Page 39 of Love, Lies, and Whiskey

With the exception of Sully, who hadn’t known them back then, they’d all been there to support him through the worst of those early years, even when he’d barely given them the time of day. They deserved to know the truth. “Well, I do have a Whiskey heart, so there’s that.”

“Yes! I knew it,” Sasha exclaimed. Gus made a sleepy noise, snuggling into her. She brushed her hand down his back and kissed his head, whispering, “Sorry, Gusto.”

“Does Juliette feel the same way?” Cowboy asked.

Dare scoffed. “How could she not? It’s Doc. He’s fucking awesome.”

Hell if that didn’t make Doc feel good…and a bit guilty for being a dick when he first saw her again. “Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”

“You are awesome,” Cowboy agreed. “But there’s a lot of water under that bridge.”

“No shit,” Doc said, feeling the need to defend himself. “I know she still loves me, but loving someone and being in love with them are two different things. And yeah, I wish they were here right now. I want to charge into their lives and make both of them give me a chance. But we’ve got much bigger things to worry about and figure out.” Knowing his sister and Billie would probably push for more, he picked up his empty bottle and rose to his feet. “It’s late. I’m gonna call it a night.”

As he tossed the bottle into the recycle bin, Billie said, “Nice mic drop.”

“More like an escape,” Sasha said. “I’m happy for you, Doc. I hope it works out.”

“Me too,” Sully said. “There’s a light in your eyes when you talk about Juliette, and there’s a tenderness to your voice when you talk about Lucas. I was secretly hoping you still had feelings for her.”

He looked at the girl who had been stolen from her family and endured years of horrible things. If any of them deserved an extra reason to smile, it was her. “I don’t think there’s anything or anyone in this world that could ever take those feelings away. Y’all have a good night.”

Doc pulled out his phone as he walked home and texted Juliette. They’d texted earlier, but he was dying to hear her voice.

Doc: Hey darlin. Still up?

Juliette: Yes. My body is tired but my brain is going a million miles an hour.

Doc: Mine, too. How’d things go with Lucas tonight?

Juliette: It’s tense between us, but not as bad as last night.

Doc: That’s good.

Juliette: I know, but I wish I knew how to fix this.

Doc: Can I give you a call?

Juliette: Yes.

A smiling emoji popped up.

He called her as he walked down his driveway, and his dogs ran over to greet him.

“That was fast,” Juliette said.

“Sorry,” he said, petting his pups. “Do you need more time?”

“No. I was kind of hoping you’d want to talk.”

Well, shit. Now he was grinning like a fool. “What I want is to be there with you and Lucas, helping you through this.”

“I know you do.” She was quiet for a beat. “What about you, Seeley? Don’t you need help, too? I mean, last night was a lot. I was a little worried it might make you want some distance, and that would be perfectly understandable.”

“Distance is the last thing I want. Don’t get me wrong. This is big, and obviously we need to get to know each other again, and I want to get to know Lucas. But it’s always been you, Juliette. Plain and simple.” Worried he’d scare her off, he said, “But that’s not what matters right now. Let’s talk about Lucas and see how we can ease the tension between you two.”

“Okay, but I want you to know that your feelings always matter to me.”

He headed up to the porch with the dogs on his heels and sat on the top step. “I’m glad, darlin’.” He wanted to barrel down that road, but it was too easy to get lost in the high of Juliette caring about him. “Tell me what happened with Lucas tonight.”