Blizzards and Brews (Holiday Hollow Omegaverse)

Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Dustin

T he snow was already falling as I trudged back into the bar, stomping the snow from my boots before hanging my coat on the back hook.

“Snow still coming down?” Ollie asked as he came in to grab a new container of pretzels for the bar.

“Yup, they’re saying it’s going to get worse. We better take it easy going home tonight,” I admitted.

“Maybe we should close up early. Go talk to Adam,” Ollie said, frowning. “I don’t like the idea of Lindsay being in that little house by herself.”

“I had the same thought,” I admitted. “Where is he?”

“He’s fixing the back booth, the table was wobbling again.”

Nodding, I headed to the bar and wound through the tables to find him lying under one, his tool box next to his hip.

“Hey, it’s getting worse out there, we should close up early tonight so Lindsay isn’t navigating back roads,” I said, not bothering to start with pleasantries. She’d ended up falling asleep at ours last night, but I knew she probably wanted time to process on her own tonight.

“I’ve already got flyers on the printer that say as much,” he said as he grunted as he forced the bolts to turn. These tables had been refurbished and were a pain in the ass. They also had character, so we didn’t want to part with them.

“She should stay with us,” I added. He laughed but didn’t argue. We’d have to spend the entire shift convincing her.

“We’ve got that meeting with Spencer. Good luck convincing her to stay two nights in a row,” he teased.

Grumbling, I ran to the printer so I could snag the signs and put a few up in the front and on the bar. A few minutes later Lindsay came out of the back, heading straight for me and looking at the flier I was hanging up.

“What’s all this?” Lindsay’s voice was off and she had a tight smile on her face.

Everyone was a bit tense today after our chat last night. We all were waiting to see how she’d take it the next day and she was definitely in her own head.

“The weather reports are saying it might get bad. We’re putting up signs to close early in case it does,” I said.

“We don’t get snow like this often,” she said. “I’m kind of excited for a bit of snow.”

“A bit might be an understatement,” Ollie laughed as he came out. “Leander is already out for today, his car is too old to handle snow this heavy. He’d be stranded. I’ll manage appetizers but we’ll have to send people to the diner for other food.”

The front door slammed open as a gust of wind tore it from Spencer’s hand. His muscles flexed as he forced it closed. It blew open again and I rushed to his side, flipping the lock to keep it from blowing open and breaking. The last thing we needed was to have to fix it in a snowstorm.

“It’s wild out there,” Spencer huffed. “I’m not exactly light and I almost got blown off my feet. Thanks for the assist, man.”

He chuckled and made his way to the bar, dropping his coat on a stool before leaning in to brush a lingering kiss on Lindsay’s cheek and giving Ollie’s arm a squeeze as he passed.

“I have good news, though,” he grinned. “Where’s Adam?”

“Over here,” Adam grunted. “Someone give me a hand.”

To my shock it was Spencer that moved first, crouching down and waiting for instruction. We didn’t say a word as we watched Spencer hold the table steady as Adam fought the stubborn hardware. Together, they had it done in minutes.

“That was unexpected,” Ollie huffed out a laugh. Lindsay and I nodded in agreement.

“I'm going to clean up and I’ll be ready,” Adam said once they’d finished. “I wouldn’t say no to a cup of coffee. That floor is fucking cold.” He shuddered as he disappeared into the storage room.

“Anyone else want some?” Lindsay asked.

“I do,” Spencer and I both said.

“I’ll help,” Ollie offered, grabbing out cream and sugar and putting it on the bar where Spencer was sitting.

Adam was back by the time the coffee was done brewing and we all took a seat.

“I hear you have good news?” Adam prompted after taking a long sip.

The lights overhead flickered and the wind whistled a bit harder.

“That’s not ominous at all,” I muttered.

“We can always call it earlier than we planned if need be,” Adam said. “Let’s hear the news and get this festival meeting out of the way. We need to stay on track if we’re going to make delivery for distribution.”

