Page 18 of Small Town Firsts
“Thanks, Viking. I think I’m good.”
His lips twitched. “Is that going to be a thing?”
I laughed and brushed his arm as I moved past him. “It just might.”
I hurried to the front of the taproom to where Matt and Connie were unloading their cleaning gear. I was borrowing them from the Lodge. The workmen had left a fine layer of dust on everything, and while the black and dark wood was stunning, it showed dirt like crazy.
“Hey, guys. If it gets too hot, we can push the big rafter clean to the end of the week when the heatwave is supposed to break.”
Matt held two really long mop-looking things. His curly hair was already trying to break free from the bandana he wore. He was only in his thirties, but his hair was already heading for silver. “We’ll be fine. Keep the water coming, and we’ll be out of your way in no time.”
Connie trundled forward with arms heavy with buckets. “If you have some cardboard, we’ll move it along under us to keep the drips to a minimum.”
“You guys are the best.”
“Laverne loves her hardwood floors more than apple pie. We’ve learned a thing or two.” Connie straightened with a low whistle. “Who’s the hottie?”
I turned back toward Ronan, who was heading for the open porch with his long-legged gait. He gave the room one last thoughtful look before lifting his water bottle to me in salute.
“I don’t mind watching him come or go.”
I stifled a laugh. “That’s Ronan Parrish. He’s our new cider master. He tends to keep to himself mostly, but we’ll see him pop in here and there.”
“Make sure I’m on the schedule on the days he comes in.” Connie waggled her brows as she scooped up her brassy blond hair into a messy bun.
“I’ll keep it under advisement.”
The rest of my skeleton crew was arriving and I put Ronan firmly out of my mind.
I had a lot of work to do.
SIX
RONAN
SUNSHINE & APPLES
I double checked allthe batches I started. The sterilizing process was harder here than in the lab I used to work at, but I took it as a challenge instead of a detriment. I liked having my hand in the actual process from start to finish since the larger batch processing would be less about me and more about the end product for bottling.
Right now I just needed to perfect the base.
Each bucket had a notebook full of details in front of it. And they were tacked down with some Velcro I found in a drawer.
I didn’t have a lot of wiggle room for fuck-ups. I had the rest of the season to play with fresh apples for the winter and special batch barrel aging. But this first trio of hard ciders needed to be done early for the August kickoff party.
Ian Kagan was doing a show at the concert stage, and the Brothers Three Taproom would be having their grand reopening with the new name and branding. A major reason why I’d been hired was because I was damn good at handling these tight timelines.
I was learning far more about this farm than I ever had working for three years at the Chicago plant. Damn near everyone was related to someone either by marriage or blood.And those who weren’t had an unusual level of loyalty bred into them.
It was refreshing and scary as hell. I knew the cost of family and weight of it. My family tree was as wide as a five-hundred-year-old oak, with just as many roots embedded deep in the earth. But that didn’t track into my job.
Not like the Brothers Three operation. Beckett Manning ruled the orchard with startling fairness which, in turn, created a place where people actually liked working hard.
I was the new guy and I expected to have to prove myself, but it felt bigger than that. Not just to challenge myself—though that was a large part of why I’d taken the position.
I wanted to belong.
And damn if that didn’t make me nervy on a level I haven’t experienced before. I’d prided myself on being unattached to the businesses I worked for so I could take what I needed and move onto the next.
