Come Rain or Shine (38 page)

“But this ring,” he said, holding it up so she could see it, “this ring is about our future and the promises we are making to one another today.” The ring was a bright yellow diamond surrounded by tiny white clusters. It was much smaller than her black onyx ring but she thought it fit her perfectly.

He clearly thought so too because, after they exchanged the traditional vows, he ran his thumb over the ring and whispered in her ear, “Come rain or shine, the yellow diamond is to remind us to try and have more shine than rain in our life together.”

She smiled at his words. When it was time for her vows she pulled his ring off her little finger and slipped it onto his hand. His ring was a no-nonsense band, which was perfect. She’d asked Ava take her to the jeweler on the way to the altar. She’d paid a considerable price to have the words
Mo Chuisle
engraved on the inside of the band. It was last minute, but it was a perfect detail. She turned the ring to the side to show him the words. He grinned and kissed her before he was formally told to do so. But since when did Silas follow other people’s rules? It was a perfect wedding, followed by a great meal with family and friends at Ava’s parent’s house.

Emmie had one last surprise in store for the day. Silas had driven her just down the street to a small stone cottage with an arched entry and a pointed chimney billowing with puffs of white smoke.

“I’m just renting this place for now, but we can buy it if you want. I didn’t want to decide that without you,” he said, turning off the car.

“It’s lovely,” she said, looking at the house.

“Plus, I know you’ve a fondness for Dr. Stone’s place lately, so I’ve talked to Pop. I’d like to start a firm in Louisville. It will require long hours in the beginning, but I’m thinking I’d like to give it a try,” he said.

“Long hours in the office?” she asked with a smile.

He nodded. “Would you want to move to Louisville for a while?”

Emmie smiled. “Sounds like an adventure to me. Do you think Dr. Stone would let me continue to help out at his house?”

“I’m sure, especially with the funding Walter has secured for him.” Silas laughed.

“Walter?” she asked, confused.

“Oh, Bo and Walter, have a plan to filter some money up to Dr. Stone to help other children like Max. At first, I actually didn’t believe you weren’t involved in the idea, but the surprised look on your face tells me you weren’t.”

“Wow,” she said, unable to say more right away. “Maybe we could organize something like the Bell House for those families?”

Silas nodded and popped open his door. “We’ll talk to Pop about it before we go to the doctor with a plan.”

Emmie could feel the smile spreading across her face as Silas ran around the car and opened her door.

“What?” he asked, looking down at her.

“I just figured out that I really am going to have it all,” she said.

He laughed. It came out as a deep throaty sound. “You’re about to have it all.”

She looked at him confused. He reached down and picked her up, kicking the car door closed with his foot. “Silas, no, you’re still hurt.”

“Shh . . . I’m strong enough to carry you across the threshold,” he snapped at her playfully.

He carried her through the small living room, down the hall, and into the bedroom. “Brr . . . it sure was cold out there. I’m in need of a little warming up. And I seem to remember promising to show you what melted felt like.”

Emmie blushed from her toes to her hair. Something in his eyes told her he was serious. She propped up on her elbows and watched him as he tossed his jacket on the floor and unbuttoned his shirt. She sighed as she saw his chest was still wrapped in gauze.

She reached her finger out and touched it. “Are you sure you’re up for this? What if it hurts you? We have the rest of our life and I don’t want you hurt.”

He laughed as he unbuttoned his pants. They fell loose and hung low on his hips. His grin made her heart stop beating. “You may as well just stop talking because your pleas are falling on deaf ears. You are mine and we’ve been waiting for this a long time. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let some little scratch keep me from you.”

“It’s more than a scratch,” she mumbled but lost her voice as he undid the last button of her wedding dress. The top pooled at her waist and he jerked it the rest of the way off, leaving her in only the thin slip. He laughed to himself as he traced the seams over her chest.

“This is the one I met you in, isn’t it?”

She could only nod because her voice was gone at the sight of him caressing her. His hair covered an eye and the corded muscles of his arms rippled with each movement.

“I like that you wore this but I have to say I’m even more curious about what’s under it,” he said, working his fingers up her thighs. She laughed knowing what he was looking for.

