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I see his face visibly soften. He watches me, his eyes warm. I wait to see the sympathy in them like everyone else gives me in this town, but I don’t get it. Instead, his eyes hold something more akin to understanding and admiration, and I appreciate it.
“How is Marie’s Place going?” he asks, and my eyesflick to Harvey, who is busy trying to read the food specials on offer, but I dare say most likely looking at the images instead. “Have you been back?” he prods, and my eyes shoot back to meet his.
“It’s fine. All new and renovated. They have a few visitors stay from time to time. I don’t go there much, but I have been back. Faced my demons, you could say.” After my conversation with Victoria during the week, I know I need to go back more often. It has obviously helped her, and at this point, I will try anything to help alleviate my nighttime terrors. Hudson’s jaw tics, and he goes to say something else, but we get interrupted.
“So what will it be, folks?” Rochelle asks, stepping up to our table with a small notepad in hand.
“My usual. Thanks, Rochelle.” I smile, and she nods, not even needing to write my choice down.
“Your usual?” Hudson asks, his eyebrow lifted in question, a small smile dancing on his face.
“Oh, Lacy here comes in every Saturday afternoon at this time like clockwork. Has for years,” Rochelle says with a chuckle. I feel my cheeks get even hotter, and I want to slide underneath the table and let the floor open up and take me.
“What do you order?” Hudson asks, sitting back, looking at me with intrigue. Shoulders sitting high, his hands clasp together on the table in front of him, a smirk quirking his lips. Might as well get this over with. It’s not like it matters anyway. He’s just the town doctor, no big deal.
“The special sundae,” I tell him, waiting to see a look of horror on his face that I’m ordering a child’s meal, asundae no less. Now with him sitting opposite me in this booth, I wonder what got into me that I offered for them to join me today. I see a lot of Tanner's rich friends come into the distillery. I talk to all of them. Even Hudson’s brother, Huxley, is a friend and we have friendly banter, but I never feel this nervous around them. Hudson has my insides so coiled, I wonder if the ice cream in my stomach will curdle once I start eating.
“Sundae?” he questions, but the look I was expecting from Hudson doesn’t come. Instead, his eyebrows rise a little more in surprise before his mouth twitches.
“It’s delicious,” I murmur my defense.
“Hmmmm. A special sundae for a special woman… Sounds like a good choice,” he says, grinning, his flirty nature coming back as he watches me, and my heart rate escalates. I look over his shoulder at the defibrillator on the wall, glad that I’m sitting near a doctor, and he will know exactly how to work it if I have a heart attack.
“I also have a fantastic chocolate brownie with ice cream and chocolate syrup.” Rochelle looks at Harvey, who smiles cheekily, like he is getting the inside information.
“He will get the brownie,” Hudson answers for him, and Rochelle nods.
“What about you, Doc?” she asks, and he looks back at me, then to Harvey before replying.
“Maybe bring an extra spoon. I don't think Harvey will be able to finish it on his own.”
“Good to see you out and about, Doc,” she says to him as she surveys the three of us at the booth. “And good to see you with company, Lacy,” she adds, and I want togroan in equal parts extreme embarrassment and annoyance, but then I would really come across like a sulky teenager.
“We are glad to be here. It’s nice to be back in town,” he tells her, and I ignore her comment and breathe a sigh of relief when she leaves, called to help out the back.
“So things are going well, then? At the hospital?” I ask him.
“So far. There is a lot I want to do with it,” he admits, his eyes locking on mine.
“Well, I’m sure you’re the perfect person for the job,” I say, still a little jittery. It feels like a first date, with the butterflies swirling in my stomach, but it obviously isn’t. His son is right next to us, and pretty much the whole town is in here, stealing not-so-subtle glances.
“How’s the distillery going? Tanner working you hard, I bet?” he asks me, and my body stiffens at having the attention back on me. I take a deep breath and look at the man sitting across from me, barely resisting checking him out all over again.
“It’s great. I’m currently working with Connor on a new release,” I tell him proudly. I do love my job. I’m building strategies, working with the owners. I hit the jackpot with working at Whiteman’s, and I’m not going to take it for granted.
“I think they mentioned that the other night at the bar. Tell me about it,” he prompts, just as Rochelle pops back over and fills two coffee cups and slides a juice to Harvey.
“On the house.” She winks to the little boy, who grabsthe straw and sucks like his life depends on it, and Rochelle lets out a small chuckle as she leaves again.
“It came as a surprise. We had an accident in the barrel room, lost a lot of product, and weren’t sure what to do with the small amount we had left. I suggested to Tanner that we make it a small, exclusive batch.” I shrug, like my idea was no big deal, but in reality, it was not only the catalyst for me getting a promotion, but the label itself is now highly sought after by the wealthy around the country. “Together, Connor and I came up with the name, Whiteman’s Next Door, the whiskey you enjoy with your neighbor,” I tell him, and he laughs, catching on that next door to the distillery is Marie’s Place, where Tanner's now girlfriend Victoria was living at the time.
“Very clever. So you are managing that brand now? That’s a big responsibility.” His attention is fully on me, and he seems interested in every word that drops from my mouth as he sits back and enjoys his coffee, his eyes not leaving mine.
“Yeah. With Connor,” I add quickly. While I came up with the idea and Tanner put me in charge, I’m learning a lot from Connor and taking it all in like a sponge, wanting to remember everything and not make any mistakes.
“I’ll need to get my hands on a bottle, add it to my whiskey collection. I guess you are also organizing this event Tanner has planned?” His eyebrow quirks with curiosity, and there goes my stomach flipping again for no damn reason because he makes me nervous, he makes me flirt, he makes me feel things that I haven’t felt before.
“Yeah. Are you looking forward to it? It should befun.” I sit back and take a sip of coffee, thinking through the long list of to-dos I must tick off before the welcome party for Hudson that Tanner is having at the distillery. I want to make it perfect. I want it to be special for him.