9. Caleb
Chapter nine
“I don’t know if I’m cut out for this industry if that’s how all your business meetings go.”
Isabelle is stretched out over the leather couch in the corner of my office as I bring up the contact details for my video meeting in a few minutes.
“It wasn’t that bad, Iz.” I chuckle.
“I vomited blue, OG,” she says without a hint of humour.
“Are you staying for this call? It’s the distiller Gage wants to use for Smoke and Barrel, but I also want to know more about his process and potentially invest in the business myself.” I notice Isabelle still at the mention of my brother’s name.
I’ve been trying to get my brother to explain that photo Beth took, but he’s been dodging my calls and texts ever since.
When I show up at The Wayside, he just tells me he’s too busy to stop.
At family dinner, he makes sure to immerse himself in other conversations and never lets me catch him alone.
Maybe nothing happened between them. Perhaps they were just that hungover on the plane that they fell asleep. Next to each other. Snuggling. Platonically. I don’t think I’ve ever talked such shit to myself, but that’s where we’re at.
Isabelle clears her throat and points to my screen. “Should we dial in? ”
“Yes.” I set up the call to connect with Dylan Morgan, the owner of Jedidiah’s Tavern and Legacy Malt.
Within a few seconds, the camera comes to life, showing a young, smiling guy on the other side.
His dark blond hair looks windswept, his skin bronzed, no doubt, by hours in the sun.
He looks like the ultimate small-town surfer boy.
“Morning!” He waves a hand in greeting.
“Good morning, I’m Isabelle Asher. I’m a brand and marketing manager here at Heart Assets. This is Caleb Heart, our director.”
“Dylan Morgan. I own Jedidiah’s.”
“Thanks for sitting with us this morning, Dylan,” I say. “You met with my brother, Gage, the other week to share some whiskey you had developed. I was hoping to find out more about that endeavour.”
He smiles as he claps his hands together, the move revealing a trident tattoo riding up under his forearm. It makes my brain tickle with recognition.
“Sure. I’ve owned Jed’s for almost ten years.
I took over after my dad passed away. Whiskey was a passion we shared, so it holds an important part of my connection to my old man.
He distilled one flavour profile himself that was only sold here in the pub, but I want to take Legacy Malt further.
Eventually, I'd like to extend the pub into a full-scale distillery and tasting room.” He chuckles over the last tidbit.
“Need a little more capital before that can happen, but that’s my sister’s wheelhouse. I’m just making and tasting.”
“So, you and your sister own Jed’s together?” Isabelle asks.
Dylan nods. “Her name’s on all the papers, but she doesn’t work here. She actually lives in Heart City. She’s been doing a business and marketing degree and working at a bar to gain her own insight into the industry that she can bring back home when the distillery is ready to take off.”
“How many recipes do you have now?” I ask .
“Dad’s original one is an eighteen-year. I’ve developed four more since I started.”
“That’s great,” Isabelle says.
“And, in terms of the distillery itself,” I start, “you said your sister will handle the business side. Does she have a business plan we can review?”
His eyes light up, and he reaches behind him to grab his phone from a shelf lined with photos.
I can make out an older gentleman with dark caramel hair and a huge grin, and a young girl with the same dark blonde hair as Dylan.
I see a flash of red in another photo beside it, but the rest is cut off as Dylan re-centres himself in view.
“I’ll see what she’s got and get her to send it through.”
“If she has a three and five-year plan, that would be great. Budget analysis for remodelling your current premises to accommodate the distillery extension, too,” I say.
“Could you have her include me in the email? I’ll forward my details to you now from Caleb’s computer.” Isabelle brings up my emails to send Dylan the details while my mind fixates again on that trident tattoo on his forearm. I feel like I’ve seen a trident recently.
“I’ll get her to jump straight onto that.”
“I’ll have Isabelle set up a meeting with both of you, along with Gage, to discuss Smoke and Barrel, and then, once your sister’s plan comes through, I’ll set up another meeting for us to talk more about your distillery.”
“Great. Yep. That—That’s great.” I can recognise the excitement in his voice.
This is a guy with a dream that’s becoming firmer to hold in his grasp.
It’s fuelling adrenaline in my bloodstream.
I love working with new businesses. I love working with people who are passionate and driven in their endeavours.
This isn’t just a money-maker. Dylan has personal stakes in this idea. Just like I have in Heart Assets .
It’s something that carries the pride of our family name.
Something I want to carry forward with my own children.
That seems like a faraway dream, though, and why everything I felt when I was with Lex scared me so much.
Before I learnt the full weight of responsibility and attention the Heart name garnered, I was burned by a conniving woman, and I’ve been too stubborn to try again. Especially if it’s tied to my business.
When Dylan reaches forward to end the call with an animated thanks, my eyes narrow in on that photo I saw earlier behind him.
It’s too far away to make out any real details, but a whip of blurred red makes me think of one thing.
Lex. Now I remember where I’ve seen a trident recently.
Perched on her shoulder, and smelling of coconuts.
She also wore a trident tattoo, and now it feels like a song calling me in. An undeniable arrow pointing me down a path I’ve never travelled and one I’m not sure how I can avoid.
I’ve been to The Wayside the last two weekends, hoping to bump into her.
At first, it was to convince myself she was real.
I’d started to think I’d conjured this perfect woman in my mind, and that was the reason I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
She was like a dream that was fading the more daylight pulled me into reality, and I was desperately trying to hold on.
A woman has never had this kind of claim on my attention before.
I’m starting to find it hard to concentrate.
Most mornings, I wake up ready to work, to immerse myself in deals, reports and new opportunities.
I go home at night excited about what Heart Assets is creating for the future. Now, I wake up wondering about Lex.
Is she thinking about me? Has she been back at my brother’s bar looking for me, too? I find it hard to believe that I could have missed her with the way I watched the door like a fiend all the nights I’ve been back since .
I don’t know if I should just give up and let myself naturally get over her with time. Maybe I’ll give it one last week of stalking The Wayside. No, not stalking. Surveying.
Yeah, that’s totally better, you creep.