I didn’t even want to think about what time it was when we finally made it back to the apartment. Or the fact that Aria didn’t care if I only had two hours of sleep or not. Somehow Logan looked wide awake when he left to meet Mikey at the farmer’s market this morning. I still couldn’t believe what he did. Jesus, I thought Declan was over the top when he gave my sister her dream bakery, and then Logan swooped in and did the same for me. I mean he didn’t really give it to me. I just inspired it, but he did want me to run it and name it. Have you ever felt like you were born in the wrong era? I’ve always felt this connection with the Prohibition period. Ironic I know since I was a bartender, but I loved everything about it. The clothes, the drinks, and the history. Especially my family’s history. The story went that Pop’s father built boats for the Feds to catch the rum runners. They were fast as hell. But not quite as fast as the more expensive boats he also built for bootleggers. Pretty ingenious if you ask me. I didn’t really think about a name when I swirled my tongue around Logan’s thick, long, hard cock. And I certainly didn’t think about it when I took him in my mouth as far as I could. The only thing on my mind as I sucked his dick and played with his balls was how fucking lucky I was to have him.
As tired as I was, I should have napped when Aria did, but I couldn’t shut off my brain. I had to pack up the apartment, name my dream bar, and get ready to meet Logan’s niece, Clara.
Club 21, the amendment which put prohibition into law was a possibility. I jotted it down on the list of names I started to consider. I had already crossed off Maine Law and Volstead. I added another folded concert t-shirt to the box. It was comical that he had all of these. He never wore them. Noble, I wrote down. I like it. It sounded regal, but fans of the era would know it was a reference to the noble experiment that prohibition was considered to be at the time. I gave it a star and crossed out Club 21. The last thing we needed was to miss out on patrons because they thought it was a nightclub for twenty-one-year-olds. Temperance Society. Speaking of temper, I needed to stop daydreaming in the bottom of the closest and feed my unhappy girl.
“Are you ready to see your daddy?” I wanted to see Logan, and I had to see the bar again. This time in the light of day, which I know was silly since the windows were still covered in paper. I couldn’t believe I’d never noticed the construction going on right next to us. The secret passageway and kitchen access were completed while Swayed was closed for annual renovations and now I knew why Logan was so adamant I stay away. He didn’t want me to see any of it. My mom, Declan’s mom, and my aunt Maggie were coming by to see it too.
“There she is.” Mikey was a big bald guy. He looked tough, but he was really a teddy bear, and he was crazy about Aria. I might as well be invisible.
“Well hello to you too.” I offered the gentle giant who took my daughter off my hands the second he saw her. I swore this kid was going to have more aunts and uncles then she knew what to do with.
With a kiss on my cheek, he offered, “Sorry Libby. Logan was next door with Kade the last time I saw him. Go on over, but leave her here with me.” Shocker.
It was even better than I remembered. Everything from the light fixtures to the color of the drapes that separated the private area from the main room was exactly what I would have picked myself. I didn’t see Logan, but a man I instantly recognized was standing behind the bar. He looked like he belonged there. “How about a BLT?” He asked with a wipe to the bar top. It was kind of fitting since the first time I met Kade, I offered him my grilled cheese sandwich. Logan was nowhere in sight.
“I just ate.” I knew better than to show up hungry to visit Logan.
“I was talking about a drink. Bourbon, lemon, and tonic.” It was simple and fresh. Perfect for a hot summer day like today and exactly what I would serve.
“I’ll take the lemon and tonic, but the bourbon will need to age a little longer since I’m breastfeeding.”
“Of course, congratulations and thanks for giving the guy a chance to make it right.” Kade was referring to the night we met. The night I wasn’t sure if Logan and I were going to make it. I guess I was the last one to know. I looked over at the leather couch where Logan made love to me last night.
“You have no idea how right he made it.” Lord, it was hot in here? “Speaking of Logan, where is he?” How would I ever look at that sofa and not remember what we had done on it? I fanned my heated face.
“He went out to see some VIP’s in the dining room.” Kade handed me my lemon and tonic. “So, what do you think?” Until now, Kade had always come across as confident. Even on Valentine’s Day when he sat alone at a bar surrounded by happy couples. Now, he seemed nervous.
