“Yes, she’s one of the few who can honestly say she is helping you stay in business, and I think it’s more like five times a week,” laughed Kay. “I thought yesterday was your day off; why did you input all of these books? You and I could have gotten them done today. Faster, I might add.”
“Kay, you know I’m alone these days and after I got my haircut, oh by the way, where I ran into the most amazing-looking guy, I went home and actually basked in the Sun for a little while and I just decided to work on them. You know me, these are my babies.”
“Wait, I’m still hung up on how you met the most amazing-looking guy part and how you were alone last night?” Kay asked with a puzzled expression, her chin pointed up into the air.
Kay was a single woman and wild beyond her years. Marilyn wasn’t sure if she would do some of the things that came out of her mouth or if it was just her lips doing the talking, but Kay was spunky. “Kay! I do not even know the guy and besides I already made myself look like a lunatic in his eyes, I’m sure.”
The ladies proceeded to shelve the books as Marilyn told her all about her haircut and how she made herself look like a fool before she could do anything else. In typical Kay fashion, she told Marilyn she should have jumped his bones in the parking lot if he was that good-looking and then this morning her blabber-mouthed episode wouldn’t seem so bad. Marilyn had to admit, there was some truth to that.
Business was unusually slow for a Saturday. They got all the books shelved and ordered a pizza for lunch and had a few more customers mid-afternoon.
“Kay, go ahead and leave, we aren’t that busy today and it’s another beautiful day out, go enjoy it.”
“I’m only going to ask this once so be sure: Are you sure?" she asked Marilyn in her most serious expression.
Laughing, Marilyn playfully shoved her shoulder “Yes, I’m sure, have an amazing weekend. I’ll see you Tuesday morning. Oh, and don’t let the door hit you on the way out!”
Kay, already heading toward the front door, turned around and laughed, “Honey, I’m moving so fast it won’t have a chance.”
Marilyn stared after her, smiling. That Kay, she was definitely something else. She was the best thing to happen to this bookstore as far as Marilyn was concerned. She was great with the customers, she loved to read and she loved all the little children that came here – giving them each a lollipop and making them comfortable in the children’s space that she insisted to Marilyn was something they had to have. Marilyn let her have carte blanche over the space and they now had a reading mat with a play area and Kay even held story-time once a week for all the little kiddos.
With Kay gone, Marilyn went to the espresso counter and made herself a latte – her favorite, she named it a Lover’s Latte, raspberry and vanilla syrup added into the espresso and non-fat milk. She had a few more customers and at six forty-five, Amber swung through the doors.
“Hey girl, working hard or hardly working?” Amber asked as she came around the counter and gave Marilyn a big hug.
Laughing, Marilyn told her the truth, “Hardly working. It is really slow today, which is so unusual. Lusting after Literature cannot have slow Saturdays, it’s bad for business.”
“Mar, Mar, Mar, you always worry about the bookstore, which is great, that is why it is successful, but one slow day isn’t going to set the standard for future days. It’s a beautiful day out, all of Colorado is outside. Which is exactly where you should be.”
Amber was a lot more carefree than Marilyn, which explained a lot about her. Amber’s current occupation was a fitness instructor/dance instructor/newspaper delivery girl. She was a trust fund baby. Amber received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with a minor in dance from the University of Colorado. Once she graduated she traveled the world, on her parent’s dime, and tried to put her degree to good use. Now, she was ‘killing time’ as Marilyn so loved to tease her about, until she found her next big adventure.
“I have an idea. When you close up shop let’s go to the brewery and have a beer. I’ve never been there and I know you have never been there, so what do you say? I hear they have a beautiful patio, it’ll be a cool evening but nice. Or we could just sit inside. But either way, we should go. I will even stay here while you run home and get book dust off you. What do you say?”
