Page 1 of Break My Heart (The Haydon Falls #2)

Sawyer

‘How’s business?’ Brody asks, coming into the brewery.

‘Look around.’ I motion to the empty bar. ‘Does that answer your question?’

‘It’s four o’clock. You just opened.’ He takes a seat at the bar.

‘Yeah, and just last week the place was full at this time.’ I huff. ‘It’s that damn brewery opening up. I swear she did it just to piss me off.’

Brody laughs. ‘Yeah, she moved here and invested all that money to open a brewery just to piss you off.’

‘Okay, maybe that’s not the reason, but why didn’t she open a place somewhere else? Why did it have to be Haydon Falls?’

‘Because she inherited the building. She doesn’t have to pay rent.’ Brody points behind me to the row of taps. ‘I’ll take the stout.’

‘You’re already drinking?’ I fill a glass with the new fall stout I created. It’s one of my best brews, if I do say so myself. The color is a dark chocolate brown and the flavor is rich with a hint of spice .

‘I’m done working for the day.’ Brody leans forward, scanning the taps. ‘What’s the Skullhead Lager? Is that new?’

‘Yeah, I’m trying it out, seeing if people like it. I think it still needs some work. It’s supposed to be my Halloween brew, but the way things are going, the place might be closed by then.’

‘C’mon, it’s not that bad.’ Brody takes a drink of his beer. ‘Business has only been slow a few days.’

‘It’s been a week.’ I roll my eyes. ‘Since Gina’s place opened.’

Gina Slater is a girl I met at camp when we were seven years old.

I couldn’t stand her because she beat me in every competition.

Swimming. Archery. Fishing. Canoe races.

You name it, she beat me, and to this day, I’m still pissed about it.

I’m extremely competitive. I get angry when I lose to a guy, but losing to a girl?

It was shameful, to the point that I begged my parents to let me come home.

They wouldn’t, so I was stuck there, with Gina humiliating me with her constant wins.

And now—23 years later—she’s back in my life, in my hometown, opening a brewery just months after I opened mine.

Why is she doing this? Does she hate me? Or is she just trying to prove once again that she can beat me? If so, she’s done it. She has customers and I have an empty bar.

I shake my head. ‘How the hell does she do it?’

‘Do what?’

‘Beat me in everything. First camp, and now this?’

‘She didn’t beat you. There’s enough people in town to have two breweries. Once everyone’s checked out Gina’s place, they’ll come back here.’

‘That’s what I’m hoping, but look around. She’s been open a week and people still aren’t coming back here.’

‘They will. Just give it a few more days. You’re a townie. She’s not. And you’re a Kanfield. People will support a Kanfield any day over an out-of-towner.’ He sips his beer. ‘You get any info on her grandpa?’

‘Yeah, he’s not from around here. He grew up in Green Bay and never left, or that’s what I heard.’

‘Then how’d he end up with a building in Haydon Falls?’

‘He won it in a poker game.’ I roll my eyes. ‘Apparently he has the same good luck as his granddaughter. Must be a family trait. Or maybe they’re witches. Maybe they put hexes on people so they lose.’

Brody laughs. ‘Now you’re talking crazy. Maybe you need to get away from here for a day or two. Clear your head. You want to go to the cabin? Go fishing?’

‘And leave my business when it’s about to go under? Yeah, I’ll pass.’ I grab a glass and go over to the pitcher of hard cider, pouring a small amount and bringing it to Brody. ‘Try this.’

‘What is it?’

‘The hard cider I’m working on for the competition.’

He takes a sip, then shoves the glass back at me as he shakes his head.

‘What? You don’t like it?’

‘Too sour, and it’s got some kind of weird aftertaste.’

‘I know,’ I say with a sigh. ‘I can’t figure it out. I think it might be the spices I added.’

‘Keep working on it. You’ll figure it out.’ He takes a big gulp of his beer, like he’s trying to wash away the taste of the cider.

‘I’m running out of time. The competition is only a few weeks away.’

The hard cider competition happens every year in October.

It was started by our parents as a way to bring people to their orchard while also supporting breweries in and around the area.

Entrants can only be privately-owned microbreweries, not big commercial breweries.

The competition itself is small, but it draws a crowd to the orchard because we also have a barbecue, food trucks, and live music, making it like a big party.

It’s only been going on for five years, but it’s become so popular that it’s been getting a lot of press.

And as a new business owner, a lot of press is what I need to make this brewery a success.

‘Drinking already?’ Nick says to Brody as he comes through the door.

He’s got a huge smile on his face. It’s good to see him smiling again.

When he lived in New York and came back to visit, he was always so serious, and always stressed, like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

But since quitting his job at the law firm and moving back, he’s like a different person, always smiling and joking around.

