Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
“Some people seem to get all sunshine, and some all shadow…” Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
T he sun’s rays caressed Nat’s bare shoulders as she stepped out of her sunshine yellow Jeep. Moving toward the brewery’s backdoor, the heels of her strappy tan sandals clacked against the blacktop parking lot. Most customers entered through the main entrance at the front of the red brick building. She wasn’t most customers, though. She was family.
She had no memory of a life without Noah Wilson. His dimpled grin meeting hers across the room during her parents’ annual Christmas party. Those ocean-blue eyes sparking with mischief when they teamed up against Mom and Clayton in a game of cornhole at the Wilson’s Memorial Day BBQ. The song of his laughter filling the dining room after teasing her at a joint Wilson/Owens family dinner. The two families were always intertwined.
“Nat!” Elle looped her arms around Nat when she walked into the bar area.
Over the last year, she’d grown close with Elle. The auburn-haired beauty was once her favorite day camp arts and crafts instructor when she was a little girl. Now, one of her long-time favorite people was marrying one of her other favorite people.
“Look at you!” Nat took Elle’s right hand, twirling the soon-to-be bride. The skirt of her purple halter maxi dress glided with the movement.
“Well, I must keep up with my dazzling soon-to-be sister.”
The use of “sister” rather than “sister-in-law” fizzed like happy bubbles through Nat’s bloodstream. She’d been a sister but had never had one. She’d be willing to wear any bridesmaid fashion monstrosity for the privilege of calling Elle her sister. The pledge was true, but no real fear in ugly dresses. The fashionista bride would ensure all outfits were on point.
“Look at you in that dress!” Elle cooed. “Best stay clear of Aunt Janet. She may pull out a ruler to nag you about its questionable length.” She pointed a manicured purple fingertip at the hem of Nat’s pale green dress which stopped mid-thigh.
Outside of the clinic, where she wore her "take me seriously” knee-length pencil skirts paired with a not-so-serious pair of fun ballet flats, Nat liked to accentuate her petite legs with short skirts. The shorter the better. She had no insecurity about her body. She embraced it for what it was and wasn’t, but she still enjoyed the illusion of having long legs like Elle.
“It is a little too short. Maybe wear a jacket.” Clayton strode up, forehead creased and finger wagging.
Pressing a peck to his cheek, Elle teased, “Don’t be a hypocrite about your sister’s short dress when you’re flashing those sexy forearms with your rolled up sleeves.”
“ These ?” His lips tugged up with devilish delight as he flexed his forearms before capturing Elle’s mouth in a slow kiss.
“Sister present!” Nat groaned, covering her face with her hands. “Goddess, between our parents’ eye-banging at the clinic and you two, I’m going to need a whole lot of therapy and alcohol to get through tonight.”
“Mom and Dad eye-banging? Well, that killed the mood.” He winced, looping an arm around his fiancée’s waist.
“How do you think I feel? They’re in their sixties and are gettin’ busy more than me.”
“There should be no gettin’ busy, young lady, especially while you’re staying at the Little Red Barn.” Clayton’s mouth formed a wry grin.
At the end of May, Nat moved into Clayton’s renovated barn turned Airbnb living space. The former occupant had been Elle, who’d rented it for a month last summer. Of course, her residency in the actual barn lasted barely two weeks. Upon her return to Perry, she and Clayton quickly dove into their love cocoon. In December, she moved back to Perry and officially into his farmhouse. After that, Clayton no longer listed the red barn, despite the demand for chic country spots. With Elle living with him, the overprotective Clayton didn’t want “strangers” staying on the property.
Thank the goddess, because the Little Red Barn was a far better alternative for Nat than moving back into her childhood bedroom. It allowed her to settle into life in Perry while deciding whether she wanted to buy a house or continue to rent. She insisted on paying rent, even if Clayton had yet to cash her monthly checks.
“Can I remind you of the things we’ve done on the counter of the Little Red…” Elle’s words were stopped by a red-faced Clayton placing a hand over her mouth.
“Gross! This is why I insisted on having that place professionally cleaned before I moved in,” Nat grumbled.
