Page 3 of Dirty Ginger

Startled at the smooth, low voice behind her, Amelia whirled around and found the last person she thought she’d see today. Beckett stood between the double doors, looking as hard as ever. Not only his muscular frame either, but his eyes. Not that she blamed him. Beckett’s childhood was no walk in the park, and he wore those scars. “What are you doing here?” Her voice came out snappier than she intended, and she quickly softened her voice, “Sorry, I mean, I wasn’t expecting you.”

He didn’t seem affected and lifted a lazy shoulder. “I’ve been keeping an eye on your place and saw a truck in the driveway. Came to check it out, but then saw it was Ronnie.” He entered the barn, then scrunched his face and backed out. “Did something die in here?”

She nodded with misery. “Yeah, beer did.”

“Now that’s a damn shame,” he said with a familiar half-smile. One she’d seen through all their years together. One she once thought she’d see every day for the rest of her life.

“Yeah, it is a shame,” she agreed, leaving the barn doors open, hoping to let the space air out a bit before cleaning began.

“How was Saint Lucia?” he asked, stepping into stride with her, heading back toward his massive dark grey Ford F-150 parked near the house.

“Stunning,” she answered. “The nature trails were out of this world. Beautiful hiking. Gorgeous weather. The place is so lush and alive.”

“From what I saw, it looked it.”

She slid her gaze to him, studying his expression. He avoided her gaze. It occurred to her she shouldn’t have been so surprised he’d looked into where she went. Beckett was always the protector, including punching Luka when he’d wronged her.

Their breakup hadn’t been because there wasn’t love between them. Beckett was three years older, and before Amelia left for college, it became clear the direction of their lives had changed. While she’d cried many tears when Beckett ended the relationship, once she got to Denver for college, a whole new world opened up. Six months after she and Beckett ended things, she’d met Luka, and throughout her time at school, they eventually fell in love. When she finally returned to River Rock, the love for Beckett remained, only it was a different kind of love. Not so needy and desperate, but more familiar and comfortable – a very good friendship. No matter what, Beckett was there for her. Always. And she was there for him too when she could, though he was terrible at asking for help.

When they reached his truck, she faced him again. “Thanks for keeping an eye on the place while I was gone. I really appreciate it.” She paused, realizing she had something else to thank him for. “And thanks for punching Luka in the face. I had definitely wanted to do that, but didn’t have the mind to actually make it happen.”

“You never have to thank me for that. I’ll happily knock him out on your behalf anytime you’d like.” His mouth twitched as he tucked his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans. “And as for your house, it’s on the way to the farm, which I really need to get to.”

Warmth carried through her, and she smiled as he headed for his truck and got into the driver’s seat. Beckett had once been on his way to becoming a professional calf roper, but instead he now worked for Nash Blackshaw, who owned a horse training facility that rehabilitated troubled or young horses. The facility was a well-known staple in Colorado now. People came from all over the country to buy horses from the once famous bull rider, Nash Blackshaw. Beckett was a part of that, and Amelia always liked the special connection he had to horses and was happy he found his place in the world.

Once inside his truck, he rolled down the window and gave her face a long look with his strong gaze. “The trip looks good on you.”

“Thanks,” she said. “The trip felt good on me, too.”

His soft smile made her smile too. “Good to have you home, Am.” Only Beckett called her that nickname, reminding her of easier times when life was a whole lot simpler. He flashed her his charming grin that had once been all she could think about before he drove away, a trail of dust following his truck.

She waited until the truck vanished up the road before she let the daunting reality hit her. She had very little time to come up with one new sample, let alone six. Some of the darker ales had to ferment for five weeks, meaning she needed to get on her plan pronto. Sure, she’d been playing with a handful of new brews over the last year, but when Ronnie’s company picked up Foxy Diva and put the beer into circulation, Amelia’s focus had been getting ahead of supply and demand. But first she needed to deal with the messy state of her brewery. The rest she’d figure out later. Pushing the rising tension— that had all but evaporated in the tropics— away, she entered the house and shut the door behind her. The silence. It was everywhere and it was heavy, a reminder that her sisters’ lives had moved on, and hers…

She shook her head, not allowing her thoughts to take her to that dark place. This was her new normal, and she had to move on.

Moving into the kitchen, she smiled at the tulips in the vase on the old, work oak kitchen table. The table held so many memories. Some good. Some bad. All family meetings, hard or otherwise, happened at the kitchen table. The spot had always been a safe place. A quick look in the fridge revealed it had all been cleaned out sometime since she’d been gone. That hadn’t been Beckett. This was her sisters’ touch. And as unsteady as things were, her family wasn’t an issue. They were her rock.

A knock on the door came seconds before it opened, and her younger cousin, Penelope, called, “Amelia?”

“I’m in here,” Amelia replied.

Penelope had moved to River Rock two Christmases ago and never left. Amelia was happy for it. Penelope handled the brewery tours that came in every weekend and knocked them out of the park. She’d learned the ins and outs of the brewery in record time, and she could now explain the beer making process without pause and answered every question flawlessly. Most of all, she was incredible with the public. People loved Penelope. Amelia could see why, she loved Penelope too.

When Penelope entered the kitchen, she looked as gorgeous as ever. Her long brown hair was perfectly in place and her green eyes were sparkling with happiness. Amelia was glad to see it too. Penelope’s horrible parents had shipped her off to live with Amelia and her sisters every summer at their grandparents so they could enjoy their summers traveling without her. Nevertheless, Penelope had created a good life in River Rock, and she deserved every little bit of happiness that came her way.

“Oh, girl, your tan is to die for,” Penelope said, opening her arms wide.

Amelia walked straight into them, holding her cousin tight. “It’s easy to get tanned when all you do is drink your face off by the pool bar.”

“Nice,” Darryl, Penelope’s husband, said, entering the kitchen carrying two brown paper grocery bags. Scruffy-bearded, with dark brown-hair, Darryl was a cop with the local police department, and his amber eyes, while kind, held authority too.

Amelia studied the grocery bags, pressing her hand to her chest. “You brought me groceries?”

He set the groceries down on the kitchen counter. “Clara asked if we could pick you up necessities. She and Sullivan had a meeting with the principal this morning.” Darryl threw Amelia a smile over his shoulder. “Mason got into a fight.”

“Uh oh,” Amelia muttered, only imagining how Clara reacted to that news. Likely not well.

Penelope laughed softly. “I’ve never seen Sullivan look so proud. Mason was just standing up to a bully.”

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