Tore Up (Mississippi Smoke Series Book 1)

“Why does it smell like oatmeal?” I asked Than as we walked past wooden barrels.

“That’s the mash,” he told me. “Corn, malted barley, and rye.”

I pointed to the large building to our left. “What’s in there?”

“That’s the distillery. Not sure the fumes are good for you. We are going this way,” he told me, waving a hand toward a log cabin to the right. “The offices.”

My eyes were everywhere. I was amazed at all the different things going on around me. “Are those barrels full of whiskey?”

“Not yet. They’ll be taken inside and prepared. Their interior has to be toasted, so to speak, among other things. Once they have whiskey in them, they are kept inside.”

We started up the steps to the cabin he called the offices.

“For how long?”

“Depends on the batch. Our minimum is eight years, but we have a fifteen-year one that costs more.”

I was fascinated. I’d never thought about how whiskey was made.

When Bane had left the kitchen this morning, I’d been deflated. My hopes for a better day were snuffed out as he stalked out of the room. He hadn’t even mentioned showing me how to watch the ultrasound on the large screen. I’d been left there, feeling my day already spiraling downhill.

Than, however, stepped in and said he needed someone at his family’s distillery to answer calls and go through the mail. Ransom gave him a hard look, and I worried that his brother didn’t agree. But my desire to get out of the house and have something to do had overridden that.

“Welcome to Carver’s Bootleg Whiskey,” he said with a grin.

“Bootleg?” I asked, looking up at him.

“My grandfather wanted to give a nod to how it’d all started. My great-grandfather was a bootlegger back in the ’20s, as well as an illegal gambler. It’s how he got involved with the family.”

“Than!” a man called out.

“Yeah. Be there in a minute,” he replied, then turned back to me. “I’m late for a marketing meeting. New firm we hired.”

I followed him behind a desk that had a U-shaped counter around it. There was a stool on this side of the counter, along with a computer screen and a phone. The desk that sat in the center had a larger computer, another phone, a lot of files stacked up, and a basket full of mail.

“Until I’m done in there, just worry about the phone. When it rings, you answer it like this. Check the line that is lit up, in case you have to transfer it. Right now, we are all unavailable, so whoever they ask for, take a message.” He slid a book over to me. “Message book. Write it down here.”

I nodded, feeling slightly anxious that I was going to do something wrong.

“Oh, and when you answer, say, Carver’s Bootleg Whiskey. This is Halo. How may I help you?”

Okay, I could do that. Easy enough. “Got it.”

He rapped his knuckles on the desk, then motioned toward the back. “If I don’t get in there, Ransom will get pissy.”

“I’m good,” I assured him.

He seemed hesitant, but walked away, leaving me with my task to answer the phone.

I pulled out the stool and took a seat, then stared out the front windows. Two men came out and took a wooden barrel from the stack. A shiny red BMW convertible pulled up outside, and I leaned over to see a woman with long, wavy crimson hair step out in a short formfitting white dress. When she started up the stairs, I straightened, ready to greet her. I hadn’t expected anyone to come inside. I assumed I was to help them, too, although Than hadn’t mentioned it.

She pulled off her sunglasses as she opened the door and walked inside. Her eyes locked on me immediately. The flare in them wasn’t friendly.

“Who are you?” she asked snidely, as if my presence offended her.

“Halo,” I replied, smiling at her anyway. “Can I help you?”

Her gaze scanned the area, then swung back to me. “Where is Ransom?” she asked, placing a hand on her hip.This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org: ©.

“He’s in a meeting. They just started, but I can leave him a message for you,” I replied.

“You can tell him that Alora is here right now,” she snapped at me.

Than hadn’t said I could interrupt them. But then this woman wanted Ransom and seemed to think he’d want to see her. I didn’t want to upset Ransom and have him send me back to the house.

“Are you going to sit there, or do I need to go find him myself?” she asked.

I chewed on my bottom lip, wondering if that might be the best idea. If she went to interrupt, then it wouldn’t be me who got in trouble.

“I, uh …” Dang it, what did I say to her?

