Page 84 of Brewing Up a Bad Boy

George seemed to have lost his head. Somewhere between the conversation they’d had over the summer and the last day of August, his brother had taken full leave of his senses. The Tavern wasn’t too busy, but locals had started to trickle in once they’d learned online that the Bootless Soldier had reopened. Owen and Lars were both behind the bar, the brothers laughing and joking with customers.

They were nothing like Ali and George, and not for the first time, he saw how much his privileged upbringing hadn’t given him. The bond between the Krog brothers was strong. Sure, they fought at times, and each of them got exasperated with the other, but Owen and Lars understood each other. Owen got that Lars was never going to brew his own beer. Lars got that Owen was happiest behind the bar.

George got nothing about Ali. Even after all those long weeks when ahang in theretext had saved him, he realized he’d never had a conversation with his brother that mattered. They talked about Lancaster-Spencer and about their parents, but never about themselves.

“No. Definitely not.”

“Dad’s retiring. Mum sprung that on me. I already got full agreement from the board. You’ve changed. Even Stephen agreed that you’ve changed a lot. Everyone saw what you did with Ali’s Brew, and they are impressed. We need that knowledge and innovation at Lancaster-Spencer.”

“You totally do, but I’m not the guy for the job.” The words were out of Ali’s mouth, but there was a part of him that was more than flattered by his brother’s words. The job that had never been meant for him now handed over on a silver platter. All it had taken was, what? A total breakdown and shedding every inch of the man he’d been.

But the man he was today wouldn’t be happy at Lancaster-Spencer. He was making plans for his life here with Poppy. He’d already started planning ales for the Oktoberfest.

“George, if I went back, it would kill me,” he said.

“What? No, the therapy would continue. We are more aware of work-life balance—”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Ali shoved his hand through his hair. How to make George understand? “Remember when I arrived at school?”

“Yeah. You were so nervous. I told you to stick to your schedule and the right families to make friends with,” George said.

“You did,” Ali said. George had been the best brother he knew how to be.

“Was that not helpful?”

“For you. Everyone already knew who I was, and they were all trying to cultivate me.”

“Ego much?”

“You say that, but the reality was you were already earning a reputation of having Dad’s drive and Mum’s charm. Everyone knew you were going places and assumed I was another version of you.”

“But you’re not. You never have been,” George said.

“Yeah.”

“So...it’s a definite no to the job,” George said almost musingly.

“Yeah.”

“What will you do?”

Before he could answer, Bronte and Poppy entered the tavern and came over to the table where he and George were seated. One look at Poppy’s face told him she’d already heard about his job offer at Lancaster-Spencer. He took her hand, but she pulled it back.

He wasn’t sure what was going on. When George went to the bar to get drinks for the table and Bronte went to the bathroom, he turned to her. “What’s up?”

“Bronte told me you’re the COO of Lancaster-Spencer, for starts.”

“I’m not,” he said. “The position wouldn’t open until October.”

“So you’re considering it?” she asked. “Which you’re totally free to do. I mean, this is the offer of a lifetime.”

“Do you think so?” he asked. Did she want him to take it? She had married him when he was on a path to leadership at Lancaster-Spencer, after all.

“You tell me. I don’t know what you want.”

“I’ve told you,” he said, feeling that familiar tension start to build inside of him. What was Poppy doing? Had she not heard a single thing he’d said to her since he’d been in Maine?

“That was before you were handed something that I know you craved for a long time. You told me yourself before I left England that all you wanted was for the world to see that you earned your way to the top of Lancaster-Spencer. That it wasn’t just handed to you because of who your parents were,” she pointed out.

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