Page 1 of More Than Words
ChapterOne
Ethan
“There is no better sound in the world than an old wall coming down.”
The next swing of the sledgehammer landed with a satisfying crack, and plaster crumbled in chunks around my boots with the large hole I’d just put in the wall.Dust filled the air, thick enough to choke on.Somewhere behind me, my brother muttered something under his breath.
“What was that, Reid?”
I turned to see him shaking his head.“I was just saying that I can think of a lot more satisfying sounds than destruction.”He raised his eyebrows and gave me a pointed look, which I ignored.
Just because he was happily married to a sexy wife he couldn’t keep his hands off, didn’t mean the rest of us were.
Or that it was something we wanted.
At least, it wasn’t somethingIwanted.A relationship was so low on my radar for the moment, it didn’t even register.I had enough to keep me busy.Like destroying the wall that stood in my way of an open concept room.
I’d keep my focus on demo, thank you very much.
I lifted my sledgehammer and swung it again, rewarding myself with the solid crunch of the old wall.
“Careful you don’t hit something important,” my handyman brother, who truthfully had a lot more experience with this kind of thing than I did, muttered.“I don’t need my to-do list getting any longer than it already is.”He pushed past me and reached into the hole I’d just made to pull out a big piece of plaster.“Remind me again why you didn’t hire someone for this?”
“I did.”I wiped the sweat off my forehead with the back of my arm.“That’s why you’re here.”
“Funny.”Reid shot me a look.“I don’t remember any discussion of payment.”
“That’s ’cause there isn’t any.”I flashed him my most charming grin, not that I thought for a second it would work on my younger brother.“It’s the family special.”
Reid grumbled a little more under his breath.Something about aspecialstill requiring some form of payment.But I knew he was happy to help.Despite his crusty exterior, my grumpy brother was a softie.Especially for his family.
And I wasn’t ashamed to cash in on that generosity.
Not when I was desperately in need of help if I planned to ever open the doors to Peaks & Brews.
I had way too much to do to turn the old Chinese restaurant—which had been sitting empty in the plaza for longer than I could remember—into my new brewery space as soon as possible.I’d more or less signed my life away when it came to the lease payments, so the sooner I could start making money, the better.
And I was confident Iwouldmake money.As soon as the walls were down, and we scrubbed the lingering scent of deep-fried ginger beef out of the air, we could get the tanks in and move operations out of my backyard shed and get things going for real.It was long past time to turn my home-brewing hobby into something real.
Something that would give me and Quinn a solid future.
My little girl deserved that more than anything.
But first, we needed to get past the destruction stage.And judging by the state of things, it was going to take a fucking miracle.Or a lot more work.
“I still think we should keep the dragon mural on the far wall.”Reid wisely changed the subject away from the extra money I didn’t have.“It adds character.”
“You just don’t want to paint over it.”
“You’re not wrong.”Reid chuckled.“But seriously, it does add character.”
“We’ll see.”I glanced at the mural.Itdidhave character.But I wasn’t sure that a 1983 over-the-top Chinese food restaurant was the vibe I was going for.
“Seriously, whatever it is you decide to do, Ethan, it’s going to be great.”Reid set his sledgehammer down and watched me from across the room.“This place has been sitting empty for too long.It’ll be good for the whole town for something to fill this space.”It was unusual for my brother to offer up any kind of positive reinforcement at all, and I was just about to mention that fact when he finished his thought.“As long as the fancy beer you brew isn’t total shit.”
“Asshole.”
I tossed a chunk of plaster at him, but he dodged it easily with a laugh.
