Bourbon harmony bourbon.., p.1
Bourbon Harmony (Bourbon Canyon), page 1
BOURBON HARMONY
A BOURBON CANYON NOVEL
WALKER ROSE
LE Publishing
Copyright © 2024 by Walker Rose
Editing by Razor Sharp Editing
Proofreading by Fairy Proofmother Proofreading, Deaton Author Services, and Judy’s Proofreading
Cover art by Okay Creations
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The characters, places, and events in this story are fictional. Any similarities to real people, places, or events are coincidental and unintentional.
Created with Vellum
Rhys Kinkade was my everything. Then he was nothing. Now he’s the only thing that can save my career.
Fifteen years ago, I was eighteen and Nashville-bound. I thought Rhys would follow; he knew he wouldn’t. Now, I’m one album shy of headlining my own world tour and the words have dried up. Too much betrayal. Not enough fresh mountain air. It’s time to come home to Bourbon Canyon.
After Rhys plucks me off the side of the road in the middle of a thunderstorm, it’s clear the now-divorced single dad isn’t the boy I once loved. For one, his daughters don’t know he broke their favorite country singer’s heart after high school. For another, he’s grumpy. He stress bakes. And he can’t put space between us fast enough. And yet, one kiss later and I’m four songs deep into my new album.
With Rhys as inspiration, I can achieve my dream. But when it’s time to go, that’ll be the end of us. He’s never leaving Bourbon Canyon, while the whole world will be my stage. If he can’t set aside the past and see what’s waiting for us, then the biggest love of my life will be nothing but a bourbon harmony.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Walker Rose
CHAPTER ONE
Rhys
Fifteen years ago . . .
June popped out of the cabin when I pulled up. Her jean cutoff shorts framed the top of her curvy legs. She wore an orange Copper Summit T-shirt tied at the waist, and her sandals smacked the floorboards of the porch as she jumped up and down and waved. The long light-brown hair I loved to run my hands through hung loose. The excitement on her face blazed brighter than the summer Montana sun.
I swallowed hard. She was my world, and that world was coming to an end. I’d been through it once before, but I didn’t want to shatter hers.
I’d do anything to make sure June Kerrigan got to live out her dreams, and that wouldn’t happen for her in tiny Bourbon Canyon, Montana.
I got out of my pickup, my limbs heavy with dread. I was dressed for ranch work in my worn jeans, my beat-up boots, and an old T-shirt. Not for the trip June thought we were taking.
“Hey, babe.” She gestured to her car. The back seat was full of boxes and a guitar case. “You can toss your stuff right in. I left you half the trunk space but not as much of the back seat as I promised.”
My heart hung heavy at her grin. “I don’t have anything.”
Her smile dipped. “Oh. Okay. Is your dad dropping your luggage off when he grabs the pickup?”
That would’ve been the plan. We’d drive together to Nashville. June would work on becoming country music’s next rising star. I’d start college at Tennessee State University. We’d live together in a little apartment she’d found and she’d work as a server until someone discovered how fucking amazing she was.
June was my songbird, but she needed the world to hear her songs. She wanted to share her talent, and she should be able to. I wouldn’t be the one to stop her. “I’m not going.”
Her smile vanished. “What?”
“Dad’s leukemia . . .”
She ran down the stairs, her hair streaming behind her. “Oh my god. Did something happen? Did he get worse?”
“No.” Just thinking about Dad’s illness was making my throat close up. I stepped back from June and the comfort she’d offer. I had to stay strong. “It could be five years, it could be ten.” Dad’s leukemia diagnosis was fresh and so was the fear that came with it. He’d been tired for months, and I’d been picking up more of the slack. We had answers now, but I wished for sweet ignorance. “They need me. My place is in Bourbon Canyon.”
Relief flared, followed quickly by guilt. I wouldn’t have to move. I wouldn’t have to leave my dad and stepmom to handle a sweeping ranch that had grown to be too much for them too soon. I wouldn’t have to worry about stifling June’s rise.
Confusion played across her expression. “You’re . . . You’re not coming?”
“I canceled my enrollment at Tennessee State.” I had quit college before I’d even started. I shook my head and stuffed my hands into my jeans before I could capture a strand of her hair and tell her I was kidding, I’d absolutely be there with her every step of the way. If only I wouldn’t trip her up. “Dad needs me. Wren’s so damn stressed about the ranch.”
“He’s hiring someone to help, Rhys. So you can go.”
“He’s hiring me.”
Her expression remained bemused. “Your dad wants you to go.”
“He’d never tell me he needed me to stay.” I’d seen Dad’s stark relief. He’d have me to run the ranch. My stepmother would have me as support and to help with Dad if he . . . I bit back tears. As he got weaker.
“But he said he wanted you to go more than anything. He said he didn’t want to be the one ever holding you back. I was there, Rhys.”
“He was lying.”
