Grand Reopening – Everett
Chapter forty-one
The day was finally here. The beer was ready to go, and we were celebrating with a Grand Reopening event.
We’d invited our friends and family, as well as everyone who’d donated to Cameron’s fundraising page.
We’d give tours, and by we, I meant Lukas.
He was better at that than I could ever be.
During the tours, there would be tastings, including tapping into vats that weren’t quite finished, to give folks a better idea of the process.
Then at the end, I’d offer up the finished product along with snacks.
We had an area behind the brewery set up with a bunch of picnic tables that Cameron had called in a bunch of favors to get.
They were covered with tablecloths and floral centerpieces that Eddy and Alfred had picked up from a place in Miller’s Point.
They had been a huge help in making this occasion successful.
Everything looked great as I wandered around, ensuring all was in place.
Eddy nudged me away from one of the tables. “Leave that centerpiece alone and come have a drink with us.”
“I don’t know, I’m probably going to be drinking all day.”
“Yeah, yeah. Pace yourself. But we need a toast before the doors open.” He handed me a small cup of beer, and Brock, Alfred, and Jackie lifted their own. “To an excellent business, and businessman, who is also our dear friend.”
“That’s sappy as fuck,” Jackie muttered and Alfred elbowed him.
“Sappy or not. It was nice.” I took a sip of my beer.
It was our medium-gold, with a nice wheat-bread flavor, my hops adding a floral note, and it paired well with most of the snacks we put out.
“I, uh, haven’t had a lot of friends in my life, outside of Lukas.
” He was currently finishing his tour setup, but I was sure he’d pop in for more toasts soon enough.
“I’m kind of a hard person to like sometimes. ”
“You can say that again.” Cameron grabbed me from behind, and I squeaked since I hadn’t heard him come up on me.
“Shut up. Where’ve you been anyway?” I had expected him to be here sooner after picking up his folks from Fish Springs. They walked in behind him, greeting me with warm hugs that I hadn’t expected.
“You should be so proud of yourself.” His mom brushed a lock of hair out of my face. “Everything is lovely, and I can’t wait to take the tour.”
Lukas stepped outside and saluted us. “First tour will be in about…” He looked at his watch. “Twenty minutes or so.” Right after the doors opened.
“Um, Ever?” Cameron leaned closer and kissed my cheek. “I have another surprise for you. Are you ready?”
“Okay, sure.” I followed him into the brewery and out the front door.
And there were my parents. Standing there with actual smiles on their faces. What the hell? Had Cameron picked up a couple of pod-people? “Uh, Mom? Dad?”
My mother took my hand. “I wanted to greet you outside first, since what I’m about to say is personal.”
I braced myself for anything that might spew out of her mouth. I wasn’t going to let her ruin this day. “Okay…” I looked to my dad, who only nodded.
“I listened to what Cameron said. He was right. Your success and happiness in life need to be something you’re passionate about, and what that looks like doesn’t have to look the way I think it should.
I’ve been judging you with a very personal lens.
But it was because I love you and want everything for you.
I just got lost in what that everything should be.
” Then she hugged me. I hadn’t had a hug like that from her in a long time. “I’m proud of you.”
“And I’m dying to see this brewery,” my dad added.
“Well, come in. I’ll give you a special tour.
” I stepped back and opened the door, surprised that they followed me.
I was actually floored by this. I’d been wanting them to be proud of me, to see what I’ve accomplished, and wanted to feel worthy of their expectations.
Maybe finally, they could give me what I’d needed all along.
They ooh’d and awe’d over everything in the facility. Lukas came by and explained the flavors, and I shared information about hops, which was my specialty.
My dad put his arm around my shoulders. “Son, this is incredible.”
“I’m amazed at how pristine everything is.” My mom looked around a bit more before I led them to the back.
“This is our temporary gathering spot for today. Come over and sample some finished product.”
Eddy and Alfred were pouring, after having taken a few lessons from Kit and Nate over at Pints ‘n Pool. Cameron introduced our parents, and Eddy turned into super host, handing them beer and pointing to the next table with all the food. Seeing them settled, I grabbed Cameron’s arm. “Time to open. I’m going to the front.”
“We’ve got everything handled here. Go.” He waved me off, and I gave Lukas a thumbs up as I made my way back to the front.
When I opened the door this time, I swear half of Foggy Basin stood in my parking lot. I needed a new plan. I stuck my head in and yelled. “Lukas!” When I saw him, I zipped over. “How many can you take on a tour at a time? Fifteen to twenty?”
