Page 86 of More Than My Hometown

“She is, but…” I take another swig of beer, buying myself time. “Reykjavík is her dream city. It’s been number one on her request list for forever and a place she’s never been assigned. Careful mentioning the city around her though, ’cause you’ll get the Maisey ramble.”

The Maisey ramble—second only to the tornado tactic in verbal head-spinning maneuvers she has up her sleeve.

“She taking it?” Gus asks.

I shrug. “Not sure. She’s…conflicted. And…and I can’t be what stands in her way.”

“And you think signing over The Booby Trap to Hayes solves that?”

The door to Pour Decisions opens, all three of us immediately looking over at the interruption. Seth Jennings, local plumber and town council member holds up his hand in greeting, awkwardly smiling like he knows he interrupted something.

“Hey, you called about a clogged toilet?” Seth asks in way of greeting.

“Sure did!” Milo responds, working his way out from behind the bar. “I tried the plunger and nothing. Didn’t feel like messing with it after that, worried I’d make more of a mess…”

His voice fades as the two of them walk toward the men’s room, having about as casual a conversation about a clogged toilet as possible. A problem I’d gladly face right now rather than dealing with this. Seems like that one has a much easier solution.

“Have you talked to Maisey about this?” Gus asks, pulling me back to our conversation.

“No. And don’t go saying anything to Margeaux either.” I point at him, hoping it comes off as a threat. I know it doesn’t work, the eight years between us even as adults too much of a distance for me to ever be anything other than baby brother. “I need to know what the options are. What this would look like. How it could all play out.”

Gus nods, his face softening with understanding. “If you move forward with this, I’ll have to talk to someone in legal. Margeaux’s our IP specialist, but depending on how quiet you want to keep it, she might be the best one to draw up the contract.”

“I just need to find a way to make it all work. Let her have her dream of taking this contract, while not losing everything I’ve worked for here. Somehow still getting this partnership with Auburn off the ground.”

“Auburn?”

I grin sheepishly. Guess I left that detail out earlier.

“Yeah. They’re looking to expand one of their programs and, in doing so, partner with me. It’d give me the ability to expand, as well as a steady stream of qualified people. Err, well, in theory qualified, if that’s what they’re getting a degree in.”

“Ewan!” Gus is up and off his stool in no time, arms encircling me in a bear hug. I squeeze him back, thankful for his love and enthusiasm. “Proud of you.”

“Thanks. But, this stays here. It’s not official, and…”

“Everything’s confidential, you know that,” he assures me, letting go and sitting back down.

Time for real talk though. Because my brother being excited for me isn’t solving anything. If nothing else, it’s making this tougher.

“But I need to find a way to make it all work, so that⁠—”

“You need to talk to Maisey about it.”

I shake my head. No. That’s not the answer. Not yet.

“She knows.” It’s not a lie. She does know about the opportunity. Not all the details, since last night’s conversation got derailed with the bomb she had to drop, but still. She does know about it. So what she doesn’t know is that I’m here, having this conversation. “It’s fine. But if she chooses Reykjavík, am I able to make it all work?”

Gus pauses, watching Milo as he slides back behind the bar. “You know you can’t do all that from overseas, right? That you’re going to have to be here to get that partnership up and running and off the ground. Maybe if it were more established, you could risk it, but…the first year? No way.”

Swallowing hard, I look away, hating hearing those words from him, the reality of it hitting me all over again. I wasn’t kidding when I said I didn’t get much sleep last night. I was up all night running every possible scenario through my head. Not a single one of them ended with me being able to establish the expansion I want—and that the university would require—if I’m not in Hickory Hills. My hope that Gus would have a suggestion that I couldn’t come up with is dwindling by the second.

“Distance isn’t an option?” Milo asks, cutting in.

I turn to him, more serious than I’ve ever been. About anything.

“I chose this town over her once. I can’t…won’t do that again.”

My brothers nod, their expressions telling me they get it. That they understand exactly what I’m feeling when it comes to Maisey and my unwillingness to back down on that point. Both of them know what it’s like, having experienced their own moments when it came to their partners that they chose not to back down. Milo’s resulting in an actual fistfight, while Gus almost walked away from Hayes altogether.