Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
Reid
There was no way around it. I knew it going in. Still, I didn’t expect family dinner to be quite so obnoxious, with every member of my family alternating between offering me congratulations and cursing me out for lying to them.
I guess I deserved it.
Still.
Now that the truth was out and there were no more secrets about anything, you’d think they’d just let it go.
We were married.
Avery was part of the family.
She wasn’t losing the inn.
Everything was good now.
They needed to get over it.
And they would.
But I knew my siblings and I knew that they loved any opportunity to give one another a hard time. I also knew that, as a general rule, we didn’t lie to one another. And despite how many times my brothers told me they understood, I know it still stung that I’d deceived them—or tried to—in such a major way.
I was going to feel bad about that for a while. And that was mostly why every time I was the butt of one of their jokes at the family dinner, or they raised their glasses in yet another toast to the happy couple , I simply swallowed down my annoyance and smiled.
Besides, celebrating Avery and the fact that not only was she legally my wife, but she was really my wife, was never going to get old.
I looked at her now across the room, talking with my twin, and felt such a surge of love it took me by surprise.
“That’s not a look I’m used to seeing on your face, brother.” Ethan elbowed me sharply in the ribs as he sat down next to me. He handed me a glass of beer. “Try this one. It’s a lager.”
I took a sip. “I like this one.” I wiped my lips with the back of my hand. “Way better than that hoppy shit.”
“Hey. IPAs are very popular right now.”
“Sure they are.” I shook my head and took another drink of the crisp, cool liquid. “With the hipster, bougie crowd. But real men like real beer. I’m glad to see you’re going to offer some drinkable brews.”
Ethan laughed and smacked me on the back. “It’s good to see that marriage hasn’t softened all the grump right out of you,” he said. “You wouldn’t be the same old Reid if you weren’t still a grumpy asshole.”
I scowled at him and shook my head.
“Seriously, brother. I know we’re giving you a hard time, but we’re all really happy for you both. Avery’s awesome.”
“She sure is.”
“Obviously we would have preferred it if you’d let us in on the secret, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that we understand. It was a complicated situation.”
To say the least. No one was happier than I that it was over and done with.
The day after Judge Baker’s final decision, Avery and I, along with her lawyer, William, had joined him in his office to sign off officially on the paperwork. Shortly after, I had William draw up the paperwork that would put the inn in Avery’s name only.
I planned to spend the rest of my life with her running the Tamarack Inn, raising a family, and generally being happier than I ever had in my whole life.
But the inn was hers. It always had been and it always would be.
“How did Mom handle the news?” Ethan asked, and I groaned.
Calling our mother and telling her about my marriage to Avery for the first time had been difficult, but somehow she’d appreciated the romance of the story I’d spun for her that we just couldn’t imagine waiting a moment longer and rushed into our vows.
When I told her the truth, she was less understanding and had given me a piece of her mind. Not that I expected any less. I knew that once she met Avery, all would be forgotten. She’d always wanted a daughter, and there was no doubt she’d fall in love with her daughter-in-law just as quickly as everyone else had.
“She’ll be okay,” I told him. “Or she won’t.” I shrugged. “I can’t change things now.” Nor would I want to. Although I didn’t love everything about the way it went down, I wouldn’t change it because, at the end of it all, I got Avery. And that’s all that mattered.
Ethan laughed and raised his glass to me. “Congrats, brother.” We clinked glasses.
I’d just taken a drink of my beer when Quinn ran up behind me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders in an aggressive bear hug. “Uncle Reid! Did you hear the news?”
Somehow I managed to swallow my beer before reaching around me and grabbing my niece in an effort to unwind her from my back. I took a moment to give her an extra hug. I was lucky my niece was so easygoing.
I’d begged her for forgiveness and done my best to explain why the whole situation was necessary in a way that a twelve-year-old might understand. I needn’t have worried, though. Quinn had only shrugged, told me she thought Avery was great and made me swear that she wouldn’t interfere with our ice cream dates, and that was the end of it.
“What news?” I asked when I finally had her in front of me.
