Page 38 of Love Is Brewing

Phoebe changed out of her jeans into a pair of nice pants, put on shoes and grabbed her purse and jacket, and was out the door.

With her job at the forefront of her thoughts, she was calmer. More in her element.

Men...yeah, they always confused her.

13

OFF THE HOOK

“Are you starting tomorrow, Talia?” Elias asked his baby sister on Sunday.

He was at the brewery again, just like most days.

Maybe he needed to get a life. He was trying.

Trying pretty damn hard and hoped Phoebe felt the same way after their two dates.

With her hands clinging to his arms as his lips slanted over hers yesterday, he hoped she was smart enough to figure it out.

“I’ll be there around nine,” Talia said.

He stopped the roll from his eyes. His office opened at eight. It wasn’t his problem she had an hour's drive.

He was going to give her the benefit of the doubt and let her try to learn a few things, but she would not come in and be lazy either.

“What is your plan?” he asked. “Do you have one?”

“I thought I could work three days a week,” Talia said. “I don’t want to drive an hour daily. Mom said I could stay with you, but I doubt you want me there.”

Now that he was chasing a woman, he didn’t want her around. But he’d never tell his family no.

“You’re more than welcome. If you want to work Tuesday through Thursday and stay Tuesday and Wednesday night, you can. I’m barely home anyway.”

“We’ll play it by ear,” Talia said. “I might get a call for another placement.”

“What is Mom saying in the background?”

“Here,” Talia said. “You talk to her.”

He figured talking with his sister would result in a conversation with his mother too.

“Hi, Mom,” he said. “What’s going on?”

“I told your sister she isnotto use you and your business as a fallback when she isn’t doing something else. She knows better.”

He was glad to have his mother in his corner.

“It will be a conversation I’ll be having with her, don’t worry.”

“Good,” his mother said.

“Let it go,” he said. “I’ll find out more and what she is hoping to accomplish coming here. I’ll clarify that, though I need help, coming in and out of the office isn’t helpful if people have to train her and she doesn’t stick. Unless she does customer service.”

“Put her on the lines filling orders,” his mother said, laughing. “Or better yet, delivering the beer to the vehicles.”

He heard Talia shout no in the background.

He laughed. “She’s going to see how it’s done,” he said. “It’s part of the process to understand everything.”

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