Page 148 of Sunkissed Colorado

Russ tapped at the microphone in his hand, and it squealed with feedback. “Oh, sh—uh, I guess this thing’s on.”

Zandra laughed, her arms wrapping around me as she rested her head on my shoulder. I put my hand on her lower back. We stood off to one side of the booth we’d set up for the tasting, directly in front of the brewery’s entrance. Other Hearthstone employees stood nearby, ready with stacks of plastic glasses.

Behind the table, next to Russ, sat a keg of our latest brew. All we needed was for Russ to get things started.

After a little more hemming and hawing, he said, “We appreciate all of you joining us today. Most of you know we had a fire here not long ago, so the brewpub is closed for repairs.” Cheers of support erupted from every direction. “But not all was lost. My latest creation was saved, and I’ve named it Smokejumper Stout to celebrate. Any donations will help us complete the repairs and get this place open again soon, because I promise, we won’t be gone for long. Now let’s tap this keg!”

More cheers blended into a roar. “He finished strong,” Zandra said, her voice not completely back to normal but nearly there.

“Best way to do it.” I kissed the top of her head.

Thanks to Mayor Barker’s office, we’d sped through the permit process to be able to close Main Street to traffic today. A couple food trucks had driven out on short notice, and the mayor had even declared today “Hearthstone Brewing Day,” which seemed abitexcessive.

But hey, why not?

We had plenty to celebrate.

There were lots of smiles and plenty of bills tossed in the donation jar as we poured tasters of Smokejumper. Pretty much everyone we knew was here. My family, the other firefighters from SRFD. Rosie and Jimmy. Dixie Haines was holding court over by the food trucks, where kids and dogs were running around between the picnic tables we’d brought in.

It had been a community effort to make this happen so quickly, but it just spoke to the love everyone had for the watering hole Manny had built. The man himself had been working the crowd, getting those donations. His last hurrah as general manager.

Manny still hadn’t made the official announcement that Zandra was GM. He was giving her time to heal. But as far as I could see, it was inevitable.

When Darius and Niko came to the front of the line, I stepped around the side of the table to give them each a back slap. “Thanks for being here today.”

“You kidding?” Darius asked. “Wouldn’t miss it. Connor said he’d be here too, but hard to track where that man is these days.”

“He seemed tense when I saw him at home earlier,” Niko added. “Something about the new girlfriend. Maybe he’ll bring her, and we can finally meet her.”

Darius snorted. “I’m starting to wonder if she even exists.”

Zandra was busy chatting with Winnie and the other breweryemployees, so I gave her a quick kiss and said I was going to hang with our roommates for a while.

Grabbing a taster for myself, the guys and I wandered over to an empty space on the sidewalk to watch the festivities.

“So you and Z are out in the open now,” Niko said. “Her grandfather knows all about you two?”

“Oh yeah, we’re not hiding anything. Manny was surprisingly okay with it. More than her parents, but they’ve been coming around to the Callum O’Neal fan club.”

I took a sip of Smokejumper Stout. Maybe it was just the dark roast on the grains, but I could almost taste a hint of smoke. A reminder that, even when the worst happened, we could fight our way back to something better.

The same night Zandra had been to the police station to talk to Leo, the police had brought Paula Mackenzie into custody. From what we’d heard, a court-ordered psychologist was assessing if Paula was fit to stand trial.

It was a relief to Z, though. Knowing the person responsible for the fire was now in custody, regardless of the final outcome. The authorities were also considering charges against Tommy Pickering for blackmail. We were all for that, but the whole town knew by now about the entire saga and Tommy’s involvement. The community had rallied around his wife and kids, supporting them while also condemning what Tommy had done.

People were showing understanding for Leo and Paula too, with Zandra being one of the loudest voices.

That was what I loved about Hart County. The way people came together, just like they were doing for Hearthstone today.

Zandra had been absent for so long, but now, I couldn’t imagine her not being a part of this. A part of my life.

Then Connor appeared, jogging over out of breath. “Sorry I’m late.”

We all cheered and clapped him on the shoulder, happy to have the gang back together. “Thought you wouldn’t make it!”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I know I’ve been AWOL lately.”

I ran over to grab another taster for Connor, then returned and handed it to him. “You finally going to tell us what’s been going on with you?”