Page 62 of Temporarily in Love

DECLAN

Saturdays were always a busy day at the brewery. For one, it was the weekend, and two, Nolan and I usually put in a lot of hours on the weekend. Before he married Avery, it was common for us to both work from open to close. Since Lila blew back into my life, I hadn’t been doing that anymore, which wasn’t a bad thing.

One of the most important things we did on Saturdays was to look at the numbers and make sure we were on track. Nolan wasn’t big on numbers. He left the business side of the brewery up to me. Which worked because I didn’t know shit about brewing beer.

“I’m only going to work a half day,” I said to him afterward.

Nolan leaned back in his chair and stroked his beard as he studied me. “That’s not like you.”

“I want to go over and help Lila set up for the grand re-opening party.”

Nolan nodded. “Ah. That makes sense.”

We stared at each other for a couple of seconds, both challenging each other to say what was really on our minds. My brother could be a grump, but since he got married, he had been pushing me to take time off. Now he seemed like he had a problem with it.

“We should close the brewery early,” he said.

I raised my eyebrows at his suggestion. Nolan didn’t make it a secret that he didn’t like that Lila and I were doing whatever we were doing, so that surprised me.

“Why?”

“To support the Sullivans,” he said. “Dec, Kelly and Sean helped us so much after Mom and Dad died.”

I nodded. While Nolan was busy working and trying to make things work with his then-wife Kath, I spent a lot of time at Lila’s house. We had been best friends, but all that time I spent with her over the years while my brother struggled to raise me had cemented our connection. That’s why I was completely gutted when she walked out of my life.

“Can we do that?” I asked. “Close the brewery early?”

Nolan looked at me like I was the dumbest person on the planet. “Bro, we’re the owners. We can do what we want.”

“I don’t want to cut our staff’s wages,” I explained.

One thing I tried so hard to do was make sure everyone was paid fairly here and with respect. Closing the brewery without alerting our staff was a dick move.

Nolan seemed to take in my argument. “Okay, fair. But I’m already planning to go over with Avery.”

“With the baby?”

“Hell no!” he exclaimed, and then he looked guilty. He rubbed a big hand down his beard. “That makes me sound like an ass. I love my daughter, she and Avery are the best things that ever happened to me, but we need a break. Avery’s dad is taking her for the night.”

“How’s Avery taking that?” I asked. Avery had a hard time when she went back to school this fall after being on maternity leave all summer.

“I told her we’re gonna get drunk and bang all night,” he said with a grin. “But honestly, we’ll probably have one beer and go home to sleep in peace.”

I laughed. “Should have thought of that before you knocked her up.”

That got me the middle-finger salute.

I went back to my computer, but I noticed Nolan hadn’t left to check on the hops yet. “What?” I asked.

“Lila’s stuck around for a while, huh?”

“She’s still going back.”

“When, though?”

I shrugged. “Sometime after Halloween, but…”

“What?”