Happy holidays, everyone! Hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review! :)

June 13, 1925

Zora put the finishing touches of powder on her cheeks. In the past week, her facial wounds had improved drastically, but her cheekbone still showed some tinges of green and yellow from the bruising. Her makeup was able to cover the bruise decently well, and after the sun set, it was no longer visible to the eye, even with the bright lights of the city.

Louis had returned her car and moonshine to her himself a week prior, and he had apologized profusely for the caper that had been caused by one of his new employees. He had assured her that the boy had been severely punished (again, Zora didn't inquire as to the nature of the punishment), and he promised that it would never happen again. She wasn't sure whether she could trust him, but George believed it would be all right to continue doing business with him as long as she didn't go to the still alone. Besides, they didn't exactly have any other readily available suppliers.

Suddenly, the shrill ring of Zora's telephone demanded her attention. She put down her powder brush and went to the phone, picking up the receiver and holding it to her ear.

"Zora speaking," she said into the transmitter.

"Hiya, Zora," a man's voice said cheerily on the other end. "It's James from Peachtree. How ya doin'?"

"Doing great, James. What can I help you with?"

"Was wonderin' if I can place an order," he said.

"Sure thing," Zora replied. "Let me get ahold of my supplier and I can get it to you in a day or two. Same amount as usual?"

"Actually, I was wonderin' if you had any more of the last stuff you sold me. The better stuff."

Zora was silent for a moment in surprise. "Oh. Well, I don't have any on hand. That supply isn't really a steady thing."

"Oh," James said, his voice clearly disappointed. "I mean, I'll take what I can get, but that last stuff was great. Everyone really loved it."

Zora tapped her fingers on the table, thinking. "You know what, let me look into it," she said. "At the very least, I'll get you what I usually get, but I'll see what I can do about the good stuff."

"Oh, that would be jake! Thanks, darlin'!"

"I'll let you know soon. Take care, James."

She hung up the receiver and drummed her fingers on the table, chewing on her lip in thought. Obviously James's customers preferred Daryl's moonshine to her usual supply; who wouldn't? Unfortunately, she had purchased all but one crate of the shine from him, and now that supply was dry. She wondered if Daryl would ever consider making more. He probably enjoyed his quiet life in the country with nothing to worry about but himself. But what if they could come up with some sort of arrangement? Maybe he would be willing to make more shine and sell it to her as he was able. Maybe she could work something out with her customers where she had two quality tiers of shine: Louis's shine for the bottom tier and Daryl's for the top. She could charge more for Daryl's moonshine because it was much better quality. But this all depended on how willing Daryl was to enter in to such an arrangement. She wouldn't be surprised if he told her to dry up as soon as she showed up on his doorstep. But there was only one way to find out. She had to go see him and ask.

Without a second thought, she grabbed her purse and her keys and shoved her feet into a pair of low heels. She rushed out the door, down the stairs, and into her car. She hoped Daryl wouldn't be upset with her for showing up unannounced, but then again, that was how she had shown up a week ago, and that had turned out well, hadn't it? It was mid-afternoon, and as she drove toward the city limits, she hoped he would be home. She realized suddenly that she wasn't even sure what he did for a living. Her spontaneous trip out into the country suddenly seemed much less sensible, but she still kept driving.

The buildings of the city faded away to the peaceful emptiness of the country as Zora drove on. She found herself wondering if her hastiness to drive out to see Daryl was purely business-motivated. She knew that she secretly wanted to see him again, and James's request for his moonshine had given her a reason.

"No," she told herself aloud. "This trip is purely business. Nothing else."

The forty-minute drive was over before she knew it, and she pulled into the familiar driveway and parked behind Daryl's old truck. She stole a peek at herself in the rearview mirror and, deciding she looked presentable, exited the car. Zora made her way up the creaky porch and took a deep breath before knocking on the door. There was no answer. Zora raised her hand to knock again when suddenly, Daryl appeared from around the side of the house, startling her. The frown that had been in place on his face vanished and was replaced by a look of surprise.

"Zora? What are you doin' here?" he asked.

"Oh, good, you're home," she spluttered, still startled from his sudden appearance.

"Yeah, I was gettin' ready to skin a deer out back and I heard you knocking."

