“I thought some dude threw his jock strap.”
“That was at last month’s show.” My country-star sister was making her way up the fame ladder, but she still had some very small-town-bar experiences.
“Let’s go to Curly’s.” She went to the safe to lock the tablet in.
My stomach rumbled at the thought of homemade buns and cinnamon butter at Curly’s Canyon Grill. “Are you taking over inventory for Wynter?”
“Yep,” she answered, popping the p. “Can’t have me doing man’s work.”
I frowned. Our parents weren’t like that. Neither were my brothers. Daddy had taught all of us ranch work and distillery duties. We’d settled into our preferences. Autumn taught third grade and sometimes worked the bar we kept to showcase the spirits via cocktails. “What work do you want to do?”
She shook her head and puffed a lock of hair out of her face. “It’s nothing. I’m just cranky today. Ready?”
The older sister in me wanted to keep pushing, but I was in a period of my life where I didn’t want to be prodded either. My sisters could poke me right back. So I left off. “Curly’s it is. We can complete the circle of feminism and disappoint Curly that we aren’t our brothers.”
She laughed. “You noticed he prefers them too?”
My sisters and I got booths in the back. We were Kerrigans. He put the Baileys front and center so the town could see its most influential family was visiting his establishment. Curly was a dick, but his restaurant served good food and there were few choices in a town as small as Bourbon Canyon.
Fifteen minutes later, we were getting seated at the second-to-last booth from the back. “Did you see the jumbo muffins he has at the counter?”
She nodded. “I might have to buy a couple of the strawberry-cream-cheese ones.”
We’d joked about drinking but both of us ordered our Coke with nothing but ice. The server dropped the sodas off and took our order.
I stirred my drink with my straw after she left. “We should’ve asked Scarlett to join us. I worry she’ll think I don’t want to include her anymore, but she’s been so busy with the littles.” And Chance had taken to her so thoroughly, with his own mom on the road so often.
A forlorn expression crossed Autumn’s features. “I’m sure she’s enjoying her new wife-and-mother role,” she said wistfully.
My heart went out to my sister. Autumn loved kids, but staying in Bourbon Canyon to work was like trading a work life for a love life. She’d used dating apps, but the options in town weren’t for her and no one else wanted to downshift from a bigger city to Bourbon Canyon.
She straightened and flashed me a forced smile. “Anyway, I got the impression that you wanted to talk, and that you didn’t want anything getting back to Tate.”
“Thank you.” Despite what Tate had said, he was the brother version of me. Sometimes a little too pushy and full of advice. I wanted a shoulder right now. I neededsomeone to help me be myself. I’d succumbed to being Boyd’s girlfriend and then his fiancée. A future bride.
Always labels. The girl with the homeless parents. A Kerrigan, not a Bailey. Eli Dunn’s girlfriend. Then other guys’ girlfriend, followed byYou know, the one from the Copper Summit family?Then all things attached to Boyd.
Sunshine was a label I didn’t mind. It was more personal. I’d like to think it was me.
Autumn leaned her elbows on the table. “Besides, I can’t get all the dirt on Jonah with them around. Spill it.”
I gave her a flat look. Protectiveness toward him formed a wall. I hadn’t come to gossip about Jonah. “There’s nothing to spill.”
Her look was dubious. My brothers often treated Autumn like a sweet summer child, isolated from the worst of life, and thankfully, she was, but she was sharp. She sniffed out my bullshit before most people. “Boyd is such a pretentious prick, and I love how he got served some piping-hot humble pie.”
I gawked at her. “You didn’t like Boyd?”
“None of us did. But we wanted to support you.”
I opened my mouth. Slammed it shut. None of them? They hadn’t told me what they thought of him. Humiliation flared hot and bright, scorching the back of my neck. “Why wouldn’t you say anything? I would’ve if it was you.”
Her gaze turned knowing. “Yeah, you would’ve. Which is why we know how it feels.” Touché. “I also didn’t think you’d actually marry the guy. And then—boom—wedding. By then, I think we all thought it was too late and you just needed our support.”
Ultimately, it’d been their encouragement that had gotten me to cancel the wedding. They didn’t act like Iwould’ve, but the outcome was the same. “Jonah was looking for the bathroom.” I wouldn’t share why. I liked how he’d entrusted me with the reason. “He saw Boyd slap me.”
Her disgusted snort turned heads, but we ignored everyone. The trick in a small town was to act like we had nothing to hide. “We should’ve gutted him.”
“Jonah pinned Boyd against the wall with his cane.” The image would forever be imprinted in my mind.
