Rise and Shine (Shine On Series, Book 2) (28 page)

“Sure is nice of you to do this for them. Pap is paying Walter a pretty penny.”

They turned at the white tree she remembered from the last time and headed into the clearing for the cabin. She was relieved to see there was no smoke coming from the chimney today. She didn’t want his brother-in-law there; he gave her the creeps.

“Nothing nice about it, Bo. If people need help, you help them.” She shrugged her shoulders in reply to his earlier question.

Bo opened the cabin’s front door. He made quick work of lighting a fire, a few lanterns, and candles while Emmie went to the old cook stove and lit a fire. She hadn’t cooked on a stove like that since she was about thirteen but hadn’t forgotten the general mechanics of it. The place didn’t feel nearly so small when it was just her and Bo inside. He walked down to the cellar and brought up some apples.

“The other spices you need should be on the table. I’m gonna fetch you some water from the well.”

She nodded and set to work peeling the huge basket of apples in front of her. When Bo returned she told him which pots to put water in and checked the temperature. It seemed to be working pretty well. Bo pulled a knife out of his pocket, picked up an apple, and started cutting it.

“Hey now. Those are my apples, not yours. I need them.” She scolded him.

“That one was mine,” he said. “I paid for it.”

“What do you mean you paid for it?” she asked.

“Well you ain’t the only one with a soft spot for that kid.” He took a huge bite of the apple.

Emmie stared at him in surprise. “Did you have to pay for the moonshine too?” she asked.

“Yeah but just what it cost Pap to make,” he said.

“Why did you do it?” she asked.

“Well, it was part of the deal for Pap to agree to this. He was real worried about what your Yankee would think. I told him he didn’t have to get in too deep. If you got squirrely and had to back out because the great and powerful Silas was mad you were helping a friend… well, I’d be the only one out money. Cuts out a lot of the risk for him. It was the only way he’d do it. And like I said, I got a soft spot for the kid,” Bo explained like it was no big deal.

“Wow, Bo. I’m not sure what to say.” Emmie looked at the goods spread out on the table.

“Thank you… You’re amazing, Bo… You’re the best, Bo… You’re a big handsome man with a kind heart, Bo… Any of version of those will do.” He laughed.

Emmie laughed and said, “Thank you, Bo.” And threw an apple at him.

He picked it up and tossed it into the basket. At least it wasn’t a bullet coming at him this time.

Chapter Forty

E
mmie had cooked down three batches of apples before she approached the subject of Mr. Thomas. Bo hadn’t brought up Russeltown, so neither did she. She was sure he would know soon enough but didn’t think she was the person to spread the news.

“So I saw some newspapers today from the last couple of weeks. Seems a couple of big stills were busted up between here and Louisville.”

“Still’s are busted everyday, Emmie. Revenuers are greedy for the rewards. Seems like everyone I know is bootlegging or thinking of becoming a revenuer. I tell ya, it’s gonna be like the Civil War again. Brothers against brothers.” He sat down to help her peel the last batch of apples.

“Well, these pictures were odd. Same tall man smiling in the front of both of those stills, like he was some kind of leader.” She poured a batch of the moonshine into jars.

“Don’t see nothing odd about that. There’s leaders on both sides, Em.”

Emmie took in a breath and looked for courage to bring up the next part. She didn’t know exactly why she was so nervous to tell him. “I guess the real shocking part of those photos was Mr. Thomas’s brother was in uniform, in both of them.”

Bo stopped peeling. He sat frozen in place and looked up at Emmie. “What did you say?”

“Will Thomas. He was in both of those pictures. Right next to the tall man.” She repeated screwing the lid on the last of the jars.

“You sure about that Emmie? That’s a pretty big accusation around these parts.”

“Bo, I’m sure of it. And I was just wondering because you know Mr. Thomas and Silas, they don’t get along. What if he comes after him? I wondered if you might know something about it being as your brother-in-law works for him now.” She tried to sound matter of fact.

“I don’t really know much other than Steven has been working there since Will left. But, I do think that is something I need to talk to Pap about.” He stood and put on his jacket. “You okay to stay here by yourself?”

No, goodness no, she wasn’t okay with that. Bo might not have known what was going on with Will but he had confirmed her suspicions. The way he was chomping at the bit to go tell his Pap, this was a big deal. It was too close for comfort.

“We’ve made good progress today. We got nearly half those jars finished. I need to head back to the house and take care of some things.” She started to clean up the mess.

Bo laughed and walked over to help her. “Emmie I never took you for a scaredy cat. It’s just an old cabin in the woods.”

“I’m not a scaredy cat.” She washed the largest cooking pot.

“Well you sure did blow up when I mentioned you being here by yourself. But it’s not a problem. I’ll help ya clean up.” He grabbed a skillet and plunged it in the water.

“No, I just need to get back home and try and beat Silas back to the house. I need to talk to him too.”

“You haven’t talked to Silas about this yet.” He looked at her with surprised. “You came to me first.”

“Well, it’s not exactly like that. He was gone when I got up this morning.” She warded off his hope that she’d come running to him.

He dried the last dish in silence and then looked up at her. “You mean to tell me that you came out here and met me without him knowing?”

She shrugged but said nothing.

He laughed but it came out deep and hollow sounding. “And you’re dressed like that… and he has no idea.”