He pushed her slip up to her waist and gave her a devilish grin, spreading his hands wide over her hips. “My little Gold Medal gal.”

“I knew you’d be lookin’ for my flour sacks tonight after Ava gave me your note,” she said and giggled.

He dropped a kiss on her stomach just below her belly button. Everywhere he touched her and kissed her, her body warmed, until she melted in his arms.

*

The next morning Emmie awoke to find the sunlight streaming in through the window. Silas’s arms and legs were wrapped around her. She pushed herself back against his chest and listened to him breathe heavily in his sleep. After a moment she turned to face him, kissing his nose and then his cheek. He smiled before his eyes ever opened.

“Are you already cold again?” he asked, gripping her tighter to his body.

Emmie laughed. “How can I be cold when I’m living with my own personal sun, willing to warm me whenever I need it?”

He snorted in surprise at her words. But soon his soft laugh turned to a kiss on her neck. He whispered in her ear, “Do you think of me as your sun . . . all of the time or do you only consider me the sun in your bedroom?”

“An always sun. You make me happy. Bedroom or not.”

“I like the idea of being your sun, because that’s what you’ve always been to me,” he whispered in her ear.

She smiled and laughed, turning his words on him. “In the bedroom sun or in general sun?”

His laugh became throaty again and he pulled her on top of him. “Both.”

Emmie threw her head back and laughed. “I love you, Silas McDowell.” She pushed his hair out of his eyes. “Come rain or shine . . . I will always love you.”

Silas put his lips against her ear and whispered softly, “I love you, Mo Chuisle.”

Allison Jewell lives in southern Kentucky with her husband, two sons, and dog. When she isn’t hard at work on her next novel, she can be found doing one of her favorite things: watching her oldest son chase the puck at the local hockey rink, hanging out at home listening to records with her husband, or making up silly songs with her youngest son.

Facebook:
Allison Jewell

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Emmie Talbot is a quintessential good girl.

Smart, Southern, Kind Church Goer

Small Town Seamstress Aspiring Teacher And

A Misguided Moonshiner Emmie’s sole purpose in life was taking care of her moonshine loving stepfather. When he is killed in a fiery crash on their farm, she is left alone and frustrated with a mountain of debt. Working as a seamstress for a crazy-old-coot shopkeeper is not the kind of life she had imagined for herself.

The curious events that surround her stepfather’s death send Emmie on a quest for answers. Answers that lead to a dangerous secret tucked away on her property. Stumbling on a moonshine still was an unfortunate event for most folks in the hills of Kentucky. She was lucky not to have been shot on the spot. Emmie saw hope in the steam escaping the curved copper pipe of “Ole Maizy”. However, a series of mishaps put her front and center in a local moonshine war.

In the midst of chaos, Emmie is befriended by an attorney recently transported from Chicago. Silas McDowell is a man seeking some answers of his own. In an attempt to find a little roaring twenties glamour in the small town, he introduces Emmie to the underground world of Speakeasies and Blind Pigs. Loyalty, lies, and murder conspire to push Silas and Emmie together or rip them apart. Cloaked in secrets and unsure whom to trust, Emmie must decide to drown in darkness or find a way to Shine On.

Buy
Shine On at Amazon
.

Rise & Shine is the second book in the Shine On Series.

Emmie Talbot is a quintessential good girl.

Sweet, southern, kind.

Church Goer.

Ex-bootlegger.

And

In love for the first time.

Emmie’s life is a little less complicated. There will be no more working for crazy ’ole Mr. Thomas and she now has the clues she needs find her real father. Emmie may have the best apple pie moonshine recipe in Kentucky but her bootlegging days are behind her. Or so she thinks. When Max’s condition worsens and he needs the help of doctors and hospitals in a far away town, Emmie is faced with another dilemma. To ’shine or not to ’shine. How can Emmie not rise to the occasion to help Walter’s family?

Silas McDowell’s life is not so uncomplicated. A fame seeking revenuer is hot on his trail. Busting up his stills, raiding his speakeasies, and smiling for newspaper pictures. It is a dangerous time for Emmie to be toying in the business again. Risky or not, she will always Rise and Shine.

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Rise & Shine at Amazon
.

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