Page 7 of Partridge in a Bear Tree

Sure,Ashley thought somewhere just shy of Christmas,go for it, cuz. No problem. You've got this aaaaalllllll under control.Christmas was around the corner, and two months of managing the Thunder Bear Brewpub had been…

"Challenging," Ashley said beneath her breath, rather than choose one of any number ofotherwords she would have liked to describe the situation.

She'd known going in that it was going to be work, but Ashley wasn't afraid of hard work. There was a good crew working at the brewpub, and the one guy who didn't like the idea of taking the pub in a queer-friendly direction had quit when she'd called a staff meeting and explained her vision. They were better off without him, and she knew it, but it still stung.

Everybody else had been comfortable with it, and the only significant visual change around the pub were the Pride flags that now hung on the walls along with the traditional American and Colorado state flags. Ashley was anticipating a lot of fun during Pride the following year, but that was months away, and they had plenty of groundwork to lay first. Aside from that, the biggest change was auditory: her aunt and uncle, who had started both the brewery and the pub, were really into jazz andeasy listening styles of music. Gwen Booker's explosive entrance into the Renaissance music scene had turned the pub into a rock-and-roll destination overnight, and Ashley was more than happy to lean into it.

She just wished her wretchedcousinswould take their jobs at the pub more seriously.

Ashley had known—Bill had mentioned, and she'd seen it herself—that neither Jon nor Laurie, the two youngest Torben brothers on that branch of the family, were particular self-starters. Not when it came to the pub: they were both great at the Renaissance faires they spent half the year working, but they both seemed to regard the rest of the year, and their jobs at the actual pub, as sort of…voluntary. Oh, they did what they were asked. Bill had made that clear, but they didn't do much they weren't specifically asked to.

After six weeks of that, Ashley was both amazed Bill had lasted four years trying to run herd on them, and that he hadn't killed them. It was now less than a week until Christmas, and if she had totellthem to pick up the slack one more time, Ashley was fairly certain her head was going to explode.

Her poor bear gave her a distressed look.Maybe we should sleep.

"Can't sleep, clowns will eat me," Ashley breathed. The bear felt even more worried, and Ashley sighed. "No, clowns aren't going to eat me, but I'm afraid hibernating isn't really an option. I'm going to have to Talk to them."

Even the bear could hear the capital letter in 'talk.' It gave the impression of nodding solemnly before providing an image of a sow swatting a couple of unruly cubs with a big paw.

Ashley chuckled. "Yeah. Just like that." She went into the staff office, which was small and dark and, she realized in that moment, rather comfortingly den-like. Maybe she could just curl up under the desk and sleep through Christmas.

We're not fat enough,her bear informed her mournfully.We'd have to get up to eat.

"Oh well. It was a nice thought."

"What's a nice thought?" Laurie, the youngest and possibly prettiest of her pub-owning Torben cousins, came into the office a few steps behind her. His long, sandy blonde hair was back in intricate, elf-like braids, and his smile was infectious as he threw himself into one of the uncomfortable office chairs. "And what can I do ya for? I'm supposed to be over at the leather-working shop in half an hour for the next class, so I've only got a minute."

A flare of real anger sparked in Ashley's chest and she had to take a deep breath to quell it. "You'resupposedto be on shift this evening, Laurie."

He waved a hand gracefully. "Jon said he'd cover it for me."

"Jon is already supposed to be working tonight," Ashley said through her teeth. "He's large, but he's not two people."

"Oh, it'll be fine. If I don't get this class finished I'm not going to have the new garb ready for March?—"

"We have a holiday party with eighty guests in the event room tonight, Laurie!"

Her cousin blinked at her. "Don't we have extra staff on for that?"

"You and Jonarethe extra staff!"

Laurie eyed her. "Is this about our beef, Ash? Is that why you're freaking out?"

"Our—" Ashley broke off, bewildered, then groaned. "No, you twit, it's not about your dumb 'beef' thing that isn't even real. This is about you and Jon?—"

"Did I hear somebody taking my name in vain?" Jon came in just as Ashley was building up a head of steam, and whistled at his brother. "Lookit you with the fancy braids." Like Laurie, he wore his hair long, although his was loose right now, and a darker blonde than his brother's. Otherwise, they lookedstunningly alike, even to Ashley, who'd grown up with them and knew they weren't twins. Laurie's features were finer, his jaw a bit slimmer, and Jon's voice was a solid octave deeper, but they were made from the same mold.

Laurie tossed his elf braids, looking smug. "It's gonna be part of my new character for Faire. Which is why I need to finish the leather-working class, Ash?—"

"Do you two understand you actuallyworkfor the pub? That you get paid? That you're expected to show up and fulfill your shifts?"

Jon dropped into the other office chair with an expression that might, if Ashley was generous, be considered faintly guilty. "Well, yeah, of course, but?—"

"No, Jon, there's no 'but' after that." Ashley took another deep breath. "Look, I love you two, but you need to listen to me, okay? I get that the faire season is a lot more fun than a nightly shift in a bar, but neither of you two take the off-season part of your jobs seriously. If you're scheduled, you're expected to show up. Bill spent years covering your asses?—"

Both the brothers looked offended. Ashley raised her palm, cutting them both off. "He did. He worked shifts you didn't show up for. He did a lot of detail work you should have seen and done yourself. He?—"

Laurie burst out with, "We help out when we're asked?—"

---