by Natalie Ann
“Mason. I’m not bothering you, am I?
“Not at all. I could use a break.” He pushed back from his desk where he’d been tracking the usage of ingredients in his brews. Everything was documented, specific amounts, timelines, temperatures, results of testing at every stage. It wasn’t just mixing water and hops with a few other ingredients, then letting it sit. Not like so many people thought. There was a science behind it all, and that was where he excelled.
“Take a walk with me,” his father said.
“Sure. I could stretch my legs.” He liked that he could see all the action going on below him through the glass windows in his office, but he missed being on the floor too. “Anything specific you wanted to see?”
“Not really. I just like to come by and check out what this business has become. It still amazes me the bar I bought all those years ago turned into this.”
He knew some of his parents’ history. That his father bought and renovated a rundown bar on his own, hoping to make it a neighborhood pub with some food. A light menu really. His mother started working there as a waitress and one thing led to another. He never asked specifics and was sure his siblings didn’t either. Sometimes his mother shared too much.
The one thing he remembered was listening to his parents talk about how they’d love to expand the business. First a bigger restaurant when he was younger. Aiden had been a wiz in the kitchen since he was a child, so it was pretty much assumed that he’d be running it, if it ever happened.
Then little by little this business plan evolved between his siblings and him. Well, between Ella and Cade actually. That’s where it started.
His father had been trying to make his own beer. Just for fun, he’d said. Just a hobby to have. But he was failing miserably. That was when Mason stepped in and together they created the first batch of what would later become their first beer. Fierce Five. Mason had worked on that brew longer than any other because he knew it was going to be the base for their brewery, brewed year round and hopefully distributed all over the US at some point.
With Aiden talking about a restaurant expansion, and Brody wanting the bar, he started to eye a brewery. Cade and Ella felt left out, so they sat down and started planning around everyone else. Next thing they all knew, Ella had charts and graphs and timelines because that was what Ella did best.
Cade had still been left out in the cold, it seemed. He didn’t like to cook, didn’t have the patience for brewing and wanted to do more than stand behind a bar. Marketing just seemed to be his thing since he never shut up and enjoyed trying to smooth talk people, and everyone was glad for that since no one wanted to deal with that end of the business.
As they all neared the end of their college years, Cade got the brainchild about the business needing a lawyer. No one was jumping at it and everyone was looking at Ella who firmly said, “No way. I’ll get my CPA, but I want no part of anything legal.” And because Ella had always been the one to love numbers, everyone looked at Cade because it’d been his idea.
At first, Mason thought they were nuts considering Cade for this, thinking it was just an excuse to go to college longer and party. But then the more it was talked about, the more it made sense. The more excited Cade got too. For once he seemed to be on board with the rest of them.
And when Cade moved on to law school, he stopped partying as much. He focused on school more and felt like he found his calling. Or so Cade told everyone over and over and over again. They never heard the end of it and Mason started to think Cade had played them all so this fell into his lap just the way he wanted. Like they always said, Cade could talk the Tooth Fairy into pocketing the money herself and leaving rocks for kids if he wanted to.
“It all started with you, Dad.”
“Nah. It was your mother. That woman still has more energy than I’ll ever have. She saw something that I didn’t. I liked my bar back then. I liked being my own boss.”
“Really? I never knew that. I mean I thought it was both of you guys that wanted it.”
“I did. I guess I just didn’t know I wanted it.” His father put his big hand on Mason’s back. “The truth is, most of the things in our lives are because of your mother,” his father said, eying him harder than he felt comfortable about. He had no clue what his father could be getting at right now.
“How’s that?”
“You need to ask that?” his father said, following his eyes to where Mason was staring right at Jessica as she brought a tour through. His father and he were walking down the stairs and could see the group following behind her. “Looks like your mom set you up pretty good.”
Mason flushed. He didn’t think anyone knew about him and Jessica other than Aiden, but he was thinking maybe he should say something to them. It’s not like he was hiding it. Or he wasn’t trying to. It was just he hadn’t figured out how to bring it up.
“She did. Jessica is a great employee. I’ve got Mom to thank for finding the perfect person for this position.”
He led his father away from the tour group, sending a smile and wink to Jessica. He’d spent the night with her again last night, this time at her place. That wouldn’t be happening again or as often. He could barely fit in her bed, let alone the two of them.
After their first time together last Thursday, she’d spent the night again on Friday but went to her own apartment on Saturday. She was the one that brought it up to him going to her place last night. He didn’t even want to go home alone on Saturday but felt it wasn’t wise to crowd her.
“Are you going to thank your mother?”
“Nope,” Mason said, laughing. “Then she’ll think she can come in and hire anyone she wants for me. She just got lucky on this one.”
They walked into the warehouse and then into another room, with Mason pulling his keys out and unlocking the door. “How did you know I’d want to come in here?”
“Because you always do,” Mason said. “You think it’s going to make the time go by faster.”
