Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 116455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
I straightened back up and tried to give him a smile. “Thanks, I appreciate it. Sorry for biting your head off earlier. It’s not really Brew Fest. It’s just… other stuff.”
He kept his hand on my back and began to rub soothing circles across it. “You did the right thing turning that Wellbridge guy down.”
I turned to him, shifting so his hand couldn’t reach my back anymore. For some reason, the comment rankled, even though he was right. “Why do you say that?”
Dan shrugged. “Who knows if that company would even do right by Honeybridge Mead? What if they decided to sell it into discount stores and change the entire image of the brand?”
“They wouldn’t do that,” I said automatically. “Surely things like that would be covered in the contract.”
Dan shrugged. “Maybe. But then you’d have to get a really good lawyer to make sure you were protected. And I can’t even imagine how much that would cost. They’d be going up against some fancy New York firm, probably. How would you even find the right attorney? It’s not like you could use Taft and Hobbs here in town. They’ve probably never even seen a corporate contract like that.”
Considering I’d smoked up with Lela Taft in high school, I wasn’t sure she’d be my first pick anyway, but I didn’t say it out loud. Dan was right. I’d have to protect myself. Not that I was considering it, of course. Because I wasn’t. All my prior objections were still in place. Honeybridge Mead belonged in Honeybridge, and I didn’t trust JT Wellbridge’s fine ass as far as I could throw it.
“Then let’s make sure we get that Ren Faire contract so we don’t need a company like Fortress to make it to the next level, okay?” I patted his knee and stood up. “Let’s finish up here so you can get back behind the bar and I can get a few invoices paid.”
We worked for another hour before things started picking up on the Tavern side. Dan got to work at the bar, and I moved to my office to get some bookkeeping done. After half an hour, Alden popped his head in. “Close it down. Cookout time.”
I sighed. “Changed my mind. I’m not going. I’ve had enough family time for a while.”
He threw himself in the chair across from my desk. I caught a familiar whiff of the high-end styling products he used at the salon. “This is the last one before Willow and Huck leave, and I promised Moose we’d come.”
Alden knew McLean was my Kryptonite. I glared at him. “Stop using Moose to get what you want. You could have just told me it was important to you.”
“It’s not important to me. But it’s important to Pop. Come on, I told him we’d pick him up at the General Store.”
I sighed and finished up a few things on my financial app before closing down the laptop and following Alden out of my office. After stopping to tell Dan where I was going, he waved me off with a wink. “Go, have fun. You clearly need some time away from here. I’ve got this.”
“Thanks,” I said, giving him a sincere smile. He didn’t need to take my shit, but I was glad he did. I couldn’t do half of what I did at the Tavern and Meadery without his help.
As soon as we arrived at the salon’s parking lot, where Alden’s Mini Cooper sat waiting for us, Alden shot me an evil grin. “Guess what I heard?”
“No,” I said, holding up a hand as soon as I slid into the little car. “No salon gossip about JT. Please.”
“Who said it was about JT?” he asked innocently. But I knew my brother better than that.
“I did. And I don’t want to know.”
“Suit yourself,” he said with a sniff. We rode in silence for a minute before pulling up in front of the General Store, where Pop was already waiting on the bench outside.
I moved to the back seat so Pop could take the front. Once he was settled, Alden turned toward the Retreat. “Pop, you’ll never guess what I heard at work today.”
Shit.
“If it was about Redmond Wellbridge, save your breath,” Pop said. “I already heard the news.”
Alden got really quiet and glanced over at Pop, opening his mouth and then closing it before looking back at the road ahead. It was clear he didn’t know what Pop was talking about. If he wasn’t going to ask, then I was.
“What about Redmond?”
Pop shrugged. “Not important. The real hot gossip is the one about a certain Frog sneaking down the alley behind the Tavern very early this morning. Might you happen to know anything about that?”
Heat flooded my face while warmth flooded my heart.
He’d stayed. JT had slept in my bed all night. My throat suddenly felt tight, so I cleared my throat. “What? Who? No. What?”