Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“Oh, please,” Walker said. “Everyone knows I’m the hot O’Ralley. What did he get? Two thousand? I can make that four.”
“Um…I’m pretty confident I’m the hot O’Ralley,” Mel piped up. “I mean, I’m not doing this because I’m so hot, I don’t have anything to prove, but this man-beef show is going to be hilarious when I get to see which of you doesn’t get the most views.”
“See, it’s like a game,” Big Daddy said, clearly trying to get his sons excited about additional promo for the distillery.
“Well, I’m not being used for my body,” Dwain said, folding his arms in protest.
“That’s not what you were saying weekend before last,” Walker said, and Dwain gave him a nasty glare. “No one wants to see what’s going on under there anyway.”
“A lot of people want to see—”
“Oh, come on,” Big Daddy said. “I think we need to look into making our image a little more fresh. And if that means a little tease here and there to get people excited about our product, it could really give us an advantage. Just wish I knew more about this stuff…” He looked at the phone as though that in and of itself was enough of a challenge for him.
And an idea sprang to mind. “You know, I think I might have someone who could help us with this.”
“Who?” Big Daddy asked, sounding desperate.
“You may not like it, but that Mitchell brought a friend with him.”
“That Isaac guy.”
“Yeah, and this is his area of expertise. We could meet with him, talk to him about what we’re trying to do, and get his advice.”
“He’d talk to that Mitchell about it, though.”
“Well, what does that matter? I don’t think it’s such a big deal, really. We’d be the ones sort of poaching Isaac from him.”
That phrasing seemed to sit well with him as his expression shifted. “Yeah…that’s right.”
Walker was glaring at me, but then he smirked, like he knew exactly what I was plotting by steadily easing Big Daddy into the idea of working with Cohen.
“You think you can make that happen?” Big Daddy asked.
“I have a good feeling about it.”
Big Daddy nodded. “You can’t fight results. So let’s give it a try.”
We chatted a little bit more about it before Big Daddy excused everyone from the family meeting. He played on his phone for a minute, so I said, “Big Daddy, I just don’t want you to get your hopes up and think that some silly social-media thing is going to turn things around magically. That’s not really how the world works.”
“I know, son. I just… Honestly, I watched it and saw you laughing and having a good time, and it really made me think that if we’re gonna be in a bind, it wouldn’t kill us to make the best of it. This meeting was the most fun we’ve had talking shop in a while. And I could use something going well while I’m navigating the rest of this mess. Unique opportunities, right?”
I could see the skepticism in his expression too, but was relieved to at least see that he wasn’t being unrealistic about what any of this could lead to.
“Just go steal this social-media whiz from that no-good Mitchell, will ya?” he said with a wink and a pat on my shoulder. “That in and of itself will be worth it.”
The sadistic pleasure in his expression didn’t soothe my concern about how difficult it was going to be to really persuade him that Cohen was a decent guy and had nothing to do with any old feud or the reasons for the O’Ralleys’ failings.
Big Daddy headed back to his office while the rest of us got back to work.
When I was finished up, I texted Cohen. I knew he’d be around since he was working on repairing a broken fermenter. So on account of not having seen him all week—and of having found an excellent opportunity to propose something to him—I decided to surprise him and headed over on my trusty Elliecomb. After tying her to a post, I entered the distillery, and discovered Cohen in a dirty tank, a stack of tools at his feet.
“Oh, hey, man,” he said, dripping with sweat.
“Seems like you’re having some issues. Could have called.”
“Rusty said that too. It’s good. I’m watching YouTube videos. Trying to learn how to figure this shit out on my own.”
“And looking good while doing it.” I winked, moving in for a kiss.
He didn’t deny me that. We’d been apart too long during the week.
As we pulled away, he asked, “The O’Ralley family playing nice now?”
“Not as nice as we could be, but since you brought them up, I’ve come to see if we can arrange a meeting with Isaac.”
“Isaac?”
“That video we posted to TikTok really impressed Big Daddy, so now he wants us to up our game in the marketing department.”