Charlie scowled at the woman, and when he looked at Erin, he shook his head. “Please don’t mind my friend Darcy. She’s a complete and utter snob. I don’t know that she’s ever been anywhere off the East Coast.”
Erin decided to take him at his word and ignore her. She focused on Charlie again. “I still don’t understand why you’re here. I mean, I’m happy to meet you, but what’s your plan?”
Charlie shook his head. “I’m sure you’re aware, Erin, that Colorado beers are wildly popular. Even in Boston, it’s difficult to find a bar that’s not serving at least one beer from one of the larger microbrewers here. In some places in New England, you can even find beer from places here in Colorado that produce very little beer at all. In Boston, New York, Maine, Maryland—all over the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic—you’ll find Colorado beers. And of course it’s not just there. You can visit almost any state now and find them. Better Beer Company used to be the only craft brewer available in bars in my region, and now, gradually, we’re being replaced, almost entirely by beer from here in your state.”
Erin warmed with home-state pride. “Well, of course. It’s because we’re the best.” She flushed, realizing she’d just insulted his beer, but he shook his head as if to dismiss her embarrassment.
“Exactly, Erin. I agree. Better Beer, while refreshing, has stagnated. It’s been the same for thirty years. Of course I don’t want to change our standard lager, but I do want to begin introducing some new beers to our lineup. So I’m meeting with all the brewers in Northern Colorado, the ones who agree to see me anyway, to learn their secrets.”
Erin laughed. “So you can run us out of business?”
Charlie laughed. “Of course not. Do you think a Boston beer would ever compete with something brewed here in town?”
Erin grinned and shook her head. “No. Of course not.”
“Exactly. I simply want to make better beer—that’s all. And I imagine you have no objections to that.”
She shook her head again. “No—I absolutely do not.”
“Do you think you could set me up with your master brewer? I mean for a meeting about the craft?”
“You’re talking to her, so yes. I think I can fit you into my schedule.”
Charlie seemed surprised and then embarrassed again. “Oh, I see. I do apologize. I simply assumed—”
“That the brewer was a man?”
“My apologies.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. Even I’ll admit it’s unusual to have a woman brew master.”
“And she had to beg and cajole our business lenders to let her brew,” Jen added, rolling her eyes. “After years of school and a five-year apprenticeship.”
Charlie shook his head, scowling. “I can imagine they found it hard to believe that you would do it on your own. It’s almost unheard of. Congratulations on proving everyone wrong. It appears you’re running a great little spot here.”
Erin felt herself color again, pleased, and grinned at him. She’d rarely liked someone as quickly as she liked this man. His tone and expression showed that he meant every word.
“In fact,” he went on, “we tried to stop by earlier, and you were so swamped we decided to come back later. That was quite the crowd out there earlier today.”
“It was the first day of Oktoberfest,” Jen explained. “We’re doing it again tomorrow.”
“Fantastic. You serve food here, too?”
“Not normally. This is just a tasting room. We got a two-day permit to allow a food vendor outside. Just bratwurst and potatoes.”
Erin listened to the two of them chat, watching her sister talk, primarily. Jen glowed tonight, happy about their success, and clearly happy to talk to such a nice man. However, something else was going on. Jen was attracted to Charlie. She was having trouble meeting his eyes and was actually curling her hair around one finger, her cheeks even rosier than they were naturally. It had been a long time since Jen had liked anyone, but Erin could always tell when she did. Luckily for her sister, Charlie also appeared to be smitten. Even when he’d been talking to Erin, she’d seen him flick his eyes toward Jen, almost as if to make sure that she was still there. And now, as the two of them conversed, he was obviously enraptured. This generally happened with straight men and her sister, but this was the first time in a long while Erin had approved of a man’s adoration of her.
