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Bennett was the worst of all. The Banks Brew Co.’s beer was top-notch, and it would be an easy sell to serve it in the resort. If I’d thought he’d listen to reason, I’d have Phil’s team draw up some numbers to show Bennett, but he’d made it perfectly clear he wasn’t open to it. I pushed him out of my mind again, which was more difficult than it should have been. I needed to focus on the older man in front of me, who might actually listen.
“What if there was a way to take that shop off the chopping block by increasing your business year-round?”
He eyed me. “I’d say I was listening.”
My lips stretched into the first genuine smile I’d had since stepping onto the boat.
***
Bennett
WES HELD HISglass to his lips as he checked his phone, then he put his drink down before he’d even taken a sip. “Aww, damn it.”
I took a swig of beer. You would think I’d stay out of my workplace on my night off, but there was no place I’d rather have been than chatting with Grandpa Charlie and having a beer with my brother and my best friend. At least in the off-season. During the summer, I kept my happy ass home and away from the tourists in my free time.
“What?” Hudson asked.
He was still dressed in his work clothes, and for the past half hour, he’d been bitching about his client ordering cheap cabinets and then being upset that they looked like the clearance pieces of shit they were. I was glad I didn’t have to deal with neurotic homeowners. My interactions with customers were short and sweet, whereas Hudson had to tolerate fools for weeks at a stretch.
“There’s a drunk and disorderly puking at the dock,” Wes said.
“Damn, kind of early for that, isn’t it?” I said. “Good thing you’re off duty.” Police needed to be paid way better for the shit they had to deal with.
“Not anymore.” Wes sighed as he tapped on his phone. “Everyone else is busy with the hippies, and I’m two blocks away. I’ll talk to them and send them on their way. That’s usually all it takes.”
Wes wasn’t a hard-ass cop unless he needed to be. I—and the rest of the community—appreciated that. Still, better him than me. I didn’t have the patience to deal with drunks and didn’t hesitate to cut people off from the bar if they’d had too many.
“Don’t drink my beer,” Wes warned.
Hudson waited exactly three seconds after Wes left to slide the glass in front of himself.
I shook my head. “You’re looking for an ass beating.”
He shrugged. “It’ll be warm by the time he gets back. No sense letting it go to waste.”
That made sense, but I’d let him explain it to Wes. Hudson was two years younger than me and one year younger than Wes, and for a good while, Wes and I had been bigger than he was. That never stopped Hudson from doing things that earned him ass beatings. Good thing for him we were civilized adults now, but I had a feeling all bets were off where stolen beer—especially of the Banks Brew Co. variety—was concerned.
Grandpa Charlie shuffled over. “Did you change the Sunwheat IPA?”
Damn.I was hoping he wouldn’t notice, but I should have known better. Even though he was semiretired, the old man didn’t miss a thing. “Just a minor tweak.”
He nodded. “It’s good.”
I exhaled, and my shoulders relaxed. “Thanks. Glad you approve.”
He harrumphed. “You don’t need my approval. This business is more yours than mine these days.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
Grandpa Charlie was the heart and soul of the place. I was simply the asshole who worked behind the bar most nights. While I was capable of fully taking the reins, I dreaded the day he decided to fully retire. It would be the end of an era.
“I would. It’s not a bad thing. I always wanted one of you to take over this place. It would have ripped me apart if I’d had to sell it.” He tapped the bar with his pointer finger. “Do you have ideas for improving any of the other recipes?”
I shook my head. “We don’t need to change anything. They’re all perfect.”
He shook his head. “Two seconds ago, we were talking about how you changed the Sunwheat and made it better.”
“I didn’tchangeit. I tweaked it.”
