I looked back to my dad who was watching me with his hawklike stare. It was the same one from when I was a kid and certain that he could read my mind. Apparently, that skill was still with him, because he squeezed my shoulder. “You don’t need all the answers now, son. You know that, right?”
I gave him a small nod, trying to reassure him. He returned the greeting, if somewhat uncertain. “Right. Anna, Cole, these pancakes can’t go to waste, They’re too damn good.”
We all moved back to our plates and dug in. I took a bite and looked outside, wondering how the conversation with Emma and Maggie was going. Looking back to my mom and dad, I saw them both watching me with worried expressions. I wasn’t sure how to reassure them. I’d need to reassure myself first.
After pancakes and helping my parents with some chores on the farm, I steered my bike back to town and the brewery, the pancakes sitting in my stomach like a rock. Jake was pouring beer when I walked in and headed toward the bar area. I glanced around at the light afternoon crowd and felt the feelings of gratitude that I always did when entering the brewery that we’d created.
It had been eleven years since Jake and I met back in college at the brewery near my university. Our friendship’s foundation was formed over late nights at work, blowing off steam about my college courses for my business degree, and Jake’s long days working in construction. The brewmaster had taken us under his wing and shown us the ropes. We began working on our own beers in those first years after college, screwing with recipes until we began finding a few that we thought showed promise. The past decade found us getting some recognition for our beer at competitions while establishing our brewery in my hometown.
Originally, I’d never dreamed we’d open here in Highland Falls. My hometown wasn’t large, and I wasn’t sure if it could support what we’d envisioned. When Jake and I’d first began this dream, I was certain we’d open at one of the nearby college towns in downstate Illinois where the restaurant business was more stable. However, when the old barn near the downtown area of Highland became available, the two of us couldn’t ignore how amazing the space could be. With Jake’s experience in construction, we were able to do a lot of the work ourselves using other licensed contractors Jake had known from his job.
Years ago when the town had been settled, the barn sat as an outbuilding for one of the original founders. Over the years the town had built up around it until the quirky property had stood just outside the business district of Highland. The barn had been foreclosed on, and I was certain that the bank had assumed someone would buy it and tear it down for the land, but Jake and I’d seen possibility.
Over the course of two long years, we’d turned an old barn into a cozy brewpub with a space for the brewery equipment, a kitchen, a dining room that had a combination of tables and sitting nooks. In the nooks there were couches, armchairs, and low tables. Winding through that you came to the bar area, backed with barn wood and warm lighting.
As I took in the crowd, I simply felt gratitude and more than a sense of relief. It’d been just over four and a half years since we opened, and we were operating comfortably, finally. Both sets of our parents had helped finance the place with the two of us, a small loan from the Main Street program, and a loan from the bank. It took the first three years to feel secure in the notion that we’d be able to make a go of itandpay them all back, but we were finally there. Monday we were supposed to sign the papers for our larger loan from Main Street. That’s what our road trip had been about, stepping into canning and local distribution of our beers instead of only selling in growlers. Before the news from Maggie, I’d been confident we should go forward and do it. Now I had reservations. I was concerned that maybe we needed to play it conservatively for a while. Whatever we did, I needed to talk to Jake.
“Yo, Sully, Black Hole Sun?” Jake grabbed a pint glass and headed toward the tap for my favorite beer we brewed, a kick-ass IPA.
“Thanks, Jake.” I gratefully took the beer from Jake with a chin lift. “Jake, can you have Daryl take over for a bit? Need to have a word.” I nodded over to a high-top in the corner of the bar area before the dining room.
“Sure.” Jake moved to talk to Daryl before heading to the table.
As he pulled out a stool to sit next to me, he gave me a once-over before taking a drink of his own beer. Then he glanced back at the bar and proceeded to hunch down a bit in his stool.
Interesting.
I looked over at the bar to see a woman who’d just taken a seat. Looking back at Jake, who looked like he’d like to disappear into the ground, then back to the bar, I grinned. “She yours?” I asked.
“Shut it,” Jake muttered. “Not mine.”
The woman was totally eyeing up Jake, but she didn’t seem to be his type. For one, she was tall and had killer curves. From what I could tell, Jake didn’t like a lot of height in the women he dated. Though I’d say Jake and I were around the same height at six foot four, so it wouldn’t have been a problem. However, it was the neediness vibe that I was getting from her that made me certain that this was not the girl for Jake. “You know her?” I asked.
“Met her at one of the bars in Bloomington a few weeks back, and we talked for a bit. Let’s just say she wants more than I do, but she hasn’t gotten the message. Now, moving on, as much as I love this little chat, I’m assuming you had something you wanted over here. What’s up?” Jake asked.
I debated for a moment how to proceed, then just thought,fuck it.Get on with it. “Well, I don’t think there is much of a way to ease into this one. Maggie is pregnant with my kid.” I registered Jake’s head nod and figured he was either supremely relaxed or he’d overheard some of my conversation with Max when we’d driven back and had started to put some things together. I continued, “I don’t know much about this shit, but I know she’s early. We’re telling my family and you for now, so I’d appreciate if you could keep this between us for a bit. And no, we’re not together.”
Jake watched me carefully. “Well, fuck. Are we toasting this news?” he asked. “Hell yeah, let’s toast.” We toasted our glasses together as his smile grew. “You’re going to be a dad. Shit, man. That’s wild.”
My phone vibrated. Pulling it out, I glanced to see a text from Emma.
Emma:Congrats, big bro.
I looked up to Jake. “Need to text Emma real quick.”
Jake glanced over at Daryl. “No worries. Need to get behind the bar for a sec. Be back in a few.”
I looked back at my phone and debated how to talk to my sister about the fact that I was going to be a dad. I shook my head. Still mind-blowing. Looking around, I soaked in the hum of the people scattered around this place. I saw familiar faces and folks that must be visiting town. This was good. This place was good. I began to feel more reassured. Jake wanted to expand the business, but we’d built something amazing here. Canning could wait. We needed to rely on our foundation before reaching for more.
Me:Hope it was okay that Maggie told you instead of me.
Emma:Yeah, she said you were talking to the parental units. Go okay?
Me:About how you’d expect.
Emma:Shock, acceptance, and Mom wants to plan a wedding?
I chuckled. Yep, she had Mom pegged.
