Page 24 of Pitcher Perfect

I tried to gauge from Austin whether he would mind if I stayed long enough to drink another then clear my system of the alcohol before driving home. It wasn’t much alcohol, but I wanted to be safe. We hadn’t even talked about the competition yet. He held my eye contact and smiled, so I asked for a glass of the porter.

“Good choice. That one’s my favorite,” Austin said. “Can I get one, too, E?”

“You got it.”

Gold star for me!

As I was about to ask Austin what other porters he liked, we were interrupted again.

“Austin. I’m surprised to see you out here. Taking a break from the brewing?”

I looked up and saw an older Black woman smiling down at him. She looked familiar. Must’ve come by the truck before.

“Hi, Mabel. Out here for a meeting.” He turned his attention back to me.

“I don’t mean to interrupt you boys. I’m just stopping in to fill my growlers for a Chamber of Commerce social tonight. If I get them tipsy, I might be able to convince a few people to join my effort to start a fund for more seasonal decorations for Main Street.”

“Thanks for supporting us, and good luck tonight.” Austin’s smile was polite, but it lacked the warmth of the smiles I’d seen from him so far.

“Any chance we’ll see the brewery represented? I’d love to get you more involved in the chamber. We need to get the younger generation active in the group to keep it going.”

The way Austin’s lips pinched, I got the feeling it wasn’t the first time he’d been pitched on that.

“I’ll mention it at our next team meeting.” He gestured to me. “Have you met Caleb Larsen? He runs the new food truck next to Dave’s place.”

Is he throwing me to the wolves or trying to help me network?Judging by the teasing quirk to his smile, I guessed a little of both. I hadn’t given much thought to how connected Austin probably was in town. I wondered if he could put in a good word for me with Ambrose. I shook the thought off. It wasn’t fair to use him in that way.

“Pleasure to meet you.” I shook her hand after she set one of her growlers on our table.

As she opened her mouth to speak, Ethan swooped in and placed our beers before us. “Good to see you, Mabel. Did you hear we’re running low on the marionberry ale?”

Her expression turned frantic. “No!” She thrust the two growlers at him. “Fill ’em up, Ethan. Thanks.” She turned back to us. “Enjoy your meeting. Pleasure to meet you, Caleb. I hope you’ll consider joining the chamber.” She pulled a business card from her purse. “I’d love to see you at a chamber meeting soon, Austin.”

Once she was out of earshot, I let out a low whistle. “Wow.”

Austin chuckled. “Yeah. She’s a force. That’s for sure. I can’t believe you hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting Mabel Hampshire yet. Her family was one of the ones who founded the town decades ago. I’m surprised she wasn’t already lined up when you parked your truck. First customer and singing your praises, promising to tell everyone how good your food is while trying to convince you to join the chamber and cater their meetings.”

I looked back at the woman talking animatedly to Ethan. “Now that I think about it, Dave might have run interference on that one. I think I’ve seen her go in there before.”

Austin grinned. “Dave’s a good guy.”

“He really is. He and Mikey are a great pair.”

Austin’s grin softened as he nodded. “Mabel has done some incredible things for the town and local businesses. She deals in favors and bargains like it’s her only currency. Impressive, really. But owing her is never a fun place to be because the woman knows how to collect.”

I laughed. “Thanks for the warning.”

Austin took a long drink of his beer, and I took the opportunity to admire his neck. The neck hadn’t previously been much of a hot spot for me.But on Austin?I wanted to explore every millimeter of that terrain. When his tongue darted out to clear the foam from his lips, I had to shift in my seat to relieve the growing pressure in my jeans.

“So. How do you want to go about this?” he asked.

Right. Business time.We were there to talk about work, not for me to drool over him.

“I’ve been thinking about that, and I keep coming back to one thing. We can’t go wild with both the beer and the food because we don’t want them to overpower each other for a pairing event.”

Austin nodded, so I continued.

“I think we need to decide if we’re leading with the beer and pairing the food to make it shine or leading with the food and crafting a beer to bring out flavors.”

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