Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
brIAR
The next morning, I get more calls from unhappy clients. I’m able to talk a few of them around, but a couple demand their money back. I’m trying not to panic. We have the New Year’s party coming up, and once people have tried Liam’s beer, they’ll want it on tap.
So I focus on the good things:
My great-aunt texted me this morning to say she will be coming to our New Year’s party after all. She’s staying at my parents’ house, which isn’t great news, but I doubt they’ll want to join her at the party after our argument last night.
Liam is carbonating our second beer, and he says the third will be ready to carbonate by the middle of the week. We’re moving right along. Our plan is working. We just need more time.
And we’re going on a date tonight.
Before long, it’s early afternoon. Liam and I are standing side by side in the tasting room. He gives me a sidelong look that fills my soul with buttery yellow light and then tugs out his phone. A second later, my cell buzzes in my pocket.
I check it, holding back a smile.
Meet me at the brewery at 7
I’ll be waiting on our couch
I raise my eyebrows at him, then respond:
What’ll you be doing?
I hear his intake of breath, a cough suppressing a laugh. Then he responds:
Just waiting. You’re worth waiting for.
I hate myself a little for saying that, and more for meaning it.
[Kiss emoji]
He glances at me, then types:
This is ridiculous.
“My lord.” Ann clucks her tongue. “You young people and your phones.” She gestures to Otis, who has his phone out too. “This boy’s hardly ever off his. Always swiping left, right, up, and down.”
Otis’s ears go red. “I offered to teach you,” he mutters.
“Ain’t no real men on there,” Ann says, shaking her head. “All the old men on there are looking for twenty-year-old women to fool into their beds. You saw it as well as I did, son.”
“There are other apps,” Otis says, glancing down the length of the bar to make sure no one’s waiting on the drink. It’s a thin crowd today. “I found one called Golden Companions that I thought you might like. We can take a look now, while things are slow.”
I smile at Liam, overcome by the sweetness of this community we’ve created.
Smiling back, he says, “Say, boss, can you help me with something in the back? I need a hand.”
“No problem.”
He leads the way into the back. I follow him through the door, then down the steps and behind the vat that held the pale ale, which is now being prepped to brew a new beer.
As soon as we’re hidden, he takes my hand. “I have some good news. Hannah knows about us, and she didn’t cut my balls off. She did, however, ambush me in my apartment with all the lights off and scare the shit out of me.”
I laugh, but it feels like a hand is squeezing my heart. “And she’s really okay with us? She thinks I’m good enough for you?”
“Oh, Princess,” he says with a crooked smile. “That was never her worry.”
I give him a gentle push. “You promoted me to queen. You can’t un-promote me.”
He grins and kisses me, right there in our brewery, and I like it. I like it so much.
“I have to go get some more supplies,” he says, running his fingers across my cheek. “I’ll be back soon. I’m looking forward to tonight.”
“Me too.”
He leaves through the back door, and I duck into my office to make a few phone calls. After the last one, I head into the tasting room to check on everything—and nearly bump directly into Hannah, who’s trying to squeeze past Otis.
“I wouldn’t let her through,” Otis tells me.
Hannah rolls her eyes. “You’re lucky I like your cousin. I told you. Briar is expecting me.” She gives me a significant look. “Or she should have been.”
“Do you…uh…want to go for a walk?” I ask, fidgeting with my hair. I’ve never felt uncomfortable around Hannah before, but I do now. She might be mostly okay with me dating Liam, but I still broke my word to her. I lied. I was a shitty friend.
“Sure.”
I grab my coat, and we step out into the chill day. We walk a block without either of us saying anything, and then I pull her toward the building beside us so we’re not blocking the sidewalk.
“I…Liam told me you know about us.”
She nods dramatically. “Of course I do. Do you honestly think you could hide this from me? I mean…I had my suspicions weeks ago, when he practically vaulted into the bathroom so he could hold your hair while you vomited. I mean, who the fuck does that?”
Surprised laughter bursts from me. “I don’t think he did that because he liked me.”
“Uh. Huh. Sure. And he up and cancelled his plans to visit our dad and brother in Boston for Christmas.”
I gasp. Oh Liam. Of course he did it without saying anything.
“I didn’t know he did that.”
“Of course you didn’t. He tried to play it off like it was nothing, but he can’t fool me.
” She runs a finger across the concrete siding, hesitating, then says, “Look…I was still a bit upset when I got home last night, but Travis reminded me that Liam would never have broken his promise to me if he wasn’t really serious about it.
