Page 23 of Beyond the Hate

“We need the insurance money first.”

She waves away my concern. “I have the money I was saving for my wedding.”

I frown. “I can’t allow you to use the money for your wedding.”

“You,” she stabs my chest, “aren’t allowing me to do anything. I’m doing it. End of discussion.”

I open my mouth to argue further but she herds me outside of the building with help from the rest of my friends.

“There.” Nova says. “We have a plan.”

“And everyone knows how much you love a plan,” Maya adds.

I glance up at the missing roof of the brewery. I might love a plan but I love this brewery more. I finally found the one thing I’m passionate about and it was stolen from me.

My stomach falls as tears well in my eyes. It could’ve been worse. At least the restaurant is standing. The despair I’m feeling doesn’t wane. Why couldn’t the restaurant have been destroyed? And the brewery spared?

Chapter 8

“Damn stubborn woman is going to be the death of me.” ~ Eli

Eli

“Wow.” I study the distillery. If I hadn’t personally experienced the hurricane, I wouldn’t believe one happened based on what I’m seeing. “I can’t believe it.”

“There’s been minimal damage,” Rhett says.

“The effects of the hurricane shouldn’t influence our production too much,” Jaxon adds. “The expansion can continue as planned as well.”

I run a hand down my face. “I can’t believe how lucky we’ve been.”

“Smuggler’s Hideaway as a whole was lucky,” Kai says.

“Not everyone,” Miles mutters.

I slap his back. “I’m sorry about your surfboard business. I’ll put in some calls today and get moving on the rebuild.”

I’m not surprised the shack where he stores his surfboards and other equipment he uses to provide surfing lessons didn’t survive the storm. I’ve been pushing him for years to build a more secure structure. But he wanted to do this business on his own with none of my money. I respected his motives and let him be.

“Other businesses were affected as well,” Zane says.

“I’m certain they were. We’ll help where we can.”

Rhett and Jaxon nod in agreement while Zane’s eyes sparkle.

“I bet there’s a certain brewery you want to help first.”

My muscles seize up at Zane’s insinuation. “What brewery?”

It’s a stupid question. There’s only one brewery on the island.

“According to the smuggler’s grapevine, the roof blew off the brewery.”

Shit. A missing roof can cause a lot of damage. I whip out my phone to contact Paisley.

“Cell towers are still down,” Rhett says. “They should be up and running within a day.”

I shove my phone back in my pocket. I can’t believe I forgot there was no service.

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