Page 14 of Crazy Little Thing Called Love

“You did?” BJ asked.

“Yes, BJ, me. I wrote up the plans, researched the data, even printed the thing off all by myself.” At his brother’s scowl he mentally scolded himself. He needed to tone down the defensiveness. He was coming across as a jackass and that would not help his mission to get his brothers approval.

“Where do you propose we put this restaurant?” Ace glanced down, flipping through the contents of the file folder. “We don’t have any room here.”

Del knew that would come up, and he had the solution. “The bakery next door is closing down.”

“Jan’s leaving?” BJ clutched his chest, devastation filling his eyes. “Where will we get our cream-filled bismarcks?”

Ignoring his brother, Del reached over to the file and flipped the papers until he came to the sheet he needed. “The shop has enough room for ample seating in addition to what we have in the tasting room, plus it has a full kitchen in the back. We wouldn’t have to renovate much. Mostly décor. You can see here that it meets all the requirements for licensing in the state.”

As Ace inspected the paper, BJ lifted his hands, not ready to give up his question. “I’m serious. I love Jan’s doughnuts and her cheesecake and her pie.”

“Me too,” Del replied, “but she’s moving to Florida in three months to be closer to her daughter.” A nice little tip she shared with him after a few margaritas a month back. “It’s the perfect opportunity. I’ve already discussed the possibility of taking over her lease from the landlord and he said he’d give us the same rate.”

They currently owned the building the distillery was housed in. With any luck, they could buy out the landlord within a few years of opening the restaurant.

“It’s still a lot of money upfront, Del.” Ace shook his head. “We don’t have that kind of cash lying around.”

“I can get it,” he answered without a thought. He had no idea how, his saving would never cover the cost needed, but dammit he knew this was a good idea, a solid business investment. If they’d just give him a chance to prove himself, he knew he could make this work.

“You can?” BJ stared in disbelief.

“Yes.”

The twins shared a look of disbelief.

His gut pinched, but he knew, knew, this was a good idea. If they’d only give him a chance they’d all see. “If I get the money for the startup will you agree to the expansion?”

He held his breath as the twins silently communicated. He hated it when they did that, but they held his fate in their answer, so he bit his tongue and waited. Finally, they turned back to him.

Ace handed back the folder. “A month. You have one month to come up with the funds or the answer is no.”

Weight lifted from his tense shoulders, loosening every knot, uncramping the tightness in his neck. A month? No problem. He could do that.

The high of success running through his body, he grinned at his brothers. “Seriously?”

“Hey, man,” BJ motioned to the folder with a nod of his head. “You did your homework on this.”

He laughed internally thinking of all those late nights, studying for his finals. They had no idea.

“One month, Del.” Ace reiterated. “If you can’t come up with the money by then, we’re out.”

“A month.” He grinned. “I got it. Don’t worry, in a month’s time we’re going to be picking out china patterns.”

The twins looked less than convinced, but he didn’t care. They said yes! A provisional yes, but still. His brothers actually listened to his idea and agreed. He was finally doing more for his family than pouring shots.

Now he just had to find the start-up funds and prove once and for all that he wasn’t the screw-off everyone believed him to be.

Easy as vodka on the rocks.

CHAPTER 5

Utter silence fell in the distillery at the shatter of glass as Del dropped another tumbler. Followed quickly by a very mature patron shouting out, “Job opening!”

A few drinks and everyone’s a goddam comedian.

“You okay?” Kelley reached for the broom, handing it over with a worried glance. “That’s the third glass you’ve dropped tonight.”

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