Chapter Twenty-One - Mia
I can’t believe it. I can’t believe Jacob almost died.
Even more so, I can’t believe Jacob almost died and I didn’t know. I might never have known. He could have died, and I would have spent the rest of my life thinking he was a terrible person. It’s a terrifying thought. I’d almost lost him, but not for reasons I could’ve ever dreamed of.
I’m so relieved he’s not an ass who lied and broke my heart. I’m relieved he is every bit the good man I thought he was, that he’s serious about me, and that he wants this – us – to work, but I’m shaken to my core at the idea he’d almost died. I keep seeing it in my mind: him lying on the floor, barely alive, and all the while I’d been furious with him.
I’d thought a time or two that he must have had a secret, something he wasn’t telling me that explained everything. I’d dismissed all those thoughts as ridiculous. But I guess they weren’t so ridiculous after all.
I make my way up the unmarked roads that lead to Jacob’s, finding a tiny and rustic cabin at the end of one of them. The property around it is marked with tall evergreen trees, obscuring the cabin from view until you’re almost on top of it. Jacob is waiting for me on the small front porch when I pull up. I run from my car as fast as I can, desperate to touch him after everything.
I throw my arms around him when I get there, and he hugs me back just as tight. I never want to let go. I never want to let him go. I’d been so hurt, so mad at him, so brokenhearted at what I thought was his betrayal, that I hadn’t let myself miss him. Now, in his arms, I think I’d missed him more than I knew how to bear. Like he was a vital organ I suddenly had to do without.
“I can’t believe,” I start into his shoulder. I don’t know how to finish it. I can’t believe any of this.
“I know,” Jacob says, pulling back just a little. “Come in and let me try to explain some of it.”
“Okay,” I agree, pulling out of the hug but gripping his hand. I feel like I need to be touching him, need to anchor him to me so he doesn’t slip away again.
We enter his cabin and he leads me to his couch. The cabin is simple, but lovely all the same. I can see touches of Jacob in it, little things I’m sure he fixed or built himself.
“What happened?” I say when we sit. Jacob pulls my hands into his lap and holds them as he begins to talk.
“You asked me once if I moved here to be closer to business. Truthfully? I’ve been hiding from it,” he says. “This is the cabin where my great-great-grandfather once made whiskey, so it is connected to the business, but that’s not why I’m here. Last year, after a huge fight, my brother started making attempts on my life.”
I gasp. “Your own brother?” I ask. My sister and I have never been close, but I’d never dreamed of letting anything hurt her if I could help it, and I know she’d do the same for me. I can’t imagine what could make a person hate their own sibling enough to want to kill them.
“Calvin’s always been trouble,” Jacob sighs, and I put a hand over his for support since he’s obviously having trouble getting out the words. “Years back, I figured out a way to speed up the distilling business exponentially. I invented and patented the technology, actually, and it took our business from successful but small to internationally-known. It made us a lot of money. I guess because of my contributions, and maybe because I’m the oldest, and our father has been teaching me the finer points of the business end for years,” he says, and I squeeze his hand when his voice shakes a bit, “I stand to inherit the company and all its money once he’s gone.”
“And Calvin doesn’t like that?” I guess, shocked and fascinated. It’s like something out of a soap opera. There is something about it that seems vaguely familiar, too, that I can’t quite put my finger on.
“He’s good at going to the parties,” Jacob nods. “He likes to drink whiskey and talk to donors. He’s always wanted to be the face of the company, to take it over in that way. He’s always felt like he deserved it more than me, I guess. We always fought and I always cleaned up his messes, but last year I told him I wasn’t going to do it anymore. That he needed to grow up and stop getting into fistfights at company-sponsored events. He responded by telling me to go to hell and that he wished I was dead.” He pauses and looks down at our hands, now laced together. “And now I guess he was trying to grant his own wish.”
“That’s horrible,” I say, wincing at just the thought of it.