They tried to cover their blushes with apologetic smiles. Tried but didn’t necessarily succeed.
She motioned for them to scoot. “Go mingle.”
She was always going to indulge in little sister teasing and groaning at Clayton and Elle’s inability to keep their hands off each other, but happiness spread in her chest as she watched them melt in each other’s embrace as they accepted congratulations from their guests.
“They’re so happy.” A deep baritone murmured into her ear, and the scent of fresh pine, reminiscent of a Christmas tree farm, swirled around Nat.
“Yeah.” She turned, facing the calm waters of Noah’s eyes.
With an unabashed grin, he claimed the stool beside her at the farm barrel-turned-high-top table. Embers sparked in the mere inches between them. Like the flick of a match, that heat tiptoed up her body and ignited tiny crackling fires at every nerve-ending.
“It’s weird. This will be my second best man speech for Clayton, but I’m more nervous about this one.”
“Why?” Head tilted, she gripped the pint glass, thankful the condensation on the surface cooled the heated charge zipping through her with his proximity.
How did Noah still have this power over her? The schoolgirl crush she’d had on her big brother’s best friend should have faded with adulthood. With every boyfriend. With every bad Tinder date. With every one-night stand after too many tequila shots.
“This one counts. Really counts. This one will be forever. I think I knew, even before standing next to him at the church when he married Marianne, that she wasn’t his soulmate. Who knew his soulmate was the girl he’d had a crush on since he was fourteen?”
Her smile bloomed large. “You knew. You always knew.”
Most people only saw the amiable businessman, good-looking former high school football player, or modest veteran. Just like Nat, he fit in a single box in Perry, but she knew there was far more to him.
Most people never realized that Noah saw much more than what was visible. He was the first one to see the love Clayton had for Elle when it was merely a crush stoked in the flames of secrecy within his teenage heart. He was the first one to see the seeds of love growing inside Elle when she’d reconnected with Clayton last summer. Behind the scenes, he’d gardened that budding romance, helping them bloom with each other.
“Don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation to protect.” A self-deprecating lilt filled his voice.
“And what’s this reputation we’re protecting?”
He cocked his head to the right, his lips curved up in a playful smirk. “Well, Clayton is the perceptive one who sees everything. I’m the smiling best friend who’s good with fluffy social interactions. The good-time-guy.”
“You’re not a ‘good-time-guy’,” she scoffed, making air quotes with her hands.
“Are you saying I’m not a good time?” he said with mock dismay. “Here I thought you enjoyed being around me.”
Goddess, did she ever, but he was more than just that. The idea of him not seeing that, even in jest, caused a fury in her belly. “You’re more than just a welcoming smile with funny anecdotes at parties.”
He nodded, a small smile on his face.
“But I’ll keep that to myself. Your secret’s safe with me.” She winked.
“I can always count on you.” He placed his large hand atop hers.
An electric tingle pulsed from his palm into her body, fanning those bonfires into a raging forest fire within her. Warmth crept up her neck and heated her cheeks.
“Are you okay? You look flushed.”
“Yes. Just warm in here.” A small catch stole her breath.
Their gazes tethered. Maybe it was just her moth-like gaze refusing to look away from the flame of his eyes, but for a moment, it seemed as if he was as drawn to her as she was to him.
His fingers skated across the heated skin of her hand in soothing strokes. “Do you want to go?—”
His words were snatched from a loud voice bellowing from the bar. “Hey, Prince Charming!” Todd, Noah’s business partner, peeked over the heads of partygoers crowded at the barndoor paneled bar.
“Todd?” Noah blew out a long breath, twisting toward the bar.
“Stop flirting with Clayton’s sister and come help me!” Todd’s face pinched with annoyance.
“I’m not flirting with Clayton’s sister.”
Gut punch. Nat’s smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“Duty… well, Todd calls.” Noah jumped up and strode to the bar.
Just the sister. Nat frowned and gulped her ale. While Noah’s eyes saw so much, she feared that in his eyes she’d always be Clayton’s little sister.
