Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Her eyes widen as she scans the room—the long, polished walnut bar with the live wood edge, the high-top round tables lining the bank of windows that overlook the harbor, the dark tiled floor, and the muted turquoise walls. She takes in every detail, and the emotion in her eyes fills me with a pride I can hardly speak around.
“What do you think?” I manage to ask.
A big chalkboard for our offerings spans the space between the open shelving on either end of the bar, and beneath it is the dedication plaque.
In loving memory of Frank Jackson, who dared to chase his dreams.
Mom presses a hand to her chest. “Oh, your father would be so proud of you.”
“This is all because of him.” My voice sounds like sandpaper. Selfishly, I’m glad I decided to bring her here alone instead of making it a family affair. My siblings will get their chance to celebrate with her during the grand opening.
Mom shakes her head. “Oh, no, Brayden. This is because of you—all of my kids, but mostly you and Jake, of course. All the hard work you’ve put in turned your father’s little dream into something bigger than he ever could have imagined.” She swipes at her cheeks, at the tears that flow easily. “And now Levi is part of the legacy too. Your father would be proud indeed.”
The door to the kitchen swings open, and a dark head flies past us in a flash, little limbs pumping. “You can’t catch me!” Noah shrieks.
Molly emerges behind him, her face glowing with joy as she chases her son. “Wanna bet?”
He circles back and moves to dart behind the bar, but Molly wraps him into her arms before he can pass her. She lifts him off the floor and swings him around. He giggles madly in response. “Faster! Faster!”
I’m vaguely aware of my mother beside me—the way she watches me watching Molly—and I school my expression the best I can, giving away nothing of what this sight does to me. Molly’s love of Noah transforms her face from beautiful to radiant. And maybe it’s because I was thinking about my father or because bringing Mom here has my emotions at the surface, but seeing Molly like this and witnessing the bond between her and her son does something to me. It reminds me that she isn’t just the beautiful woman I took to my room one night. And she isn’t just my employee. She’s this beautifully layered and complex human who has become one of the brightest spots in my life, whether she knows it or not.
And she’s completely off-limits.
My chest goes tight with the longing I’ve done my best to ignore since she returned to town. It’s hard to ignore something that grows with every passing day.
Molly spots us and stops spinning. She was so lost in her time with Noah that she ran right past. Some of that raw joy fades from her eyes and is replaced by caution. “Oh, hi.” She lowers her son to the ground. “Sorry, we didn’t know anyone else was here. Noah just got done at preschool, and we were having lunch together in my office before I take him to Veronica.” She holds his hand, as if trying to keep a leash on that wild energy now that they have an audience. “How are you, Kathleen?”
Noah waves at us with his free hand. “Why are you crying?” he asks Mom. “Are you sad?”
Mom shakes her head. “I’m just fine.”
“’Cause it’s okay to be sad,” Noah says, nodding solemnly. “Mom said it’s okay to cry too. Even for boys.”
Mom beams at Molly, and if my mom hadn’t already been half in love with my new banquet center manager, I know Noah’s words have sealed the deal. “Your mom’s right, but these are happy tears.”
Noah frowns as if he’s trying to make sense of that. “Why?”
“Because I have so much happiness in my heart, it bubbles up and leaks out my eyes,” Mom says.
“Oh. Okay.” Noah nods, seeming content with this answer and ready to move on to something more interesting.
“I was showing Mom the taproom,” I tell Molly. “I wanted her to see it before the grand opening.”
Molly hoists Noah into her arms, and the boy wraps himself around his mom, leaning his head against her chest like I’ve seen him do a hundred times in the few months they’ve lived here. “Have you seen the banquet rooms?”
Mom shakes her head. “This is the first time I’ve been to this location. I wanted to wait until everything was ready.”
“I can give you the tour,” Molly offers.
Mom grins. “I would love that, if you have time.”
The banquet center has its own entrance on the opposite side of the building, but Molly leads the way through the kitchen, showing off the setup she painstakingly picked out as she prepared the space. “I brought the chef on early so she could help me design the kitchen,” she says. “In addition to having a modest selection of small plates for the taproom, we want to be able to serve full meals for as many as two hundred and fifty guests at a time on the banquet side, so we needed a design that could accommodate both jobs in as little space as possible, since we’re paying for prime real estate on the water.”