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I stared at him. “Were you stealing Carmen’s muffins again?”
He shoved a piece of muffin into his mouth. “She’s family,” he said around his chewing. “It’s not stealing.”
“I doubt she shares your opinion.”
Her head joined his in the doorway. “Opinion on what?”
“Hudson stealing your muffins.”
“Normally, I would agree with you, but in this case, he’s here doing me a favor. The muffins are his payment.”
“Wait… you’re not paying me actual money?”
Carmen shot him an exasperated look. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Let me tally up the pastries you’ve eaten over the years, and I’ll send you a bill.”
Hudson puts his hands up. “Sheesh. Can’t you take a joke?”
“Were you joking?”
Grinning, he tweaked the end of her nose. “You know I was.”
She crossed her arms. “It wasn’t funny.”
“Are you two done?” I would have picked a side and joined in on the harping, but I wasn’t in the mood. In fact, their jolly banter only made my mood worse.
Nodding, Hudson dusted off his shirt, and a few crumbs fell onto my newly mopped floor.
I gritted my teeth. “Do you think this place needs a remodel?”
Hudson clutched his chest and fell against the wall. “Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?”
“Funny,” I commented. “You’re a regular comedian today.”
“Jeez.” He blew out a breath. “You two are a tough crowd.”
“I hate to take Hud’s side,” Carmen said cautiously, “but he does have a point. Nothing has changed in here since I can remember, and you’ve never had any desire to do anything about that.”
“Not true,” I protested. “I altered the Sunwheat IPA.” Grandpa Charlie wouldn’t stop raving about it, so she should have remembered that.
“Uh-huh.” Carmen sounded thoroughly unimpressed. She picked at the wall with her pointer finger, and I had to stop myself from slapping her finger away. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the paint on the walls has lead in it.”
I scoffed. “Ridiculous. The walls were repainted when smoking was banned.”
Carmen scrunched up her nose. “Wasn’t that when we were in high school?”
“So it’s been a while,” I muttered. “Will you just answer my question?”
She blinked. “What was the question again?”
Now I was annoyed, and I partially wanted to forget I’d brought it up. “Does this place look dingy? Does it need a face-lift?”
“I wouldn’t call it dingy,” Carmen said diplomatically at the same time that Hudson said, “Yes.”
Perhaps these two weren’t the best ones to ask. Carmen repainted her bakery a new color every year. She’d explained it as something about the pantone color of the year. I had no idea what that even was.
“People come here for the beer and ambience, not the aesthetics.”
Carmen and Hudson exchanged a look. “Okay,” Hudson said. Carmen nodded.
