Case was happy for his cousin. The beer was good, the name was a go and next weekend they were going to officially let everybody in Stonefield know that there was going to be a new business in town. Word had already gotten out, of course. It was a small town. But now it officially had a name.
“It was a good one,” he agreed. “But now we have to go over the pros and cons list we were eachsupposedto make for hiring another guy or two.”
“I have a list,” Lane said. “It’s in my head.”
“Doesn’t do me a lot of good rattling around in there.” The teasing was a long-standing thing because it was just how the two of them worked. Case liked to make notes and put thoughts on paper to analyze them. Lane mulled things over in his mind until he came to a conclusion. They’d been operating that way together for a long time and it worked.
They spent almost forty minutes going back and forth on the issue before they came to the conclusion that instead of hiring an expensive new foreman who’d be new to all of them, they’d promote their top guy and hire two greener guys. When it came to freeing up more time for the brewery, that was the smartest, most cost-effective way to do it in the long run.
“Maybe we should go sit in the backyard,” Lane said, amusement heavy in his voice.
“Why would we do that? The folding camp chairs I stuck out there have nothing on these rockers.”
“True, but you wouldn’t be able to stare at the Sutton house instead of your laptop screen, hoping for a glimpse of Gwen.”
Case felt his face get hot, so there probably wasn’t any hope of laughing off his cousin’s observation as all in his head. “I’m not staring at anything. I’m facing that direction, so if I look up from the computer, I’m looking at the house. That’s it.”
Maybe he’d looked up from his computer a lot more than usual since he sat down, but it was good for his neck to move those muscles. And they were getting done what they needed to. Where he looked was none of his cousin’s business.
Lane laughed. “Sure. That must be it.”
“I could turn my chair around and stare at the side of my house if it makes you feel like I’m being more productive.”
Boomer lifted his head, maybe sensing some tenseness in Case’s tone, but Lane just chuckled and reached down to stroke the dog’s head. “It seems like I hit a nerve.”
“You didn’thita nerve. You’re justonmy last one.”
“Okay. If you want to pretend I don’t know you well enough to see what’s going on, we can do that.”
Lane had a point. There was probably nobody else on Earth who knew Case as well as his cousin did. There was enough of an age gap so they weren’t super close as kids and they hadn’t gone to school together, but as adults—especially since they worked together for the tree service their fathers had started—they’d become good friends and eventually, as close as brothers. He wasn’t going to be able to keep secrets from Lane, no matter how much of an attitude Case threw his way.
“Fine,” he snapped, earning a sharp look from Boomer. “I’m not sure how or why, but I seem to have developed a serious case of being hot for Gwen Sutton.”
Lane kept his gloating to anI knew itsmirk before shaking his head. “Hot for Gwen. I have to confess, that oneisa little tough to figure out.”
“It’s a mystery,” he said, though it really wasn’t. For one, she was a great kisser, though he absolutely couldn’t tell Lane how he knew that. He’d told Gwen he wouldn’t.
“I mean, she’s attractive.”
Case nodded. “But bossy.”
“Not really a people person,” Lane added.
“She has a great laugh, though. And she’s smart, and funnier than most people think she is. Even though she doesn’t live here, she loves her family and she’s here, helping them the best she can. She’s great with Jack and Eli, and Boomer really seems to like her.” When Lane didn’t say anything for a few seconds, Case glanced over at his cousin to see him frowning slightly. “What?”
“I just... I don’t know. I was expecting you to talk about how attractive she is and maybe make a comment about how she looks in tight jeans or something. But if you’re talking about how she is with kids and how your dog likes her, maybe also keep in mind the part you said about her not living here. And remind yourself that she’s going back to Vermont as soon as she gets the chance. She hates it here.”
“I’m not ring shopping or anything.”
“You also don’t sound like a man laying out his reasons for wanting a quick hookup with a woman.”
Maybe because he didn’t want a quick hookup. He already knew that wouldn’t be enough to get Gwen Sutton out of his system. Yes, he knew she had no interest in spending any more time in Stonefield than she had to, but maybe she just hadn’t had the right incentive to stay.
“Nope.” Lane was shaking his head. “Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?”
“You’re wondering if you can be enough to make her want to stay.”