Zora wrinkled her nose at the mention of the deer. "Glad I got here before you started then," she said with a small laugh. Daryl arched his eyebrows at her, his question of why she was there still lingering. "Oh, right. Why I'm here. Well, I wanted to talk business with you."

His eyes narrowed a bit. "What kinda business?"

"What do you think?"

Daryl sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "You wanna come in for a coffee then?"

"All right," Zora agreed. Daryl opened the front door of the house and held it open for her. He followed her into the kitchen and began boiling water for the coffee. Zora took a seat at the kitchen table and watched him moving about, neither of them talking, until the coffee was ready. He set a steaming cup in front of her and sat down across from her at the table.

"Okay, so talk business."

Zora took a deep breath. "You might not be surprised to know that people loved your moonshine. So much so that I've been asked if I can get more."

"I already sold you pretty much all of it," Daryl said with a frown. "You know that."

Zora tentatively took a sip of the hot coffee and eyed Daryl across the table.

"What would it take for you to make more?"

Daryl exhaled slowly. "Not sure. Makin' Dixon moonshine is a decent amount of work. Almost like a science. You'd hafta make it worth my while."

Zora rolled her eyes. "Well, you already know I pay well for good product. You'd be able to make a lot of scratch doing this."

"How much shine you talkin'?"

Zora took another sip of coffee before answering. "I was hoping we could come to some sort of . . . arrangement. A partnership, if you will." Daryl arched his eyebrows at her in response. "What would you think about making a steady supply? I could come pick it up every week or two and sell it as my higher tier shine."

Daryl scoffed a bit. "That sounds like a heavy commitment. Don't know if I want to be gettin' involved to that extent."

"Why not?" Zora questioned. "You're already breaking the law by making moonshine as it is. Might as well make some good dough while you're at it."

"What if I don't got that kinda time?"

"You don't? What do you do for a living?" Zora asked. Daryl looked up at her sharply, but he was at a loss for words. He angrily brought the cup of coffee to his lips and set it down harshly on the table. Zora raised an eyebrow at him. "Look, I get it, what you do. You support yourself out here, and I think that's admirable. I sure as hell couldn't do it."

"Stop," Daryl sighed, clearly uncomfortable. "Flattery ain't gonna get you nowhere."

"It isn't flattery, it's the truth. But why not do something with your life? Make something others can enjoy? Maybe it'll be fulfilling, maybe it won't, but it'll certainly pay well."

Daryl took another sip of coffee, still eying her somewhat angrily for calling him out on not having a job. He felt embarrassed, but he wasn't sure why he cared what Zora thought. The two of them lived in different worlds, and he didn't need to impress her. But somehow, her opinion mattered to him. He looked down at his hands and picked dirt out from beneath his fingernails, saying nothing.

"Besides, you said it's a family recipe," Zora continued. "Think of it as a way to honor your family, or something."

Daryl's expression darkened. "My family don't deserve no honor," he growled. "They never did anythin' for me. The shine's got nothin' to do with them."

Zora withdrew a little, surprised by his reaction to the mention of his family. "Okay, then do it for yourself," she said.

Daryl continued to stare at his hands for a few moments. "I'll think about it," he said finally. "But no promises."

Zora's face brightened. "That's all I ask. Just think about it."

Daryl nodded once. "How'd you get into this business anyway?" he asked. "If I'm gonna consider partnering with you, I gotta know how you got into it."

Zora smiled. "Friend of my daddy's—George, who you met—opened up a speakeasy about five years ago. Pretty much all my life, it's just been me and my father, but a couple years ago, I decided I wanted to move out on my own. To do that, I had to get a job. I couldn't see myself doing the regular jobs women do, like being a salesgirl or something. So I convinced George to give me a job as a dancer at Walton's."

Daryl's eyes widened. "You were a dancer?"

Zora laughed. "Why's that hard to believe? I'm a very good dancer, I'll have you know!"

Daryl smirked a little at her and resisted the urge to look her body up and down. He focused his attention on his coffee.

"Anyway, I was a dancer for a couple years, and then about a year ago, Walton's started having troubles with the KKK. They were learning to recognize our delivery drivers, and they'd intercept them, confiscate the hooch, and one time even tarred and feathered the driver. So I suggested that we use a driver they'd never suspect. A woman."

