Page 90 of Love Is Brewing

“I grew up in Charlotte. Trust me, you can walk around for months and never run into someone who knows you. It’s nice to have that anonymity.”

Kayla giggled. “This has to feel like you being a shark in a pond then.”

“I’m not sure I’m a shark. But I get what you’re saying. Elias is the big fish in a pond.”

“No,” Ellen said. “Or yes, but he’d be that in a sizeable area too. Just because of who his brother is.”

“And now that he has that big collaboration with Fierce, things are going to get even bigger for him,” Kayla said.

“How do you know about that?” Phoebe asked.

“I told you I still talk to people there,” Kayla said. “I don’t think it’s a secret. No one said it was. And many know Mason Fierce and his brewmaster. Ben someone. They’ve been there a few times.”

She had to decide what to say. She really wanted to stay out of it, but it was too small of an area at this point for people not to put her and Ben together with the way everyone was talking about them.

“Ben Kelly,” she said.

Several jaws were dropping. “Is he related to you?”

“He’s my brother. And before you ask, whatever was in the works with Fierce was happening before Elias and I knew Ben was connected to us. Once we realized it, we thought it was funny. Nothing more than that. One didn’t lead to the other.”

She didn’t want anyone to think Elias was dating her for her business with her brother any more than she wanted anyone to think she was using Elias to expand her business.

“That’s sweet,” Kayla said. “Anyway, didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I just found it funny when I heard.”

“Funny how?” she asked.

“As I said, I didn’t expect it. You don’t come across as the beer-drinking type.”

“I’m not,” she said. “Much to my brother’s frustration. But that means nothing. Sophie, what does your husband do?”

“He works construction,” Sophie said.

“I don’t think you’re the type to swing a hammer unless you do it on the weekends. But looking at you now, I wouldn’t say that.”

“I understand what you’re saying,” Kayla said, smirking. “It’s narrow-minded of me. I’m sorry.”

Phoebe smiled. “Think nothing of it,” she said. “I’m glad you felt you could talk to me about it. All of you. We should get back to work now.”

Everyone returned to their offices, but she sent a text to Elias and let him know what happened.

He might want to know that some of his employees were listening in and talking.

Though she knew that happened everywhere, she also knew he’d been concerned over other issues and had emailed it out on Tuesday as she suggested.

She even looked it over for him quickly since he didn’t want to bother his brother with it.

She was shocked when her phone went off with a text and thought it was Elias returning hers, but it wasn’t.

Since she wasn’t busy, she decided maybe she’d take a drive and visit Elias. Might as well shake some trees and see what fell out for him.

“I’ll be back in about an hour,” she said. “Call if you need me.”

No one questioned when she left. Oftentimes it was to meet with a client or go to court. Not trials so much yet, but she had one coming up soon in traffic court. Guess she was getting a lot of referrals there since Regina’s charges were dropped.

One good thing about a small town that she found. Word of mouth worked in her favor this time.

She drove to the brewery on the outskirts of town and parked.

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