Whisky on My Mind (24 page)
Authors: Karlene Blakemore-Mowle
He was really here.
“Hey, Whisky girl,” he said, in a voice so achingly familiar she had to bite her lip to hold back the cry of disbelief that threatened.
She couldn’t speak. She could only stare up at him, her hand reaching out to touch the side of his face tentatively as he swam before her in a blur of tears.
There they stood, staring at each other while the snow fell and life moved on around them.
Epilogue
12 months later …
The jingle of the bell above the coffee shop door automatically drew Whisky’s gaze. A smile broke out across her face as she saw the three men walk into the shop.
“Babe, you got some visitors,” she called into the office behind her.
“Well, well, well,
look what we got here,” the familiar raspy voice practically chortled. “Look at our boy all domesticated and shit.”
“Shag,” Sawyer’s grin spread across his face and lit his face up in joy.
Whisky circled from behind the counter and threw her arms around the other two men. Brick and Dog hugged her back, tightly.
“Well, it’s about time you three showed up,” Sawyer said, grabbing the other two men in a man hug.
“We had to wait for the heat to die down a bit. Besides—we’re running a business now, we can’t just up and leave halfway across the damn country whenever we feel like it,” Dog shrugged.
“We were
gettin’ itchy feet…it was time to hit the highway,” Brick shrugged as he looked around the coffee shop and nodded his head slowly. “I like it,” he finally said approvingly. The motorcycle memorabilia and retro décor hit a niche market in the East Coast tourist town. This place was big enough so they didn’t stand out and had taken Sawyer a while to set up, but the wait had been worth it. A fresh start had been exactly what they’d needed and it felt good to be doing something for themselves.
Whisky let her gaze sweep the room. She was proud of their little business. Gone was the need to prove something to
herself. She’d run her old coffee shop and sold it—for a profit even. This business was a joint venture. She looked across at Sawyer and they swapped a long look. It had been a rough road, but they’d made it.
Her world had fallen apart when she’d thought he was dead, and she’d dragged herself from the depths of despair. It had almost killed her but she’d done it. Then Sawyer had reappeared, like a phoenix rising from the ashes and she’d grabbed at their second chance at life with both hands.
Selling her share of the bar had given her distance from the club and ensured the interest from the threat of Switchblade retaliation was disarmed.
Her initial joy at seeing him alive
had quickly turned to anger and hurt after those first few precious moments on top of the Empire State Building. How dare he put her through that! What the hell had he been thinking?
It had taken a while to get past that betrayal, but she
eventually understood why he’d done it. Sawyer’s part in the DEA operation had been leaked to the Switchblades and his only choice had been to disappear. There hadn’t been time to let her know—and in truth, he’d needed her reaction to be believable to everyone who would be watching. She gave him that—she couldn’t lie at the best of times, and she wasn’t sure she could have pulled something like that off, not when his life would have been at stake.
When he met her on the Empire State Building, his intention had been to say goodbye, but Whisky wasn’t going to lose him twice.
For the next six months she lived with the knowledge Sawyer was alive but was unable to go to him in case she was being watched. The separation had been hard, but when she thought of the misery she’d gone through when she’d thought he was dead—she knew she could survive a few months…she could survive anything after going through that.
Only three other people knew of Sawyer’s resurrection…the three men who had helped fake his death in order to save his life. In fact, it had been Dog, Shaggy, and Brick’s idea. Whisky often wondered if he would have done it had his biker brothers not given him their blessing. Deep down, she feared he would have faced death rather than abandon his club
in order to disappear.
Whisky’s only regret was leaving Bella. She couldn’t risk any more people knowing about Sawyer and she’d made the painful decision to leave her friend behind…for now.
One day, she would reconnect with her friend again.
She’d left a letter, which didn’t explain a lot but she knew in her heart theirs was a friendship that would always be able to pick up where it left off. Bella was happily married, and Whisky knew in Caleb her friend had found her soul mate. One day they’d be able to meet up again, but for now, she had to concentrate on her own life…and family. She hadn’t told Sawyer yet but they were expecting a tiny bundle of joy within the next eight months.
She looked across at her man and felt a warm glow settle in her stomach. Life was good. In fact, it was perfect. There was very little she could wish for to make it any more complete. She’d experienced what life had been like without him—and then she’d been given this amazing gift—a second chance.
Her father’s words floated back to her…
Don’t wait for perfect, baby. Perfect doesn’t exist. Never has. You can spend your whole life waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect person…the perfect life…only to look back and realize it’s not as perfect as you’d imagined and then it’s too late.
She’d promised him she wouldn’t live with regrets, and she was keeping that promise. No regrets. Just living and loving and knowing she was exactly where she needed to be.
About the Author:
Karlene lives on the Mid North Coast of NSW in Australia.
Proud mum to four beautiful children and wife of one very patient mechanic, she is lucky enough to get to spend her day doing the two things she loves most—being a mum and writing romantic suspense, fantasy, and rural fiction with a distinct Australian flavour.
Visit her blog at
http://karlenebm.blogspot.com.au
Other books by Karlene Blakemore-Mowle
New Adult
Whisky State of Mind
(book 1)
Fantasy
Romantic Suspense
Fallout
Cowboy
The Cattleman’s Runaway Bride
The Operation Series:
Find out more about Karlene Blakemore-Mowle
Web page-
http://karlenebm.blogspot.com.au/
Twitter- @KarleneBM
