Shine On by Allison J. Jewell Read Free Book Online

Ava emerge with a jar of moonshine in each hand.

Chapter Nine
    “O h.” Emmie looked taken aback for a moment.
    “I really didn’t take you for such a drinker. Living a double life here, Emmie?” Ava teased. “Guess we found where Ronnie hid his stash. Last time we stumbled on it, a few years ago, it was just two jars in the barn. His habit must have picked up… A LOT.”
    “How much was in there?” Emmie tried to remember the last time she’d dug around in that pantry. It had been months and there wasn’t any ’shine back then just stacks of old mason jars.
    Ava didn’t answer her. She just sat the jars on the table and pulled her friend around the corner to peek into the small closet. Spotty’s toenails clicked on the wooden floor as he followed to see but quickly looked disinterested and went back to stalk the pot on the stove.
    “Two, four, six, eight rows of ten. Good night, Emmie! You have eighty bottles of moonshine,” Ava said.
    “Eighty-two counting those two on the table,” Emmie corrected.
    “What are you going to do with them?” Ava picked up a bottle and eyed it suspiciously.
    “I have no idea. Pour them out? I guess that’d be the right thing to do.” She took the other jar and put it back in the pantry, then went back over to give the apples a final stir.
    Ava gave her a wicked grin. “Then why are you putting that ’shine back in the pantry?”
    “I just don’t want mess around with it right now. I thought you wanted to head back to your house soon anyway?” She did her best to sidetrack her friend. She knew what she had to do with that ’shine but had no intention of telling Ava.
    Pop!
    She spun her head around from the stove to see her friend with a jar in one hand and the cap in the other. Ava took a big sniff and drew her head back with wide eyes.
    “Just a sip to see what it tastes like, okay? Then we can pour the rest out. Promise.” Ava held the jar of ’shine over her heart like she was making a vow.
    “Oh, alright.” One sip wasn’t going to hurt anyone. She got out a couple glasses and poured a tiny splash into each one. The girls clinked glasses and tipped their heads back.
    Ava immediately sprayed hers back into the glass coughing like she had ingested some type of rat poison. Emmie forced hers down her throat. FIRE—it felt like fire. Burning all the way down to her gut.
    “Oh my gosh,” she screeched, running to the sink to fill her glass with water. She drank the entire cup in an attempt to put out the burn. It sort of worked. When she finally caught her breath she turned to find Ava in fits of laughter.
    “Your face…” That is all Ava could get out before another swell of laughter took her over.
    “That stuff is disgusting. Why in the world people would spend their hard-earned money on that I have no idea,” Emmie laughed.
    Ava picked up the jar to give it a closer inspection. Spotty barked and stood at attention, his ears cocked sideways. He ran to the front door before they ever heard the knock. All traces of humor left the room.
    “Get rid of that. I’ll go see who it is,” Emmie told her friend.
    ***********
    “Hey Miss Emmie.” Max waved before she got the door all the way open. Spotty bounced from foot to foot until Max reached down with his good hand to scratch behind his ear.
    “Hello, Max, Walter,” she smiled at her neighbors. “Come on in.”
    The three of them walked into the house and stepped into the kitchen.
    “Sorry, Emmie, we didn’t realize you had company,” Walter said, tipping his hat and wiping his hands on his blue jean overalls.
    “Oh, it’s fine I was just leaving. See you tonight, Emmie,” Ava said. She turned on her way out. “Oh, and I added that last ingredient to the applesauce.”
    Last ingredient? Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Emmie thought.
    “Max you look mighty handsome in that hat. You know, those are all the rage in Chicago this summer,” Ava added, touching his newsboy cap on her way out the