Page 30 of Trusting Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings 2)

“You okay, man?” His brother’s voice was barely audible over the pounding of his heart. He turned and saw Eli’s brow furrowed. “You look...flushed.”

He was flushed thinking back to the night before where he’d spent the hottest night of his life in below freezing temperatures.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just tired. Thanks for the ride.”

“Dinner tonight at my place. Seven o’clock. Kenzie would kill me if she didn’t get to see you. I’ll let Evan and Shayne and Deanna and Lucky know, too.”

“I’ll be there.”

Easton got out of the truck and shut the door behind him. He lifted his hand to say goodbye as his brother drove out of the back parking lot.

When he turned back to the B&B, he took a deep breath and didn’t immediately recognize what he was feeling.

It took him going on a deep dive into his memory bank to realize that this was exactly how he’d felt in the Little League World Series. It was the seventh game and he’d had to go up to bat facing CJ Rossum-who had gone on to play pro ball, and had won MVP in the league the year he led his professional team to a World Series victory, was throwing a no-hitter.

The other team was only up by two hits, and the bases were loaded. If Easton struck out the game was over. Thankfully, he didn’t. He ended up getting a home run on the second pitch CJ threw. His team won two to nothing.

That day when he walked to home plate, he’d felt uneasy and anxious. He had been nervous, which was understandable.

That was exactly what he was feeling now as he faced the quaint cottage-style cabin.

In his travels, he’d encountered things that would make anyone shit their pants. There were the basics, lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my. But then there were also spiders the size of a football. Dangerous people. Food that didn’t resemble food at all. Terrifying jungles and deserts. And he’d never felt nervous about facing any of it.

But as he stood in front of the B&B knowing that Grace was inside, he might as well have been that eleven-year-old kid facing a no hitter.

Just like he’d done that day, he shook off his nerves and walked toward home.

“Easton!” He heard his name being called and turned to see Shelby Dorsey jogging towards him. “I thought that was you! Sorry, I wasn’t expecting you until later today.”

When he’d made the reservation, he’d planned on staying the night at his parents’ house and heading up to Hope Falls this afternoon.

“I got in early.”

“I see that.” Shelby smiled widely.

He’d only met her briefly. Her husband Levi Dorsey owned the B&B and the bar that sat in front of it. Dorsey’s younger brother Lucky was married to Easton’s cousin Deanna. Easton wasn’t sure if that made him and Shelby family or not, but both she and Levi had always been extremely welcoming to him.

“I tried to call you, actually.”

He pulled out his phone and saw that it was dead. It must have died the night before. Which reminded him, he’d left his charger in the truck, so that meant he’d probably need to get a new one.

“I know you said that it was fine if there were other guests staying at the B&B, but I had planned on keeping it just you since you’re a long-term guest.”

He’d paid for three months and given her double because he knew that turning over occupancy was one way that the business stayed successful. When people couldn’t get a room, they went somewhere else.

“Anyway, I got a call from Grace Wells yesterday and she just needs somewhere to stay temporarily. Her sisters run the coffee shop Brew—”

“Brewed Awakenings,” he finished.

“Right.” Shelby smiled. “So, she’s kind of like family and I couldn’t say no. I hope that’s okay.”

Yeah. It was more than okay.

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