Noise spilled out into the warm night and I stepped into the once-forbidden realm of whiskey and moonshine. The lights were dim, the air just shy of stuffy. Most of the stools around the L-shaped bar were taken. A lot of the tables, too. There were pool tables, neon beer signs, and peanut shells on the floor. Country music mixed with the din of a dozen conversations.
I’d been in countless bars before, but never this bar. Never the bar in my girlish fantasies. I’d forgotten about those daydreams—boxed them up with all things Callie. And now, here I was. With Gibson Bodine’s arm around my shoulders.
I hadn’t planned for any of this. Coming back to Bootleg, reconnecting with my past. I certainly hadn’t planned to fall hard for Gibson Bodine.
But falling for him was exactly what was happening. There was no denying it. The moment he’d kissed me, my entire world had changed. Truth was, that kiss had been a long time coming. It wasn’t like he was a man I’d just met. We had a history, even if it hadn’t been romantic. A history that had already primed my heart for him.
We said we’d see where this led, and that felt right.
But there was a part of me that already knew exactly where this led—right here, to Bootleg Springs. It led to a tiny four-letter word. Something I’d never considered in any place I’d been in the last thirteen years. A word I’d thought didn’t apply to me.
Stay.
I wasn’t ready to make a decision tonight. Or even soon. I felt like we were on the brink of a confrontation that could alter the course of a lot of people’s lives. I was determined, come hell or high water, to find a way to bring my father to justice. Not just for what he’d done to me, but for all the people he’d hurt over the years.
That was a task so formidable, it was almost hard to see past it. To imagine a time when I wouldn’t live in the shadow of fear. When I could reconcile the two halves of myself and be one person, in private and in public. When I could be Callie again.
That time would come. And when it did, where would I go? Back to a life on the road? Living out of a couple of suitcases, in hotels and temporary apartments? Dipping into people’s lives for a short time, only to leave again when I thought they were strong enough to stand on their own? Never staying in one place?
No. I wasn’t about to call Oliver and tell him I was making a change—it was too soon for that—but I already knew that life would never be enough. I wanted home. I wanted family and friends. A place to belong. And for the first time since my teens, it seemed like that life was within my reach.
Had I found all that here in Bootleg Springs, with the sometimes surly and so damn sexy Gibson Bodine? I was almost afraid to hope that I had.
We’d see where this led. We had a long road to travel before we were in the clear.
Scarlett and Cassidy were playing a game of pool with Devlin and Bowie. At a glance, it looked like girls against boys. Jameson and Leah Mae were at a small table tucked in a corner nearby. George stood by the pool tables, watching with a beer dangling from his big hand, while June sat on a stool next to him, her nose in a book.
Jonah had Shelby in his arms, swaying to a slow song. They were one of only two couples dancing, but they didn’t seem to mind. Or notice. I did a double take when I realized one member of the second couple was Jenny. She and Jimmy Bob Prosser looked adorably cozy. He had one of her hands tucked against his chest and she smiled up at him.
Gibson led me to a table on the outskirts of the bar, as if he’d scanned the room and chosen the least crowded spot. He probably had.
“You want a drink?” he asked.
“Apple pie moonshine.”
“Part of the daydream?” he asked.
I nodded. “I’ve never had it before.”
He scowled. “What kind of Bootleg girl are you? We’re fixing that.”
I waited at our table while Gibson went to the bar. The bartender—Nicolette, if I wasn’t mistaken—was a petite brunette with her hair in a ponytail and a no-nonsense look about her. Gibson rested an elbow on the