Chapter 8 #2
“She was shit-faced,” Liam says as he leans against the brick wall of the brewery. He looks effortlessly cool.
I frown at him, annoyed without really having any reason to be.
“Still is, a little,” he continues as Hannah pulls me into a sideways hug. “But it’s nothing some coffee and freezing weather won’t eventually cure.”
I’m about to correct him when I start hiccuping, so I settle for saying, “Mildly tipsy. I need some water.”
Liam and Hannah exchange a knowing look, and then Hannah waves to someone behind me.
I turn to see a small knot of people approaching us—sweet Dottie from the tea shop, Sophie, and Sophie’s cousin Otis, who’s wearing a beanie cap shoved so low it almost covers his eyes and carrying a wilted bouquet of flowers.
“What’s this?” I ask, bewildered.
“Your welcoming party, dear,” Dottie says with a smile, engulfing me in a hug that smells like cinnamon.
I close my eyes for a second as I burrow into her, soaking in her calming spirit.
Hannah would roll her eyes, and Liam would definitely laugh, but I feel it.
Her energy is just like Great-Aunt Sky’s.
Soft and soothing, like warm water lapping at your feet in summer.
“I heard the good news, of course. I couldn’t be happier. ”
“Good news?” I repeat as I pull back.
“The best,” she insists as she pulls off her knitted cap, revealing freshly dyed lilac hair.
Dottie must be in her eighties, but she’s living her best life.
She owns a tea shop, lives with the man she refers to as “the second love of my life,” and only works when she feels like it.
Most of her time is spent with her family and her even bigger family of friends, including the club of senior citizens she refers to as the Wise Elders Group.
It includes both Eugene and Sophie’s great-aunt.
“I felt moved to do a tarot reading for you last night, and when I pulled the Ten of Cups card, I knew you’d finally be getting your castle. ”
“Doesn’t a person need to be present for you to read their tarot?” I ask, my brain sluggish.
“Oh, I don’t let things like that stop me.”
Hannah grins at her, shaking her head. “You let nothing stop you, and that’s why we all love you.”
“Takes one to know one, my dear,” Dottie says with a smile as Sophie swoops in and wraps me into a hug.
“It’s all going to be okay,” she whispers into my ear.
When I release her, Otis steps forward and shoves the flowers at me. They look a bit shriveled, but I smile at him. He’s a sweet kid.
“I left them in the car all morning,” he says in a rush of words, “but Sophie told me they were still pretty.”
Sophie grimaces beside him.
“I just wanted to say that I’d be so honored to help you, Briar,” he continues. “I’ll do anything you ask. Anything. I can work in the tasting room or whatever. Clean the place. You name it, I’m your guy.”
Sophie’s grimace turns into a frown.
“That’s really sweet, Otis,” I say, clutching the flowers to my chest. “But Sophie probably needs you.”
They’ve already soft-launched their new crafting business, The Crafty Monster, with pop-ups around the city, but they plan on opening a brick-and-mortar location within the year.
“Oh, it’s fine,” Sophie says quickly. “We can work our pop-up schedule around it. He really wants to help.”
So why was she frowning?
I’m still too impaired to figure it out, so I just smile at him. “Thank you. I’m probably going to take you up on that.”
He beams back at me. “You don’t even need to pay me if the budget is a problem. Doing you a favor is all the payment I need.”
“You’ll definitely be paid,” I insist. “Everyone who works for me will be paid.” Even if I have to sell off every gift my parents ever gave me. eBay was invented for a reason, wasn’t it?
“Let him work for free,” Hannah says breezily with a wave of her hand.
“We’ll see how much he likes it after a single shift of people spilling beer on him and telling him long, pointless stories.
” She slides her attention to him. “To be clear, Otis, it will be me doing both of those things. To prove you should never price your worth at zero. There, that’s a lesson for the ages. ”
He lifts his hands up. “Someone else can wait on you. Not it.”
Liam laughs under his breath, Hannah calls them both rude, and I fish out my keys.
As I unlock the front door, I suck in a deep, frosty breath that burns my lungs. This is going to be a defining moment—the first time I step into Silver Star as the owner. Maybe it won’t last long, me being in charge, but I want to enjoy it while it’s still mine.
Steeling myself, I push the door open and walk in.
It looks just the way it did last night—empty, with pretty, high-gloss picnic tables, a couple of booths, and a tinsel Christmas tree wedged into the corner.
The shiny walnut-wood bar is lined with twinkle lights, which I’d insisted on, and a pine garland.
I expected to feel something. Fulfilled, maybe. Scared, definitely. But I wasn’t expecting the smell.
It smells rotten.
“Oh, that’s interesting,” Otis says, scratching his head as he follows me inside, right on my heels like an overeager golden retriever. “Is that…it’s an earthy odor. Some people really like earthy things. Is that because it’s an organic brewery?”
Liam, who files inside last, exchanges a glance with Hannah.
“Yeah,” Liam says. “Someone must have stuck a fish in your radiator on their way out.”
“Why would they do that?” I sputter…and then remember the way everyone looked at me last night, their eyes mocking and full of disgust.
A bitter taste fills my mouth. They really do hate me. They hate me enough that they wanted me to walk in here this afternoon and smell dead fish.
“Why do people do anything?” Liam replies. “No big deal. I’ll hunt it down for you. I bet Oats here will even fry it up for us.”
“Oh…er…sure,” Otis says. “I’ve been cooking at home more. Haven’t I, Soph?”
Sophie gives Liam a reproachful look and straightens her ponytail. “Stop messing with Otis. I know how guys are, and I’ll tell you right here and now, there will be no hazing of any kind.”
Liam lifts his hands, flashing her an easy grin. “My mistake.” He nods to me. “Balls to the wall, Princess.”
“You should work on your motivational speeches,” I say, but suddenly I’m smiling.
Hannah scrunches her nose. “Yeah, so I think we’re going to have this sit-down next door. “No offense, Briar, but this place is rank.”
“Not to worry,” Dottie says. “We’ll clear that right up.
I have just the thing for nullifying bad energy.
My Wise Elders club already promised they’d help me with a psychic clearing later today.
But in the meantime, next door would do just fine.
They have that lovely brandy drink. The one with the milk and the egg whites. ”
My stomach lurches, and I run toward the bathroom.
“Oh, God,” Hannah groans. “Not another Code V.”
Someone follows me inside, and the next thing I’m aware of is a strong, capable hand pulling my long hair back into a knot. Shame curdles inside of me even before I vomit.
Because I know it’s Liam who’s holding my hair back.