“My brother is in love.”
Owen looked as if he would keel over. “Shut the fuck up.”
“I’m not in love.”
“What’s the quote about ‘doth protesting too much?’” Neo took a swig of beer.
“You’re an idiot,” I turned away from Neo to talk to Owen. “But I am dating.”
“One woman?”
“Yes. One woman.”
Neo laughed.
“Spill,” Owen said, simultaneously backing up, grabbing a beer from the cooler, and handing it to someone at the bar.
“Rachel Watson. The daughter of—”
“I know who she is. She was here a few weeks ago. Didn’t seem all that fond of you at the time. Hope she’s nothing like her dad,” Owen looked up. “Hey, Chris. Table two,” he yelled to one of the waitstaff.
“Not at all. Turns out dad is more of a silent partner.”
“Poor thing then. I’d rather be stuck in an ice storm on Interstate 81 than be in business with Jerry Reed.”
“Yeah, it’s not a perk of the position, to say the least.”
“If you ever need anything, I’ve got some leverage.”
“On Jerry?”
Owen nodded but clearly wasn’t going to say more. Not here, in a crowded bar.
“We’ll have to talk.”
“Definitely. Especially now. I’m surprised you’re not ready to beat the guy to a bloody pulp.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Neo said. “Marco isn’t known for his tact.”
“Yeah, well, can’t say I blame him this time. A brewery, of all things. Asshole.”
Neo and I exchanged a look. We were missing some key piece of information, clearly.
“Oh shit, you don’t know.”
My knuckles turned white I grasped the glass so hard. “Know. What?”
“He’s building a goddamn brewery. No way it’s unrelated to yours. We have, what, all of three of them on the whole lake? Ballsy, if you ask me.”
Breathe, Marco. Don’t kill the messenger.
“We’ve been trying to get information on the building permit for weeks.”
“I know. Mentioned it to Hudson, but at the time I didn’t know what it was for. Sorry, bud. I’d have told you sooner but assumed you knew already.” He gave me a curious look. “Didn’t your girlfriend mention it?”
No way Rae knew about this and didn’t tell me. “She’s not on great terms with Jerry, for obvious reasons. He’s been keeping it pretty close to the vest.”
Seething, I tried to make small talk until Owen left, but I couldn’t do it. Neo filled in until Owen moved away. We didn’t say a word for a minute or two.