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Griz

I never pictured the end of my life. There was never a moment that I didn’t spend enjoying the present.

I had no interest in thinking about when it might end, only that I hoped it was a long and healthy one.

I liked seeing the forest for the trees and all that nonsense, but I always knew that life needed to be lived.

There’s a difference between settling and being settled.

Pockets of feeling like things were locked in place and how they should be, while others felt like cruelty was a path we, as Foxxes, were forced to follow.

And then there were moments over the past decade when I would be reading a book in my book club or simply having a spiked coffee on the front porch, and it felt like something wasn’t right.

I smile at my beautiful wife. Now, it feels right.

I should’ve married Shelby long before today, but life had other plans for us.

That woman went through hell and back again—saying goodbye to both of her daughters at various points, leaving the only place she ever considered home, just to be safe from men who had no business breathin’.

“Griz,” she calls out, arms wrapping around Lily and Lark. Her cropped silver hair is beautiful and just as bright as her smile. “Get your ass over here for a picture.”

My mustache kicks up, and I can’t help but bark out a laugh. If I died tomorrow, I’d die happy. Fulfilled and whole. Sidling up next to my girl, I smile.

“That smile looks awfully handsome on you,” she says with a wide, toothy grin.

“Looking at my favorite things,” I say, peppering three kisses along her forehead and then across her lips when she tilts her head back. “Love you, darlin’.”

She turns around in my arms to look out at the people most important in this world. Her youngest, Maggie, is the only one missing. The Calloway women are, if nothing else, magnets for trouble. But I have my ways of making sure we see her every now and again.

“Love you, too,” she says on a wistful exhale. “We’re so lucky, aren’t we?”

We watch as the dogs sit proudly next to my great-granddaughters, waiting for treats for being so well behaved.

One of Faye’s hands gives them pets while her other rubs along Laney’s swollen belly, both of them releasing tear-filled laughs when she feels a kick.

It’s a beautiful snapshot of how the Foxx name is growing.

“Luck feels too easy,” I hum. “We can do hard things, us Foxxes. I’d say we worked hard for every moment of it. Never been more proud.”

Raising and protecting my family is the most important thing—it always has been.

I take a deep breath and let the chill from the autumn afternoon linger inside my lungs for a few seconds longer.

There are plenty of memories locked up at the distillery, even dozens more throughout the rickhouses and stables, within the houses I’ve lived in, and even my souped-up golf cart.

But this right here, along the water that’s laced with limestone, are the memories I hope I never struggle to remember.

“You taking stock of your crew, old man?” Lincoln says, gripping my shoulder.

“It’s a good-looking bunch, I’ll tell you that.” I try to bite back the emotion.

“A birthday and a wedding. The man turns eighty and gets married,” Grant jokes as he steps closer. “Honestly, I’m not surprised, Griz. You’ve been either falling, talking, or pushing for love our entire lives.”

“Where the hell did Hadley and Ace wander off to?” Lincoln asks, looking behind us.

I laugh out, “Careful, don’t look too hard. You might not want to see them once you find them.”

“Nah, they just went for a ride,” Lincoln says as they ride up on their horses. Hadley’s dress is on backwards, and Ace is wearing a helluva grin.

“They went for a ride alright,” I say through a chuckle.

Ace and Hadley make their way to where we’re standing, leaning against an old oak tree beside a river we’ve fished in a hundred times before.

“How are we feeling, Griz?” Ace asks as he comes up next to me, his hand laced with Hadley’s. I smile and feel such pride when I see it. It only felt right that she ended up with one of my boys.

“Like a lucky son of a bitch. Just look at this—all of it. Could use a swig of bourbon right about now...”

Hadley cuts in, “Oh! I can do that.” She pulls a flask out from the strap she had belted around her thigh, laughing when she sees my quirked eyebrow. “What? It’s a wedding, which means there should always be a flask filled with Foxx bourbon, ready to either celebrate or forget.”

“What are we toasting to?” I ask, holding it up as I look at my grandkids’ smiling faces. They’ll always be the best part of my life.

Lincoln squeezes my shoulder once more, then Ace moves in on the other side. Grant comes around and clasps Hadley’s as she holds on to Ace. A shoulder squeeze in the Foxx family is stronger than any hugs or I love yous.

I kick back a swig, letting that warm bourbon flavor fill my mouth and coat my throat. I barely feel the burn of it anymore, but my taste buds know a strong one.

It’s the one thing nobody ever expected in a small town like ours.

We have gossip and curses, lore and loss, but mostly, we have love for each other.

The book club ladies are vipers when it comes to rumors.

There are plenty of gripes about new businesses and noisy tourists.

Marla will never serve out-of-towners anything more than water.

Bourbon is as much a vice as it is a medicine.

We aren’t upstanding or perfect, but it doesn’t matter.

Fiasco means a woman can feel safe again after a husband raised a hand, cared for when a father chose greed over his daughter, loved when three boys lost their parents.

Maybe it was a curse or just a bored asshole spreading bullshit, but the kicker is that it was never dangerous to fall for a Foxx.

It’s simply proof that, regardless of any secret or lie that might have been tied to a woman, when a Foxx falls, they do it as bold and strong as our bourbon.

THE END

Thank you for reading Bourbon & Proof! I hope you had the most amazing time with the Foxx family in Fiasco, Kentucky.

While The Bourbon Boys Series ends here, there will be plenty of romance and suspense coming soon. . .

Get ready for The Whiskey Women Series .

And guess what? You’ve already met the leading man for Book 1. . .

A jeweler, a lot of whiskey, delicious spice, and one helluva crime scene is coming in early 2026.