Nat meandered through the party chatting with the guests. It was a mixture of family and friends. Elle’s two besties, Viet and Willa, held court in the corner of the room surrounded by Elle’s Uncle Pete and cousin Tobey.
It felt a little too unrequited for Nat to stand, with a longing gaze, in the opposite corner of the bar watching Noah. A carefree expression on his face as he whispered something in Willa’s ear. Head bobbing in laughter, her long caramel locks tumbled over her pretty face.
Nat’s fingers curled tightly around her drink as she took in the sight. It wasn’t the first time she’d witnessed the flirtation that flew between Noah and Willa, which had been a topic of conversation with Elle and Clayton. Nat observed it first-hand in May after Willa had flown in for the Farmer’s Ale Grand Opening. Both Noah and Willa insisted they were just friends, but who flies cross-country to come to a brewery opening in Perry, New York for a “friend” you’d barely known for a year?
Not buying it.
A frown formed on Nat’s lips with each caress of Willa’s fingers down Noah’s muscular arm. The sultriness in her eyes as she looked at Noah like he was the last Oreo in the package even caused Nat’s temperature to tick up.
Of course he was drawn to Willa. The sexy curves and flirtatious personality aside, she was brilliant, warm, and not his best friend’s little sister.
I could never be Willa.
“What are we frowning at?” Summer Michaels’ soft voice broke into Nat’s self-loathing.
She sighed, “Nothing.”
“Looks like that nothing is flirting with Willa.”
Ugh. Can’t get anything past her. She nodded.
Since coming back to Perry, Summer and Nat had formed an unexpected friendship. The single mom, nine years older than Nat, had gone to high school with Elle, Clayton, and Noah. To say Elle and Summer were high school besties was like saying great whites and seals were snuggle buddies. Summer wasn’t just the former great white, but the Regina George of Perry. That was high school, though, and neither she nor Elle were the girls they’d been. After reconnecting last summer, the two became close friends.
Nat soon followed. After meeting at the Owens’ annual Christmas party, they formed a fast friendship. What started as superficial bonds over a shared love of Disney movies, their favorite book Little Women , and being terrible cooks soon deepened.
Besides Elle, Summer was the closest friend Nat had in Perry. She was the only person who knew about Nat’s long-standing crush on Noah. Elle knew that she had a crush as a little girl but had no idea that the fascination lingered like a mosquito that just wouldn’t fucking leave no matter how often she’d swatted at it.
“I’m pathetic,” Nat muttered, pressing her hands against her face.
Summer squeezed Nat’s bare arm. “You’re not pathetic. You’re scared.”
“I’m scared?” she scoffed.
Summer’s brows lifted. “You’re scared to tell him how you feel.”
“It’s just a crush. It will go away.”
“A crush that you’ve had since you were ten. Eighteen years and that crush hasn’t died yet.”
“Can we talk about something else?” Nat rolled her eyes. “Can we discuss how fabulous this place looks?” She gestured to the twinkling purple lights crisscrossing the ceiling beams and tables bedecked with mason jars full of purple daisies and tiny barrel-shaped candles.
“Thanks.” Bashful pride sparkled in Summer’s dark brown eyes.
Before Summer moved back to Perry eight years ago, pregnant with her son, Liam, she worked in New York City as an event planner. Over the last few months, Carmen Herrera, the Village Mayor, convinced her to revive her skills. She’d managed several village events, including the upcoming fall fest. Several local businesses and individuals had also hired her to plan parties and events. She’d organized the Farmer’s Ale Grand Opening. Now, she was helping Elle and Clayton plan their wedding and pre-wedding events.
“I see you both are sans drinks. I come bearing liquid courage.” Todd sauntered up, carrying a tray with a stemless glass of rosé and a pint of ale.
“Liquid courage? For what?” Summer’s expression twisted with confusion.
“We’re some of the only single people at an engagement party.” Todd handed both ladies fresh drinks, then slid the tray under his muscular right arm.
“No courage needed. I prefer being single.” Summer tossed her long chestnut hair behind her shoulder and sipped her wine.
