Page 99 of Pitcher Perfect

My body flushed. “I am happy.”

“You deserve that. Now get out of here.”

“There’s plenty of cleanup to do. We’ll head out later.”

Ty shook his head. “You two are the heroes of the hour. You won us this competition, which means we’ll do the cleaning tonight.”

“Thanks, man.”

“What you and Caleb did, well—” he cleared his throat as his eyes went misty. “It’s going to be huge for us. I’ve already gotten several emails from distributors.”

My mouth fell open. “Seriously? It’s only been hours.”

“Word travels fast, and we’re the hottest Oregon brewery of the day. Get a good night’s sleep because we’re probably going to be busy tomorrow. Good thing you got us that secondhand equipment. We’ll be putting it to good use.”

I nodded.

“Thanks, man. Seriously. You guys make a great team.”

I wasn’t used to so much emotion from Ty, but when he leaned into it, he leaned into it.

When I finally reached Caleb at the other side of the room, he was talking to Frank.

Frank turned toward me. “Congratulations, Austin.” He shook my hand.

“Thanks, Frank.”

He looked back at Caleb. “Am I to presume that winning the competition means you’ll be finding greener pastures?”

“Absolutely not. I’m in Dahlia Springs to stay,” Caleb said earnestly.

“Are you still interested in the restaurant?”

Caleb’s affirmative response was calm and collected, but I could see the excitement pulsing just under the surface. The twitch in his smile, the hitch in his breath, the way his hand squeezed open and closed.

“Let’s meet in a few days to discuss a contract.” He stared harshly at Caleb over the top of his glasses. “The terms will thoroughly protect me should you decide to take your newfound fame elsewhere.” My dad had really done a number on the guy.

Caleb shot me a concerned look. “That sounds great. I’ll call you Monday to schedule a time.” Caleb held out his hand to shake on it.

After Frank walked away, I ushered Caleb toward his food truck.

“Should I be excited? He’s going to lease to me, right? I couldn’t really tell because he seemed almost angry about it.”

I groaned. “Blame my dad.” I climbed into the passenger seat of the truck. “Frank paid to convert that space into a restaurant and went into partnership with my dad, but when my dad got offered that job in Portland, he left Frank without a chef. Frank was basically the Dom of their operation and wasn’t a cook. He couldn’t find another chef, so he had to close the restaurant. Instead of trying to open another, he’s always just rented the space to other people. It’s sad because he always wanted to own his own restaurant.”

“Shit.” Caleb stared at me, car keys still in hand.

“Yeah. That’s why I never offered to help you with him. If anything, I thought your association with me would hurt your chances, given what my dad did. I think that’s why Frank’s so hesitant to trust outsiders. I probably should’ve told you the history there, but I didn’t want to stress you out.”

Caleb nodded. “Yes, you should’ve told me. It’s not your job to protect me from stress. It’s your job to make me feel better when I am stressed.”

I laughed. “Fair enough.”

“Can’t wait to see these contract terms,” Caleb grumbled as he started the truck.

After only a couple of blocks, Caleb sucked in a breath. “Holy shit. I’m going to open a restaurant.” He clutched the steering wheel.

I couldn’t tell from his tone if it was aholy shit, yay!or aholy shit, what the hell am I going to do?But a moment later, he turned to look at me with tears in his eyes and a huge smile.

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