10. Victoria
10
VICTORIA
I push through the large wooden door of the bar and am pleasantly surprised. It’s big, with high ceilings and people everywhere, giving a nice hum of conversation to the place, along with some country music playing in the background. It is new and polished, yet rustic. Lots of soft brown leathers, hardwood floors, and amazing antler chandeliers hanging from the exposed beams above. It is what I would class as luxe country and I love it.
“Oh, you’re here!” I hear a squeal and look to my left, spotting Jasmine at the bar waving frantically. I huff a smile, which is hard to erase at the sight of her seemingly excited to see me. As I take another quick look around, I am thankful that I dressed appropriately. No little black dress required here. Instead, I opted for darker jeans and a black silk camisole top since it is pretty warm tonight. My hair’s up in a ponytail, because after working all day, it was just a mess and no amount of blow-drying was going to help. And I finished off with a lick of bright-pink lipstick.
Walking over to her, I laugh at her excitement, but it’s kind of nice to make a new friend. A few people turn and look, and I’m suddenly a little self-conscious. Since I am new in town, I am still hot gossip. I feel a bit like an animal in a zoo, with many eyes on me, so I keep my eyes forward and try to smile. I don’t want to have resting bitch face as their first impression of me.
“Hey, you, glad you made it,” she says as I pull up a barstool and sit next to her. I see Bob over at a table against the wall, and I give him a smile. He holds up his beer in a cheers as his greeting.
“This is Lacy. Lacy, this is Victoria.” Jasmine introduces me to the woman behind the bar. She is beautiful, looks a little younger than me, and she gives me a wide smile.
“Great to finally meet you. I have heard a lot about you already,” she says, leaning on the bar, clearly working tonight.
“Oh, I hope it was good?” I ask playfully.
“Of course. Even prettier in real life. What are you drinking?” She smiles as she wipes down the bar in front of us. She seems nice, and I try to pick up some energy, but I am exhausted.
“Please tell me you have a margarita?” I ask almost pleadingly.
“Not common around here, but I can put one together.” With a smile, she gets to work in front of us.
“Big day?” Jasmine asks. From where she sits at my side, she sips on what looks like cola, but I am sure has liquor in it.
“Renovations have officially started,” I say, propping my hands on the bar.
“Oh my God, look at your hands!”
My eyes flick to my fingers that are red and dry.
“I spent the afternoon sanding the floors and then cleaning walls and taping up, ready to paint, before I hosed down the outside, so I’m ready to start the exterior painting tomorrow,” I tell her. My bones in my body are so sore from all the physical work of being up and down ladders and ripping tape and soaking sponges in cleaning fluid to remove stains and buildup from the walls. “The floor sanding went great. Although I think I went through at least ten rolls of painter’s tape just to tape up the windows and arches, but it will be worth it.”
“You're painting the whole house? Today you mentioned renovating, but I didn’t know you were doing so much!” Jasmine asks, surprised, or potentially looking at me like I am certifiably crazy. Could be either one at this point.
“What? Marie's place?” Lacy asks.
“That’s the plan. Bob helped me out today with all the paint and supplies,” I tell them, as Lacy slides over what looks to be one of the best margaritas I have ever had in my life and I haven’t even had a sip yet.
“That is going to take a while. So you are planning on staying?” Jasmine asks.
“Well, I have nothing but time. My plan is to do the outside during the morning and then inside during the afternoon. A few coats, and hopefully I will have it done in a week or two, maybe?” I say with a shrug. This is what I signed up for, and even though I am excited about it all, now after a full day's work, the novelty has worn off a little.
“Have you renovated homes before?” Lacy asks, and I huff a laugh.
“No. It’s my first time. But I have a passion for design. I always wanted to do something like this, and when I got the letter about Aunt Marie, it was like it was meant to be. Oh, and I started a blog,” I say, pulling out my cell.
“That’s so fun! Show us!” Jasmine says, her smile wide as she bounces a little in her seat. I open the social media and show the girls the images so far. All the before photos, a small video I put together, plus I spent some time last night taking progress photos and editing them so they look really good. My feed is already garnering followers.
“Oh, I'm going to follow,” Lacy says, pulling her cell from her back pocket.
“Me too!” Jasmine squeals.
“Should we take a photo? I can put it up?” I ask, smiling at how supportive they’re being.
“Yes!” The girls are immediately on board and the three of us squish our heads together. I quickly take the photo and upload it with #newfriends, tagging both the florist shop and the bar.