She decided to give them a little privacy and returned to the glasses she’d been rinsing in the sink. She took them out of the sanitizer and put them into the dishwasher before setting it to run. She emptied the sink and then grabbed several tasting glasses. When she held one up for Charlie, he nodded at her, quickly, before returning his attention to Jen. Erin turned to the taps, filling the first tasting glasses with their lightest beer. She deposited them in front of the three visitors and then did the same with the next darker beer, and the next, until each of the guests had a small, two-ounce glass of every beer they brewed in front of them.
“Jen, would you do the honors?” Erin swept her hand at the lineup in front of their three guests.
Jen eyebrows shot up. With another brewer, Erin always described and discussed their beers, so assigning this task to Jen was out of character. Erin simply wanted to give Jen the opportunity to keep talking to Charlie.
“Of course,” Jen said, sounding less certain than her words.
“I have to go do some closing tasks in the back. Think you can handle it up here?”
“Sure, Erin. Go ahead.”
“Charlie—it was very nice to meet you. And I’d be happy to talk about beer with you.” She rooted around in her wallet and produced a business card. “Call me any time and we’ll set something up. How long will you be in the area?”
“About two months.”
Erin and Jen must have looked surprised, as he laughed at their expressions. “I know, I know. I should be back in Boston, kissing my board members’ asses, right? But I really want to learn all I can, and I can’t do that if I rush.”
“Where are you staying?” Jen asked. Her face went red a second later with the implications of this question.
Luckily Charlie missed them. “Fort Collins, for the most part. We have a couple of trips to other parts of the state planned, but our base is around here. We’re renting a house up there.”
“Wonderful!” Jen said, and, when everyone turned to her, her face colored. “I mean…” She couldn’t easily explain what she meant without giving herself away.
“She means it’s always nice to meet new people,” Erin suggested. Jen gave her a thankful smile.
“I agree, Erin, absolutely,” Charlie said. “And if the two of you are an example, I imagine we’ll meet wonderful people while we’re here.”
He had addressed both of them but was staring at Jen as he spoke. Erin turned to Lottie to share her amusement. Lottie had been sitting quietly to the side at the bar throughout all of this, simply listening, and when Erin met her eyes, Lottie put a hand over her mouth to avoid laughing. Good, Erin thought. It’s not just wishful thinking. Jen and Charlie were clearly attracted to each other. She saw movement to her right and caught the tail end of the woman—Darcy—flicking her hair and then rolling her eyes at Charlie and Jen. She’d clearly recognized the flirtation between them, too. Erin wondered, and with no small amount of wicked pleasure, if Jen was stepping into this woman’s territory.
You clearly don’t deserve him anyway, Erin thought.
She spent the next hour doing tasks she’d normally have done with Jen and Lydia after the bar closed for the night. Still, starting early meant closing early, and she was glad that for once they might get home at a decent hour. Eventually Lottie joined her, complaining of boredom. Apparently, Jen and Charlie had eyes for only each other, and Lottie was tired of watching them flirt. The other strangers refused to talk to anyone else, so Lottie had been sitting there by herself with nothing to do.
Erin and Lottie dragged several rubber mats outside to hose them down in the alley—a di
rty, wet, and cold task, even on a relatively mild autumn night. Finished with the hose, they stood there in the dark for a minute, breathing heavily.
“Thanks,” Erin said between gasps.
“You owe me so big,” Lottie replied, wiping some of the dirty water off her face.
Both of them froze when the door opened. From where they stood behind some pallets and trashcans, they were shielded from the view of whoever had just come outside. Very few customers used the alley door, but there was access to a small parking lot here, so it also wasn’t unheard of. High heels tapped on the concrete, and Erin knew exactly who it was.
A whiff of sulfur followed a flare of light as someone struck a match. Cigarette smoke drifted toward them a moment later.
“Can you believe this shit?” the woman said.
“Oh jeez, Darcy. It’s not that bad.”
Erin didn’t recognize the second voice and decided it was the other man with the newcomers.
“Are you kidding me? He’s in there flirting with that—that—”
“Hot piece of ass?” the man offered and then laughed.
“Hot piece of ass or not, Luis, she’s still a rube. I mean, did you see her? Once she heard he was that Charlie Betters, she was all over him.”
