Page 145 of Best Kind of Trouble
He glances at me with a grin. “I definitely don’t give a shit if her day is ruined, but Briar already ripped her a new one last night. Anything else is icing on the cake.”
“You did?” Sophie clasps my arm. “Oh my gosh, that’s great, Briar! It felt good, didn’t it?”
“It did.” I look at each of my friends in turn. “But thank you. It means a lot to me that you want to stand up for me. I can’t believe everyone here wants to help us.”
“Well, believe it,” Hannah says. “Plus you have Travis and the guys out there dealing with the standing water. You have noidea how much Travis hates messes. He’ll blast that water away, no problem.”
Dottie, who has stopped in the center of the room, wolf-whistles.
“Now, dears. We have a lot of work today, but we’re going to help Silver Star put on amonumentalNew Year’s party tonight. A party this town will be talking about for years to come.”
The tea room erupts in a chorus of wolf whistles, and Liam hugs me close and kisses the top of my head…which leads to another round of wolf whistles.
He grins at everyone. “Yes, I know. I’m a lucky man. Now, let’s get to work.”
Nora holdsa lot of outdoor events at The Ginger Station, so she has a tarp for us, plus lots of twinkle lights that we use to blanket the outdoor space, making it look like it’s speckled with stars.
Liam brings out the kegs, including the rapidly diminishing supply of Bubba’s beers, our new pale ale, which we decided to call Champbier, and Nora’s ginger beer. We set up the outdoor bar, with Ann and Otis as our bartenders, and an enormous sign, made by Sophie, advertising our “drink us dry” campaign.
My sweet aunt joins us later in the afternoon after texting me about the “Man with the Nice ASS.” She also asked if she could stay with me, since my parents have been even less fun than usual, and my father kept talking about his stolen rules until she had “no choice” but to tell him to stick them up his ass.
The answer was yes, obviously.
When she arrives at the brewery, I hug her for a good five minutes before she pulls away and asks me to show her around. I do, even though the damp floors squeak under our shoes andthe interior already smells like mildew. We end the tour at the back, where everyone is hard at work transforming the beer garden.
“You’re going to do just fine, my sweet Briar Rose,” my aunt says, tapping my hand. “You’ve done a beautiful job here.”
I laugh. The brewery’s floors are all water damaged, and it’s definitely not looking its best.
“You’ve barely seen it.”
“But I know there’s no one better suited to run this place than you.” She surveys the work in progress in the beer garden before pointing to Liam’s backside. “And I’m glad you have that man. I’d recognize his backside anywhere. He’s very handsome, my dear, and surprisingly polite for an intruder.”
I smile at his butt, whichisvery nice, and then at her. “Me too. I love him, Great-Aunt Sky.”
“I can tell.” She smiles at me. “You’re glowing, my dear. None of your other beaus have made you glow like that. Now, what can I do to help?”
I introduce her to Dottie, and twenty minutes later, my aunt is setting up a fortune-telling table with one of Dottie’s friends in the corner of the tented area.
There’s so much to do, so many things to set up, that the time melts away. We’ve barely finished when eight o’clock hits and customers start showing up.
Hannah and Nora put out social media blasts about the change in plans, but several people find it surprising upon arrival that our big party is being held outdoors on a day with a low of thirty degrees. A lot of them leave, but plenty choose to stay and enjoy thedrink us dryspecials, especially once the band goes on at nine. Rob, Travis, Cormac, and Mick have only been playing together for a few weeks, but they’re in perfect rhythm, and they draw people in off the street.
Liam and I take over the bar service togive Otis and Ann a break, and I keep stealing glances at him, wondering if he wishes he were on stage with the band.
“Nope,” he finally says, the second or third time I look at him. “Not even a little.”
I laugh. “How’d you know what I was thinking?”
“It was written all over your face. But I don’t understand how you could think I’d want to be up there with them if I could be doing this with you.” He gestures to the crowd gathered around us, laughing and talking. “They’re happy because of you. Because they’re excited about Silver Star.Thisis what I want.You’rewhat I want.”
“You’re what I want too.”
But there’s something else I want for us too—something I’m worried we won’t get to keep.
It’s nearly midnight.Great-Aunt Sky is deep in conversation with Dottie and the rest of the Wise Elders Group, and my friends are dancing around the space heaters.
We’re down to only a dollar for Bubba’s beers, and everyone is at least a little tipsy, except for Liam and me. We’ve tasted the pale ale, and we know it’s worth waiting for. A couple of other tasting room employees are manning the bar now, and Liam and I are standing at the edge of the tarp, holding hands as we watch the bonfire we started just beyond it in the firepit.