The green in Todd’s eyes sparked as he studied Summer’s pink tongue darting out to lick excess wine off her red lips. Her gaze remained on Nat, oblivious to his attention.
Amusement curled Nat’s lips while she watched the game of crushing cat and ignoring mouse.
“Plus, Noah and Willa are also single. Also…” Forehead puckered, Summer peered around the room full of couples.
“See!” Todd smirked with triumph. “In the sea of two-scoops, we’re the single ones.”
“Well, if I’m a single scoop, I’d come with rainbow sprinkles,” Nat declared, raising her pint.
“I like that.” Summer clanked her glass against Nat’s.
“Summer would be cookies ’n cream.” Todd winked.
“Oh, sweet creamy vanilla with a fun cookie surprise.” Nat cheered.
“What would I be?” Todd lifted his chin.
“Rocky Road!” Summer and Nat laughed in unison.
Todd shrugged in acceptance. “A little nutty. A little marshmallowy. Lots of smooth chocolate.”
“Not to mention too much will give you a stomachache,” Summer snarked.
Todd placed his hand on his heart. “A nearly fatal blow. Here I was thinking I was growing on you.”
“Like fungus.”
“Don’t underestimate the power of fungus. It gave us penicillin.”
“Well, I’ll ring you when I need a shot,” Summer sassed but winced at the suggestive nature of her quip.
“Noted.” The low timbre of his voice was almost purring. His gaze dragged down her curvy figure again, and then, as if chiding himself, snapped his eyes back up to Summer’s face.
With an eyeroll that did nothing to cover up the crimson coloring her cheek, she shifted her gaze to the other side of the room.
Nat smiled. This game played on repeat each time Todd found himself in Summer’s vicinity. In many ways, Todd was the male version of Nat, but way more obvious. She tipped her glass to him in salute.
“I should get back to work.” He turned and walked away.
“Summer Michaels.” Nat shimmied her shoulders at her friend. “I do believe I just witnessed Todd Krueger flirt with you, and you flirted right back.”
“Stop!” Summer waved her off with a breathy laugh.
“Attention!” Mom clapped her hands, calling everyone’s focus to the center of the bar.
Dad stood beside her. Tiny purple flowers peppered his white bow tie in honor of Elle’s favorite color. “As parents of the groom and soon-to-be parents of the bride, we’d like to make a toast.”
“Hopefully, you won’t blubber like Pete did earlier.” Elle’s Aunt Janet nudged her husband’s ribs.
“Hey, real men cry.” His head tipped up and his chest puffed out in a prideful stance.
“Just wait ‘til the wedding day. Clayton will be a puddle,” Noah teased, putting Clayton in a headlock and giving him a noogie like they were ten again.
Nat sipped her drink, taking in the scene. Gentle waves of love washed over her. Yes, she was that rainbow-sprinkle-covered single scoop, but she was in an entire parlor of scoops that went together. Couples held hands. Fathers and sons teased. Mothers dabbed their eyes. Aunts blew kisses. Friends poked at each other. As Dad toasted the happy couple, the different types of pairings blanketed her in warmth.
I am single, but I’m not alone. She hoisted her glass into the air. “To Elle and Clayton!”
After a string of toasts, Nat stood with Dad and Clayton while Mom stood at the bar with her best friend, and Noah’s mom, Maura. The two women laughed while their gazes danced around the room. Where one was, the other was never far.
Nat smiled, raising her pint glass in their direction. Both sent wry grins Nat’s way, causing her to arch a quizzical brow. What are they discussing?
After both women pivoted away from Nat’s stare to talk to Todd, Nat shrugged and settled back into her position between Dad and Clayton and once again contemplated how similar they were. Men of few words, but when they spoke, their words commanded, guided, accepted, and comforted. Each was the heart of this village. Dad had captained the Owens Family Clinic for the last forty years, while Clayton led the Village Veterinarian Clinic for the last four.
Like sturdy oaks, both men towered in the forest, withstanding any harsh winds that whipped across life. Between the two, Nat felt akin to a tiny windblown fern desperate to grow tall, but the shadows cast by her two mighty oaks blocked out the needed sun. Oaks can’t help being oaks, and ferns can’t help being ferns. No matter how much a fern wants to be an oak.