“I’d hardly call that ‘all over him,’ Darcy. She was just being friendly.”
Darcy scoffed. “If that was friendly, the word needs a new definition. If we’re not careful, he’ll be going home with her tonight—to whatever shithole she calls home, that is. Probably a doublewide down by the river.”
“Damn, Darcy. You really are a snob.”
There was a long pause, and the stink of cigarette continued as someone smoked.
“Maybe I am,” Darcy finally said. “But I also don’t want to see my friend getting taken for a ride again. Everyone just wants his money. That last bimbo, Kitty, just about killed him—you know it as well as I do. Then his father died. It was too much. He was barely himself for a while. He’s just now starting to seem like Charlie again, and I want him to stay that way.”
“I hardly think some beer server can do what Kitty or his father did to him, Darcy. Be reasonable. I’m sure he’s just looking for some fun—bumping uglies with the locals and all that.”
Darcy barked with laughter. “You’re right, Luis. I’m sorry. I’m overly sensitive. I just don’t want to see him hurt again.”
“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it. Jen what’s-her-name isn’t really, you know, something serious. Love ’em and leave ’em type, if you know what I mean. He could do worse for a short-term girlfriend.”
Darcy laughed again. “You know—I think you’re on to something there. Maybe she’ll be just what he needs. Clean out the cobwebs and all that.”
“You’re nasty,” Luis said.
They were quiet again. Eventually Erin heard someone stab out a cigarette butt in the little sandy tray by the door.
“What did you think of the sister?” Luis asked. “I got that dykey vibe from her.”
“Hardly my type, Luis. I mean, really—a brewer?”
“I don’t know. She’s kind of cute in that androgynous way you seem to like.”
“‘Cute’ is not the word I’d use to describe her. I think her sister got all the looks in the family.”
The door opened and closed again as they went back inside, and Erin and Lottie were alone in the alley.
Lottie let out a long whistle. “Holy shit.”
Erin shook her head. “No kidding. What a piece of work.”
“She’s a piece of something, that’s for sure.”
“Do you think she meant it?”
Lottie frowned. “What?”
“That Charlie just wants his—what did she say—his ‘cobwebs cleaned’?”
Lottie shrugged. “I don’t think so—at least that’s not how I read him. He seems like a nice guy.”
Erin raised her eyebrows. “A nice guy with terrible friends.”
“Well, that guy Luis is his lawyer, and he’s just fulfilling stereotype.”
“Who’s the woman?”
“I think she’s a friend. They didn’t go into detail while you were gone. It was mostly Jen and Charlie talking. He said something about knowing her from college, but I wasn’t really listening by then.”
They dragged the mats toward the door, using all their strength to get them up the little flight of stairs and inside. Charlie and the others had left by the time Erin checked on the front room. Soon after that, she and Jen locked up and spent the next hour completing the rest of their closing tasks, Jen chatting nonstop about Charlie. Erin let her talk without interrupting, quietly pleased her sister appeared so excited. Jen hadn’t seemed this enthusiastic about a guy in years. Even if nothing came of it, it was nice to see her so happy. Jen was a lovely person, but she rarely did anything for herself. Being interested in a guy was exactly what she needed.
Just after one in the morning, Erin was finally alone in her own bedroom. She was happy to be home so soon. Normally on a weekend she and her sisters didn’t get to leave for home until closer to two. Lydia hadn’t come back to help close—but that wasn’t a surprise. She was probably out getting drunk or stoned somewhere with those wastoids that had been in the bar earlier.
Alone in the dark, Erin thought about what Darcy had said about her. She didn’t envy her sister’s beauty—Jen couldn’t help it, and she’d certainly never acted as if she thought she was prettier than anyone else, even if she was. No, what bothered Erin right now was the clear dismissal in that woman Darcy’s voice when she’d talked about her. According to Darcy, Erin wasn’t even cute. So if she wasn’t cute, what was she? Ugly?
