Whiskey Rebellion (Romantic Mystery/Comedy) Book 1 (Addison Holmes Mysteries)

after we’re married this summer.”
    My vision hazed and I saw red. “Is there a reason you’re trying to make my life miserable? Surely we can agree to stay out of each other’s way for the rest of our lives.”
    “Don’t pretend you don’t know why things have to be this way between us. There’s not enough room in Whiskey Bayou for the both of us, and I can promise it won’t be me who runs out of town with my tail between my legs.”
    She walked to her own car two spaces over and gave me a little wave with the tips of her fingers and a sly smile as she drove out of the lot.
    It took every ounce of self-control I possessed not to run her off the road as I sped out of the parking lot. I was going to have a talk with John Hyatt. Veronica Wade could steal as many men as she wanted to from me, but she wasn’t going to get my house.

    Whiskey Bayou Bank and Trust was diagonal to the Walker Whiskey Distillery and across the street from the fire station. Very convenient unless you needed to get money out at peak traffic time or during a fire.
    Like the rest of the buildings on Main Street, it was a combination of original architecture and modern convenience, but there was something about the bank that gave me an icky feeling.
    I’m pretty sure it was the smell. It was a weird combination of Pine Sol, money and old people that made my stomach churn every time I crossed the threshold.
    I saw several people I knew and waved hello before I made my way to the back offices of the loan department. Kimberly Bowman was manning the desk out front, long red nails typing rapidly and the phone stuck between her ear and shoulder.
    I went to school with Kimberly. She used to be Kimberly Johnson, but she married Tim Bowman right after high school and gave birth a short three months later. She only blanched slightly at the sight of me, which told me right away that something was wrong.
    “Addison, what a surprise,” she said, her smile a little too bright. “John’s not in at the moment. Could I take a message?”
    John Hyatt was a bottom-feeder of the worst kind. Oh, he was Mr. Big Smile in front of potential customers, but my mother had told me once that she suspected he was an abuser of epic proportions. She said our mailman of twenty-five years had told her he’d been putting a lot of those unmarked manila envelopes in John’s mailbox. Everybody knows the unmarked envelopes mean there must be something dirty inside, otherwise there wouldn’t be so much secrecy.
    Just as Kimberly fed me this line I saw the slatted blind in the big glass window of John’s office move slightly and a pair of hazel eyes appear.
    “That’s not true. I just saw his eyes, and I want to see him. I’m a customer at this bank and have every right to see my banker.”
    Kimberly was standing between me and my goal, wondering whether or not it was worth the broken fingernails to keep me from the office door, so she did the wis e thing and got out of my way.
    John, greasy smile in place, opened the door before I could steamroll through it. His light brown hair was neatly combed back and his face was freshly shaven. He wasn’t a big man, barely taller than my own five feet eight inches, and he was whipcord lean. It was his commanding personality that made him seem larger than life. That and the fact he wore inserts in his shoes to make himself taller. He was only a few years older than me, but he was a respected member of the community , like his father and grandfather before him. I was going to change all that.
    “Addison, how are you? Don’t you look lovely today?”
    “What the hell is going on around here, John? I want to know why Veronica Wade thinks she’s going to buy my house.”
    He licked his lips nervously. “Now Addison, sometimes these things happen. This is business. In the real world the bottom line is all that anyone cares about.”
    “Don’t you dare patronize me. I was told I had another sixty days before I had to come up with the rest of the money. That’s the bottom line. I know how Veronica Wade works, and I hope for your sake that the sex was worth it because by the time my mother finishes spreading rumors about you, you’ll be lucky to get a nice cushy job at the McDonald’s down the street.”
    He sucked in air through his nostrils. I was revved and ready to go. I probably looked a little like the queen of the damned , but I didn’t care. I didn’t do mad well. Some women had a really effective mad, but once