So…what I have to know is whether you’re really serious too. ”
I don’t have to do any self-searching to answer her. Not anymore.
“Yes. We really tried to stay away from each other.”
“Yeah, I know all about that.” She sighs.
“You’re aware of how Travis and I met. Do you want to get a drink so you can tell me everything?
” She lifts her hands. “Not the sex stuff. I’m open-minded, but not that open-minded.
I’m just going to assume every Moroney is a tornado in the sack and leave it at that. ”
That’s so Hannah. My cheeks are burning, but I can only smile at her. “Yeah, I’d like to have that drink.”
Hours later, I let myself back in through the front door of the brewery, buzzing with the need to see Liam.
Talking to Hannah felt…God, it felt so good to be fully honest with her after weeks of lying by omission. She actually teared up when I told her that Liam had told me about Julia—and then punched me in the arm for making her cry.
After we hugged it out and went our separate ways, I went home and got dressed for my dinner with Liam.
A green sweater dress, since green feels like a significant color for us now, and thick black stockings to keep me from freezing.
I wore his coat over it, because I like it better than mine.
It still smells like him, and every time I put it on, it’s like I’m getting a big Liam hug.
Despite everything that’s still standing in our way, I feel…giddy and happy. Just happy.
When I reach the office, he’s waiting for me on our couch, his arm slung across the back.
He’s wearing a green sweater that matches my dress, a coincidence that nearly makes me laugh with pleasure.
The color brings out the gorgeous color of his hair, and he’s wearing a pair of worn jeans that fits him so well poems should be written about it.
I want to climb onto him. I want to sink into him.
From the way he’s looking at me, taking in my dress and his jacket, he feels the same way.
“You ready to step away, boss?” he asks, lifting his eyebrows.
“I think I’d go anywhere with you.”
“That’s good, because we’re going back to Sunshine Diner.”
“Very funny,” I say as he rises to his feet.
“We still haven’t tried everything on their dinner menu. Maybe they have one perfect dish.”
“I doubt it.” I wrap a hand around his arm and hold his gaze. “Hannah and I talked.”
“Was she rude to you?” he grumbles.
“No. I think she just wants us both to be happy.”
He layers his hand over mine and smiles. “Then she should be thrilled. Come with me.”
I expect him to lead me outside, but he takes me down the hall to the barrel room.
I open the door, and the magical sight inside makes me gasp. The table is set for two, and there’s a charcuterie board set on top of it. Also two champagne glasses and a carafe full of—
“Our beer,” I say in wonder.
He and Otis kegged it earlier today.
“Our beer.” He grins. “But first I have an offering for you.”
He leads me to the side of the room, where one barrel sits against the wall. It has a huge square topper, as if someone decided to turn it into a table, covered with a red velvet cloth.
He tugs off the covering, smiling at me like a magician revealing a rabbit.
A gasp rips from my lungs.
I’m very familiar with this particular piece of wood, having sat beneath it, under threat of squashing, for years.
“Liam. The rules. How…?”
“Probably exactly how you’d think.”
“But that’s so dangerous.” I step forward and put both of my hands on his chest, needing to touch him and reassure myself that he’s whole. “They have an alarm system, and—”
He wraps an arm around me. “Cormac’s a genius, it turns out.
He disabled it temporarily and helped me get the plaque out of the house.
The kid was our getaway driver. Your great-aunt Sky says hi, by the way.
She showed up while Cormac’s hand was caught in this metal scrollwork in the hallway.
She gave us her blessing. I wanted to tell you earlier, but I didn’t want to ruin the surprise. ”
“You met my aunt?” Tears form in my eyes. “She didn’t mention anything earlier.”
“I think she knew it was supposed to be a surprise. She told me I have a cute butt.”
“You do.” I hug him closer. “But I wish you hadn’t done something so dangerous for me.”
He pulls back slightly, looking me in the eye. “I’d do more for you. I had to do something.”
I can hear the meaning behind his words. He’d needed to make a move against my father after what my dad had done to me—what he was still doing to me. And Liam had made a calculated risk instead of acting off the cuff.
This was a statement. No, we will not be playing by his rules.
“What are we going to do with it?” I ask.
“Whatever you want. Burn it. Make a crown out of it.” His mouth lifts higher on one side. “I kind of like that idea. We could crown you at midnight tomorrow.”