I’ll always be a fern. She tightened her grip around her glass.
“When is the big day?” Virginia, one of the ladies who worked with Elle’s aunt at the Village Rose Florist Shop, asked.
“December tenth,” Clayton replied.
“Oh, an almost-Christmas wedding. I can picture the flower arrangements already. Although, with Elle, we’ll need to incorporate some purple.”
Dad beamed. “Our Elle loves purple.”
“ Our Elle,” Virginia sighed.
Nat joined in on the sentiment of claiming Elle. Since she’d walked back into Clayton’s life, the entire family embraced her with open arms. When Clayton brought Elle to a family dinner almost a year ago, she and everyone else there knew that this was his person…his forever. The moment they walked out the door, Mom proclaimed, “They’ll be married within two years.”
“So, why that date?” Virginia inquired.
“Because he’s impatient.” Nat poked Clayton’s side.
He swatted her off with a laughing grumble. “Elle wants time to plan, but I don’t want to turn a year older without her being my wife.”
“Clayton’s birthday is December twelfth. They also moved in together on the tenth, so it’s uber romantic.” Nat looked up at her brother, whose gaze drifted across the room to his fiancée.
Surrounded by Carmen and Summer, Elle’s face was bright with laughter. Clayton’s gray eyes sparked with contented longing. She’d never seen her brother both so happy and impatient. With one word from his fiancée, he’d not pass go, not collect two hundred dollars, and proceed to city hall to marry Elle this very instant.
Warmth spread within Nat as Elle’s hazel eyes sought out Clayton. Their stares tangled in wordless conversation from across the room.
“So, he’s getting Elle as his wife for his birthday. I’m trying to talk her into wearing a big purple bow on her dress, but she’s not biting.”
“Ha!” Virginia clucked. “Natalie, you are a card. The patients at the clinic must leave in stitches after seeing you. Pun intended.”
“Well, we charge by the stitch, so it’s good for business.”
Clayton rolled his eyes at his sister’s very bad dad joke while Dad’s lips lifted with what looked like pride.
“I bet!” Laughter bubbled in Virginia’s throat. “How is it working for your dad?”
For? A crowbar may be needed to remove the tight smile she’d worn all evening.
“We’re so lucky to have her. She’s a huge help at the clinic.” Dad grinned, placing a hand on her shoulder.
A huge help? It was like this was an after-school job or something she did on break, not a career she’d studied for and trained to do for the last decade of her life. “Yup.” The battle to keep her tone light raged fiercely through her.
At nine p.m., The Farmer’s Ale opened to the public. Most of the partygoers had left, but the happy couple and members of their wedding party remained. All twelve of them clustered around several high-top tables at the perimeter of the bar. Patrons filled the low farm tables in the center of the room, clanking glasses and chatting. Nat sat at a four-person table with Clayton, Elle, and Willa, discussing tomorrow’s wedding party event.
“It’s a twist on an English high tea,” Willa explained.
The wedding party was small. Viet, Willa, and Carmen made up Elle’s bridal party. Noah, Nat, and Jerome, Clayton’s partner at the vet clinic and Tobey’s husband, were standing up with the groom. Elle’s cousin Tobey, now an ordained Internet minister, would officiate. Willa and Viet lived in Long Beach, where Elle used to reside. They’d be flying back for much of the pre-wedding shenanigans.
“Just tea, right?” Elle pointed at Willa.
Willa’s lips lifted into a mischievous smile. “ Of course .”
“Wills.”
“It will be a tasteful tea,” she said with a demure bat of her long eyelashes.
“Your definition of tasteful worries me.”
“Says the woman who has been caught dry-humping her fiancé in public by at least four people in this bar. Not to mention that poor Noah walked in on the two of you?—”
Elle’s face went fire-engine red, and she clamped her hands over Willa’s mouth, cutting off her words.
Nat giggled, thinking about how just a few hours ago Clayton had done the same exact thing to his bride.
