Page 38 of Best Kind of Trouble
I shoot Sophie a questioning look, but she shrugs, her smile sheepish. “She’s kind of right. You’re…you. Don’t you ever look in the mirror?”
A sigh spills out of me. “Look, I know I’m pretty. It’s the only thing my parents have ever liked about me. But plenty of people are pretty. You’re all pretty, too. We don’t have to make a big deal out of it.”
“I don’t think you realizehowpretty you are,” Sophie says seriously.
“I really don’t want to talk about this. I just look the way I look. But if you’re worried about Otis?—”
“There’s no need to worry,” Dottie says, her voice ringing with certainty. “Otis will find his great love when the time is right, and so will Briar. I’m quite certain they’re both on the correct paths.”
I sit up straighter. “Correct paths for what?”
“For you,” she says with a sweet smile.
“Is this a good time to say you should be on Tinder too, Briar?” Hannah says. “If we make a profile for you, we can creep on Otis.”
“How is that going to help him get over his crush on her?” Sophie scoffs. “You’ll give him false hope, all because you’re bored.”
“Bite your tongue,” Hannah says. “How could I possibly be bored? I have a neurotic man to keep me busy, the best kid in the universe, a brewery to run, and another to help relaunch. My life ison point. I just want Briar’s life to be on point too.”
Dottie pats my hand. “It would be…amusing to see what this Tinder is all about.”
“Oh, not you too, Dottie,” I moan.
“But this isn’t the time,” she continues, thank God. “We were going to talk about staffing.”
“Yes,please.”
Dottie beams at me. “A couple of the other Wise Elders want to help. I was the floor manager at Buchanan Brewery for decades before I started my tea shop, and Ann and her dearlydeparted husband ran a restaurant together. Constance is leaving on vacation with her family soon, but she hates being left out of the fun, so she’ll help us in the beginning. Eugene, of course, has the most brewery experience other than me, but he’s bound to Big Catch and can’t offer much help. But the rest of us are going to handle your tasting room and events management until you find replacements, dear. And we won’t take a cent from you. We’ll only be fill-ins until you have time to properly restaff.”
“But I meant what I said to Otis,” I say, taken aback. “Everyone’s going to get paid. I can’t let you work for free. Ican’t.”
“We’ll be getting something out of it too.” Dottie pats my hand from across the table. “Of course we will. What fun and excitement we’ll have, watching you young people save the brewery! We can start whenever you’d like us to. The tea shop is fully staffed, and we’re all officially retired.”
“Dottie,” I say, tears in my eyes. “I don’t want to let you down. I’d feel terrible if you put all that work in and nothing comes of it.”
“The only way you’ll disappoint me, my dear, is by not accepting our help.”
“I can’t just leave this open-ended. We’d need to set an end date. New Year’s.”
“The end of March,” Dottie counters. “You should have plenty of time to get established by then, and my newest grandbaby is due in April.”
Sophie smiles at me and lifts her cup of tea in salute. “You’ll be accepting help from all of us, by the way. I’m going to help you redecorate.”
“Nora wants to help too,” Hannah gushes.
“Nora, who?” I ask, even though I only know of one Nora. But surely she can’t be talking aboutJonah’sNora.
After Sophie found out Jonah was cheating on her with me,Hannah, and Nora, pretending he was exclusive with each of us, she sent out a bunch of texts. Hannah and I met up with her that very morning. Nora…didn’t. She ignored Sophie’s messages, but after Dottie had a heart-to-heart conversation with her, she helped us get back at Jonah.
The four of us tricked him into attending a concert where Sophie, Hannah, and I told everyone exactly what he’d done to us. He was publicly humiliated, booed, and he lost his job distributing to breweries. Now, he works for his father, and according to Travis, he’s gotten twitchy and started chain-smoking.
Maybe I should feel guilty about that, but I don’t.
“TheNora,” Hannah confirms. “I can’t believe I forgot to tell you last night, but she was at the party at Big Catch. She’s Mrs. Applebaum’s daughter. Boom. Can you believe it?”
“Mrs. Applebaum? As in the woman you set up with Eugene?” I marvel. “Nora’s really her daughter?”
“Aren’t the workings of the universe fascinating?” Dottie asks. “I knew Nora would reconnect with you girls at some point, but I didn’t knowhow.”