“Jonathon Kinkade does not lie.” She folded her arms. “Your daddy wants you to go almost as much as me.”
“June . . . He might be dying.”
She blinked and a big tear rolled down her cheek. “I—I know. I’m sorry.” Another tear.
This time, I didn’t hold back. I captured the second drop with my thumb, wishing I could change it into a diamond. I’d wear it on a chain around my neck. A piece of June would be with me every day.
I rubbed the moisture between my thumb and forefinger. It was best I didn’t have a trinket to remind me of her. The task of forgetting the girl I’d loved since eighth grade would be impossible enough as it was.
“I am so damn excited for everyone to discover June Bailey.” I cupped her face. My determination to tell her I wasn’t going was dwindling. I needed to leave, but my boots were stuck in place. She was hurting and it was my fault. “But my place is at the ranch.”
“I don’t want you to think I’m not worried about your dad. I am.” She shook her face out of my grip and started pacing. She swiped her hands under her eyes. “I’m supposed to start work in a week. The lease needs to be signed in three days.”
“I’ll send money for the rent.”
She barked out a laugh. “You’re going to pay for a place you’re not living in?”
“I’ll be a ranch manager.”
She quit pacing, her sandals skidding in the dirt. “We’ve been together since eighth grade. This will be our first time apart.” Her lips quivered. “I’m scared.”
Tell her it’s over. Tell the only girl you’ve ever loved that you’re done. She’s going to Tennessee single. Because you’re letting your songbird go.
Instead, all I said was, “I know.”
The girl had been my everything since I was the new kid in middle school. She’d been my first friend and my first and only girlfriend. Panic filled my chest. This couldn’t be the end.
No. It had to be. Dad needed me, and June would do better without me. “I love you, June, but I gotta do this.” My voice was strangled at the end.
She sniffled and her eyes welled with more tears. She sucked in a long breath and lifted her chin. “What about tonight? We were supposed to finally have a night together. The first of many.”
I wanted that more than fucking anything. To go to sleep with June. To wake up to her. We were adults now. We could be together. Her brothers and sisters thought we were moving in together. Until tomorrow, when June would tell them she had to leave without me.
I’d let her go. She’d tell them I broke her heart. I’d endure the looks and whatever retaliation her brothers thought fit. I’d do it all while nursing my own shattered heart.
“We’re going to be across the country from each other.” I steeled myself for the task. “I won’t be able to visit. It’s better for us to see this for what it is. It’s the end, June. I’m sorry.”
More tears rolled down her cheeks. “Long distance doesn’t have to mean the end.”
“It’s best for us each to take ou r own path—”
“I know you won’t be able to travel, but I can still come home.” Her voice wavered and she sniffled, but determination grew in the amber depths of her eyes. “I’ll still be doing work for the distillery.”
“June—”
“I’ll work and save some money, but I’ll still come home. It won’t be a stressor for you, trying to figure out time away from the ranch and your dad’s treatments. When your dad is better, then you can move out. I’ll be there. College will still be there.”
“We don’t know the timeline on any of this.” I didn’t know if Dad would even make it through treatment.
She took both my hands in hers. “We can talk every day and see each other over the phone. There are lots of ways two people in love can stay connected.”
I loved her with everything I had, and that was why I had to let her go. I couldn’t be the reason she suffered. She didn’t want to give up on us because she had no idea how much better for her goals that would be. But I did.
“It’ll be fine,” she continued, her face filling with color again. “I can commute a little more often than planned. Daddy wanted me to do a few voice-overs for some radio promos anyway. Since you won’t be in Tennessee, I’ll use my time off to keep writing songs. ”
My temples throbbed. She wasn’t listening. I could barely fathom life without her, but I’d had more time to prepare myself. “June—”
“I can probably even sell some songs. I mean, I think they’re pretty good—”
“June.”
She stopped, snapping her mouth closed. Hope lit her eyes, then wavered, hanging on to what I would say next. I could tell her we were over again. I could leave to punctuate it. But my stubborn little songbird would follow me. She’d stay with me, and she’d ruin her chances. For me.
My stomach lurched. “What about if you go, and then I’ll join you? Just like you said.”
“Really?” The light in her eyes brightened. “I know you can’t promise me when, but I really think it’s the right choice. You’ll get to be in Bourbon Canyon with your dad, and I’ll get a record deal.”
“I want you to get everything.” I gripped her shoulders and ducked my head to look her straight in the eyes. “I’ll come down, okay? Just, not now.” Bile rose in my throat. I’d never lied to June. Until now. “I need you to go ahead without me. When Dad is better or after he—” My voice caught. “If the worst happens, then I’ll join you.”
A tremulous smile graced her lips. “I’ll be waiting.” Her gaze was earnest. “Long distance isn’t the end. We can’t give up on each other.”
“I know.” I’d never give up on her. But I would give her up. I wrapped my arms around her. She buried her face in my shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
She squeezed her hands in my shirt. “You scared me.”