If she glared at me any harder, her false lashes were going to pop off.

The front door opened again. I looked past her to see a guy I didn’t recognize come inside. His slate-gray eyes shifted from me to Alora. She turned, and the death stare I had been getting from her was immediately replaced by a sultry smile.

“Oz.” She purred his name.

My eyes swung back to him. This was Bane’s best friend. One of the guys in the house I had yet to meet. His short black hair was nothing like Forge’s. Unlike Ransom and Than, I would never have guessed they were brothers.

“Alora,” he replied in a deep drawl. “A little early for you to be out.”

A tinkling laugh and a bat of her lashes made me want to roll my eyes. Who did this woman want—Ransom or Oz?

His gaze moved back to me. With one quick appraisal, he gave me a tight smile. “Halo?”

I nodded.

Something between a sigh and a chuckle came from him. He shook his head. “Of course.”

The woman turned back to me. “You know the new help?” The annoyance in her tone was thick.

“Eh, that’s not the new help,” he replied. “Pull in your claws unless you want to piss off Bane.”

Her eyes, although brown, seemed to light up like a fire at his name. As if she might climb over this counter and tackle me to the ground. She really needed to decide which one of the guys she wanted.

“She’s a little young for Bane,” she replied.

Oz walked around the counter. “I’ll be sure to tell him you have an opinion on his sex life,” he replied in a bored tone, then picked up the stack of mail.

This time, her laugh wasn’t so flirty. “That’s not what I meant,” she replied.

“Mmhmm,” was his only response while he flipped through the envelopes until he found what he’d been looking for. He lifted his eyes to me then. “Are they in a meeting?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes. Marketing, Than said.”

He picked up a pad of sticky notes and a pen. “You heard that, Alora. He is in a meeting.”

She glared at me before softening her gaze as she looked back at Oz, who was writing something down.

“Fine. I’ll call him then,” she replied.

“You do that,” was his response, and then he handed me the note. “Give this to Than when he’s out.”

I took it. “All right.”

The door closed behind Alora, and he gave me a skeptical look. “You sure this is a good idea? I know Bane isn’t aware you’re here.”

I held the paper tightly between my thumb and forefinger. “I’m not trying to cause problems. I just wanted something to do. A job.”

He licked his bottom lip, and there was a flash of metal that surprised me. Was his tongue pierced?

“All right, well, that’s your call,” he informed me. Then, the corner of his mouth quirked up just a touch. “And it’s nice to meet you, roomie.”

While the other guys I’d met in the family were all attractive, this one had movie-star good looks.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” I told him.

Without another word, he headed back to the door and left.

I looked down at the note in my hand. “Need two Liquid Hales.”

I placed the paper on the counter beside the messages. There was a strange flutter in my stomach, and I looked down to study it. What was that?

There were no more females that dropped by, but I did take eleven messages by the time they got out of their meeting. Ransom stopped by the counter, and I handed him his messages.

“Alora came to see you,” I told him.

He glanced up at me with an irritated expression. Uh-oh. Maybe I was supposed to go get him after all.

“I, uh, told her you were in a meeting, and then Oz came in and explained that you were busy and she needed to leave a message.” I stopped before I continued and it turned into rambling.

“Tag, you’re it.” Than smirked at him, picking up the two messages that had been left for him.

“Shut up,” Ransom snapped, then gave me a nod. “Thanks,” he told me before turning to leave.

“You look worried,” Than said to me.

“I wasn’t sure how to handle the Alora thing. I hope I didn’t make him mad.”

Than shook his head, reaching over to get the stack of mail. “That scowl was about her, not you. He made the mistake of fucking her a couple of times, and now, she’s thinking they have something going on. Before him, it was Gathe.” He held up the stack. “Let’s start with this. They need to be separated into different categories, then put into the correct mailboxes on the wall over there.”

I walked over for my lesson.

He studied me for a minute. “Other than Alora, how was it?”

“Easy,” I admitted.

“Good. Let’s add a little more work so you don’t get bored,” he teased.

I listened carefully to his next set of instructions.