I’d never fact-checked him, but here I was, having it for free. “Can I get the cake?”
“Sure thing, dear,” Mae said as she poured three glasses.
When I returned and the cake was sliced and on plates in front of us, I almost paused. Since when was this my life? I had had a delicious meal made for me. There’d been no arguments. No one had said anything even mildly derogatory.
My nights out with my aunt hadn’t been as peaceful. She’d try to build me up and, somehow, that had shone a spotlight on how awful my days could be. But tonight, my life was good company and good food.
“My gosh,” Mae said after her first bite. “Heavy but light, creamy, and so much flavor. You are a wizard.”
Teller took half his piece in one hunk and stuffed it in his mouth. He followed with a sip of bourbon. He smacked his lips. “You’re right, Mama. The Gold is perfect.”
We ate and chatted. When all our forks were set on empty plates, I continued to marvel over the evening. No wonder Riley had been willing to bid so much. If I’d known about nights like tonight, I would’ve bid for me instead of Flatlanders.
“What do you two have planned for the rest of the night?” Mae asked, swirling the remains of her bourbon.
I’d had a few sips. Rich and full-bodied, I could actually see why people drank it. I had stayed away from bourbon, thanks to my parents’ hatred of all things Bailey, but Scott had carried the cheapest he could. No one had come to Flatlanders for bourbon. Apparently, it was like tequila. The cheap stuff would sear someone’s taste buds and scorch their esophagus, but quality tequila was better than sex.
Better than the sex I’d been having at the time, anyway.
“What do you think, Mads?” Teller’s attention washed over me, warming me on the outside the way the bourbon did my insides. He tilted his glass, the amber fluid flowing to the side. “Are you up for a tour of Copper Summit? They close early tonight. I can show you around.”
“Oh.” A special tour of the distillery? I’d never been in there. Out of curiosity, I’d driven by a couple of times. The building was a renovated mine. Massive windows allowed a peek at the giant stills inside. Old copper pits had grown in behind the distillery, but the landscape around it was just as stunning. It was like a little jewel hidden among the foothills. “Sure.”
“You won’t mind me showing off?” He grinned. “I make bourbon better than I install toilets.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Madison
Teller and I cleaned up the table and did the dishes Mae hadn’t finished before sitting down to dinner. She really was a superwoman. Once the dishwasher was going and the table was cleaned off, I got a hug. Strong and solid, her embrace was everything I’d been missing since my aunt had passed.
Heat pricked the backs of my eyes, but I slowly inhaled and gathered myself before pulling back. “Thank you so much for dinner.”
“Don’t thank me.” She winked. “I’m keeping the leftover cake.”
I was still smiling when I climbed into Teller’s pickup. “That was fun.”
“I might be a grown-ass man, but I’ll never pass up a meal at Mama’s table.”
Gah. That was so damn sweet.
He glanced at me before focusing on the road. “Can I ask you something?”
The cozy feeling vanished. His tone was hesitant, and Teller was usually free with his opinions. “Okay?”
He didn’t flash me an encouraging smile. “How did you turn out so... normal?” He winced and shook his head, aiming the pickup down the winding gravel drive. “Sorry, it’s just?—”
“No, I know.” I let my head rest on the seat back. “I was actually just thinking of her. Aunt Tilly. She was my dad’s older sister.”
“Older and more stable?”
“More stable in every way. I even asked to live with her once.” That was the only time I had felt both wanted and hopeless. “My mom said they’d run over her dead body ten times before she’d let anyone think she couldn’t raise her own goddamn daughter.”
“Her pride got in your way.”
I let out a hard laugh and watched the rolling hills thicken with trees the closer we got to the distillery. “That’s the tagline for my life.” I ran my bottom lip through my teeth. “After Aunt Tilly’s offer, I couldn’t quit imagining what leaving Bourbon Canyon would be like. I dreamed of it. But Mom? She never wanted me to go anywhere. Yet, at the same time, she never wanted me around.”
“What a mind fuck for a kid. How do you deal with her?” He turned down a road leading away from town. The two-lane highway curved around the foothills, twisting and turning. On one side, the land was filled with small pastures and the Baileys’ cows quietly grazing.