Daryl smiled a little. "And that woman is you."

She bowed her head slightly. "Indeed. I pick up the orders of moonshine from our supplier and deliver them back to Walton's. I also pick up a bimonthly shipment of Mexican wine and tequila from the train yard. Within a couple of months, I started supplying to a few other gin mills in the Five Points neighborhood. Now, I supply to four joints. I hadn't run into any trouble until last week."

"Looks like you got your car back," Daryl said. "How'd you manage that?"

"The owner of the still, Louis, took care of it. One of his boys was in on it."

Daryl frowned. "Louis? As in Louis Scardino?"

"Yes," Zora said slowly. "You know him?"

"Yeah, vaguely. He and Merle used to be buddies before Merle got locked up. He only lives about fifteen miles down the road. But I guess you know that."

Zora nodded and took a sip of her coffee. She noticed that Daryl looked a little uneasy. She frowned at him, wondering what was putting him off.

"Just . . . be careful with Louis," Daryl said suddenly. "He's an all right fella, but you don't want to get on his bad side. Trust me."

Zora looked at Daryl with widened eyes. "Is he dangerous or something?"

"Not without a reason to be," Daryl replied carefully. "But he tends to go to extremes when he's angry. Just be sure to stay on his good side and you'll be fine."

"Hmm," Zora murmured. "He has an arrangement with my father that might help keep us in his good graces."

"What kind of arrangement?"

"Suppose I have to be on the level about my father, too," Zora said. "Daddy is a sergeant for the Atlanta police department." Daryl's jaw dropped a little. "But he's against Prohibition. He's been against it since it went into effect statewide almost twenty years ago. Always votes wet, enjoys his own share of bootleg liquor, and he even offers protection to Walton's and Louis's still from raids. If a raid can't be stopped, at the very least, he has agreed to warn us so that we can get out before it happens."

"So he's a twisted bull," Daryl stated. Zora frowned.

"He's a good man. It isn't that he's twisted, he just chooses to overlook certain things. I know it sounds bad, but really, he's a great asset to have on our side."

"I guess you're right," Daryl nodded. The two of them fell silent for a few moments, just sipping their coffee. Zora could never stay silent for long, however.

"So I've told you my story," she said. "What's yours?"

"Ain't much to tell," Daryl grunted, downing the rest of his coffee. "Lived in this house since I was a boy. Mom died when I was a kid. Dad wasn't a good guy. Spent most of my life runnin' around causin' trouble with Merle. After Dad died it was just the two of us. But now that Merle's in the big house, it's just me. But that's how I like it. I take care of myself and the house, and that's all I need."

Zora was studying him as if he were fascinating, and Daryl began to feel uncomfortable. He fidgeted with his hands under her stare.

"You are like no one I've ever met," she said. Daryl laughed a little.

"I can definitely say the same thing 'bout you."

Zora flashed him a wide smile and finished the rest of her coffee. Daryl stood and gathered both cups, taking them to the sink. He paused for a moment, thinking, before turning around to face her.

"I think I'll give this partnership a try," he said. Her face lit up and she walked quickly toward him.

"Really? You mean it?"

"Yeah, why not?" Daryl said with a shrug. He held his hand out to her, and she eagerly shook it.

"Well you've made me a very happy Jane!"

"Gimme 'bout a week to make the first batch."

"A week, okay," Zora said with a smile. "I'll come back here next Saturday then to pick it up."

Daryl nodded. "Sounds swell."

Zora began chattering excitedly as she collected her things to leave. Daryl couldn't help feeling a little excited as well. It had been a while since he'd made shine, but he knew all the steps by heart. Despite his initial misgivings about the partnership, he realized he was actually quite glad she had proposed such an arrangement. Daryl didn't need much in life, but with Merle gone, this partnership would give him a sense of direction. It gave him a chance to do something on his own, without Merle, that could be quite profitable. It was a chance to make something of himself, to make something out of nothing.

As they bade each other farewell and Daryl watched Zora's car disappear down the road, he also couldn't help thinking that he was already excited to see her again in a week's time. She had shaken his world upside down, but he realized that he liked it. He sighed and shook his head at himself before wandering into the shed to tinker with the still. It was time to start making moonshine.