help us nail a distributor more than anything else.”
Maisie rolled her eyes. “Oh, sure, now you’re part of the conversation.” What about helping her out when Clara cornered her?
Amelia shrugged. “Just ’cause I’m the middle sister doesn’t mean I need to get in the middle of everything, including your conversations.” To Clara, she asked, “How long do you think it’ll take before we get the results?”
“Months,” Clara said with a long sigh before her voice perked back up. “But getting the awards is really just step one. We need to get buzz going, and social media is our greatest tool for that.”
“Which is where I come in?” Maisie asked.
“Exactly.” Clara nodded. “When we finally go to the distributor, we need all the ammunition to stand out from the other hundreds of craft beers sent their way.”
“And,” Amelia added, “if we get enough buzz going, they might come to us.”
Great. If that wasn’t a reason to drink, Maisie didn’t know what was. To avoid the pressure that became near suffocating, she grabbed the door handle to the storage room. “Well, I’ve got a four-day road trip, and a trailer that isn’t going to pack itself. See you later.”
“Maisie.” At Clara’s soft voice, Maisie froze. “I know today has to be hard for you. Are you okay?”
Maisie shut her eyes and breathed deep. She’d avoided thinking about what today was ever since she’d woken up. It was why she’d gone and painted, to bring a little brightness to a very dark day. But there was no running away. The articles that splashed across the media two years ago haunted her: Murder Rattles the Small Town of River Rock. Young Woman Brutally Murdered. Officer Hayes Taylor Leaves Denver Police Department After Wife’s Murder.
Laurel’s murder had been declared a robbery gone wrong at their home in Denver. Hayes had hunted down her killer, and after a shoot-out, the killer was dead. After that, he quit his job and moved back home to River Rock. But even with the justice of finding Laurel’s murderer, nothing had been the same since. For a month, Maisie could barely breathe, function. Her sisters had come to her aid. They’d fed her, forced her to shower, brought her out of the darkest place Maisie had ever gone. Laurel’s absence felt like half of Maisie’s body was missing, and she’d struggled to learn how to walk again. But slowly, through her sisters’ love, things had gotten better, and Maisie remembered how to take one step in front of the other. More importantly, she remembered life was a one-time deal. The loss of her parents, of Pops, and of Laurel had taught her that. The world, her life, was far too beautiful and special to waste the time she had.
For Laurel, for her parents, and for her grandparents, she looked for the beauty every day, until the beauty was all she saw. She drew and painted and never stopped until that ache in her chest, while still there, didn’t shadow her happiness.
“I’m okay,” she told her sisters, glancing back at them with the smile she knew they needed to see. “Thanks for worrying about me, but really, I’m remembering the good stuff about Laurel, not the bad memory that took her away. I know she’d want that.”
Amelia gave a gentle smile. “You’re right, she would.”
Clara added, “We’re here for you.”
Maisie glanced between her sisters. She’d always felt so different from them growing up, but Laurel’s death had changed that. And the best friend that gave so much love to Maisie, in death, had brought Maisie closer to her sisters. They’d loved her hard through her grief and brought her back from that unforgiving pain. For that, Maisie had stuffed her dreams of owning an art studio far away, giving all of herself to the brewery, even if she was late and didn’t always get things right. “Thanks,” she said to her sisters. “Now let me get back to work, would ya? Geesh, you’re always holding me up. Don’t you know I have a thousand things to do today?”
Amelia laughed softly.
Clara rolled her eyes.
Maisie chuckled, reminding herself that laughing was good. Especially on days like today. Smiling, enjoying life, was the best way she could honor Laurel’s life. She finally pulled the heavy door open and hurried through, when the reality of what was ahead of her hit her like a brick to the face. The first festival was in Fort Collins, then Colorado Springs, finishing up in Boulder. Panic creeped up