“Sorry I’m late,” Jake Spencer, the other brewery owner, came in the door to the taproom.
“Just in time,” Sully said. “You can join us in educating young Nate here.”
“Um, I think I’m only four or five years younger than you all,” I grumbled.
“A lifetime,” Sully said with a smirk. “As I was saying, you can learn from your elders here, young friend. We’ve all”—he gestured to Max, then Jake, who was filling a beer at the tap on the wall, then to himself—“found our lifelong partners in the past year. We know what it means to find that woman who changes everything. And we know how scary that can be.”
“I mean, to be honest, we all know that Maggie can be terrifying,” Max said with a wink. “And though Ivy is sweet as hell, she self-identifies as a green witch, so I think I’m the one that got off easy here.”
“Emma is hell on wheels when you piss her off,” Sully said of his sister.
“Oh, don’t I know that.” Max grinned and raised his eyebrows.
“Fuck off,” Sully growled at his friend.
“Drew should be here for this,” Jake said, pulling up a seat by me.
“Where is Drew tonight?” I asked. I’d met Jake’s brother at the Reds event here last week.
“Hanging out with Ivy’s daughter, Addie so we can come here,” Jake said. “Now, back to you. Someone fill me in. Why is Sully dispensing his questionable wisdom?”
“Well—” I began again.
“He has Elle in the guest bedroom and is taking things slow,” Sully replied.
Jake raised his eyebrows and looked at me, then to the window where you could see Elle and company across the bar. He did a slow pan back to me as he cut to the chase. “Cut that shit out and make a move.”
Max laughed and Sully toasted Jake.
I looked back to Elle. I mean, what had I been thinking? Maybe it was time to remove the training wheels off of this relationship. I thought we were finally up to speed.
* * *
Elle and I stepped out of the brewery into the winter evening. She tipped her head back to look up at the sky, so I paused beside her to do the same. We stood there for a moment as we looked up together.
Finally, I broke the silence. “Are we looking for something in particular?”
Elle stood there for a moment, then whispered, “No. It’s just this place. I mean, it almost feels magical sometimes.”
I thought about that. “You mean because of the quiet?” I looked over at her.
A smile spread across her face, lit by the light from the brewery. “The quiet, the clean smell of pine, the fact that people wave at me when they pass me on the street,even if I don’t know them.”
I laughed. “Want to walk for a few minutes before heading back?”
“Sure,” Elle said. “Do you care which way?”
“Nope.”
She moved toward the downtown and the bookstore. I fell into step beside her, reaching out to intertwine my fingers with hers. She squeezed my hand, and I squeezed hers back.
“You have fun tonight?”
She let out a contented sigh. “Yes.” She paused, then asked, “You know what I still can’t get used to?”
“What’s that?”
“When I walk into the brewery or the deli or the pizza place, everyone stops and looks to see whose coming in. Do you notice that?”
