Chapter 32: Drinks and Dinner

When Megan opened the bedroom door and stepped out into the hall, she looked around and found it empty. She turned back to Adam, slipping his shoes on, and said, “You’d think they’d have signs up showing where stuff is.” She had changed into a knee-length sundress with a tube top and her dressy sandals.

He came to the door and motioned her to leave. “We’ll have to take it up with the management. The stairs are right there, so I bet we go down the stairs and we’ll be back on the first floor.” He closed the door behind him. He had taken his wife’s advice and changed into khakis and a sport shirt.

“Smart ass.” She took his hand, and they went down the stairs.

The foyer was empty, but they heard some voices and headed towards them. They went through a large dining room and continued through an archway to find themselves in a very large kitchen. Inside they found Becca talking to a young woman. Becca turned and smiled. “You found us! Come on in. This is Maria. She’s our cook. Pablo and Manuel are her brothers, but Maria’s the brains of the operation. They’re also cousins of some sort.”

“Cousins?” asked Megan.

Maria nodded. “We’re from the Texas branch of the family, by way of New Mexico. It’s actually a pretty good deal for us.”

Megan looked curiously at the others and Becca said, “We try to keep the pay competitive, and include room and board out back.”

“Better yet, since we have a local address, we pay in-state rates at Springwater State. Professor Culverin got us in, too,” added Maria, indicating Becca.

“You’re a professor?” asked Adam.

“History, and it’s not that big a deal. They pretty much have an open enrollment policy. As long as this bunch has a pulse, they can get in,” said Becca.

Maria snorted at that. She turned to the Brownells and asked. “Do you or your daughters have any food allergies or special requests? Nicholas didn’t say anything when I asked him the last time he visited, but I can do something special if I need to.”

Megan shook her head and answered, “No, no allergies. We can pretty much eat anything. What’s for dinner tonight? I’m sure it will be fine.”

Becca said, “We’re going for a Mexican night. We’ll have some nachos and queso and salsa first, then fajitas for dinner.” Maria nodded.

“Sounds delicious!” said Adam.

“If you get hungry later, feel free to raid the kitchen. Just leave the dishes here afterwards. I always leave some snacks out on the table, in any case,” added Maria.

“Come on, let’s go outside. It’s been a long day and I need a drink.” Maria laughed as Becca took Megan by the hand and pulled her out the back door. Adam snorted in laughter and followed the two women.

The back yard was the most impressive exterior that either Brownell had ever seen. The closest thing either could think of was something from Hollywood or a Beverly Hills mansion. It was on the north side of the mansion, so it was out of the direct sunlight. It was large and expansive, a patio with several levels of multi-colored granite decking tiles. There were several bronze-and-glass patio table sets, a large granite fire pit to the side, and a matching granite walkway down to a swimming pool and hot tub. A wet bar and large stainless-steel grill were near the house. Several French doors went into the house. It looked like something out of Architectural Digest, only nicer.

“My God! It’s gorgeous!” exclaimed Megan, standing and taking in the view with awe.

“What she said,” added Adam. He too was stupefied by the scene.

“Thank you. We’ve tried to make it nice without being too crazy,” replied Becca. “Every generation tries to add something to the legacy. Jack’s father did a major rebuild on the house, adding the guest wing. We redid the back yard and pool area. Come on.” She led the way across the patio to where Jack and the kids were already sitting around a large table.

“Welcome,” said Jack, standing. Becca went around to his side and gave her husband a quick kiss, then settled into a seat next to his. “Sit! Sit!” he told the Brownells, pointing to a pair of chairs across from them. “Care for a drink?”

“Sure. What are we having?” asked Adam.

Jack smiled. “I run a distillery. Whatever you want! Do you like whiskey?”

Adam shrugged. “Sure. Sours or Seven-and-Sevens are fine.” He looked at his daughters, both of whom had glasses with dark bubbly liquid in them. “That better be Coke, you two.”

