Page 37 of Moonshine and Magnolias (Just Add Peaches #1)

Bare feet were unprofessional. And Wendy didn’t care.

Besides, the newly retired librarian and her guests that booked rooms were upstairs after the afternoon of partying.

No one was in the parlor except her friends, and they wouldn’t care if her feet were dipped in chocolate and used as a slate.

She padded across the smooth hardwood floor to pour whiskey for everyone, then settled into a chair by the fireplace, stretching her feet on the ottoman.

“Hell of a time.” Sebastien had taken over the cushy chair with his sketchpad on his lap, his arm moving in wide strokes across the page. His shirt already had several smudges on it. “I never expected librarians to party like that. How much did they drink, anyway?”

“How would you know?” Jordan sat on the sofa next to Brandi and set up Connect Four. “You spent most of it hiding in your room.”

He wiped his forehead with his sleeve, leaving behind another streak. “Several guests kept looking at me. I figured I better leave before their cell phones came out and chaos ensued.”

“The party was perfect. Even the weather cooperated.” Wendy wiggled her toes.

Cloud cover kept the day from being too hot, and with none of the humidity that surrounds afternoons in the south.

The only thing that would have made it more perfect was having Rob by her side, but he and Hal had scheduled interviews today.

A craving spiraled through her body when she thought of him, hitting her most in her heart.

She glanced at her friends to see if anyone noticed her glowing.

They were all involved with their own things.

Their aunt should be with them. She was missing out on celebrating their first successful event since Grandma had passed away.

The thought brought a moment of sadness to Wendy and she embraced it instead of shoving it away.

She inhaled a deep breath, thankful that Grandma had seen beyond Wendy’s facade and gave her the opportunity to grow with Fountenoy Hall. “Where’s Aunt Eulalee?”

“I saw her fixin’ to head outside with the produce guy.

” Brandi waggled her eyebrows and placed a checker in the game.

“Oh, I didn’t get a chance to tell you before.

I got a phone call today from Katie Wilkes from Leadership Claremont, wanting to know if Fountenoy Hall could host its awards breakfast here on Thursday.

Seems the woman in charge forgot to reserve a place. ”

“We’re going to have to work on being the first place people call, not the backup.” Wendy took out her phone. Now that she had decided to stay, her to-do list for Fountenoy Hall restructuring had multiplied. “Check the—”

“I told Katie to bring it on.” Brandi held up her hand as if she knew Wendy would protest. “I’m running this show. The whole shebang. You don’t have to do a thing. So even though I know you’re going to worry, don’t worry.”

The words should have brought some reassurance that Brandi was willing to be proactive with her responsibilities, but her cousin’s cavalier attitude toward organization brought a wave of fear instead.

Wendy’s chest tightened, but she ignored the impulse to rub at it.

“Well, hold on. We should see what else is going on.” She took a sip of her whiskey to complete the picture of casual agreement.

“Wendy, I’ve got this.”

Her fingers tingled with readiness, and she tightened her grip on her mason jar to keep them from visibly shaking. “We may need extra kitchen help. Should we ask Anthon? ”

“Don’t need him.” The soft clack of Brandi’s checker hitting the plastic beneath echoed around the small room.

Wendy pressed her lips together to prevent herself from arguing.

It didn’t work. “Won’t they overrun the guests that are here? What are we talking, like sixty people?”

“We have two guests that morning,” her cousin recited.

“No events the day of, before, or after. Traditionally the next year’s class cooks and serves for the one graduating, so we don’t need anyone else.

I already told Katie the dress code for the kitchen.

” Brandi raised a fist, then dipped her splayed-out fingers. “Boom. If I had a mic, I’d drop it.”

Hearing her cousin answer Wendy’s concerns with proficiency and ease loosened the muscles contracting in her body. “Wow, Brandi. I’m really impressed. You learned fast.”

“I had a good act to follow.”

An odd ache filled her chest and she took in the scene in the cozy room.

Jordan and Brandi sat on the sofa, studying the game with a cutthroat intensity.

Sebastien’s attention was on his sketchpad.

It was the perfect time to tell them of her decision to quit Steward’s.

Rob had coaxed her into sharing some of her desires that morning.

At first, the thought of exposing that much of herself had shut her down flat.

But she listened to her heart instead of being logical, and the morning had been magical.

She tugged on her hair and cleared her throat. If she couldn’t make herself vulnerable in front of three people she loved most in the world, she might as well live the existence of a hermit.

