Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Nathan smiled, reaching over to squeeze my thigh.
We parked in the Jade Brewery lot and headed out into the evening summer air. The string lights illuminated the awning leading up the stairs into the brewery, and as we walked in, I realized the place was already popping with activity.
When we walked inside, I already saw Charlie there, sitting at the far end of the bar with a small group of people surrounding him. Jax, the jocky bartender, was also there, leaning on the bar and clearly mesmerized by Charlie just as much as he’d always seemed to be.
“Jade River’s newest minor celebrity,” I said, giving Charlie a little salute.
“All charisma.”
“We call that rizz, these days,” I told Nathan, giving him a mischievous smile.
“I’m sorry, what?” Nathan said, his interest in a new slang word already piqued. Nathan always wanted to learn the new terms because Maddy inevitably ended up using them, all of the time.
“Rizz is short for charisma,” I told him. “You really haven’t heard that yet?”
Nathan nodded, clearly committing it to memory. “Well, Charlie definitely has rizz.”
“You know what? Charlie could absolutely have his own hit show,” I said. “Think about it. A home improvement, renovation style TV show, but it’s all about the Fixer Brothers and life in small town Jade River.”
“You really think anyone would be interested in that?”
“I think they clearly already are,” I said, nodding over to Charlie again.
Nathan lifted an eyebrow. “I could see it, actually.”
“I can talk to the guys who produce my show,” I said, shrugging. “Why not?”
“It can’t hurt to ask.”
“I think it would be an immediate yes, as long as you all are down with having your professional work filmed. You’d have to be ready for at least minor fame and recognition, though. And you’ve seen firsthand how that’s great sometimes and really shitty other times.”
“I sure as hell know Charlie would want to have his own show.”
“I’ll talk to them,” I said, bringing my hand to the small of Nathan’s back.
“There they are,” Nathan said as the front doors swung open again and a whole ecosystem of a family walked in.
I knew immediately it was Nathan’s family. His younger brother Tristan was at the back of the group, but even his parents and sister looked like versions of Nathan.
“Hey, Mom,” Nathan said, walking over and giving her a big hug.
“Can you believe that sign down the highway?” she was saying. “You saw it, right? Blueberries for two dollars a pint? I have half a mind to get ten of them. Twenty, and make ‘em into preserves. Best price on blueberries I’ve seen—oh, my goodness, you must be Kace Tomlin.”
She saw me, her eyes lighting up. Nathan’s dad was also smiling my way now.
“I take it you two are Denver Ferals fans?” I asked. “I’m Kace. It’s so nice to meet you.”
I gave them each a good hug, and they introduced themselves. Bruce and Jolene Wood were already two of the friendliest people I’d met.
“Fans? We’re superfans,” Bruce said. “Stop me if I start giving you advice to pass on to that coach of yours.”
I laughed.
“This is my sister Lindsay,” Nathan said, introducing me to a young woman who looked cooler than most people I’d ever met. In photos of her, I’d seen her with various dyed hair colors, but right now it was a killer gradient of blue into purple into pink.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Kace,” she said, giving me a hug, too.
“Hey, let’s go grab that big corner booth,” Nathan said.
“Are we all going to fit into a corner booth?” Jolene said.
“They’re pretty big here,” Nathan offered, “and even if we don’t, we’ll just spill into the next one.”
As we made our way across the inside of the big, cabin-like brewery, I realized that the simple idea of going to sit down in a booth wasn’t something that happened quickly and easily when it came to the Wood family. As we walked through the various tables and booths, it was as if someone in the family got stopped every other table.
Everybody knew everybody in this town. Jolene got stopped by another woman to talk about the blueberries. Bruce got stopped twice by other people, to talk about hiking and hot tub maintenance. Lindsay got into a short conversation about her sheepdog.
By the time we were almost ready to sit down at the corner booth, Shawn had arrived, as well as Tristan’s partner, Jack. When we got to the booth, we not only needed to spill over into the next one, but we also pulled up one of the long, wood tables to position it next to both of the booths.
“This is just like my get-togethers at my house,” I told Nathan when we had a moment, tucked into the corner of the booth. “It starts as five people and always ends up as twenty. Or, in my case, a hundred.”