Erin didn’t know why this possibility bothered her so much, but she hoped that if Charlie actually arranged to come see them again, he would be on his own. She never wanted to see Darcy again.
Chapter Two
Jen and Erin always took Tuesday off, and by Tuesday that week, they both needed a break. Their Oktoberfest beer had been such a success they’d already had to switch out that line for their pumpkin ale—two weeks earlier than Erin had planned. While this was, of course, a sign of success, now they had a little pressure to get the holiday beer that would follow the pumpkin ale ready earlier than she’d scheduled—mid-November instead of Thanksgiving week. The beer would be ready and brewed by then—that wasn’t the problem. Bottling and casking it were, and both would have to be fit into the work schedule much earlier than planned. Erin spent most of Monday morning and afternoon working it out on a calendar and Excel spreadsheet, and while she could schedule it in early November, time would be tight, and it might entail a lot of overtime hours, which BSB could ill-afford.
When Erin woke up that Tuesday, exhausted, she almost decided to stay in bed. She could, however, hear Jen talking somewhere in their house, and, sighing, she dragged herself up. She took a quick shower and slipped on some shorts and a long-sleeved Henley before running her fingers through the short mop of dark curls on top of her head. She glanced in the mirror to check her hair. The sides of her head were shaved, and as she never wore makeup and was slim and narrow-hipped, her gender presentation was distinctly androgynous. She sighed at her reflection. Despite her best efforts, Darcy’s remarks still stung. She looked tired—that was true, but she’d always thought of herself as cute, if nothing else. She would be thirty-four in February, so maybe her cute years were behind her. She shook her head, angry with herself for caring. Normally a stranger’s offhand comments wouldn’t bother her—she’d heard just about every insult imaginable growing up with her face and figure—but she couldn’t forget Darcy’s words.
Jen was cooking breakfast and smiled at Erin when she appeared. She was still on the phone, so Erin waved at her and sat down at their little kitchen table.
“Of course, Dad,” Jen said. “It’s not even a question. We’ll be there at seven.”
Erin made a frantic cutting motion with her hands and mouthed the word “no” as clearly
as she could.
Jen rolled her eyes and ignored her. “Yes, Dad. Erin will be there, too.” She was quiet for a while, and a tiny line appeared between her eyes. Finally, she sighed. “Dad, I have to go. And I wish you wouldn’t say things like that. I said we’d be there and we will. Tomorrow at seven.” She paused again, listening. “Okay, bye.”
“What the hell, Jen?” Erin said, the moment she hung up. “I don’t want to see Dad.”
Jen stared at her evenly. “Oh, really? I never would have guessed.”
“Why did you do that? If you wanted to see him, you could have gone by yourself. Anyway, Lydia will be there. You don’t need me, too.”
Recently Lydia had needed to move in again with their father. She’d done this on and off since her late teens, unable to keep up with her bills when she lived on her own. Their father didn’t mind, but Erin had always thought that if he put his foot down for once, it might be better for Lydia. She might get her act together if she didn’t have a safety net to fall back on every six months. When Lydia had lost her last job, their father had basically bullied Jen into giving her one at the brewery, and the situation had, as predicted, turned into a fiasco. Lydia was constantly late or calling in sick, and she was completely unreliable even when she did show up. She did the bare minimum—often less. Even more galling to Erin was the fact that Lydia was paid a little more than their much-better tap-room attendants, all because of their father. If it was up to Erin, Lydia would have been fired weeks ago.
Jen sighed again. “I know Lydia will be there, but that’s not the point. Look, Erin, you know as well as I do that we need that money. We can keep this up what—another six months? Eight, tops? We need that extra space if we’re ever going to get our heads above water and keep them there. Oktoberfests don’t happen every weekend, after all.”
“But he likes you, Jen. You’re the one who should ask him for the money. You know he’ll never give it to me.”
Jen’s expression fell a little. “I know. But it’s our business, Erin, not just mine. I’m going to ask him, but you should be there too, even if you don’t say anything.”
Pride and Porters Page 2
