Kiss My Cupcake(17)

So far, I’m keeping up my end of the bargain.

“I have to admit, I wasn’t real keen on the axe-throwing business, but it looks like once the renovations are paid off, you’ll be turning a real profit there, as long as no one hacks off an arm, anyway.” He winks. “It’s a real good start, son.”

“Thanks. And there are some pretty strict rules around the axe throwing, so everyone’s limbs should stay safely attached to their bodies.”

“That’s generally where ya want them, eh?” He drums his fingers on the bar top, his grin wry. “And I appreciate that ya kept the wall o’ photographs. Means a lot to this old man.”

“Well, I might not have been there for all of them, but they mean a lot to me, too.” I know it’s been hard for Gramps to have to step down from running the bar. It’s been his second home for most of his life, and all the memories in it contain Grams.

My phone lights up with new social media alerts. We both glance at the screen.

“What’s that all about? You get yourself a new girlfriend? You started dating one of the ladies you hired?” His expression brightens and I laugh.

“Once again, asking my employees out is on the list of no-no’s these days. Too many potential complications.”

Gramps throws his hands in the air. “Dottie and I would n’er ’ave gotten married if we’d worried about complications, now would we?”

“This is true. However, my employees are college students.”

“Ah well, you’re bound to meet a lass eventually, especially working ’ere.”

I decide to veer the topic away from my dating life, since it’s not very exciting these days. Besides, if I let him keep going he’ll eventually get on me about settling down before I’m too old.

It’s not that I don’t want a partner, but from what I’ve seen, you can’t be married to your job and married to another person unless you’re like my Gramps and Grams who worked together. Otherwise, the career or the partner ends up neglected.

And right now, my career is paramount. I have an obligation to Gramps, and the brewery is actually within my grasp. Besides, I haven’t been able to meet anyone since I’m always at The Knight Cap.

At least this is the justification I give anyone who asks about my relationship status. Honestly, losing my parents at twenty was rough, and that was a kind of pain I wanted to avoid. It didn’t help that I’d had a girlfriend when they passed away, and that relationship hit some major turbulence, eventually crashing and burning because I couldn’t handle the loss and she didn’t know how to help me grieve. It wasn’t her fault, we were college kids, but it sure did have an impact.

Relationships make a person vulnerable to pain, and losing my parents and the end of that relationship was more anguish than I could deal with. Watching Gramps degrade quickly after Grams passed was another reason to avoid getting serious with anyone.

“For now I’ll focus on the pub, which reminds me, I haven’t told you about the golden opportunity that might put us on the map and make it rain.”

His mouth turns down. “Is this some young person slang I don’t understand?”

“Uh yeah. ‘Make it rain’ means make lots of money. There’s this huge YouTuber—”

“YouTuber?” More frowning ensues.

“Yeah, it’s a woman who makes videos—”

“Videos?” Gramps’s eyes go wide, and he gives me a disapproving look. “Not the dirty kind. Ya won’t be using my Dottie’s bar to be makin’ those naughty films.”

I choke back a mouthful of coffee and cough into my elbow. “No, Gramps. Just videos, not of sex. Why in the world would you think I’d do something like that?”

His eyes shift away and he shrugs, then takes a big gulp of his beer. “I was looking something up on the computer this morning and you know how it likes to fill in words for you sometimes. Well, it took me to a site with all kinds of things no one should be looking at at nine in the morning. Felt like I needed to go to confession after that.”

“Not the best way to start the day, huh?”

He shakes his head. “Those images get stuck in the brain, they do. Anyway, you were saying something about this YouTuber?”

“Right, yes.” I smack the bar, happy to move the subject away from my grandfather accidentally stumbling on a porn site. “She has a channel.”

“Like a TV channel?”

“Yeah, kinda. I mean, they even have commercials that you have to watch—”

“Can’t you DVR and fast-forward through the junk?”

I introduced Gramps to DVR back when I lived with him and Grams after my parents passed and it’s probably his favorite thing in the world. Apart from this bar and the memory of Grams. “Not on YouTube. Anyway, this woman, Tori Taylor—”

“Sounds like one of those dirty film stars.”

“I promise she’s not a dirty film star. Anyway, she has a channel with over ten million subscribers.”

“Geez, that’s a lot of people. She do neat tricks or something? Is she a dancer?”

“No, Gramps. She’s not a dancer. Just let me finish.” I wait to see if he’s going to interrupt again, but he stays silent, for now. “Anyway, she runs a ‘Best of’ feature on her channel. Best products, best places to visit, that kind of thing. She’s running a Best Bar in the Pacific Northwest competition and The Knight Cap is entered.” I pull up the video on my phone and play it for Gramps, then show him The Knight Cap nominations before I shift to Instagram where he can check out all the other bars that have been nominated, too.