“I am scared. About everything.”
“I know.” She rose on her toes and pressed a kiss to my lips. “Come on. Let’s go inside. Can you stay over?” She looked over her shoulder, her big eyes almost pleading.
Goddammit. “Yeah.” I pulled her back to me and cupped her cheek in one hand. “Then you’re gonna go. Just like Mama Starr would’ve wanted—you on that stage for everyone to hear.”
June’s birth mom had nurtured her gift, encouraged her, especially during the hardest of times.
“I wish she could see me. Both of them,” she said.
“They’ll be with you everywhere you go. When you take the Grand Ole Opry stage, they’ll be right here.” I tapped a finger over her heart. “And Mae and Darin will absolutely be filling the Opry seats for them.” June’s adoptive parents had nurtured her talent too.
“I want you there. I want you in the audience.”
I lifted her chin and captured her mouth. My dick, half-awake since June had been jumping up and down, paid even more attention. When I’d arrived, I had thought I’d never get to touch her again. This would be my last night. Our last night.
I released her and touched my forehead to hers. “Let’s go inside.”
“Promise me you won’t give up on us.”
“Promise me you’ll go and be a star,” I countered.
“What if no one likes me?”
“Everyone’s going to love you. Just like me.”
A wide smile graced her face. “You’re biased. What if they only let me on the county fair stage because of Daddy and the distillery?”
It was a legitimate concern. Her parents had a ranch much larger than ours, but more impressively, they owned Copper Summit Bourbon Distillery. The distillery invited a lot of tourism and employed many locals. Without Copper Summit, a town as small as Bourbon Canyon might’ve faded into nothingness, businesses slowly shutting as people moved to larger towns like Bozeman and Lewiston for work and play. Instead, the town thrived, thanks in no small part to the distillery.
But none of that had gotten June up on that stage. It was all her.
“You earned your way onto those stages, just like you’ll earn each and every show you perform in Nashville.” I tugged her inside the cabin. I was giving myself one last night with her, and suddenly, I was a greedy man. I pushed any thoughts of the future out of my head and concentrated on now. “Now, let’s quit wasting time. We don’t know when we’re going to be together again.”
We spent the night in each other’s arms. June fell asleep, her soft breathing wafting across my chest, but I stared at the ceiling. I didn’t get a damn bit of rest, my mind tumbling until dawn.
When it came time to say goodbye, I didn’t fess up and tell her it would be for forever. I hugged her instead, long and hard, trying to communicate how much she meant to me. How much she’d always mean to me.
We stood on the porch, her head buried in my chest. The car was loaded with the last of her luggage. Birds chirped like they didn’t know or care that it was one of the worst days of my life.
“I can’t wait to see you again,” she murmured. “I’ll make sure to get back as soon as I can.”
I’d do my best to make sure she didn’t have a reason to, outside of her family.
She rose to her tiptoes and placed a kiss on my lips. “I’ll wait for you.”
“Be safe, and be yourself. Everyone will love you. But never as much as me.”
I finally got her loaded. Her eyes glistened when she drove away.
My gaze wavered and I sniffed. Her car disappeared, and just like that, June Kerrigan was out of my life.
June
Eleven years ago . . .
I dabbed at my eyes. The gloomy, cold fall weather fit the mood of those gathered at the graveside for Rhys’s dad. Wren was destroyed, leaning on Rhys and weeping with a heartbroken sound that made it hard to keep my tears at bay. Only years of performing helped me control my features.
Jonathon Kinkade had been a kind man. I was grateful I had been able to say goodbye to Rhys’s dad before I’d moved away.
The church had been packed and I had stayed in the back with my family. My gaze lingered on Rhys, and my heart skittered across my chest wall. He’d never looked so good. Beyond the fatigue and sadness in his eyes was a sexy man where last I’d seen a good-looking kid.
He hadn’t met my gaze yet, and honestly, I hadn’t tried hard to capture it.
Don’t wait for me. The last text I ever got from him.
During my first year away, he’d been “too busy” for phone calls, “too absentminded” to text, and “too broke” to visit Tennessee. After he’d sent that text, my calls and messages had gone unanswered. The very few times I’d returned to Bourbon Canyon, Rhys couldn’t be found. I’d finally given up. My sisters occasionally saw him around town. He was congenial, but he never asked about me.
Three years after I had moved, my next oldest sister, Autumn, had hesitantly revealed that she’d seen him at Curly’s Canyon Bar and Grill with a woman who’d recently moved to town. He’d started dating. Someone else.
Maybe a lot of someone elses.
So, I’d started dating again too, but I still wasn’t convinced our story had ended.
The service wrapped up and an especially chilly wind cut through my pants. I’d worn the cowboy boots Rhys’s dad used to say were my CMT Music Award–winning boots. They had teal and pink embroidery on the shaft and toe, and I’d put streaks in my hair to match.
