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She dropped the case of wine and went back out to her truck to get the beer.

“You can take the beer up front,” Chris said, opening one of the cases in the storeroom.

Cory wheeled the beer to the bar and started to empty one of the cases into the cold case under the bartop.

“Oh my gosh, she’s unloading it, too!” Chris exclaimed.

“We are your full service liquor store. Besides, it looked empty in here,” Cory said, stacking the other case out of the way.

“Cory!” a woman exclaimed, coming behind the bar and giving her a hug.

“Hi Jelena, it’s so good to see you,” Cory said.

“I missed you on your last two deliveries. Sit for a minute,” Jelena said, coming around to the other side of the bar and patting one of the stools.

As Cory made her way around the bar, Chris poured two beers on tap and set one in front of Cory’s stool.

“What’s this?”

“We know your birthday is coming up,” Jelena said, taking the other beer from Chris. She clinked it to Cory’s and took a sip. “Let’s see, is this birthday number forty-four?”

Cory smiled. “Yep.”

“Wow, where does the time go,” Chris said. “We started here together when we were both twenty-one.”

Jelena chuckled. “Oh, God. You were babies. I remember trying to teach you two to be faster when the rush came in.”

“I don’t know how many times you covered for me,” Chris said to Cory.

“You got the hang of it,” Cory said, taking a sip of her beer. “And now you own the bar.”

“You were always a better bartender than I was,” Chris said.

“I have to agree, but you are a good manager and now owner,” Jelena said.

“That’s because you’ve stayed to help me. Owning the bar is different from managing it,” Chris said.

Cory chuckled. “I’m glad you didn’t change the name. Chris’s wouldn’t have the same ring to it.”

“I wouldn’t have sold it to him if he changed the name,” Jelena said.

“Betty’s is a great name, even if you named it for your dog. I used to make up all kinds of stories on how this place got its name.” Cory laughed.

“Oh, I remember how you two tried to outdo each other when someone would ask,” Jelena said.

“I think the best one was when we came up with the contest. Which was a lie and which was the truth?” Chris said. “We sold a lot of drinks with that one.”

They all laughed and sipped their beer.

“How’s the new business doing?” Jelena asked.

“It’s good. We have steady traffic in the liquor store. The little bar I put in the back is working how I’d hoped. Folks come in, have a drink, buy something, and then go home.”

“Or they come to Betty’s,” Chris added.

Cory chuckled. “Yes, or they come here.”

“How about the wholesale part of it?” Jelena asked, quickly glancing at Chris.