“Fucker, you don’t need to notice what she’s wearing.”
“Man, I’d never do anything against your sister. I’m just not oblivious. And I know you. How’s it going?”
Looking from Max back to the fields, I muttered. “Skin is drying out. Might need lotion after all these showers.”
Max nodded as he sank down into one of the Adirondacks I had on the porch looking into the yard. I relaxed into the chair next to him. We sat for a few minutes in complete silence. Typically, we always had music playing, but I hadn’t thought to grab my phone and play anything through the speakers. While I was tempted to get up and fix that problem, the quiet of the night was also calming.
“How goes the journey into parenthood?” Max asked as he looked off into the night.
I glanced over at his profile, but he didn’t seem to be screwing with me. I let out some air. “Not sure how to answer that one, Harp. It’s going, and I have no idea what I’m doing?”
I could see him nodding from the corner of my eyes. “Seems about right.”
Leaning forward, I let my elbows rest on my knees as I held a bottle in my hands. I picked at the label of Alpha King from 3 Floyds brewery. Damn if they weren’t doing everything I wanted to be doing at The Homestead.
The distant rumble of a motorcycle drew my eyes to the road. I watched as Jake pulled into our drive, coming to a stop by the sidewalk. Placing his helmet on the seat of the bike, he turned and moved up the walk toward us.
“You guys have another one?” he asked.
Max and I stood to greet him as I watched Jake’s expression, wondering what brought him out this way. Max leaned over to the beers we had out here in a small cooler and passed one to Jake. Our friendship seemed to be hovering on a tentative truce for the moment. Jake was too good of a guy to hold a grudge for long, but I could feel that we weren’t where we typically were, and I wasn’t sure how to get us back there. Maybe spending more time together was the answer, just face the music. But he’d been doing small trips to local breweries, still gathering information. I worried what would happen if, ultimately, I still felt like we couldn’t go ahead. Would he accept it? Was I really even considering it? I’d never been this indecisive in business, and I hated it.
“Maggie call you and invite you to dinner like this assclown?” I asked, nodding to Max.
“Assclown.” Jake chuckled as he grabbed a bottle opener off the arm of a chair. “Nice.” Opening his beer, he took a long drink, then glanced at the label. “Good shit.”
“You know, assclown isn’t used enough. What a great descriptive, though it doesn’t fit me.” Max mused, rubbing his damn beard in thought like he was wise or something.
“Need I remind you about what you interrupted earlier. Fits.” I growled.
Jake shook his head at us. “Anyway, I apparently didn’t rate for the dinner invite. Figured I’d swing by before work tonight. Wanted to see if you’d looked over the numbers from Knobs Brewery that I got last week.”
My stomach bottomed out. Damn, I felt like I was letting people down over and over. “Sorry, man. I hadn’t got to the report yet. It was on my list to do tomorrow during the day.”
Jake leaned over and tapped the neck of my bottle with his own. “Not a worry. I was out for a ride before work and was in the area. Wanted to swing by and check, but we can talk more about it later.”
Dusk was falling with a few birds calling out to each other. We sat in silence for a moment, me wondering why I’d put off looking at the numbers Jake had gotten. Was I worried that he’d resent me if I changed my mind and we decided to give it a go after all? I lost the opportunity for us to grab that loan. Damn. I wouldn’t blame him if he did.
Max cleared his throat, wanting to break the quiet. “You guys starting soon? I’m ready to stock up on some beer.”
Jake gave me a questioning look, realizing I hadn’t shared my decision with Max. Yeah, yeah. Closing my eyes, I sighed. Best just lay it down. “Not sure we will be canning this year after all,” I gritted out.
Max’s expression was one of surprise. I’d told him I’d been unsure, but not that I’d acted on anything. “Why the fuck not?”
“Not sure it’s the time to add on additional expenses or take risks, Harp. I have other priorities now, man.” I worked to sound like I believed it myself. “Jake is looking at some other options for us, but we passed on the loan from Main Street.”
“Are you kidding me?” I turned to the sound of a pissed-off voice that I knew well coming from the kitchen door. There I saw Maggie. Hands on her hips, strawberry blonde hair trying valiantly to escape the pile on top of her head. The light from the kitchen framed her in a silhouette, making her hair appear even more red than usual. Her tank and pajama shorts hugged every curve. “I’m just going to echo Max’s wise words,” she said. “Why the fuck not? And if little bean here or myself have anything to do with these priorities, please be prepared for me to kick your ass, Cole Sullivan.”
I watched her, body strung tight, eyes flashing. I looked at Emma, who shrugged, standing in the doorframe behind Maggie. Glancing over at Max and Jake, I noticed that my best friend had a grin on his face and was leaning against the deck’s railing, like he was ready to watch a show. Jake was covering his mouth, clearly fighting a laugh. Apparently, I wasn’t getting any support here.
Maggie’s narrowed eyes watched me, then she looked at Jake. “Jake, you’re welcome to join us for dinner. You can have Sully’s portion if we don’t have enough. I’d consult him to see what he thought, but apparently that’s not something we do.” With that, she turned and headed back into the house.
Great, just great.
17
Auction Surprises
Maggie