“I’d rather have smaller groups. It would go faster.”
“Twelve?”
“I can live with that. Why? What’s going on?”
“There’s more than fifty people out there.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah. I’m going to organize them and send them in batches of a dozen.”
We quickly worked out the plan. He’d take the first group, then the second group would wait in the lobby, and the next group would sort out by the door.
Then he’d come get the lobby group, and I’d send in the next group.
It would work, except that after the first group finished, I needed to be in the back.
“Go get someone else to handle the door.”
“I’m going to have to but…”
Conroy picked that exact time to walk up. “Cameron sent me to see what’s taking you so long to get back.”
“I’ll show you. Come on.” I guided him out with me and shut the door behind us.
Some of the people actually cheered. Well, guess they were ready for free beer.
I gave them a wave. “Thank you. Thank you for coming and celebrating this day with us. We’re going to start sending folks in, a dozen at a time.
This is Conroy.” I shoved him forward and shook his shoulders.
“He’s going to help keep us all organized. I need the first twelve people…”
I sent them in, set up the second group, then left it in Conroy’s hands. “Call me if it gets crazy.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
I made a mental note to give him a bonus for working on this today. He deserved it for sure. With everyone temporarily settled, I headed to the back. “Okay, first tour group should be here in a minute or two. Everyone ready?”
Eddy and Alfred high-fived each other. “We’ve got this.”
Cameron gave me a hug, and I saw my parents and his sitting together at a far table. Well, that was interesting. I might have wanted to run interference there, but I didn’t have time. The first tour group showed up.
I introduced myself, gave directions on the beer and food, and then made myself available for questions.
I was surprised that after the tour, several people had questions about the hops and growing them.
I had a field that bordered Dawson’s Hay Farm where I grew them.
You could see the bright green towers strung out kind of like grapes from where we were behind the brewery.
They would be due to harvest very soon. This year’s harvest from this location was smaller than where I’d grown them in Sacramento.
However, I’d planned for that and had plenty still growing in Sacramento to supplement for the next few years.
The hops were so integral to what we were doing that an artist’s drawing of one of the seed cones was on our labels. The work I’d been doing on them for the past few years was all coming to fruition, and now so many people were here to enjoy it.
I spent the day chatting, answering questions, pouring beer, making toasts, and having a great time. I was totally in my element in this environment. Eventually, Lukas made his way to the back. “That’s the last tour group. I swear we had almost a hundred people come through here.”
Conroy walked up behind him and clapped his shoulder. “I think I counted more than that.”
“Wow. I’m pretty happy with that.” The area was full for sure, even though a lot of folks had already left.
My parents came over to me. “We’re going to head out. We’re staying at the local Inn. It’s just across the street.” My mom gave me another hug, but this time, I think she was a little tipsy.
“Maybe we could do breakfast tomorrow?” Dad asked.
Before I could answer, Cameron’s mom said, “I say come to our place for breakfast. It’s a little farther away, but I’ll damn sure make it worth it.”
We all agreed to a breakfast plan. I was secretly, or maybe not so secretly, happy they were getting along. Everyone loved Cameron, so that helped. He put his arm around me and squeezed my shoulders. “Thanks again for coming,” he told our folks.
It was still a few more hours before all the guests had left. Conroy had been busy resupplying both beer and snacks all day, and picking up after everyone left, so when he grabbed a broom to clean up, I took it from him. “Go home. We’ll come back and finish this tomorrow afternoon. Good job today.”
“Thanks, Boss. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Nope. Go home.”
He waved as he headed out. Yep, he was getting a bonus. Lukas pulled me into a huge hug. “You did it.”
“We did it, Lukas.” I hugged him back. He’d become such a fantastic friend—more like a brother—to me. “None of this would have happened without you.”
“Eh…”
We made plans to head to Sacramento in the next few days to oversee the harvest and get the hops shipped up.
The Grand Reopening party might have been over, but the brewery still required work, so we headed home, ready to face the next day.
For once, I smiled as I thought about it.
I had no anxiety about the brewery or any other aspect of my life.
And that was all thanks to my gremlin, Cameron.
Thank you for reading Hammer and Hops. I used a lot of other characters, places, and businesses throughout the story. If you’d like to explore more about them all, check out the rest of Foggy Basin.
Season One:
Season Two:
And don’t forget the current Season Three:
And keep reading for a bonus epilog!