Chapter 50
FIFTY
MEREDITH
The sun shines bright over the various white canvas tents set up in the park off Main Street. A Scandalous Affair is in its first full day. The temperatures are climbing, but the beer is cold.
I hand a small plastic cup with a splash of Scandalous Creek in it to Bea’s friend, forcing a smile I don’t feel. Last night, I closed up Jules Creek for the last time. This weekend, I’ll be off-loading as much product as possible.
“Let me know what you think of that.”
She shoots it back like it’s tequila. “Mmm. I like that. I’ll have to come back for it, since I heard it’s the last run.”
I go to rub my aching chest, but I drop my hands to my sides instead. “I keep telling everyone that when I say ‘limited-time only,’ I really mean it.”
The woman chuckles at my half-hearted joke, then she spots the bracelets in the booth beside me and pats Bea’s walker. “Take your time. I’m gonna pop over for a quick second.”
When she’s gone, Bea smirks at me. “That’s code for she likes it, but she doesn’t want to buy any because she’s cheap.”
I laugh—a nice, normal feeling for a weekend I usually adore. “No problem. It’s selling fast.”
“Well, I’m going to get the Scandalous Creek for her.” Bea starts digging in her purse.
“Bea, no. Take it, and then you can come back and help yourself to whatever’s left.”
Grief crosses her face. She’s lost friends, and now she’s losing the brewery—me—and I’m not sure what Sawyer’s going to do. She said she was going to take her time to figure it out, since she’s been working constantly since finishing school.
She dabs at the corner of her misty eye. “The end of an era.”
I dig out a six-pack for her and hand it over. She sets the money on the table and gives me a hard look.
“Fine,” I say, chuckling, and put the cash in the money box.
She sets the bag in her walker basket. “I’ll be back before the fair ends today.” Her eyes glisten again. “Maybe a few times.”
When she sets off, I greet another couple wanting a taste. At least it’ll be busy, and that’ll keep me out of my head.
Waves of people roam through. Sweat trickles down my back.
My smile’s robotic by now as I hand over samples and recite the details of each drink.
“It’s a light-bodied ale with a crisp, clean finish.
Perfect for summer. We use locally sourced hops and a special strain of yeast to make it a really unique craft brew. ”
“This is my favorite stop every year,” one woman says. She’s not from Scandal, and I don’t recognize her.
“I appreciate it,” I say, and I really do. People like her have kept us alive all these years, and I wish I could repay them with more than strained politeness.
“You’ll be here next year, right?”
I’ve been spouting off Jules Creek facts all day and letting them know that all flavors are limited. Each time I have to tell someone who hasn’t heard news of the impending sale about it, is just another cut adding up until I’m shredded.
A citrus-and-cedar cloud wafts through the air just as a hot hand lands on the small of my back. “Yes. Jules Creek will have a booth here next year.”
Calder’s deep voice washes over me, and my mouth drops all the way open. He’s here? He can’t be. But his touch is familiar. His smell. That voice. I turn, and I’m in his arms.
A lock of his dark hair falls over his forehead. His expression is tense, as if he’s not sure how I’ll react, yet there’s heat and adoration there too. “Hey, rosy.”
My knees tremble, and my vision gets watery. I’m in Calder Cross’s arms again. He’s wearing a looser gray shirt than normal, buttery-soft under my hands. One of his own, not one from the boxes in the basement. A tear slips out, but he sweeps it away with the pad of his thumb.
“Oh, good,” the woman croons. “Are you… are you going to be there as well?”
Calder doesn’t look at her when he answers. He strokes his gaze over my face. “I’ll be right here next year, and for as long as our master brewer and part owner wants to keep participating.”
Am I so hot and tired that I’m hallucinating? I was about to accept that he’d returned to Scandal, but that?
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I’m sorry it took me so long.” His dark eyes dance back and forth between mine. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what I was doing because I was terrified you’d tell me not to bother, but it didn’t matter anyway, because I was coming back to you no matter what.”
“You were? But I haven’t heard from you.”
“I’ve been working day and night to arrange it all.”
“To arrange what?” I ignore everything—the fair, the customers. It’s only me and Calder right now.
“The sale of CFC. And tracking my brothers down to convince them to keep all this.” He swallows, and the fatigue he mentioned is carved into his face.
“I flew to Vegas to confront Bowen, working the entire way. Then to LA to hunt Landry down.” The corner of his mouth kicks up.
“I told them we aren’t getting rid of either Cross company, and they can have as little or as big of a roll as they want.
