Page 24 of Legacy

Keely beamed at the dryness of his tone. “I wouldn’t think so. You aren’t completely on I-70. You have to go through a couple of back roads to get here, but there was an opening for a job, and I needed one. So it all worked out.”

“Where are you working?” I asked. I leaned against the bar, ignoring my brother’s pointed looks. Yes, I needed to go pick up the pies so we could make it to family dinner, but I would deal with that later. Any time I could avoid Ashy Buns was a legitimate use of time.

Keely practically bounced in her seat. “I just got a job at High Country Bed and Breakfast. They were looking for a chef, and I had the experience, and frankly, working at a small-town bed-and-breakfast is seriously the dream. I thought I would have to wait years and save up and build one of my own at some point. But Promise needed a chef since her old one moved away, and here I am.”

My eyes widened. “Oh, I love that place. And Promise is amazing.”

“You know her?” Keely asked before she shook her head, laughing. “Of course you do. It’s Ashford Creek. I will learn this small-town thing eventually.”

“Honestly, I’m surprised we haven’t heard through the grapevine that you were hired,” Rune said, his brows furrowed. “When did you move here?”

“Technically, today’s my first full day in town.” Keely blushed. “I start work tomorrow, or at least prep, to make sure that I can fit into what the old chef needs and find my own way. But Promise is fantastic, and the kitchen staff already looks welcoming. Which is always scary when you show up as a head chef to a former chef’s staff. Not that you need to know all that information. Sorry, I ramble when I’m nervous.”

“There’s no need to be nervous,” I said as I patted her hand. “Welcome to Ashford Creek. And I know Promise has been on the hunt for help for a while now. She’s fantastic.”

Keely’s eyes filled with tears, and I nearly did the same. “She really is. I don’t know how she’s been doing all of that on her own, and I know she’s a single mom. She must not sleep.”

I shook my head, thinking of the twin girls I adored and didn’t see often enough these days. “I don’t think she sleeps, and thankfully, our town is a decent community, and we all help where we can. Plus, while she is a single mom, she doesn’t have the twins every evening. So it works out, and she gets to have that thing called sleep.”

“She mentioned her ex is in the picture. I don’t know if I could be that cool with an ex. But then again, with children in the picture, it makes sense. Plus, she must have liked the guy at some point. He couldn’t be all that bad.”

“He’s our friend, just like Promise is, so it works,” Rune finally put in.

Keely blushed. “And look at me, stepping into gossip and being a dork. I am sorry. Anyway, thanks for the welcome, and thank you for the fantastic chicken strips.” She pointed at her empty basket.

Rune snorted. “You can probably hook up something better than fried food.”

“Maybe. But chicken strips and onion rings while sitting at a bar and having a nice beer before I head back to my house to go unpack are actually some of the best things in the world. And if I’m not mistaken, these are freshly battered, aren’t they?”

My brother merely shrugged. “Maybe. Not everything comes from a box.”

“See? Perfection. And I’ve never heard of this beer before. I’m going to have to see if I can find it in the store.”

Rune shook his head. “It’s a local brewery, and they may have it sometimes in the main grocery, but it’s hard to come by unless you go to the brewery itself. It’s just down the street.”

My heart raced, thinking about that brewery owner, and I nearly kicked myself. Why was I bothering to think about Callum again? It wasn’t as if he liked me. He just liked ordering me around.

He didn’t actually see me as a woman.

“Oh. Really? I love that. I’ll have to see how that all works.”

“Felicity here can probably help you with that.”

I froze, wondering exactly what Rune meant by that. Because I wanted to see Callum? Because I wanted to go to the brewery?

But when I looked into his eyes, I realized he had a whole other reason for pushing me in this direction.

Because I needed friends.

I would’ve felt ridiculous and embarrassed that my brother was trying to set me up on a friend date, but frankly, he wasn’t wrong.

“Let’s exchange numbers, and I will totally take you to the brewery.”

“That’s wonderful. I’m so glad that I came in here.” Felicity rattled off her number, and we quickly exchanged them, and I smiled.

“I’m glad you did too. And now I have to go into the belly of the beast.”

“Goddess speed,” Felicity teased, and Rune saluted me.