“Can I help it that I can’t wait to taste this? It’s been over a year already. You said a year.” It was funny to see a pout on his father’s face. All the boys had gotten their height and size from him.
“I said I wanted it bottled for a year. The process itself took almost two months until it was where I wanted it. Then it aged in the old bourbon barrels that took me forever to find.”
“That Ella found,” his father said.
“True.” Mason had gotten fed up calling around trying to find the wood barrels to have this batch sit in for a few months absorbing the flavors of the aged liquor. But everyone knew how much their father loved his bourbon and Ella had always been a daddy’s girl, so she did all the legwork to make it happen.
Mason flipped the lights on and looked over at the boxes of beer in cases. He’d never taken one out of the box unless he was alone, never let his father see the bottles, and never told anyone other than Ella that he’d named it after his father.
The only reason she knew was that she was the one who came in here with him that night while it was bottled and they hid it away covering the labels. Ella seemed to be on her own more than the rest of them, but the two of them shared a few things and he knew she’d appreciated being included in this. He often wondered if anyone else ever included her in things, or if she was left out of a lot in life by being the only girl.
This was actually the first beer he named after a family member. It just wasn’t on the market yet, so no one knew but Ella. Not only that, he had no clue how it was going to taste. All he knew was how it tasted eleven months ago when he had it bottled.
“How much longer?” his father asked, running his hand on the boxes. Mason even made sure they went into plain boxes so no one really knew what was in them.
“One more month or so. You’ll get the first bottle, I promise.”
Mason flipped the light back off and turned to walk out. There was the tour group again, in the warehouse this time. Rather than leave, his father seemed to plant
his feet right in place and listened to what was being said.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, when Jessica asked if there were any questions, his father shouted out, “So what do you all think of my son’s operation here? Pretty snazzy, huh?”
Mason’s jaw dropped. He hated being put on the spot like that during tours. He’d almost never said he was the owner when he was doing the tours, not wanting even more questions. That his father just had the group turn toward them was embarrassing. Thankfully it wasn’t a large group, just twenty people. The last one of the day, and the beginning of the week. He was still amazed that he’d never had an empty tour group.
“Jolene is my favorite beer,” one of the guys said. “So that’d be your wife, right?”
“She is my lovely wife of almost thirty-six years,” his father said proudly. “Mason is really good at naming his beers. That one suits her just right.”
Mason was trying to figure out what his father’s endgame was. When it came to sneaky parents, it was his father that always had you guessing. His mother was more upfront and in your face. She’d never go behind anyone’s back for anything. That was what they all loved about her so much.
“Was the brewery your idea?” someone asked. “Or your son’s?”
“It was a collective family decision,” Gavin said. “But Mason has always been the brains behind it.”
Mason saw Jessica staring at him, and he wasn’t sure what to make of the look in her eyes. Part of it was admiration and part something else...caring maybe. Sympathy because she knew how much he hated being put on the spot like that. He wasn’t sure, but he and his father got out of there fast once Jessica led the group away and on to a different topic.
He’d timed it right and was walking his father back down the stairs as Jessica was coming out of the locker room with her jacket and purse. “Jessica, this is my father, Gavin Fierce. I know you haven’t met him officially yet.”
She reached her hand out to his. “Nice to meet you. Poor, Mason,” she said, turning to look at him, sending him a mischievous smile that was pushing blood in places it had no business being in right now. “He hates being put on the spot like that.”
“He does,” his father said. “But I noticed that you had no problem saving him by steering the group away. Such a good girl.”
Mason rolled his eyes and saw Jessica blush. “I don’t think Mason needs all that much saving.”
“Probably not. Though I’m thinking you might be exactly what he needs.” Both Mason’s and Jessica’s jaws opened. His because he didn’t know how his father could have figured out that he and Jessica were dating when she was just hired, but he wasn’t sure why hers dropped. “I’ll talk to you later, Mason. Nice to meet you, Jessica.”
***
“I’ll give you this one,” Gavin said to his wife when he returned home.
“Which one is that?”
“Jessica. I’m not sure how you were able to find her the way you did, but Mason seems pretty smitten.”
“Really?” Jolene said, sitting up straighter on the couch. “What happened?”
“Not much. If I didn’t know you set him up, I might not have caught on, but since I knew, I was looking.”
“And what did you see?” She patted the couch cushion for him to go sit by her. She was always affectionate and if he praised her right now, maybe she’d get to be a bit more affectionate than normal.
“That his eyes were always searching for her. That hers were doing the same. I purposely put him on the spot during a tour and not only did he not get annoyed, but he stayed and answered a few questions.”
“Wow. That’s good to hear. Glad to know that he doesn’t always run and hide when someone wants to talk to him.”
“He doesn’t do that all the time,” Gavin said, feeling the need to defend Mason. Though Mason was quiet, he wasn’t as bad as the rest of the family accused him of being. It was just that he was so much quieter than the rest of them, who all happened to be loud.