“Dad’s opening an official brewery,” she said excitedly. “It’s going to have tables and chairs and everything like a proper bar but it’s not a bar,” she added quickly, looking at her dad. “Because Dad said I won’t be able to go into a bar. But a brewery is different, so even though it will be full of beer, it’s cool for me to hang out there.”
I waited until my niece had stopped spewing words at me before looking at Ethan. “A brewery? Like a real one?”
He laughed. “Yup. Turns out that even with all your woodworking crap out of there, the shed still isn’t big enough. I decided to go for it and give it a shot. Why not?”
“Why not?” I grinned and raised my glass. “I’ll cheers to that. Especially with this very drinkable, manly beer.”
He laughed. “Thanks, brother. It’s not as exciting as your news, but I’m pretty thrilled about it.”
“I’d say. And it’s very exciting. I can’t believe you didn’t say anything sooner.”
Ethan shrugged.
It was Quinn who offered more details. “Dad said you had enough going on that we shouldn’t bother you with?—”
“It’s not a bother.”
“That’s not how I meant it.” Ethan shot his daughter a look.
I chuckled and shook my head. Quinn was the truth-teller in the family, for sure. She definitely kept us all on our toes. “Okay, fill me in.”
Happily, Ethan spent the next few minutes filling me in, and I couldn’t have been happier for my brother. It had been his dream for years to have his own business in Trickle Creek and a brewery was a perfect fit.
“Now that you have your own shop, I want you to make the bar tops for the brewery. I want to show off your talent.”
“I’d really like that, brother.” The warm glow of pride filled me. “Thank you. Really. It means a lot that you’d ask.”
“Of course.” He grinned. “I know you’re busy with the inn, so you have some time. But not too much.”
I got the sense I didn’t have much time at all. “When are you opening exactly, Ethan?”
“Well…”
“Ethan.”
My brother laughed, and once again, it was his daughter who gave him up. “Dad already got the space.”
“Is that right? Where is it?”
“In the old Chinese food spot next to the bookstore at the west end of the plaza.”
“Really?” I was genuinely surprised. “I actually don’t think I’ve been in there.” The property was often referred to as the old Chinese restaurant, but it had been vacant for almost ten years. “Next to the bookstore?”
“Isn't it great?” Quinn piped up. “I love that store. I could live there.”
“Yeah.” Ethan lowered his voice. “Except I don’t actually think the owner feels the same way.”
I gave my brother a look. “About Quinn living in her shop, or the fact that you’re moving in next door?”
He raised his eyebrows, and I laughed.
“I’m sure that Delaney will be fine with it. I’ve met her a few times, and she seems like a reasonable person. And I get the impression she’s pretty quiet, but I’m sure she’ll be a good neighbor.”
“Delaney’s great!” Quinn offered. “She knows so much about books and she lets me read as many as I want.”
“It’s not a library,” Ethan said with a shake of his head before focusing on me again. “I hope she’ll be a good neighbor. Because there’s no turning back. The equipment is supposed to come by the end of August.”
“August?”
“Well, we won’t open then. But I was aiming for Thanksgiving.”
“Thanksgiving? As in Canadian Thanksgiving? In October?”
“Obviously Canadian Thanksgiving.” Ethan shook his head with a chuckle. “Think you can handle that schedule?”
It would be tight if we wanted the inn to open for the Labor Day long weekend, but for my brother, I’d do it. “No problem.”
“I knew I could count on you.”
Avery’s laughter on the other side of the backyard caught my attention. She looked so light and free, with her head thrown back in laughter at something Grayson and Preston said. She was always stunning, but in the last few days as the stress of the inn and the finances had cleared up, she had a whole new glow about her. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
I’d been apart from my wife for too long. “Ifyou’ll excuse me.” I stood and made my excuses to Quinn and Ethan. “I think it’s time I got my beautiful wife home.”
“But it’s so early! Why do they have to go so early?” I heard Quinn protest, and Ethan answered with a chuckle and a reassurance that she’d understand when she was older.