My friends already know my big news: The Ginger Station is officiallyfor sale.
José and I have been giving each other space, but we both feel it—the last of the magic has gone out of our partnership. The Ginger Station, as it was, is a ghost. What it might become, and whether I’ll still be a part of it, remains to be seen.
I’m meeting with a loan officer on Monday to discuss the possibility of buying it, but even if that goes through, I don’t want it to be the way it was before. I don’t want the brewery to be my entire life. I want more.
“I do wish Jonah had rubbed those crystals I gave him,” Dottie reflects with a soft sigh.
I wasn’t aware she’d given him healing crystals, but I’m not surprised. She’s always trying to give people grace. She dyed her hair again recently, a sweet habit of hers, and it’s now a soft periwinkle blue, very nearly the color of her eyes.
I reach for her hand and squeeze it. “It might have helped him avoid this outcome,” she continues, “although I’ve rarely seen such dark energy in a young man.”
“No amount of crystals could have saved his soul,” Sophie insists, twirling her wedding ring around on her finger. Maybe she’s remembering a different ring—the one she threw at Jonah’s face after discovering he was a cheating prick. “Rob doesn’t know too much about the arrest. But apparently this latest round of BS was bad enough that Rob’s dad had a change of heart about the way he’s been treating him. Because he actually called him this morning to apologize.”
“He finally realized he was backing the wrong horse,” Hannah says with a rough laugh.
“Yeah. He seemed genuine. But who knows. I don’t know how much Rob’s going to have to do with him.”
“This is seriously the best day of my life.” Hannah’s laughter shakes her bright red curls. “The Shirtless ChefandJonah getting arrested. Speaking of. Did you watch the video of Giovanni?”
“Yeah, but I sort of felt bad for him,” I say. “He seemed really freaked out. He obviously wanted to keep it a secret.”
His brotherandhis grandmother had walked in on him during the broadcast, and his grandmother had cursed him out in Italian.
It had gone megaviral, obviously.
Dottie tsks. “Secrets have a way of coming out.”
“Well, I’m happy to be at this great happiness height,” Hannah declares. “But it’s all going downhill for me from here. Nothing could compare.”
I seriously doubt she’s on a downward trajectory. Travis just sent Sophie, Briar, and me an email asking for help finding Hannah the perfect engagement ring.
Briar, who makes jewelry, was the only one of us who could provide actual guidance, but I know he mostly consulted us so we’d feel included.
“The only thing that could make this moment better is if we could find out how the Jonah arrest went down,” Hannah continues. “Obviously it’s amazing, but I want to know everything, and the details are sadly lacking.”
All we know so far is that Jonah was arrested for stealing and reselling valuable goods from the homes of his elderly investment banking clients—yet another mark of his spectacularly shitty nature.
“From my understanding, he was reported through an anonymous tip,” Sophie says, glancing at each of us in turn.
Suspicion doesn’t look natural on her. She’s too kind.
I tap the table. “Wasn’t me, unfortunately. You know I’d claim credit if it had been.”
Hannah shakes her head sadly, as if she’s also disappointed in herself for not being the creator of Jonah’s doom. “It wasn’t me either. And Travis and Liam have both sworn it wasn’t them. Although Liam laughed a whole lot.”
“He did.” Briar smiles. “It was cute.”
Sophie turns toward Dottie and raises her eyebrows. “Dottie?!”
“Oh, dear.” She presses a hand to her chest. “It certainly wasn’t me. I was as shocked as you were, until I remembered seeing that snake in Nora’s tea. It stood for Jonah all along.”
I take a swig of my iced tea. “You don’t think it stood for Pansy?”
“Iknewyou believed in the tea leaves.”
I don’t, but she’s beaming at me, and I’d be a monster to tell her no.
“I’ll explain that,” Hannah says with a smirk. “It stood for both of them. They were equal opportunity tea leaves.”
