Page 3 of The Marrying Kind
My younger brother, Noah, and I had started a brewery a few years ago, and Kodiak Canyon Ale was now a regional favorite. Nationwide distribution was next on our agenda. We were making a decent living selling our beer and had even won a couple of awards. It was a labor of love, for sure. I loved living here, and despite the lack of available single women in this town, I wasn’t going anywhere. My family was here. My business was here.
“The right one will turn up,” was all I said.
“That’ll be a damn Christmas miracle.” Tripp chuckled under his breath.
Just then, something captured my attention at the other end of the bar. A very pretty woman was perched on a bar stool—an attractive out-of-towner with no wedding ring on her finger. Not that I could see from here, anyway, as she swirled the ruby-colored wine in her glass.
Long dark hair. Pale skin. Blue eyes. Feminine build. A festive sweater and jeans. She wore thick bright pink socks with her snow boots.Damn, she was cute.
Tripp elbowed me in the ribs once he spotted her.
“Hush,” was all I said as I rose from my seat.
“You just gonna leave me here?” he said with a chuckle.
I threw down a couple of bills, more than enough to cover both our beers. “Absolutely, I’m going to leave you here.”
A new woman in town? A new,gorgeouswoman in town? Was this seriously a question? What did he expect?
“Crazy bastard,” I heard him mutter under his breath as I set off for the other end of the bar.
The woman was chatting with CJ, which might be a problem. CJ wasn’t my biggest fan ... forreasons. But let’s hope in the span of time in which CJ had served her a single glass of wine that she hadn’t spoiled this for me.
“Austen ...” CJ looked up at me and grinned, drawing out my name once I got close. “Speak of the devil.”
3
WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU MUSTARD
Ella
“Maybe this is karma,” I muttered.
CJ lifted one eyebrow. “How do you figure?”
“It’s too long of a story to get into now. But, yeah, me finding myself homeless right now is a message from the universe.”
“You really believe that?”
Since I wasn’t sure what else to say, I grabbed my glass and drained the last sip of wine.
“Another?” she asked.
I shook my head. “I’d better not.”
There was still nothing from Samantha, but I wasn’t going to wait around any longer. I decided I was going to march myself down to her office and demand some answers. Or maybe just find a way out of this town and admit defeat.
“Austen,” CJ said as I picked up my purse. “Speak of the devil.”
I placed some bills on the bar and then rose to leave. Lack of sleep, stress, and maybe the wine had caught up with me in a big hurry. I swayed on my feet. Or maybe it was the mess of my current situation making my head spin.
“I’ve got you,” a deep male voice murmured near my ear.
As I stumbled, a solid male body collided with mine, and two firm hands righted me before I had a chance to fall over.
“You okay?” he asked, his deep voice rumbling out the words.
When my gaze lifted to his—he was quite a bit taller than me—I realized this was the cute guy from the end of the bar.
