My Man Pendleton by Elizabeth Bevarly Read Free Book Online

Except during Prohibition, when they went back to the old-fashioned way of doing things. But a lot of people said the Bourbon tasted better when Noble was stirring it up out in the woods. God only knows what kind of woodland creatures found their way into it."
    That, if nothing else, seemed to get a reaction from Pendleton. Not a big one. Just a funny little kind of squinting. But it was a reaction nonetheless, and Kit gave herself a point for it.
    "You mean wild animals drinking from the mixture allegedly made it taste better?" he asked.
    She shook her head. "No. I mean little critters falling into the mixture, drowning and dying in it made it taste better."
    He hesitated only a moment this time before remarking, "Ah."
    "After Amon, came my grandfather, Beaumont Hensley," she continued, "who was really the one to turn the company into a big success."
    "Excuse me," her father cut in from his position on the sofa. "I think you could include me in that equation."
    She cast a quick glance over her shoulder at her father. "Well it is called Hensley's Bourbon, and not McClellan's, isn't it, Daddy?"
    "That's beside the point. The product was established under the name Hensley's. It would have been foolish to change it to McClellan's, just because the power shifted on Beaumont 's retirement."
    Kit feigned surprise. "Did the power shift then? Really?"
    "You know it did."
    Instead of acknowledging her father's remark, Kit turned back to Pendleton. "Did you know Granddaddy asked Daddy to change his name when he married Mama?"
    "Katherine," her father growled in warning.
    She could see Pendleton hiding a smile. "No, I didn't know that," he said.
    "It's true," she assured him.
    "Katherine," her father tried again.
    But she hurried on, "Granddaddy didn't have any sons, just my mother, and he wanted Daddy to be Holt Hensley, so that when he became the figurehead, there would still be a Hensley cutting through the surf, instead of a McClellan. Can you imagine? Asking a man back in 1959 to change his last name to his wife's?"
    "Katherine."
    "Anyway," she continued blithely. "I suppose calling it 'McClellan's' would make it sound like Scotch, and it might potentially confuse the consumer. Not to mention make Noble spin in the ol' grave, if you know what I mean."
    She was just starting to warm to the subject of the more colorful aspects of the Hensley's history when her father rose from the sofa and stubbed out his cigar.
    "The show's over for tonight," he announced resolutely, his voice still tinted with his irritation. "Maybe this weekend we can hold a matinee for Pendleton, but I think you've exhausted your repertoire for now, Katherine. See Pendleton out, will you?"
    Without awaiting her reply, he bid farewell to his newest executive, then waved his sons out of the room behind him. And then Kit was left alone in the living room with Pendleton and a cold sensation of empty accomplishment.
    Her gaze lingered on the vacant doorway as she asked quietly, "You can find your own way out, can't you, Pendleton?"
    A moment passed in silence before she realized that he hadn't answered her. When she turned to face him, she found him standing as if he hadn't heard her, a snifter of Bourbon cradled in one hand, a smoldering cigar in the other. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought he looked like he felt sorry for her. But hey, why would anyone feel sorry for her? She was a member of one of the wealthiest, most prominent families in the state. Obviously, it was just a trick of the light.
    "Pendleton, can you find your own way out?" she asked again, a bit more softly this time.
    He hesitated before answering, and she wondered for a moment if he had a problem with his hearing. And his eyesight, too, for that matter. He seemed to be spending an extraordinary amount of time staring at her, as if he couldn't quite bring her into focus.
    "I don't know," he finally said. "It's a big house. I'm not quite sure how I got here."
    Join the club, she