ordered the fermentation tanks last week,” Jax told them, wandering around the space. “Carter and I were talking about the keg room placement. We thought having it over here would make sense. The lines could go straight up to the tap system above.”
“Plus it’s a straight shot to the doors for deliveries and supplies,” Carter added.
Beckett shoved his hands in his pockets. He could finally start to envision it all.
“It’s going to be a hell of an operation,” he nodded. “We’re going to need an onsite office, aren’t we?”
Carter, arms crossed, leaned against a pallet of two by fours. “Jax had a thought on that.”
Beckett turned his attention to his younger brother.
“The silo,” Jax said.
The stone silo stood next to the barn, stretching toward the sky. Once a holding bin for grain, it had been empty for decades.
Beckett frowned thoughtfully. “How big is it?”
“Big. Twenty feet across.”
He thought about it, rolling the idea around in his head. “We could have an office off of the upper floor, some storage, maybe even move the bottling stuff out there.”
“Told you he’d be into it,” Jax smirked at Carter.
“It’s a good idea. Might as well make use of the space. What would it add to the timeline?” They were planning to open in the spring as it was now.
“The storage and bottling works wouldn’t be a big deal. It might take a little more time to get the office space together, especially if we want any kind of plumbing over there,” Jax told him.
Beckett nodded. “Let’s do it. We can always finish off the office after we’re open for business.”
“Sounds good,” Jax agreed.
“Now, the big question,” Carter said. “How much longer before we can start brewing?”
“Once the tanks are in place we can get everything else set up in a week or two tops,” Jax said, scrolling through the calendar on his phone. “We can pretty much start fighting over who gets to do the first batch.”
“Me.”
“Me.” Beckett and Carter frowned at each other.
“We’re going to have to settle this like men,” Beckett said.
“A duel at dawn?” Jax asked.
“We’ll come up with something,” Carter decided. “So while we’re on the subject of change,” Carter began. He pulled a black jewelers box from his pocket. “There’s hopefully going to be another one around here sometime.”
He snapped open the lid and Beckett pretended to shield his eyes from the sparkle inside. “Damn. Already? Didn’t you just meet like four months ago?”
Carter grinned. “Don’t even pretend like she’s not the one. I just have to convince her that it’s not too early.”
“Summer’s hell-bent on ‘taking things slow’ since everything happened so fast,” Jax explained to Beckett. “Meeting Carter, quitting her job, and moving in is freaking out the control freak.”
“Hey, that’s my control freak you’re talking about,” Carter warned him.
“I meant it in the most adorable, complimentary way possible,” Jax said, holding up his hands.
“Do you really think there’s a possibility that she’ll say no?” Beckett asked.
“I think she’s more likely to say ‘ask me again in a year.’”
“So how are you going to do it?” Beckett asked, baffled.
“I’m going to make it seem like her idea and wait until the perfect time to strike,” Carter said with a firm nod.
“I can’t wait to see how this ninja engagement plays out,” Jax said.
Carter couldn’t wipe the grin off his face as he looked down at the ring again. “Do you think it’s big enough?”
“No Pierce man has ever uttered those words before,” Beckett told him, clapping a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “It might be a little too big.”
6
B eckett stayed behind at the barn to talk timelines and materials with the crew. At sixty-eight, Calvin Finestra considered himself to be in the prime of his life and had no intention of retiring. He climbed around on scaffolding like a man