They aren’t thrilled about an intrusive older brother, but I said no matter what they like, I’m landing on their doorstep at least once a year. ”
The band around my chest loosens. He cares so much about them. There’s so much more to Calder than the man I first met.
When my palms land on his face, his scruff tickles my palm, and I run a thumb over his bottom lip. He’s real. Right here in the middle of the street fair. The energy of the crowd around us grows quiet, but I can’t take my attention off the devastating man before me.
“Why?” I whisper. “You were all free.”
“I was not a free man. You captured me, and I want to stay caught. But I had to do right by the people who rely on CFC to care for their families, so I also took the time to meet with all my clients. All of them. I met extensively with my employees and explained why I was severing ties completely.” He turns his face to press a kiss into my palm.
His persistent five-o’clock shadow tickles my skin.
“I told them I want to go home. The woman I love is there, and I want to build a life with her wherever she’ll have me. ”
He loves me? My hope rises like a helium balloon, but I’m not convinced. There’s no way this can be happening.
“What about your brothers?”
“I told them I’d never leave them alone. I will be the bane of their existence if they try to lock me out of their life. They also don’t like that I’m lifting the ranch and the brewery out of debt, but I don’t care. It’s my gift to you. To us.”
He’s taking care of the bills? By himself?
Much as I want this man, and much as I love Jules Creek, I have to talk sense into him. “Calder, you can’t. It’s not your responsibility.”
“It’s done.” He hugs me tighter against him. “I don’t want another family to create any goddamn memories in my home.”
I’m going to melt, and it has nothing to do with the heat, but I can’t let him risk his life’s work. “We all have to agree. You can’t go broke over it.”
He laughs and dips his head so his mouth is close to my ear. “If you think that’ll break us, you have no idea what a rich asshole I am.”
My breath hitches. I’m not a greedy woman, but money solves a lot of damn problems. “What if I don’t let you?”
“I can be very persuasive.” He claims my mouth in a soft kiss that sizzles right down my spine.
“Is that what the beer will do for me?” a woman asks from the crowd.
A scatter of applause surrounds us. My smile breaks the kiss, and I bury my face in his neck. He holds me firmly against him.
“I want to go to bed with you every night, Meredith. I want to wake up to you and a cat or four. I want to live in the house I grew up in. I want you to create all the recipes you want for Jules Creek.”
I slap my hands on his shoulders and pull away as far as he’ll let me, which is only another inch. “But I told Duncan I’d work for him.”
Sawyer jogs up to the stand wearing her normal vet shirt and jeans. “Oh my god. I miss one fair weekend, and you get accosted?”
I grin, but then my smile falters. I curl my fingers into Calder’s soft shirt. This day is a ride I need to hang on for. “Plans might be changing, Sawyer.”
She lifts her arms in a “what can you do?” shrug. “Then I’m going to have call you McBrewer or something.” Her expression turns wistful. “I just want you happy, Mer, and if a Cross is what does it, then I’m not going to complain.”
I blink up at Calder and get both lost and anchored in his warm gaze. “I love you too, Calder.”
His smile lights up all the corners of the tent, and my pulse climbs.
He strokes a knuckle down my cheek. “Everyone will be taken care of, I promise,” he says as if he plucked out one of my worries.
“If you still want to forge ahead, that’s what we’ll do.
If you want to move and work with that Sterling…
” He works his jaw like he’s chewing a broken bottle.
“That’s what we’ll do. Want to build your own brewery and call it Rosy Cheeks Pub, I’m there. ”
I don’t look at anyone. Sawyer’s taken over doling out samples. This decision is for me. Calder made a promise, and I believe him.
“I want to live in that house and wake up to you every morning. I want to keep the chickens and the cattle, and I don’t ever want to leave or worry about leaving again. And I want to build on what your mama started.”
He feathers a stray curl through his fingers.
“She’d want that too. The guys will back whatever we decide.
They agreed to pitch in to pay off loans if that’d get me off their doorstep.
Landry was willing to pay more to get me to leave him alone.
I don’t know if they’ll ever come home, but it’s enough for now.
They’re adults, and they make their own decisions. I’m ready to start a life with you.”
“I want that so much.” Delirious laughter bubbles out of me. “You’re unbelievable.”
His eyes darken, and he bows his head before he stops. “Hey, Sawyer, mind taking over for a bit? I need to sneak Meredith away to talk.”
Bea pushes her walker behind the tent. “She’s on call, but don’t worry. I’ve got it covered. You kids go talk.”