“I’d tell you not to worry,” Spencer said, “but I doubt that would help. What I will tell you is that I’ve helped companies do this numerous times and I know what it takes to stay on track and make it happen. Plus, we haven’t gotten to the good news yet.”

“Alright,” Adam said, nodding. “Hit us with it.”

“Your numbers look good,” Spencer said. “Real good. Honestly, for a company your size, they’re by far the best I’ve ever seen. You’re not going to have a problem supporting the initial starting cost for the investment and with the projections I’ve done from the market, and the reputation Holiday Brews already has, the risk should be minimal.”

“That’s great news,” Lindsay said, a smile slipping onto her lips.

It was the first one I’d seen on her today and I hoped it wasn’t the last. We’d loved this place long before we’d ever drank, back when my dad used to own it. I knew it meant as much to her as it did to me, and the fact that we could share in this place and success now was just another layer of the bonds between us. Just one on the journey to the ultimate one.

“I’m sure that love has a lot to do with you and Autumn making that instagram account,” Ollie said, looking fondly at our girl.

“It definitely improved your reach,” Spencer said before taking a sip of his coffee, leaning into Ollie. I could tell from where I was sitting he’d reached out for Lindsay too, the telltale sign of her tucking her hair behind her ear telling me everything I needed to know.

She liked him. More than liked him.

It was her go to tell, and one that had kept the hope alive for me for years. It had been quiet recently, no sly tucks behind her adorable ears as she spouted her fiery words, and seeing it again, even if it wasn’t directed at me, made me feel good.

I’d always known I’d have to share Lindsay, and I was okay with that. But, I’d always have a piece of her that was solely mine, too.

“What are those?” I asked, nodding at the folder Spencer had placed on the bar.

“These,” he said, excitedly, “are my other piece of good news. I hope you don’t mind but I called an artist friend of mine who owed me a favor. They did some preliminary mock-up ideas and sketches for the seasonal line. I wanted to see what you think.”

He pulled them from the folder, passing different ones to each of us. They were rough line drawings, but it was clear to see the talent and thought that had been poured into them. The fact that he’d been able to get these for us on such short notice meant he had pulled serious strings and he’d done it for us.

Holly decorated the mock label in my hand, dispersed between the cheery design boasting our brewery information and our craft beer Holihaze IPA. It was the right balance of playful while still bringing the rustic charm we prided ourselves on.

What really stopped me in my tracks was the small, silhouetted logo near the edge, boasting it was proudly brewed in Holiday Hollow, North Carolina.

There were four figures of varying height. “Is that?” I asked.

Spencer looked over at me and nodded. “It’s your pack. Obviously these are all still preliminaries and we can tweak or change whichever you like, but I thought you all deserved some representation on the wonderful product you worked so hard creating.”

Lindsay didn’t refute his words, or challenge him calling us a pack and from the wide smile on my brother’s lips I knew they considered that a win.

“Let me see the others,” she said, breaking the moment.

The five of us went around talking about each mock-up and going over what we liked and what we’d liked tweaked. Which didn’t end up being much. Whoever his friend was, they were extremely talented and knew their demographic.

For a blissful moment with all five of us working together, I got a glimpse of our possible future. Of what it could be like.

Of course, then that was when the lights went out completely.

“Fuck,” Adam cursed, looking at his phone. “I didn’t realize how much time had passed. Let me check the storm again.”

Instead of waiting for him, I got up and went for the door, not even needing to open it up to realize we were fucked.

The town had turned white, the visibility minimal. Snow had even started to bank against the seal, climbing up the glass.

“Guys,” I said. “There’s no way we’re opening today.”

“There’s no way we’re going anywhere today,” Adam said, dread in his voice. “The storm took a turn and it’s not good. It’s a full on blizzard. We’re going to have to hunker down until it passes.”

Five people with unresolved issues, scent matches, jealousy, and supposed unrequited love.

What could go wrong?