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date with the boyfriend?”
    â€œJust a girls’ night. You can come if you want to. I mean, it’s just Lila and me.” She motioned to the woman busy decorating the last of the cupcakes that were headed for the First Presbyterian Church and tomorrow morning’s Sunday school. “Her hands are always so cramped after doing cupcakes for the hellions, so I thought we’d hit the Watering Trough and unwind.”
    â€œI’ve got way too much left to do here since we started staying open on Sundays,” Brandy replied, “but thanks anyway. You two go on.”
    Ellie shrugged. “You know where we’re at if you change your mind and want to toss down a couple of shots.”
    But it was going to take a lot more than alcohol to relax Brandy. She needed something much more potent.
    Some one much more potent.
    Time and place, she reminded herself. And while a Saturday night was usually the perfect time, it wasn’t on this particular Saturday night. Not when she had a bucket of bubbling mash and no one to hand it off to just as soon as it was done.
    A few days at the most, she judged after a quick check to make sure the mash was sound and secure and still working its magic.
    For now.
    But she had a limited amount of time to corner Kenny Roy and get the scoop on his connection, and so she wasn’t about to head out to the rodeo arena for another booty call with Tyler McCall.
    No matter how much she suddenly wanted to.

 
    CHAPTER 9
    â€œDon’t tell me you’re still at work,” Callie said when Brandy picked up the phone later that night.
    â€œOkay, I won’t tell you.”
    â€œDarn it, Brandy. You’ve got to lighten up just a little.”
    â€œSo sayeth the woman who’s held down two jobs since the age of sixteen and is still, the last time I looked, juggling both.”
    â€œI’m just helping out Les at the real estate office until he finds a replacement. Then I’ll only have the column at the newspaper to worry about.” Callie had found not only the man of her dreams, but the job as well. She’d spent years wanting to be a journalist and just recently she’d landed her very own feature column with the local newspaper. What’s Happening in Rebel detailed the latest and greatest goings on in their small town and was both insightful and funny thanks to Callie’s wit.
    Brandy’s sister really had hit the jackpot.
    Brandy’s throat tightened. She swallowed and tried to focus on her older sister’s voice.
    â€œâ€¦ have to slow down and take a breath,” Callie was saying.
    â€œI’ll do that when I’m turning a substantial profit and business is booming.”
    If that moment ever came.
    She tamped down the doubt and gave herself a mental shake. Sure, she had debt. But she had a plan to get out of that debt, which was why she was parked in front of Kenny Roy’s house yet again, waiting for the man to come home so that she could find out the name of his connection.
    She stared at the lifeless house, the crickets buzzing around her as she sat in the front seat of Bertha, a bag of fries on the seat next to her and a chocolate shake in the drink holder. So much for an exciting Saturday night.
    Not that she hadn’t thought about swinging by Tyler’s before heading out to Kenny Roy’s. She had. So much so that she’d nearly burned an entire batch of cupcakes, which was why she’d decided to ignore her screaming hormones and take care of business first.
    â€œDid you even eat dinner—” Callie started.
    â€œDid you find a photographer for the wedding?” Brandy blurted, effectively switching the subject from her workaholic life to the big event.
    â€œThere’s a guy here at the paper who’s really good. Mike Wheeler. He’s from a little town east of here, but he’s been at the paper for three years now. Weddings aren’t exactly his thing, but I