“So were you close to Marie?” Lacy asks as I sip the cocktail. It tastes so delicious, I’m regretting that this will be my one and only. Tanner's warning about driving Marie’s truck is still fresh in my mind so I want to have my mind clear for the drive home .
“No, I didn’t know she existed. I came here as a kid, apparently, but I don’t remember. But like a fairy godmother, she left her estate to me just as my life was starting to crumble,” I tell them, licking the salt off my lip.
“Really, what happened?” Jasmine sits forward, totally hooked on my story.
“My fiancé had a terrible accident.” I look at both of them seriously and watch their eyes widen as they wait for more.
“What happened?” Lacy asks, holding on to the edge of the bartop.
“He fell into his colleague’s vagina.”
They both pause for a second as I take another sip of my cocktail, looking at me, wide-eyed, before I give them a smile and we all burst into laughter. It feels good to be able to laugh about it. The only sting remaining is from being so stupid that I didn’t notice what was going on earlier.
“Oh my God, what an asshole,” Jasmine says.
“What a shit colleague,” Lacy states, and I nod.
“Oh, then a week later, I lost my job. So you could say Marie saved me when she passed her estate on to me. It was divine timing.” They both look at me in admiration.
“Wow, that calls for the hard stuff,” Lacy says, putting three shot glasses on the bar and grabbing a bottle of whiskey.
She pours the amber liquor perfectly, not spilling a drop.
“To new beginnings,” Jasmine says, holding up the shot glass as I grab mine hesitantly. I’ve never had straight whiskey before.
“To new beginnings,” Lacy and I say together, and we throw back our glasses. My eyes burn instantly, my throat on fire.
“Wow, that's strong,” I cough out, blinking as my eyes water. The other two look at me like they didn’t just drink something akin to gasoline.
“It’s Whiteman’s,” Lacy says, putting the bottle on the bar. The label’s black with gold writing—at least his branding is on point. There is no mistaking it. In this town, I am surrounded by him.
“Of course it is. He is a bit of an asshole, isn’t he?” I ask, looking at them both.
“Who, Tanner?” Jasmine clarifies, her head tilting in confusion.
“Yeah. He isn’t overly friendly…” I say, not sure if I can be completely honest with them yet. They look at each other before looking back at me. I am not sure my radar for picking decent men is firing right after Josh, and I certainly don’t need another man to make me feel less than.
“Are we talking about the same man? That one over there, who's been looking at you since you walked in.” Jasmine points, and I follow the direction of her hand to a booth down the back. Familiar brown eyes burn my skin as Tanner looks right at me. He is with yet another good-looking man who seems a bit younger than him, someone more my age. But it is my older grumpy neighbor who has all my attention.
“Tanner is great. Gave me a job a few months ago the minute I came back to Whispers. I don’t know if he needed me or if it was a favor to my mom, but there was no interview, no reference checks. He hired me, and now I work the bar sometimes and work in his office during the week,” Lacy says, shrugging like it is no big deal. I barely see her out of my peripheral vision as my eyes remain locked with my neighbor while she talks. He’s wearing what seems to be his signature black button-down, open at the collar, his hair looking like he has run his hand through it a few times. Sitting back, one arm slung over the back of the booth, he nurses what looks like a glass of whiskey. He is watching me closely. Probably wondering how to kill me and hide the body.
“Tanner is with Hudson for dinner,” Jasmine says, filling me in on the other guy.
“Hudson?” I am not sure what is in the water around here, but the men in this town are the most attractive I have ever come across.
“He is a doctor in LA. But he grew up here, comes back a lot. I think he might move back and take over the medical clinic, or at least Tanner is trying to talk him into it since our resident doctor will be retiring soon,” Lacy says, and I see her blush a little talking about him. Interesting.
“Tanner wanted to buy Marie’s,” I murmur, taking another sip of my margarita, hoping to get the whiskey taste out of my mouth.
“I know. He isn’t used to not getting what he wants around here,” Lacy warns.
“Well, he isn’t getting my place.” I say it with a smile, and we get back to the topic of renovations and the happenings around town.
After a couple of hours, I am trying to rehydrate with water and feeling sleepy, all the work I did today and the fact that my goat kept me up all night finally catching up to me.
“So, Victoria, I didn’t think to mention this earlier, but I can’t push it from my mind after hearing what you said about Tanner…” Jasmine says warily, and that makes me uneasy.
