Page 102 of Beau & Autumn

“I’m simply reacting to you,” she says.

I shake my head and continue to make my coffee. “I’ll make it if it keeps the peace around here.”

“Come on Blue Belle, are you going to let Beau steal your thunder?”

She flashes him a look. “Are you here for some specific reason or just thought you’d pop your head in to annoy me?”

“I’m actually looking for Callan. We’re meeting to set up all the tables for the wedding. I had a free couple of hours.”

“Oh.” She seems to soften a little and walks over to the cupboard to get two cups out. I can only smirk to myself because I don’t know why they fight it.

“Next person to walk into the distillery,” I mutter under my breath as Hudson makes no attempt to move in the doorway.

She jabs me in the ribs. “Very funny.”

I hold up my palms, moving away from the coffee machine with my mug. “She’s all yours,” I say, meaning the coffee machine, but Huds raises his eyebrows at me and I think he means something else entirely.

“How’s married life?” he asks, giving me a chin lift as I sip my coffee.

“Couldn’t be better,” I say. “I’d highly recommend it. You ever thought about settling down, Huds?”

I see my sister's back straighten as she pretends to not listen to our conversation while she busies herself making their coffee.

“It crossed my mind a time or two.” Huds surprises me with his answer. “There’s just more men than women in this town unfortunately.”

I’m waiting for GB to throw something in his face about Dolly Simpson, but she doesn’t. I know he went through a hard patch when his mom passed away and he took over the cotton farm with his dad and helped him keep things afloat. He’s a pretty closed book even though I’ve known the guy all my life.

“You sure that’s the reason?” GB finally can’t help herself and has to respond.

He quirks an eyebrow at her. “What other reason could there be?”

She feigns nonchalance and I want to facepalm myself.

Why do they always fight it?

“You two can argue this one out without me,” I say as Huds moves to let me past. I don’t wait to hear anything else as I make my exit, sipping my coffee on the way to my office before I head out.

??

I swing by Fletcher’s workshop and stop short in the entryway when I see a woman in the tiny space leaning against the counter and she’s giggling.

I scrunch my brow wondering if I’m in the right place.

Then I hear Fletcher’s voice.

It gets even more weird when I hear her say,“So, we’re on for Friday?”

“Friday,” I hear my best friend reply. “I look forward to it.”

She giggles again. Giggles. Am I hearing my best friend… flirting?

It’s then she turns her head to leave and I realize it’s Penny from the library. And here I am, hovering in the background like a lurker.

“Hey, Beau.” She smiles. Her red curls bounce when she moves her head. She’s cute and pint-sized, with vivid green eyes and freckles on her nose. She pushes her clear, wide-rimmed glasses up.

“Hey,” I reply as I walk in, pretending casually I didn’t hear anything.

Fletch looks up from his workshop table and pushes his glasses on top of his head.

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