Page 43 of Brewing Brilliance

“Har har. Sure, it was busy as hell, but I look like this from the lack of sleep, and it was not because I was up all night with Spencer.”

Sensing my shitty mood, Gage just takes a closer look at me as if he can fit all the puzzle pieces together and figure out what’s wrong, and I suppose he can. I hate it when he does that, so it’s not long before I’m spilling my guts to him.

“Bianca showed up at the festival last night, as you saw and heard. I went back behind the trailer to hear what she had to say, but by the time Spencer got back with the food, she saw Bianca kiss me.”

“Fuck, you didn’t kiss her back, did you?”

“No, dick. But I didn’t really stop it from happening either. Honestly, I was shocked just seeing her there and my brain was trying to play catch up the entire time.”

“So… Spencer was pissed, and you fought all night?”

“Not exactly. Spencer was upset about the kiss, but she is also very logical and knew it didn’t mean anything. I was up all night because of what she heard Bianca saying and that was compounded by the kiss.”

“Okay, and what did she say that was so terrible?”

“I don’t know man. Basically, that anyone who dates me will never come first. If I’m not prioritizing Olive and Patrick, then it’s The Tavern and the brewing over whoever I’m dating. Spencer doesn’t want to come second. Especially since one of her ways of coping with her mother’s death was to focus on her sisters and her dad and make sure they were cared for any way she could.”

“Sorry brother, but I’ve known you for a few years, and from where I stand, both of the ladies have a point. You pour your all into the things you love, and your family and your business are the number one things you love.”

I go to say something, but he raises his hand to tell me he’s not finished.

“You also haven’t let a single woman hang around more than three weeks since you’ve been here. I know you were burned before, so if that’s your way of dealing with it, I get it and probably better than most. But things with Spencer were different. You found a way to make it all work and these past few months are the happiest I’ve seen you. If you’re still set on living the life of a bachelor, then maybe you should let her go.”

“I already did.” I’m so fucking dejected and tired, that I can’t even stand upright anymore. I let out a ragged breath as the words sink in and lean down with my hands on my knees. I feel Gage pat my back and it brings me a little bit of comfort knowing he’s here with me.

“I’m sorry, man. That fucking sucks. The only thing I’m going to say is that if you have no regrets, no doubts that you’re better off and you can never give Spencer what she wanted, then good on you for letting her go. But if there’s an ounce of doubt that you’re still hiding behind some old wounds, maybe you need to really rethink and figure out exactly how you want your future to look going forward.”

Gage squeezes my shoulder before he walks away. I can hear him loading the kegs into the trailer and know I should go help him, but I just can’t fucking move yet. All I can think about is the doubt and regret I felt as soon as I told Spencer I thought we should break up. Is Gage right and I’m hiding behind my old fears of being hurt and not wanting to feel that way again?

I pull myself together before heading to our coolers to grab some more beer and help get everything loaded for the festival. Once it’s ready, I meet with the handful of people who are going to help us man the tent today and give them a quick plan before we all head over to the festival.

I’m shocked once we arrive and I see a little blue-eye, blond pixie sitting in one of the chairs in our tent. Emerson was the last person I expected to see here today, and I don’t know whether I should be terrified or groveling at her feet.

Once I make it over to her, I see a frown and I’m starting to think that maybe I should proceed with caution. I suppose if I’m going to get the wrath of one of the sisters, I’m glad it’s Emerson and not Chayse. I have a feeling if Chayse was here, I’d be leaving with one or two less appendages.

“Hey Half-pint. I wasn’t expecting to see you here today. Is everything okay?”

“Cut the shit, Mav. You know everything isn’t okay. I’m not exactly sure what the hell happened, but all I know is I got a text from my sister asking me to come help today, but not to bug her about why she couldn’t be here. When I finally got her to answer the phone, she was in tears and all she could say was that she couldn’t do it. I don’t know what you did, but you need to fix it.”

“It’s not that easy, Em. We were broken from the start. I’m not sure anyone could ever fix that.”

“Oh, fuck off Mav. Sure, you both had shitty partners before, but I’ve never seen my sister like this in my life. Sure, she lets herself be her authentic self around us, but even then, she’s guarded sometimes. But since dating you, she’s all Spencer all the time and she’s not the only one who has changed for the better. I like this Maverick, or at least I did, a hell of a lot better than the dickhead bartender act.”

I’m trying to figure out what to say to make this better, but I’ve got nothing. Thankfully, it seems she’s run out of steam or is just that disgusted with me that she turns away and I’m off the hook for a while.

The festival was even busier today than the day before. We brought over more kegs, so thankfully nobody had to do a beer run for us, but we are almost sold out of everything by nightfall and the closing time for the festival. I’m exhausted and just want to crawl in my bed, but there’s still work to be done.

By the time I finally get home, it’s almost 11:00pm and the only thing I want to do is get a shower and then pass the fuck out. I have to be back up around six tomorrow morning so that I can get the tent set up with everything we need to serve brunch.

Thankfully, I still had all of my catering shit from my side hustle from college stashed in my attic, so there really wasn’t much I needed to get. Olive helped me organize it all the other week, so it would be smooth sailing to make it through Sunday.

I barely sleep again and when my alarm goes off at 5:30, I’m seriously considering just bailing on the day and staying in my fucking bed. I can already feel a migraine coming on which is the last thing I need right now.

I make it into the bar and start getting everything prepped and ready to go over to the festival. I don’t know if it’s because of how haggard I look or if my mood is really that bad, but my staff give me a wide berth which I’m thankful for. At least I’ll have my full kitchen staff available since I decided to close the kitchen today. It didn’t make sense when it’s only open a few hours on Sunday and I could really use the staff with me.

It’s one of the longest days of my life and I don’t even give a fuck if I have zero customer service. By the time we’re done serving, my skull feels like it’s going to explode. When my assistant chef tells me she can handle everything if I want to head out, I don’t even hesitate.

I make it home and crash in my bed where I stay for the rest of the day and all of Monday. I finally caught up on sleep, but I have zero motivation to people. It isn’t until Tuesday when my sister jumps on my bed and refuses to leave until I get up that I finally give in and start acting like a somewhat functioning adult again.

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