“What is it?” I ask, turning to face her.
“I heard he put in a request for adverse possession.”
“I don’t know what that is…” I can feel my brow pinching as I wait for her to explain.
“Essentially, he had his legal team put forward that given the time and energy he has spent over the years at the property and assisting Marie, he applied for ownership. I only know because I heard some guys talking about it when they came into the shop to grab flowers for their wives. I think most of the town knows.”
My head swivels to Lacy, but she looks just as dumbfounded as I do. “I had no idea,” she says, frowning. “It doesn’t sound like something he would do…”
With my stomach suddenly in knots, I finish my glass of water, trying to wrap my mind around this.
“I could be mistaken. But I know Tanner, and he always goes after what he wants.” Jasmine jumps off her stool. “Well, I have to run. I have to be up early to get to the flower markets in Williamstown tomorrow,” she says, referring to one of the other larger towns nearby, acting like she didn’t just drop a bomb on me .
“Thanks for tonight,” I tell her, giving her a small hug, happy to have had a great night and met two amazing new friends. But now I’m also feeling a little off, knowing my neighbor is digging his heels in to get my property.
“I'll bring some wine around tomorrow night. I want to see what you are doing with the place,” she says, and I smile.
“I would love that. You too, Lacy,” I tell them both and they nod. I watch Jasmine go, and Lacy walks over to the booths to offer last drinks.
I should go. I need to organize myself for tomorrow so I can start bright and early, then get some sleep. If that’s even possible. I now also need to do some more research and see if this legal paperwork Tanner has submitted has any legs.
“A nightcap for you, from Tanner,” Lacy says, putting a glass in front of me and pouring another shot of whiskey. It is from a different bottle than the last one, but the branding is the same.
“Ahhh, thanks?” I say, unsure, and she just smiles and gets back to other customers. I sit staring at it for a moment. Turning the glass around in my hand, I look at the liquid in different lights. It kind of reminds me of the color of his eyes a little with those gold flecks. I lean down and smell it. The aroma almost burns my nose hairs. Again, it is strong, and honestly not my favorite.
“You gonna drink that or look at it?” His low grumble comes from beside me, and my heart picks up pace as I look at him.
“What’s so special about it?” I ask, pulling my eyes from his handsome good looks and back to the glass in front of me, not understanding how Whiteman’s can be any better or different than others. All liquor is the same, isn’t it? I also debate throwing it in his face after what Jasmine just told me. But I need to be smart about this. It could just be small-town gossip and I don’t want to make enemies in front of the entire town here tonight.
Even though I’m not looking at him, he is hard to miss. He stands close. I can smell him. A woodsy cologne, very masculine, just like the man himself. My body starts to betray me, but I take a deep breath and stare at the whiskey.
He pulls up a stool next to me and sits, one arm on the bar, his body facing me, and I look at him again. Swallowing hard, I take him in. His dark shirt is crisp, the kind you know is made of good quality and professionally pressed. With the collar open, I can see a sprinkle of chest hair, some gray, showing his age. Jaw tight, his eyes sparkle, and I take in another deep breath. It isn’t the first time we have been this close. In fact, over the past few days, I have been physically closer to him than I have anyone else. I can see a few people looking at us with interest. Great, more small-town gossip.
“This whiskey is a single malt. Using barley from our farmlands. It is aged in oak casks that I individually select from our supplier in Southern California. This single malt is the same recipe my father used over thirty years ago to make the very first batch of Whiteman’s. Although it wasn’t a business then, more just his hobby. But our family blood still runs through both this whiskey and this town. ”
I appreciate the lesson in whiskey. Is this the start of our truce?
“I don’t drink whiskey. I don’t know anything about oak casks or barley. But I know family. Family is important to me,” I tell him, nodding.
“Good. So are you gonna stop being a pain in my ass and sell me that property?” he asks, and at first I think he has to be joking, but then his eyes thin as they search mine. I sigh, chest burning with disappointment. He clearly just came to talk to me because he still wants my property, not for any other reason.
“Like you said, Tanner. It’s about family. Aunt Marie was my family and she left me her place to look after. It is important that I do that. For her and for me,” I say, slipping off the stool, grabbing my bag, and walking out the door, leaving him and the shot of whiskey at the bar.
Now I’m even more determined to get back to work… and get my mind off my annoying neighbor.