Page 35 of Best Kind of Trouble
“It’s all going to be okay,” she whispers into my ear.
When I release her, Otis steps forward and shoves the flowers at me. They look a bit shriveled, but I smile at him. He’s a sweet kid.
“I left them in the car all morning,” he says in a rush of words, “but Sophie told me they were still pretty.”
Sophie grimaces beside him.
“I just wanted to say that I’d be so honored to help you, Briar,” he continues. “I’ll do anything you ask.Anything.I can work in the tasting room or whatever. Clean the place. You name it, I’m your guy.”
Sophie’s grimace turns into a frown.
“That’s really sweet, Otis,” I say, clutching the flowers to my chest. “But Sophie probably needs you.”
They’ve already soft-launched their new crafting business, The Crafty Monster, with pop-ups around the city, but they plan on opening a brick-and-mortar location within the year.
“Oh, it’s fine,” Sophie says quickly. “We can work our pop-up schedule around it. He really wants to help.”
So why was she frowning?
I’m still too impaired to figure it out, so I just smile at him. “Thank you. I’m probably going to take you up on that.”
He beams back at me. “You don’t even need to pay me if the budget is a problem. Doing you a favor is all the payment I need.”
“You’ll definitely be paid,” I insist. “Everyone who works for me will be paid.” Even if I have to sell off every gift my parents ever gave me. eBay was invented for a reason, wasn’t it?
“Let him work for free,” Hannah says breezily with a wave of her hand. “We’ll see how much he likes it after a single shift of people spilling beer on him and telling him long, pointless stories.” She slides her attention to him. “To be clear, Otis, it will be me doing both of those things. To prove you should never price your worth at zero. There, that’s a lesson for the ages.”
He lifts his hands up. “Someone else can wait on you. Not it.”
Liam laughs under his breath, Hannah calls them both rude, and I fish out my keys.
As I unlock the front door, I suck in a deep, frosty breath that burns my lungs. This is going to be a defining moment—the first time I step into Silver Star as the owner. Maybe it won’t last long, me being in charge, but I want to enjoy it while it’s still mine.
Steeling myself, I push the door open and walk in. It looks just the way it did last night—empty, with pretty, high-gloss picnic tables, a couple of booths, and a tinsel Christmas tree wedged into the corner. The shiny walnut-wood bar is lined with twinkle lights, which I’d insisted on, and a pine garland.
I expected to feel something. Fulfilled, maybe. Scared, definitely. But I wasn’t expecting the smell.
It smellsrotten.
“Oh, that’s interesting,” Otis says, scratching his head as he follows me inside, right on my heels like an overeager golden retriever. “Is that…it’s anearthyodor. Some people really like earthy things. Is that because it’s an organic brewery?”
Liam, who files inside last, exchanges a glance with Hannah.
“Yeah,” Liam says. “Someone must have stuck a fish in your radiator on their way out.”
“Why would they do that?” I sputter…and then remember the way everyone looked at me last night, their eyes mocking and full of disgust.
A bitter taste fills my mouth. They really do hate me. They hate me enough that they wanted me to walk in here this afternoon and smell dead fish.
“Why do people do anything?” Liam replies. “No big deal. I’ll hunt it down for you. I bet Oats here will even fry it up for us.”
“Oh…er…sure,” Otis says. “I’ve been cooking at home more. Haven’t I, Soph?”
Sophie gives Liam a reproachful look and straightens her ponytail. “Stop messing withOtis. I know how guys are, and I’ll tell you right here and now, there will be no hazing of any kind.”
Liam lifts his hands, flashing her an easy grin. “My mistake.” He nods to me. “Balls to the wall,Princess.”
“You should work on your motivational speeches,” I say, but suddenly I’m smiling.