Jack laughed. “You’re safe. The last teenage girl I got drunk I ended up marrying. I’m not that silly!” Becca laughed and punched him in the arm. Jack stood and went to the wet bar. “Do you ever drink your whiskey straight? Becca and I always do a shot or two first, and then make cocktails afterwards.”

Adam looked at his wife, who made a slight nod. “Fine by us. I occasionally have a shot, and if Megan doesn’t like it, I can take care of it.”

“What about you two?” he asked Nick and Ashley.

“I’ll have a whiskey,” said Nick. “Babe?”

Ashley shook her head. “God no! I can’t drink it straight. I’ll end up married to some guy with low morals! Like my mother!” The others laughed at her.

Jack brought back five shot glasses and then went back for the whiskey. He brought back three bottles and set them on the table. “Not sure what your preference is. This is Culverin Mist, our premier whiskey. We’ve been making this for a couple of hundred years.” Then he pointed to the other two bottles. “These are our newest offerings. We started making these about ten years ago. Ryes are growing in popularity, so I started playing with the grain bills and yeasts and came up with a couple of very nice ryes. This one is Culverin Hill Sour Mash Rye, which has a rye and corn base and is similar to a sour mash bourbon. The last one is Culverin Hill Straight Rye. It’s a hundred-percent rye whiskey and is sweeter than the Sour Mash version.”

Adam glanced at his wife, but it was obvious their host was proud of his new ryes. “Let’s try the Straight Rye. We can do the other stuff another time.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Jack twisted the cap off the bottle and poured out the shots. “You girls will just have to make do with sodas.”

The Brownells sipped at their whiskeys, and Adam’s eyes widened. “Now that is very nice!” He took another sip and nodded. “That is really quite nice. It’s very smooth and not at all sour.”

Jack said, “It’s the straight rye grain bill and a Canadian method. The Sour Mash is sixty percent rye and forty percent corn and uses traditional sour mash methods. It’s just as smooth, but you can tell the difference.”

“This is what you make at the distillery? I’ve never been to a distillery,” said Adam.

“These and a few other things. We also do some super-premium blends, aged longer, and single barrel whiskeys. If you’re really feeling rich and silly, we’ll sell you an entire barrel; we’ll even bottle it and label it with your name and sell you the barrel to boot.”

“You do that often? I mean, how many rich and silly people do you get?” said Adam.

Jack grinned. “Enough that we can have a really nice house!”

“So, what did you mean when you said you married a teenage girl you got drunk. You didn’t really...”, asked Megan.

Both Jack and Becca reared back and laughed loud and long at that, though their daughter simply groaned and rolled her eyes. It was Becca who said, “Yes, it is absolutely true. It’s why Ashley said I married a man with low morals. She knows just what kind of man her father is!”

Megan said, “You need to tell us more!”

Jack looked at Becca and asked, “Dare we tell them the truth?”

She answered, “They’re bound to find out some day.”

Jack looked across the table at the girls. “How old are you two?”

Mandy answered, “I’m sixteen. Jenny’s fifteen. Why?”

Becca said, “Because when I first met him, I was sixteen.”

“And I was twenty-three,” finished Jack.

Megan stared at them. “Oh my God! You were still in high school! That’s why you look so young! When you came out of the house this afternoon, I thought you were Ashley’s older sister!”

Becca nodded. “It was the summer before my junior year in high school. He had already graduated from Princeton and was getting his MBA from the Harvard Business School.”

“That’s what I call robbing the cradle,” commented Adam. He ignored his wife’s disapproving glare.

“So, what happened?” asked Jenny.

“We fell in love,” replied Jack.

“At sixteen?”

Becca nodded. “He played a practical joke on me, and I got so angry when I found out, I told him I could do anything he could do. Anyway, he was drinking this...,” she said, pointing at the Culverin Mist, “ ... at the time with our parents - we were visiting - so I said I could do it, too. I’d never had anything stronger than a few beers before that. Oh, but I got so sick. Afterwards, I was grounded, and he was the jailer. We fell in love. Vacations and school breaks, we would see each other.”