When the phone rang, she reached for it in a grateful reprieve for being given a few more minutes before exposing herself.

“What are you doing?” asked Brandi. “I’m lead tonight.”

Wendy waved her hand and gave the Fountenoy Hall greeting.

“Wendy, it’s Gerald Mitchell from Belle’s Medicinal Brewery. The air conditioning unit in the bottling area stopped working. The alcohol is safe, but everything here is getting really hot, really fast.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Mr. Mitchell.” Why was the man calling her? The moonshining label had been independent of Fountenoy Hall since after Prohibition. “Can I do anything to help?”

“Gerald Mitchell?” Brandi froze with a checker in her hand, staring at Wendy instead of the yellow game board.

Silence on the other end of the phone greeted her before Gerald spoke again. “I just thought you’d want to know.”

“I hope it gets fixed soon.”

“Thanks. Good night.” He hung up before Wendy could respond in kind.

She relayed the conversation to her friends. “That was weird.”

Jordan took the whiskey bottle off the table and poured them all another round. “Maybe we better drink up in case something goes wonky and Belle’s stops production.”

“Shouldn’t we save it then?” Sebastien asked.

“Whatever.”

“Maybe we should call back and see how we can help,” Wendy said. Since she was staying around, cultivating a personal relationship with their alcohol distributor made sense.

“If they can’t fix a simple air conditioner on their own, then maybe we shouldn’t be doing business with them.” Brandi leaned over the arm of the sofa to look at Sebastien’s sketch pad. “Are you drawing Mrs. Lurz?”

He angled the page away. “Yes.”

Wendy had caught a glimpse of his sketch earlier when she had passed out drinks. The woman with flowing blonde tresses amid the trees in the orchard suspiciously resembled Brandi, not the librarian with her short-cropped hair and cardigan sweater.

Sebastien flipped the page and started something new.

“Having you guys here was so helpful,” Wendy blurted. “Thank you. It worked out really well.” Whew. There. She had said it .

Jordan reached across the coffee table and laid a hand on Wendy’s forearm. “You’re welcome.”

“This is going to work.” Brandi flung herself around the table burrowed against Wendy’s side in the overstuffed chair. “This is really going to work.”

Wendy laughed and hugged her cousin, trying to keep control of her wavering stomach. When did she want to have messy emotions be part of her life? These past few weeks had given birth to a new Wendy. Not improved. Just different. And she liked what she had become.

“I gave my notice at Steward’s,” she said.

Her friends all gave her their attention. “Good for you,” Sebastien said.

“You were too good for them anyway,” Brandi added.

“To new beginnings.” Jordan raised her glass, and they all followed suit. “ L’chiam !”

Wendy had expected to be peppered with questions, but her friends all took the information like it was inevitable. Maybe she could even open herself up a little more and ask advice about Rob. Surely his research would soon be coming to an end. How could she broach the subject of having him stay?

The phone rang again and this time, Brandi dove for it. “Fountenoy Hall.” She stuck her tongue out at Wendy and left the parlor.

Once Brandi left, Jordan kicked Sebastien in the shins.

“Hey, ow!”

“Doofus.”

He didn’t even have to ask what she was talking about. “You guys are in a good place right now. I don’t want to mess things up.”

“That’s such a pathetic excuse,” Wendy said, grateful the attention had switched focus so quickly so she could stop thinking about her own issues. “You’re secretly drawing pictures of her, Sebastien. If you weren’t you, that’d be creepy.”

Sebastien frowned at Jordan. “I don’t see you finding some cuddle bunny for the weekend, so don’t harass me about mine.”

“Maybe I’m down here because I’m running away from my cuddle bunny. Ever think of that?”

“Right.” Wendy grinned and downed the remainder of her whiskey. “You’re fearless, Jordan. You’d run anyone over if they wronged you.”

Brandi reappeared, holding a tray of pie with plates and silverware. “I got a hankering for some dessert. Wendy, is this okay?”

“Yes,” said Sebastien.

How quickly Brandi fell back into habit. “Why are you asking me?” Wendy said.

“I don’t know. You know these things.”

“I know if you can serve pie?”

“You can definitely serve pie.” Sebastien tucked his sketch pad beside his chair.

“No, I mean, you’re in charge,” Brandi said.

Wendy took a fork off the tray and gently tapped each of her cousin’s shoulders. “I dub thee Woman in Charge.”

“What do you mean?”