Page 40 of Yours To Hold
She won’t be scared hanging with her favorite aunt
Layla’s there?
Gemma
Jerk
I smile,pocketing my phone. It’s almost too easy to make fun of my siblings.
I drop down on the couch next to her. “Willow, sweetheart. I need to go help Uncle Peter at the bar.”
“What about the storm?” There’s panic in her voice.
“I’m going to drop you off with Aunt Gemma, okay?”
“But Daddy, I’m scared.” She wraps her tiny arms around me. If I could, I would never leave her.
“I know, Willow. But Uncle Peter needs some help, okay? I promise, I’ll be back as soon as I can. She’ll take really good care of you.”
“Maybe her friend Blake will be there.”
“Blake?”
“He’s writing a story.”
Oh, that guy. The one from the bar. “Is Blake nice?”
“I beat him in shooting arrows!” This gets her excited.
“Well, you’re the best there is. You beat me.” And I don’t even try to let her win. “Go grab your backpack and we’ll head over.”
* * *
The wind is howlingas I pull into the back lot of The Tipsy Cocktail. Dark gray clouds have been moving in all afternoon.
I don’t get scared of storms, but this has my nerves rising. I know Willow and Gemma are safe at the ranch. Gramps and Logan too.
The one person who’s been occupying all my thoughts hasn’t messaged me all day. We’ve barely started this thing between us. I’ve only kissed her, yet I can’t seem to stop myself from shooting off a text to her and checking in.
You okay? Somewhere safe to ride out the storm?
I tapmy phone on my steering wheel. Nervous energy is buzzing through me. It sits, not showing delivered.
Nash comes up and knocks on the glass, startling me.
“Are you just going to sit in your truck all afternoon?”
I open the door when he steps out of the way. “Sorry. Just checking in with people.”
“How’s Willow doing?” he asks as we head over to the storage area.
“She’s with Gemma. She’ll be okay.”
“We really appreciate you coming. With everyone living so far out of town, we didn’t want to risk them getting stuck.”
I clap him on the shoulder, seeing everything that needs done. With bottling coming up, we started moving things to the outdoor storage area. It’s fenced in, but that’s it.
Anything could blow away with the winds they’re predicting. Hundreds of vodka bottles? Not an easy thing to clean up.
