Page 78 of Small Town Firsts
“With all this endless heat, we aren’t the only ones overloading the grids.”
I waved him inside and went to the cooler I kept stocked with water. July was always a bitch, but the last week had been brutal. I dug out a bottle and handed it to him. “Well, you don’t have to worry about us up here. Things are moving along if you want to skip the meeting.”
“Nah. Nothing I can do until it comes in. I almost drove out to get it before Justin talked me out of it.” He cracked the seal and guzzled down three quarters of the bottle.
I grinned. “Justin? Being the voice of reason? What’s this world coming to?”
Beck gave me a squinty eyed look.
“My little brother might be a pain in the ass, but he has his moments. And thank God he’s handy. He managed to get the freezer going, but even his MacGyver ways will only hold for a while.”
I opened my mouth and he tossed the empty bottle at me. I deflected it with my arm.
“Shush. I know you told me to replace the freezers.”
I pressed my lips together against the grin.
“I know, I know.” He bent to pick up the bottle and tossed it in the recycle bin I kept beside the cooler. He glanced into the taproom as he stood. “Man, you got the tables and chairs in?”
I turned to look around from his point of view, standing beside him. We got in all the tall tables and chairs and a few of the oversized box planters to match. They worked well with thebarrels we already had. Seeing them in the space reminded me time was ticking away so quickly. “The first round was delivered late yesterday. I put a few of the new hires to work helping me unpack them.”
“Did you let the delivery dudes leave before you checked them all?”
I elbowed him. “Easier to check before they suddenly lose my contact info.”
He snorted. “And that’s why you are the manager here, babe.”
Being detail oriented and always looking for problems were two of my best features as far as I was concerned. Beck was too impatient for that kind of wrangling.
“We have a few circular booths coming in to mimic the seating outside for bigger groups of people. But I really think our initial customers will be first dates and post work drink types. The weekends will be the big turnouts with concerts. Why I hired Lennon.”
“You got her?” He gave a low whistle. “I didn’t think that would be so easy.”
“Oh, it wasn’t. She hasn’t signed yet, but I know she will.”
“You are a wonder, Key.”
I rattled the ice in my cup. “Why you put me in here.”
“Singing a different tune than a few weeks ago.”
“You always know I need the push.” I bumped his shoulder. “Want to see the rest?”
“Lead on.”
I gave him a brief tour of the dining room, showing him how the side doors opened to make the space seem even larger now that there was furniture to fill the space. We moved onto the kitchen that had been finished since the last time he’d stopped in. I was sure he’d looked around yesterday, but it helped easemy mind to do the mental checklist while he walked through with me.
He spotted a few things I hadn’t thought of in the storage room and I made a few notes to order some local wine as a backup for those who weren’t into cider. I’d already looked into a few local spirits, but the wine would round out our offerings. My budget would feel the pinch, but I had to believe it would bring a good return on investment.
While we were in there, I tried not to think about me and Ronan against the wall yesterday. I was wearing another cotton dress in deference to the heat and doing interviews today. The swish of the cotton around my knees reminded me of his hand gripping my thigh, diving right under my dress to get his hands on me.
He was so tactile. I wasn’t used to being touched all the damn time.
“Key?”
“Huh?” I turned to Beckett’s voice.
“I asked if you want me to talk to Hayes about the batch of cider he found in the cooler. Do you want it or should I send it on to Ruby over at Lucky’s?”