“Actually, I think that sounds great. But, I have to call Tyler and see if he wants to meet us over there. He has been dying to get me to go to the brewery with him and I told him I would go next weekend, but if we are going to go, I need to call him.” Marilyn told her the whole story about how she felt like he had something up his sleeve and had been dying to tell her about it. Although rather reluctant to ruin their fun girl’s night out with the likes of Tyler, Amber knew her friend and knew she would do as she said so there was absolutely no point in trying to get her to change her mind about calling, sigh, Tyler.
“Deal. Go get ready and I will hang out here till you get back.” Amber shooed her out the front door, handing Marilyn her latte as she was fishing her keys from her purse, and then Marilyn took off.
Amber sighed. That was good. When Mar got back they could just take her Jeep over to the brewery and have a nice evening. Amber was already dressed and ready to meet any hot young stud that happened to cross her path. She was wearing a black miniskirt with a royal blue sleeveless top that had ties on both sides of the hemline on the bottom. It came up just enough to show off her midriff when she moved her arms. With her blond hair pulled up in a high ponytail, she was ready to paint the town. Thank God she chose the black fuck-me pumps instead of the flip flops she was going to wear that screamed “I’m tired and just trying to relax alone.” Because if Amber had her way, she wouldn’t go home alone and neither would Marilyn.
Of course, she knew deep down that Mar would be the one to go home alone. Mar’s mind was that of a forty year old woman trapped in the body of a twenty seven year old! She held so much responsibility for the bookstore that she couldn’t allow herself the freedom of a one-night stand with some stranger she didn’t know. However, Amber could.
Marilyn got back to the bookstore with fifteen minutes left before closing. “I’m back,” she said as she walked into the bookstore.
“Wow, I see that. You look amazing. Where did you get the dress?” Amber asked. Marilyn was wearing a black dress that was shorter than she normally wore but she had fallen in love with the top part of the dress too much to resist it. It was a long-sleeved dress with the arms made out of tulle, showing off her arms under the outfit and the front dipped into a V below her neck which was studded with beautiful green sequins. The V dipped low enough for people to catch a glimpse of what was lurking underneath but not so much that it gave the secret away.
“I found it on clearance. I love it! Do you think I look okay in it? Is it too dressy for Poudre Hops? I haven’t had a chance to wear it since I bought it and since it’s Saturday night, I thought it’d be perfect.”
Whoa, Amber thought, Mar’s usual style of talking so fast you had to listen close to keep up with her, almost made her do an eye roll.
“Mar, chill! You look absolutely amazing in it. No, it’s not too dressy, it’s perfect. It shows off your killer legs like no other. Here, let’s switch shoes. My heels are a little higher and it will show your legs off that much more. You are going to turn heads!” Amber began unbuckling the strap on her fuck-me pumps, and then handed them to Marilyn. Marilyn slid out of her, apparently too-short, black closed-toe heels. This was a great benefit of being best friends with Amber and having the same shoe size, Marilyn thought as she slid into Amber’s Jimmy Choo, Jimmy Choo! heels.
“Oh Amber I cannot wear these. They probably cost more than one month’s income from the store!” She was saying even though what she was seeing on her feet were absolutely amazing open-toed, extremely high heels with a cute black bow on the top of each shoe. Truthfully, she really did want to wear them.
“Mar, don’t be ridiculous. They’re shoes, not the Holy Grail. Turn aro
und. Whoa, baby, you look hot!” Amber giggled, “Besides, if you ruin them, that’s just an excuse to get another pair.”
Marilyn rolled her eyes so far back into her brain, she about passed out. Only trust-fund baby Amber would not give a crap if a one-thousand-dollar pair of shoes got ruined. Even after all this time, it still took a lot for her to get used to Amber’s nonchalance about money. I guess when you have plenty of it, it becomes a non-issue, Marilyn thought.
Speaking of money, she almost forgot to transfer the cash in the register to her safe. She did that quickly and turned to Amber, “Alright, let’s roll.”
Marilyn flipped the sign to ‘Closed,’ followed Amber out, shut the lights off and locked the door behind them.