“It’s better than I could have ever imagined.” My glowing review of Kade’s work seemed to set him at ease.
“Yeah, it’s pretty great. Have you figured out a name yet?” I shared my ideas with Kade about the name and a hundred other things. The more I talked to him, the more I knew what I needed to do.
“Look who we found,” Logan held Aria while my mother, aunt, and Brianna, my new brother-in-law’s mother followed in behind him.
“Oh, Libby this was amazing,” I was so glad my mom was here to stay. She deserved to be happy and pining away for my dad in California wasn’t good for her. I thought the news that he was going to jail was what she needed to hear. The man she once loved was gone, and he wasn’t coming back. It sucked, I got that because that man was the dad I’d looked up to, the dad I would always miss. I wished Aria could know that Grant Barnes.
“Can I get you, ladies, a drink?” Yeah, Kade was exactly what this place needed. I swore he didn’t even bat an eyelash and all three women were weak at the knees. I took Aria from Logan to feed her and sat down on “our couch.” Logan gave me a knowing smile.
“Would you be okay with me offering Kade a job?” I wasn’t sure what authority I had.
“This is your place, Libby. If you want Kade to stay on you should hire him.”
“Just like that?” Hiring a bartender to work a shift or two was one thing, but I got the feeling this hire was going to be a lot more involved than a minimum wage position.
“Just like that.” OK, I guess this baby really was mine. If only she had a name.
“How soon until you open?” Maggie asked as she tipped back another BLT.
“As soon as Libby is ready.” Logan was really giving me all of the power. It was exciting and terrifying at the same time.
“You need to do something big.”
“Like?”
“How about revealing the true identity of D. Mathair to the world?” This wasn’t big, this was huge. D. Mathair was the beloved author of the award-winning children’s book series, The Adventures of Bash and June bug. Now that Declan knew who his mother was, she had no reason to guard her identity. Not to mention that the world would eat up the fact that my twin sister, Emily, and her new husband, Declan, were the real-life Bash and June Bug. Hopefully, we could leave out the fact that I was the character, Fluffy, a little troublemaker pug who constantly wreaked havoc on the two beloved characters. Gee Brie, what did you really think of me as a child?
“That would be…” I couldn’t even finish my sentence.
“I could reveal the new series.” It was her way of apologizing for making me the Nellie Oleson of her series. It was often reported that D. Mathair would never write anything but the Bash Series. The world didn’t know it, but she wrote it as a tribute to the son she gave up at birth. Brie started a new series when we were in California, right after she met Declan. Now that she had her son in her life she was ready to start something new. The sketches of the little girl we had seen were based on Aria, a story about a little girl who brought music to life. In reality, I think Aria brought both me and Logan to life.
Libby was on cloud nine when she left Swayed. Kade accepted her job offer, and they began to plan a coming out party for D. Mathair for the grand opening. You couldn’t get any better press. The event would take place as soon as Emily and Declan arrived back from their honeymoon in Ireland. That gave us just under two weeks to meet Clara, move to the new apartment, and plan.
“You’re in my shirt.” It was late, or maybe it was early. Boxes filled the room. It looked like she packed the entire apartment. Libby sat in her rocker holding a pad of paper. She wrote something down and immediately scratched it out.
“I’m still trying to come up with the perfect name.” As I came closer, all I could see were words that were all scratched out. I needed to take her mind off it. She was thinking too hard.
“Take it off mooch.” Hell, I didn’t care if she never wore anything but my shirts.
“Mooch,” she repeated as she stood and put her hands on her hips, dropping the pad of paper and her pen at her feet. Yeah, baby. I like it when you’re feisty.
“Mooch,” she said again, but this time it was different. She fell to her knees, but it wasn’t anything like the night before when she fell down on her knees for me. Nope, this time she was scrambling for the discarded pen and paper. “Mooch,” she repeated. She wrote something down.
“Hooch. That’s it. Hooch.” What exactly was she getting at? “The name,” she explained because I still wasn’t getting it. “The name of our place is Hooch.”