The covering of Willa’s mouth was pointless. Everyone in the wedding party knew the story. Not because of Noah, but due to a tipsy Elle telling the story after one or six too many mimosas at her wedding dress shopping trip last week. Poor Noah walked in on a very naked Clayton and Elle “making breakfast” in the kitchen. Nat was horrified. Carmen blushed. Willa offered pointers on kitchen counter sex positions. Viet simply poured Elle another mimosa.
“This is why I always text before going to the farmhouse. Not to mention knock loudly and cover my eyes before entering.” Nat waggled her brows at the blushing couple. “Mom and Dad were bad enough.”
“You walked in on your parents?” Willa pushed Elle’s hands away and gaped.
“Horrifying, isn’t it?”
“No, impressive. Who knew a man who wears bow ties was a senior citizen sex god? Elle, if Clayton takes after his dad, we’ll have many years of the two of you getting caught sexing each other up.”
“Sex god?” Nat and Clayton guffawed.
“Who’s a sex god?” Noah asked, walking up to their table.
Running a manicured finger up Noah’s chest to his chin, Willa purred, “Besides you, gorgeous…Clayton’s dad.”
He blanched. “I did not need that mental image.”
As the members of the party laughed and groaned, Nat tried to avert her focus, but it repeatedly dropped onto Willa and Noah. Willa’s seductive winks. Noah’s bemused expression.
Too much! She jumped off the stool. “I’m going to grab another drink. Anyone need anything?” Nat blurted, steamrolling over Willa mid-sentence.
Who knew what Willa was saying? Nat had only half listened. Ok, not listening at all. Guilt churned in her tummy. It wasn’t Willa; she’d been nothing but kind to Nat. Any woman that Noah looked at would generate envy inside her. Any woman he looked at not as a little sister, the way he looked at her.
“I’ll take another Doc Owens.” Elle raised her empty glass.
The ale, named after Clayton, was the only beer the rosé-all-day Elle stooped to drink. All the brews at the Farmer’s Ale were named after someone or something notable in the village. With the lifelong bromance between Clayton and Noah, it was unsurprising that he’d name a beer after his best friend.
“What’s wrong with the one you’ve got?” Clayton teased, taking her lips in a nipping kiss.
“Ugh…get a room,” Nat groaned at the now moderately PDAing couple.
“Agreed,” Noah added.
“One with a door that locks,” Willa laughingly joined in.
“Agreed.” Laughter rumbled in Noah’s chest.
Elle flipped them off while she remained lip-locked with Clayton.
There was no shame in their PDA game. As a woman who had been in a self-induced sexual drought, Nat was impressed and, perhaps, a little jealous. As a little sister, she was horrified.
“Willa, how much do you charge for therapy? I may need you.” Nat winked at Willa, hoping it would make up for her earlier abruptness.
“Queen, I’ve got you.” She placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “We single gals gotta stick together. Especially since the entire male population of the wedding party is married or Noah. Hopefully, there will be some cute, single, and lady-part-loving lads invited to this shindig. We need to get our swirl on.” She used her fingers to mimic a sexual act.
Married… and Noah? Nat nodded, not knowing how else to respond. Was something not going on between them? The words conflicted with the behavior between the two.
“There will be no swirling for Nat,” Clayton warned, pointing his finger at Willa.
“Looks like you activated overprotective big brother mode.” Nat rolled her eyes. “On that note, I’ll grab Elle and my drinks.”
Nat threaded through the crowded room and found an open spot at the end of the bar near the front entrance.
Todd waved from the other side of the bar, mouthing, Be with you shortly .
With a smile, she pivoted and leaned against the bar, marveling at all Noah and Todd had achieved. Five years ago, Noah moved back to Perry from San Diego, where he’d lived after being discharged from the Marines. After buying the Farmer’s Wife, the local bakery, and opening the Wine Down, Main Street’s only wine bar, he’d partnered with Todd to open the brewery.
“Natalie Owens.” A familiar low voice jolted her.
She twisted around, and her heart thumped like a kangaroo on a trampoline. “Duncan Ellis?”