“He needs to come out of his shell more.”
“I agree. He has over the years, but he’ll never be like the rest of them. There is no reason to try to change him. And let’s be honest, if you wanted to change him, you wouldn’t have picked Jessica.”
She smirked at him. “You think you know me so well, don’t you?”
“I do know you so well,” he said, leaning in and kissing her on the lips.
“So tell me why you think what you do?”
“Because she is a lot like him. They have a ton of the same likes, but she is more outgoing. I could see it. She loved talking, but not the spotlight. Not like some people would like the attention. She was just more excited to share some knowledge and that is how Mason gets. Or how Mason used to get, but then realized no one in the family shared his love or understood that excitement.”
Jolene sighed. “Maybe if we shared his excitement more he wouldn’t be so quiet.”
“You can’t change him, nor could you change the others. What Mason does is over everyone’s head. Just like what Aiden does and the same with Ella.”
“What about Brody and Cade?” she asked.
“Brody just reads everyone well. He had his little hiccup, but aside from that, he is just made to be in groups of people. He can focus on everyone at once.”
“And Cade?” she asked, her eyes twinkling.
“Cade is his own special brand of something. No one would want to be like him, nor would I change him. He livens the rest of them up.”
“When they don’t want to deck him,” Jolene said.
“Or when he isn’t throwing up,” Gavin said back. His wife was horrible when it came to the punishment of their kids. Poor Cade got his lecture in a car ride. Cade could throw up just driving down a straight road in the desert. That boy had the weakest stomach.
“Under it all, we’ve got one hell of a family. Now we just need some grandkids.”
“Be happy with Sidney. She’ll officially be your granddaughter this summer when Brody gets married. Aiden and Nic still haven’t picked a date yet. Don’t go pushing your luck.”
“Someone has to push these kids,” she said, then stood up and reached her hand for his.
“Where are we going?”
“To the bedroom. Like I said, someone has to push or I’d never get anything. You’d still be washing those glasses in the bar while I sashayed past pretending like you weren’t watching me if I didn’t push you.”
He laughed and followed behind his lovely, fiery, pushy wife.
Hear It Again
Jessica didn’t know that Mason had told his family about their relationship. He’d never said a word to her. All she’d known was that Aiden was aware, but no one else.
The minute Gavin had walked away she turned to him and pulled him away from people. “You told him?”
“No,” he said. “Why are we hiding?”
“I don’t know. It just felt like the thing to do.”
“Even though you think my father knew, you still wanted to pull me away? Besides,” he said, laughing at her, “you just grabbed my hand and pulled me along like you did last night to your bedroom. You don’t think that would give it all away?”
Her hand flew to her mouth. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’ll let my family know this week at our meeting.”
“Really?” she asked. “You’re just going to announce it?”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. But I figured I might as well. It’s not a secret. It really hasn’t been. I’m just a private person and haven’t figured out what to really say yet.”
Made sense. “What about here? Are you going to tell anyone?”
“No. I don’t have to explain anything to anyone. If someone asks you or me, then say yes. But unless you want to go around and tell everyone, I’d rather not.”
“I don’t want to do that.” When he frowned, she said quickly, “I’m not embarrassed or anything. I just don�
��t want people to think badly of me. I haven’t been here that long and now I’m sleeping with the boss.” She wrinkled her nose.
“What’s that look for?” he asked.
“Just that I don’t want anyone to think I’m loose.”
He burst out laughing and she wanted to grind her teeth. Okay, yeah, it was a stupid comment. For the most part, she’d stopped caring what other people thought of her, so she wasn’t sure why she was so concerned over it now. She’d always been different and just accepted that.
“I thought you liked feeling that way. That’s what you told me last night,” he said, whispering that last part in her ear. Her body shivered and she wanted to find a closet to pull him into right now. Who knew that she’d be into sex this much for a person who didn’t even know if she was interested in a man to begin with? Wonder what he’d say if she found some little closet like she desperately wanted to do.
Mason Fierce was becoming an addiction when she never thought she had an addictive personality.
Someone cleared their throat behind them, and she jumped back. Thankfully it was only Aiden. At least he knew. Then he laughed when she ducked her head and tried to walk away… only Mason pulled her back and kissed her quickly. “I’ll talk to you later tonight.”
“How late are you working?” It was already five thirty.
“Not sure. Another hour or so. You’ve got class tomorrow though, right?”
“Yeah. I’ll talk to you later,” she said and bolted out of the room to leave the brothers together.
When she got home she took her jacket off and decided she could call and tell her mom. She wanted to tell someone she had a boyfriend.
She wasn’t lying when she told Mason she didn’t want to go around work and tell people, but it would be nice to say it to someone.
The question was, would her mother be happy? She’d like to think deep down her mother would be excited for her.
“Hi, Jesse. What are you doing calling me right now? I thought you had to work?”
“I just got home a few minutes ago. I’m not interrupting your dinner, am I?”