“Tyler is meeting us there. He said he’d be in the parking lot waiting for us to show up.” Marilyn explained to Amber. She still couldn’t figure him out. Admittedly, she was a little curious about what he wanted to show her. All in due time, she mused. They hopped into her Jeep and headed West on Main Street toward the brewery.
Marilyn had to admit, she was excited about going out, even if she was going to hang out with Tyler. Tonight was long overdue and she was looking forward to sitting down and having a few drinks with Amber. Girl’s nights out, rule, she thought.
Chapter Four
They pulled into the parking lot of Poudre Hops Brewery, and true to his word, Tyler was standing just outside the entrance of the brewery. He was wearing a light blue polo shirt with khaki chinos, his standard wear. Instead of his usual baseball hat, he had his black hair trimmed, making it lie neatly against his head. He looked like he was here on business and not really to knock back a few, Marilyn thought. He was standing in that nervous way she had come to know, the only thing giving away his nervousness was his left hand continuously tapping his left thigh. What was he nervous about? Marilyn looked down at her outfit and worry rose up in her throat. Dear God, please do not let him think I dressed up for him. Please do not let him think this is a sign for us to get back together.
She parked the Jeep in the one and only spot available and turned to Amber, “He’s nervous about something, I can tell. And by the way, I really hope he does not think I look this good for him. Maybe we should run to my house and I can change really quick.” As was her habit when she couldn’t decide, she bit her lower lip and looked at Amber with worry in her eyes.
“Mar, absolutely no, you are not changing. If he even thinks of hitting on you, I will tell him point-blank you are so over him and, secondly, it doesn’t really make sense for him to be nervous. We are not anyone special. Let’s go and see what the deal is before I decide I don’t want to hang out with him.”
Marilyn couldn’t help but laugh, “You are so mean to him, Amber.”
“That, my dear sweet friend, is because he is so needy of you and he doesn’t seem to understand that you have no interest in him whatsoever except as a friend.”
They both checked their lipsticks and got out of the Jeep. Marilyn never noticed how packed this place got. Sure, she’d driven by it thousands of times but there wasn’t ever a real need to pay too much attention to it. If and when she went out for a few drinks, they usually went somewhere for dinner and ended up hanging out there and having drinks at their table. She wasn’t the real bar type.
For the first few years after she turned twenty-one, she went out to bars and a few clubs but for her, it wasn’t anything that overly excited her because her mind was always focused on her great business venture of a bookstore.
Aside from that, she was always the one serving the drinks to other people. Since high school, her whole life had been filled with, in some way or another, Lusting after Literature. Whether that was working to save money or eventually working to make money, the past ten years were filled with her store. She would not wish it any other way though. She loved her store, loved what she did and was extremely proud of herself. Some day she hoped she would find The One, but she was still happy. She had a lot to be thankful for.
They met Tyler at the front, where he embraced her in a gigantic hug, “Marilyn, it is so good to see you. I am glad you ended up coming this weekend instead of waiting. I want to show you something.” As an afterthought he looked at Amber, “Hi, Amber.”
Tyler knew Amber wasn’t overly fond of him but Marilyn was the type to treat everyone fairly as well as keep everyone happy, and he knew Amber had to put up with him for Marilyn’s sake.
“Hey Tyler, what’s going on? Marilyn said you’ve been dying for her to come here with you.”
“Actually I have been. We are usually pretty busy on Saturdays but I think I can manage to give you guys a quick tour -.”
Marilyn cut him off, “Wait, did you just say ‘we?’ Do you work here now? I had no idea you were interested in bartending.”
“What I am interested in is being a business owner. Ladies, you are looking at the new part-owner of Poudre Hops Brewery.” Pride was oozing out of his face, “What do you think?”
Marilyn was shocked. Secretly, she didn’t think he had it in him to make any business decisions on a day-to-day basis, but apparently he was going to prove that theory wrong. It took her a second to digest what he had told them before she could formulate any words to speak.
