Bad Boys Do (Donovan Brothers Brewery 2)

“A chance at what? If you’re trying to do more, I sure as hell haven’t seen any sign of it.”

Tessa elbowed him, but Eric just shot her an annoyed scowl.

Jamie had wanted to wait for the perfect moment. He’d wanted to call a meeting and sit down with his siblings as if they were only business partners and not a family with baggage and fears and long-simmering anger. But he could see now that there wasn’t any use. His chest felt empty with it.

He looked his brother in the eye and felt nothing. “I’ve wanted to make some changes around here. Start serving food.”

“We talked about that last year,” Eric said, brushing away Jamie’s words as if he were a fly buzzing around the room. “We decided it would pose too many problems.”

“You decided,” Jamie said. He wasn’t even mad anymore. He was just tired. “I talked about it, and you decided.”

“I am not the bad guy here,” Eric said, stabbing his thumb at his chest. “I’m not the bad guy because you woke up one morning thinking you’d like to start serving hamburgers and I said no. This isn’t a restaurant, it’s a brewery.”

Tessa put her hand on Eric’s arm. “You’ve been wanting to expand, Eric. Just listen to him.”

“I want to expand our business, and our business is beer, not food.”

Jamie decided to give it one shot. One last shot, because what did he have to lose? He’d already lost it all in those years of running from his own potential. “Our business isn’t beer. Our business is this brewery. This place right here. You’re the one who wants to expand beyond that, and that’s fine. That’s great. But I’d like to focus my work inward.”

Eric put his fists on his hips and dropped his head. “A restaurant isn’t something you just jump into, Jamie. Do you know anything about it? We’d have to expand. There’d be more insurance, more employees. Think about it, for God’s s

ake. This would be a completely different place.”

“I’m not just throwing this out there.”

Eric’s laugh held no humor. “What was it you said? ‘Burgers and stuff’?”

“That was last year. I’ve actually put some work into this, Eric.”

His brother tossed a dismissive look around the tap-room. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, I have. I’ve been taking a class…”

Tessa’s head popped up and her eyes slowly widened.

“A cooking class?” Eric asked.

“No, a restaurant development class. I have an idea. A real idea. I want to—”

“Jamie.” Eric sighed. “This kind of thing could take years to develop. We’d have to expand, and—”

“No, we wouldn’t. If you’ll just listen to me—”

“Fine!” his brother snapped. “You write down your ideas, and we’ll talk about it sometime.” Tessa started to speak, but Eric held up a hand. “But not this year. This year has been crazy enough, and I’ve got my hands full.”

“Eric,” Jamie said wearily. “I’m not asking your permission to bring this to the table. I’m not begging for your approval. I’m telling you that I have a good idea, and I’m going to move forward with it.”

“You’re not making changes to the brewery unless we all agree.”

“Fair enough,” Jamie conceded. “But there are a hell of a lot of other changes I can make without consulting you. If you need to run this place on your own, then go ahead and run it, Eric.”

“No,” Tessa said, shaking her head in a quick staccato. “No, Jamie. What are you saying?”

He hated the fear in Tessa’s eyes, but he was done. He’d defined himself by his family for so long, but he was never going to be the good one, not even in his own mind. “Don’t worry, sis. I’m not going anywhere.”

Tears spilled over her eyes, but Jamie could only shake his head. He had to do what was best for himself. Not just what he wanted to do, but what was best, for once.

“Jamie, please don’t do this,” she said, her voice trembling with tears.