“Like what? He’s not gonna care I wore Ronnie’s pants.”

“Uh-huh…” he said again. “You’re just determined to get me shot at again.”

Emmie frowned. What was wrong with her pants? Granted it wasn’t really socially acceptable in her small town but then again she wasn’t wearing them to town, she was wearing them as she climbed up and down a ridge to make moonshine. There was nothing conventional or socially acceptable about her outing. The pants should be the last of anyone’s thoughts. She shook her head and cleared the worry from her mind. Bo was just trying to distract her… or tease her.

She stacked the jars of moonshine on the kitchen table. “You take these down to the cellar and I’ll finish putting these cookers up.”

He made quick work of making trips down to the cellar while she cleaned then tossed the apple peels and cores outside. It took a few more minutes to put out all the fires and candles but soon enough they were making their way back from the holler. Bo had moved at a breakneck pace. Even with the pants she couldn’t keep up with him. When she got to the top of the ridge she thought she may have to sit down just to find oxygen again. Bo disappeared from sight as he crossed over the top.

“Where is she?” She heard a familiar voice yell above her.

“Hold your horses, she’s almost up,” Bo replied. He peeked over the hillcrest and gave her an exaggerated
so sorry
expression.

Silas started making his way down the backside of the hill. He slid and caught himself on a tree. She put her hand up, “Just stop right there, Silas. You’ll break your neck climbing down here dressed in those fancy boots.”

His expression darkened and he looked like he wanted to argue, but he wasn’t an idiot. He stopped and watched as she made her way to him. Emmie wanted to laugh at the irony of the situation. He acted like he was going to save her yet she had to help him over the sharp incline to the clearing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the time to laugh. Silas’s face was stone serious. He didn’t say a word as he pulled her toward the car.

“Hey,” Bo said, still standing at the top of the ridge. “You need to listen to her. Don’t be so mad. She’s just trying to help.”

Silas clenched and unclenched his jaw several times before he spoke. “Today, I’ll aim boy.”

It took Emmie a moment’s thought for his words to register. He was referencing his earlier warning shot. “Silas.” She grabbed his arm to bring his attention back to her.

She’d never seen him look at her with such a horrible expression. If she didn’t know him so well she might be afraid. “It’s me you’re mad at, not him.” She kept her voice level and calm.

“Don’t be so sure.” He opened her door. She was surprised to find they weren’t alone in the car. Trick and a man she didn’t know were in the back.

He started the car and pulled away, driving in silence until they reached the main road. She knew it was bad when Trick had not made some sassy comment about her being in the woods with Bo or hadn’t even looked at her. Emmie reached over and touched Silas’s leg. His teeth ground together.

“I have something I need to talk to you about.”

She noticed he turned away from her house. Emmie looked at him and frowned.

“Wait. Where are we going?”

He didn’t answer; he just kept driving.

“Seriously, where are we going? I need to go home and change.” She looked down at her dirty pants.

Silas noticed her apparel for the first time. His mouth actually dropped open when he saw her legs wrapped in the dark denim. She jerked forward as he stopped the car right in the middle of the street. Trick and the other passenger actually slammed into the back of their seat. Silas put his arm out and stopped her from hitting the windshield. Without another word, he turned in the street and sped off toward her house.

“Silas, slow down. This is ridiculous.”

He didn’t listen, if anything he sped up. She looked at Trick for help but he just shook his head. Her heart sank and she sighed. This was not going to be pretty.

Chapter Forty-one

T
hey were at her house in a matter of minutes. The car jerked to a stop at the end of her drive and she threw open her door without waiting for him. She heard his door slam as she made her way up the stairs.

“Stay in the car.” She heard Silas shout.

She tried fishing the key out of her pocket. Clearly she had taken in the pants a bit too much. They were tight and she had a hard time digging her hand into the pocket to retrieve her old skeleton key. Emmie could hear Silas’s boots stop behind her. He reached his arm around her body and pulled her hand away from her thigh.

It was on the tip of her tongue to explain to him what she was doing. His hand pushed its way into the folds of the stretched fabric and slowly pulled out the key. The sharp metal edges poked into her leg as he pulled it out. She stood still as his body pressed against hers while he leaned forward to unlock and open the door. He grabbed her waist gently and pushed her forward, forcing her into the house. She was so confused. Why was he touching her like this if he was so angry?

She noticed the newspapers were still laid out on the table. Of course they were. She had locked Silas and his brother out of the house when she left. That thought hadn’t occurred to her.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just realized that I’d locked the door and you had no way in. I have a spare key. I’ll find it for you.” She walked into the kitchen.

“I don’t give a damn about the spare key.” He slammed the door.

She let out a little sigh of relief. At least he was talking. Emmie went to the table and propped her arm on the edge while she looked at the photos.

“Silas, this is what I needed to show you but you were gone when I woke up. I think you’ve missed something…” She started but he cut her off.

He ran his hand down her side stopping at the curve of her hip. He licked his lips, arched an eyebrow and brought his other hand down to rest on her left hip before he spoke. “You made these?” He hooked his thumbs under the waistband of her pants and pulled her to him.

She dropped the newspapers and brought her hands to his. She tried to find words but they failed her. So she just nodded.

“You made these pants to wear to that cabin?”