Amber jumped in, “What? You have got to be kidding me! You are a part owner of this place now? When did that happen? Do you even know how to run a business? How to handle managing people, let alone how to do any type of accounting, ordering, ha, growing! Do you know how to grow hops, even?”
Tyler looked a little hurt by Amber’s brash, but true, questions. Marilyn looked at him, feeling a little sorry for the position he was in, excited, no doubt, but it didn’t stop the look of truth on his face that he didn’t really know anything about running a business.
“I have a great business partner that is extremely knowledgeable in everything going on around here at Poudre Hops. With his expertise and my money and socialization skills, we are going to make this the place to be, if not every weeknight, definitely every weekend. My understanding is business is pretty good around here but my partner’s previous partner wanted out for other reasons and he was apparently one of my dad’s clients so that is how I came about buying into the place. It is, and will continue to be, a great investment. Besides,” he looked at Amber giving her the if-looks-could-kill-she’d-be-dead-look, “I can learn just about anything as long as I have a good teacher. Speaking of teachers, how is dance class going for you, Amber? Still teaching people useless skills?”
He couldn’t resist getting a ding in, especially because of her questioning him about his business; she made him feel foolish and he did not like that.
“Okay, guys, let’s go in and take a tour and make ourselves at home. We are dying for a drink aren’t we, Amber? By the way, Tyler, congratulations. We are happy for you,” she glared at Amber.
Marilyn always had to be the mother hen when these two were around each other. As they made their way inside the bar area, Marilyn couldn’t help but wonder how much money Tyler actually invested into the place. She wasn’t aware that he had much cash on hand to invest. She supposed things could have changed for him and she didn’t know about it, but since he still called her and told her everything that was going on his life, she thought that was highly unlikely. Where did he get the money, she wondered? Not her problem, she thought. The bar area was really quaint and cozy. There was a small counter on the far side of the wall where she assumed was the serving/ordering area. Along the longer west wall there was a row of windows looking out into the garden that held a counter and about twenty stools for patrons to sit on.
There were about ten tables inside. From what she could see of the outside patio, it looked like that was the main seating area. It was hard to see everything with all the people milling around.
“This is it. Business, so far, has been great so I haven’t had to worry about my investment into the place. I have a great co-owner, which really makes things click, if you know
what I mean. The outside is where we do our main seating. However, it can get pretty chilly during Colorado winters so we are able to move our customers inside. It’s not as busy in the winter but we have adequate space inside the building to host our guests. Lets head into the back so I can not only show you, but teach you, how brewing works.”
Tyler was enamored. Marilyn had never seen him like this before. Granted, she didn’t think he knew about this stuff, but he was sure spinning a tale. No doubt, a truthful one, but hot damn, what had gotten into him?
Tyler led them both into the backyard of the brewing business. He explained to them, from the beginning, how the hops were grown. Explaining to them the malting process, the mashing as well as the lautering. He explained the boiling and fermenting. And lastly, he told them about conditioning, filtering and finally, packaging. He showed Marilyn and Amber the ten-barrel system that Poudre Hops used to ferment the brew.
Marilyn was, well, impressed. She couldn’t believe that he cared enough about this stuff to actually learn about it. The last part of the tour was distributing. Tyler’s favorite part. He explained to the girls how, once completed and filled into kegs, half kegs and bottles, the beer got distributed across the country. The beer wasn’t distributed in every single state across the U.S. he explained. Only some states. When one town or city caught on to how well the beer sold, other cities and towns within the state began to sell it too. According to Tyler, it was like the domino effect.
The distribution area was a small warehouse-type room that was situated between the entire brewing system and the loading docks of the brewery.
As they approached the distribution area, Tyler pointed out the many benefits of distribution and the big impact it had on the company as a whole. He explained that, while they weren’t a giant in terms of distribution, they produced good enough regular and seasonal beer that there was quite a demand for it in many parts of Colorado and across the country.
Gun Shy Page 3