“After the first few attempts on my life, I came out here to hide and try to figure out what to do. I didn’t want our dad to know, and I didn’t want to get the police involved in all that family business. My dad and everyone at the company thinks I’m just taking some time off,” Jacob says, laughing, his voice hollow. I shake my head in disbelief. I can’t believe Jacob was going through so much.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, and then I pause, suddenly remembering why this sounds familiar. “Wait. Jacob, I think I’ve seen your brother in magazines. He’s that Calvin from the whiskey family who gets into public fights?” I ask, gasping again.
“Probably. He loves to be in the press,” Jacob says.
“Your family business is High Country Whiskey?” I ask. I can feel my jaw drop. If that’s true, then Jacob was never talking about a local tourist-trap mountain distillery after all. If it’s true, Jacob isn’t just rich. He’s worth billions.
“It is,” Jacob confirms, looking the slightest bit sheepish.
Holy shit. Well, of all the secrets I thought Jacob could have been keeping, billionaire whiskey heir and award-winning inventor with a brother out to murder him had not been one I’d thought of.
“Wow,” I say. It feels like an understatement. “I had no idea.”
“I thought if I told you, if I got you too involved, you’d be in danger, too,” Jacob says. “I wanted to see you all the time, take you out, tell you everything, but I was afraid it wasn’t safe.”
I nod. It makes perfect sense. “God, Jacob, this must have all been so terrible for you,” I say, still in disbelief. “Your own brother.”
“I always thought he’d grow up and get better. I always wanted him to be better. I thought,” Jacob stops and runs a hand through his hair. “I thought I could figure out what to say to him, how to help him.” He stops and shrugs, frowning. I slide closer to him, wanting to hug him and never let go.
“You can’t blame yourself,” I say. “He caused all this, not you.”
“I know,” Jacob says, shaking his head. “I just wish it didn’t have to be this way. Right now, as we’re talking, he’s probably getting arrested for attempted murder. It’s going to break Dad’s heart.”
“Have you called him yet?” I ask.
“I called you first,” Jacob says. I smile. I’m so glad Jacob is telling me all this now.
“You did?” I ask.
“I had to see you. I had to make things right with you,” Jacob says, and then he shifts his head toward me and leans down, kissing me softly. I kiss back, immediately unsure of what I would have done if I could really never do this again, wanting to kiss him forever to make up for even five days of lost time.
“I’m glad,” I say right into his mouth.
“I thought about you while I was nearly dead on that floor,” Jacob says, voice gruff with emotion. “You got me through.” I lean up to kiss him this time, needing to be close to him.
“Thank god you made it,” I say. Jacob slides his hand up my face, cupping my cheek, and kisses me until I’m breathless. I feel like I want to pour all of myself into the kiss. To let him know all the feelings I don’t even know how to put words to yet.
“Can I show you something?” Jacob asks when we pull back, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.
“Of course,” I say.
“I want you to be the first to see this,” Jacob says, pulling a folded piece yellowed paper out of his pocket. I open it and feel my eyes grow wide.
“Is this…?” I ask.
“My great-great-grandfather’s secret whiskey recipe. I found it under the floorboards while I was inching over them,” Jacob says.
“I guess it does exist,” I say.
“Looks like it,” Jacob says, looking a little wide-eyed himself.
“The company and your family may have lost Calvin for good today, but it’s as if your great-great-grandfather is joining you after all these years,” I say, a little in awe of the paper as I pass it back to Jacob.
“Like I found him,” Jacob says, nodding. “I want to go home and see my dad, tell him about all of this in person.” He looks down, sheepish, and there’s that awkwardness about him I just love. My heart swells in my chest at it. “I’d love it if you came with me.”
“I’d love to go,” I say honestly, beaming. “I have the next two days off anyway.”
“Perfect,” Jacob says, leaning in to kiss me again.
“Let’s go get your company back,” I tell him into the kiss. I feel Jacob smile against my lips, and I smile back.
I can’t believe how this day has turned out. I can’t believe I woke up thinking I’d never see Jacob again, and now I’m sitting on his couch, kissing him and making plans. It seems like I was right about him, like I was right about this town and romance after all.
I think I am destined for a love story like my grandparents’. I think I’m already living it.