6. Loosen Up
LOOSEN UP
“ W hat are you doing here?” Phoebe asked her brother, Ben, hours later.
“Mason and I were just doing a brewery tour at Fifth Kid.” Her brother looked at his boss and best friend. “Got a few things in the works.”
“Fifth Kid?” she asked.
“It’s a massive brewery about two miles from here on the outskirts of town. They have a different way of operating than us,” Mason said. “One that is going to benefit us both.”
“Shit yeah,” Ben said. “I can’t wait to get going on it.”
“It’s all over my head,” she said to them both. “But it might make sense why Ellen asked if I drank beer when I said I didn’t golf or ride horses.”
“Huh?” Ben asked.
They were in her office right now in the back. Ellen was closer to the front and couldn’t hear them.
“Ellen was telling me there isn’t much to do around here other than golf, horseback riding, or drinking beer.
I didn’t understand the beer comment, but it makes sense now.
I’ve heard a few people talking about traffic through town and thought they were joking about it.
This place seems dead to me most times.”
“It probably is when you’re coming into work or leaving,” Ben said. “But they’ve got a crazy amount of business going at the brewery and people have to pass through the town for it. It helps the town thrive.”
“I’ve done a lot of research on Fifth Kid and not only do they have a stellar reputation,” Mason said, “but the community is in full support of them and all they’ve done.”
“Which doesn’t normally happen with alcohol,” she said, surprised. Not in the South.
“No,” Ben said. “But they’ve brought a lot of employment to the area, and are adding to the taxes for the town, have donated for the improvements in the area. The owner is a great guy and well liked.”
“This couldn’t work out better,” Mason said.
“You two sound like a PSA. Or a member of the town the way you’re gossiping.”
Both Ben and Mason laughed at her. “Only stating the facts we’ve found,” Ben said.
“Which means you’ll be visiting more?” she asked Ben. “To check up on your baby sister?”
“Nah,” Ben said, waving his hand. “I don’t need to check up on you. You’ve always had your life under control just fine. But we’ll do most of the brewing for the collaboration in Charlotte.”
“Oh,” she said. She knew she sounded disappointed.
Was she so lonely already that she was wishing for any engagement from people?
“Do you miss me?” Ben asked, smirking. “It’s not like you’ve seen me much lately. You talk more with Eve.”
Eve Hall was Ben’s fiancée. She couldn’t wait for her brother to get married in about two months.
“I do,” she said. “How is she doing?”
“Good,” Ben said. “She said she hasn’t wanted to bug you too much knowing you were busy getting a lot of things set up. You’re good?”
“I am,” she said. “Even had my first snowstorm two days ago.”
Ben smirked. “I heard. Mom told Dad and Dad came in to get some beer the other day and we were chatting.”
She frowned. “I’m sure our dear brother Matt had a good laugh over it.”
She was honest about her frustration with the snow and her lack of preparation, but the town appeared to shut down completely.
All but Elias who didn’t seem to let much stop him from going to work either.
“He might have said a few things,” Ben said. “Like wishing he had a picture of you covered in snow.”
“I got a text from him wanting to know if I melted,” she said, snorting.
“As you can tell, I didn’t. I came into work and was the only one here for hours.
Had three interviews that day and two rescheduled for later.
The one who came on time, I gave her a second interview not that long ago and I’m going to hire her. ”
Kayla was young and fresh out of college. She was a local and liked the area but struggled to find a job without having to commute an hour or more, which she didn’t want to do.
It was almost as if they fell into each other’s lap.
Kayla was working part time nights right now somewhere but ready to start her career.
Phoebe got references and was going to call them when her brother and his boss walked in the door.
“She probably got extra points for just showing up on time,” Ben said. “You’re a ball buster on that.”
“There is nothing wrong with timeliness,” she said primly. “It’s a lost art that many need to learn to create again.”
Mason laughed. “I hear you. I’ve got enough staff running in the door exactly on time or a few minutes late.
They don’t seem to care that their shift starts at eight but they aren’t actually working for another fifteen to twenty minutes.
Punch in, put their food away, get a drink, chat with some people, then finally get on the floor. ”
“That would drive me insane,” she said. She was almost shivering over it.
“Loosen up, Phoebe,” Ben said. “Some things in life aren’t so strict anymore.”
“Tell that to a judge,” she said. “You don’t have to deal with those things like I do.”
She had to get to know more people in the community too.
Officials, legal, and professionals. Get her name out there so they knew the reputation of her firm and the kind of attorney that she was.
Talk to more people than those who only seemed to want to gossip.
Urgh!
In Charlotte, she didn’t have that worry. The Kelly name spoke for itself.
She told herself she wasn’t going to rest on her family name though.
She was going to put the work in and she would.
“You’ve got a point,” Ben said. “Which is why you are worrying about that and all I care about is if my next batch tastes good enough to drink it all when I get to sample it.”
Mason snorted. “You make it sound as if you have no stress,” he said. “You get just as frustrated as me if something goes wrong. And half the time if something does we don’t even know what it was.”
“How can you not know?” she asked, frowning.
“Because sometimes it could be the temperature was off one degree. Or an ingredient wasn’t good. Though not spoiled, it failed to meet our standards. One minor change can have a large effect on taste and many don’t realize that.”
“Are you two going to get mad if I say it all tastes the same to me?”
“Yes,” they both said at once.
“Well then, guess you know where I stand. Are you sure you have to get on the road now? I’ve got a few things to do, but would love to take you to dinner.”
“We need to get back,” Ben said. “We’ll already be fighting traffic by the time we get into Charlotte on a Friday night.”
“You both just want to get home to your family,” she said.
“I see my wife all day long,” Mason said. “Which I have to admit works for us, but it might not for many.”
She knew Mason met his wife when she was in college and worked for him doing brewery tours. It was kind of a fun romantic story now, but Phoebe would never admit that she had a romantic bone in her body.
That might show a weakness to someone. At least in her professional life.
And that was about all she had going for her now.
Pathetic, but at least it was something.
“I wouldn’t have a problem working with Eve,” Ben said. “But I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want to work with me. She’s more straitlaced at work. Just like you, Phoebe.”
“Which might be why Eve and I get along so well,” she said. She moved closer to her brother and hugged him. “I’m glad you stopped in to see me while you were here. Do you think you’ll be back at all?”
“We’ll be back at some point,” Ben said. “Even if it’s just to visit you, but I’m sure it will be in a work capacity.”
“I think we’ll have a long line of work with Elias,” Mason said. “Yeah, we’ll be back.”
She walked her brother and Mason out, then returned to her desk.
Elias, huh? What were the odds of that name being said twice in one day?
It wasn’t very common to her, but not unheard of.
She had more important things to think about than a sexy guy who made her heart race, so she got back to work.
Might as well check references and get Kayla hired.
She pulled the paper out and saw the first reference was for a restaurant in town and called, but had to leave a message since they hadn’t opened yet.
The second one was for Fifth Kid Brewery. Too funny.
She placed that call next and got through to Human Resources, verified employment and that was pretty much all they’d say.
Common again, but still frustrating.
Guess she’d have to go with her gut with Kayla, and since her gut rarely steered her wrong, she picked up the phone to offer the young woman a job.