where he'd been last Saturday night—breaking into her bookstore—but she hadn't told her mother or sisters about that. It wouldn't make a difference to Daphne. She would probably love the man even if he killed someone.

Plus, they weren't exactly at DEFCON 1 yet. It had only been a few days, and this wouldn't be the first time Harold had run off without telling anyone where he was going. Then again, he usually answered his phone, but he wasn't doing that. Violet had tried calling him several times, determined to give him a piece of her mind for what he had done.

She decided to keep it to herself for now. If her father didn't reappear in the next week or so, she'd talk to her cousin.

"You interested in steady work?" Reese asked Archer.

"I might be. You got somethin'?"

"Hold on. You can't go poachin' my fiancé's co-workers," Violet told him, grinning because she loved that word. Fiancé. It warmed her heart to even think about it.

Simon put a gentle hand on her arm. "Trust me when I tell you, he needs this."

"But what about the story? Who's gonna investigate for you?"

"What if we could make time for it?" Reese stated.

"Wow. You're really hard up to get someone else on the team," Brantley joked.

Reese looked at Brantley. "It's either this or we take Decker Bromwell back."

Brantley's head snapped around, his gaze slamming into Archer. "Let's talk some more. Monday work for you?"

Archer looked at Simon. "Monday work for me?"

"I don't plan on goin' anywhere until we close on the house," Simon told him.

Violet's smile grew ten times its normal size. She'd overheard Simon talking to Spencer yesterday, telling him he would be hiring movers, so he wanted to confirm the closing date. Spencer informed him that October 31 st was the big day. They would be getting the keys that morning when they signed the papers. Violet honestly couldn't wait. She was already mentally rearranging furniture in that house, and she didn't even know what furniture they would have.

Archer turned back to Reese. "Monday works for me."

"So, which house did you buy?" Brantley asked.

"A couple of houses down from Travis," Violet told him.

"Ah. Nice area."

Yes, yes, it was.

Reese said, "I heard Brandie's house was on the market."

"It is," Spencer confirmed.

"He's takin' me to look at that one in the mornin'," Paige announced.

"That's the one a coupla blocks over from me, right?" Violet asked.

Spencer nodded.

She frowned and lowered her voice. "Isn't that a coupla doors down from Slade?"

Spencer nodded again.

"Who's Slade?" Archer asked.

"One of our investigators," Brantley answered while Violet said, "Spencer's brother."

Violet watched Archer's expression shift as he stared at Spencer. He didn't say anything, but she could tell he had something on his mind.

Simon must've picked up on the tension because he spoke up. "Brantley, would you have time to chat next week? I've been talkin' to Travis, and he mentioned you've done some investigatin' for him. I've got a few questions I'd like to ask."

"About?"

"Let's just say I'm tryin' to find some of the missing pieces."

"Still not tellin' me much," Brantley stated, his tone hinting at his growing frustration.

Simon's gaze shifted from face to face before landing on Brantley's again. "I'd prefer not to mention it here."

Brantley looked at Reese again. Violet wasn't sure whether he was seeking his input or sharing a different type of silent message. Whatever it was, Reese obviously had the answer.

"Monday mornin'," Reese told him. "You and Archer can swing by HQ."

"HQ?" Paige asked. "That sounds fancy."

"It's a barn," Elana said as she came to stand at Violet's side.

"A barn?" Simon sounded both surprised and amused.

"A really nice barn," she said with a giggle. "But yeah, a barn."

"You can get the address from Violet," Brantley told Simon.

"Okay. Monday mornin'."

When Elana walked around to talk to Paige, Brantley leaned in near her ear.

His voice was soft and low. "You serious about this guy?"

"As a heart attack."

"He good enough for you?"

"Yeah. He's one of the nice ones."

Brantley pulled back, met her gaze. "Good. You deserve nice."

"Yes, I do," she said, and for the first time in her life, she believed it.