Page 110 of Break My Heart
‘The beer was what?’
I stand up straighter. ‘Okay, this is hard for me to admit, but I’m just going to say it.’
‘Yeah? Go ahead.’
‘People were saying your beer was .?.?. better than mine.’
She slowly smiles. ‘They really said that? That my beer was better than yours?’
‘Yes, at least that’s what Wade overheard. He thought if he didn’t do something, everyone would come here and he’d be out of a job. Since he moved here for the job, he didn’t want to lose it.’
She tilts her head, a slight smile still on her face. ‘Do you think they’re right?’
‘Who?’
‘The people who thought my beer was better.’
‘I don’t know. I’ve only tried two of your beers.’
‘And? Were they better than yours?’
‘Shouldn’t you be inside with the cops? What if they have questions?’
‘Sawyer, tell me the truth. Do you think my beer is better than yours?’
I let out a sigh. ‘Okay, yeah, it is, but I’m working on mine to make it better.’
‘Wow.’ Her brows rise. ‘I can’t believe you actually admitted that.’
‘I’m not afraid to admit when someone does something better than me.’
‘Are you kidding? You hate admitting when someone’s better than you.’
‘Yeah, well, maybe I’m growing up and figuring out that not being the best at something means I need to work harder. Since you moved to town, I’ve reworked three of my beers and they’re all better than they were before. That’s why you can’t leave.’
‘Sawyer, you don’t need me around to make better beer. You just need to keep working at it. It took me a long time to make mine good. It takes practice and trying new things.’
I step closer to her. ‘Gina, don’t go. You like it here. Don’t let those guys run you out of town.’ I point to G’s. ‘You can fix this, make it just like it was before. And with Wade not posting all that shit online, your customers will come back.’
‘It’ll take months to fix all the damage. I can’t wait that long. I need money to pay my bills.’
‘You’ll get money from your insurance.’
‘To pay for the repairs, not to pay for rent or other living expenses. And it’ll take forever to get the insurance money. I’d need the money now if I wanted to fix the place up and reopen. Even if I started the repairs next week, it’s going to take a long time to get it back like it was. It’s really bad in there. Tom took a knife tothe wood on the bar, broke all the light fixtures, spray-painted the floors. He must’ve been here for hours to do that much damage.’
I want to kill Tom. I’ve never liked him, but now I hate him.
‘What if I found a way to get the place fixed faster?’
‘How am I going to pay for it? I can’t start on the repairs until I get the insurance money.’
‘I’ll pay for it. I’ll loan you the money.’
‘Sawyer, I couldn’t ask you to do that.’
‘You don’t have to. I’m offering. I’ll loan you the money and when you get the insurance check, you can pay me back.’
‘Even if I agreed to that, I don’t know where to start. I don’t know who to hire that could fix this.’