It’s also Lyndsay making him that way. He lives with her now and the two of them are so in love it’s almost nauseating.

Or maybe I’m just jealous. I’d like a girl in my life, but I’ve dated pretty much every girl in town who’s single, close to my age, and hasn’t dated one of my brothers.

That’s the problem with a small town. I love it here, but finding someone to date is nearly impossible.

‘I’m done for the day,’ Brody says to Nick. ‘I thought I’d stop in and give Sawyer some business.’

‘Thanks, but you’re not the kind of business I want,’ I tell him. ‘I need paying customers.’

Nick walks up to the bar and takes out his wallet. He sets a twenty on the counter. ‘Give me the pale ale.’

‘You’re not paying me,’ I say as I go to get his beer. ‘You’re family. You get all the free beer you want.’

‘Then call it an investment,’ Nick says. ‘I’m investing in your business.’

‘And expecting what kind of return?’ I hand him his beer. ‘More free beer? Because that’s probably all you’ll get if business keeps up like this. ’

‘Works for me.’ He takes a sip of his beer. ‘Sawyer, this is really good.’

‘Yeah, I think it might be my best one.’

‘Maybe Mom and Dad should change the contest to a pale ale competition instead of hard cider,’ Brody jokes.

‘Yeah, I know it sucks. I’m working on it.’

‘You’re having trouble with the cider?’ Nick asks.

‘I can’t get the flavor right.’ I grab the pitcher of hard cider and pour some in a glass. ‘Try it. Let me know what you think.’

Nick drinks it and coughs. Brody bursts out laughing.

‘Thanks a lot, assholes.’ I walk to the end of the bar where I have the list of cider ingredients I’ve tried that haven’t worked.

‘It’s not horrible,’ Nick says. ‘It’s just really sour. I wasn’t expecting that. It kind of burned my throat.’

Brody laughs again.

‘Would you stop?’ I walk over to Brody. ‘If you think it’s that funny, then you trying making it. It’s not the same as making beer. It’s like making wine. I even had to get a wine license to sell it.’

‘Dude, I don’t think you want to be selling that,’ Brody says. ‘You think this place is empty now .?.?.’ He looks around at the empty room.

‘I’m not selling it. I’m just saying.’ I blow out a frustrated breath. ‘I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. Why did I think I could open a brewery?’

‘Hey!’ Nick sets his beer down. ‘You better not be thinking of quitting after all the time and money you put into this place.’

‘Why? You put time and money into law school and now you’re running the orchard.’

‘I didn’t like being a lawyer. That’s why I quit. You don’t quit something you love, and you love this brewery. You love making the beer. You love bartending, interacting with all the customers.’

‘What customers?’ I point behind him. ‘The place is empty. ’

‘Yeah, so find a way to get them in here. Host an event. Advertise. Have specials.’

‘An event only lasts one night and I can’t afford to be running specials right now.

I can’t afford ads either, and I shouldn’t need them.

Everyone knows the place is here.’ I lean back against the counter.

‘I don’t get it. I thought the Kanfield name alone would be enough to get people in here.

Is it the beer? I just switched to the fall brews. Maybe people don’t like them.’

‘The fall brews are great,’ Nick says. ‘Even better than the summer brews.’

‘Then there’s just one explanation.’ I sigh. ‘Gina Slater. She fucking cursed the place.’

‘He thinks she’s a witch,’ Brody says to Nick.

Nick laughs. ‘You’re joking, right?’

‘Hey, it’s possible,’ I tell him. ‘How else do you explain how she beat me at camp?’

Nick shrugs. ‘She’s just good at sports, I guess.’

‘It wasn’t just sports. She beat me at the damn pie-eating contest!’ I throw my hands up. ‘How is that possible? You saw how much I ate as a kid. I was bigger than her, and she beat me! And now she’s beating me at owning a brewery? I’m telling you, man, it’s pure witchcraft.’

‘He’s losing it,’ Brody says to Nick, trying not to laugh.

Nick looks back at me. ‘Have you been over there?’

‘Where?’

‘Gina’s brewery. Have you gone there to check it out?’

‘Hell no. I’m not supporting the enemy.’

‘Then how are you going to know how she’s getting customers?’

‘I know how she’s getting them,’ I huff. ‘It’s witchcraft.’

‘Sawyer, I’m serious. You have to go there and see what she’s doing. You have to check out the competition. You don’t think Dad used to go to other orchards when he was just starting out?’

‘That’s different. He didn’t know the people.’

‘It’s not different. You need to go check this place out.’

‘And run into Gina? I don’t want to see that woman, or even talk to her. If she’s anything like she was when she was a kid .?.?.’ I shake my head.