Sassy Blonde - Stacey Kennedy Page 0,1

don’t hurt yourself, buddy,” Clara called to him before she addressed Amelia again. “I’ve got the construction crew coming out tomorrow to begin demolition.”

Maisie laughed as Mason attacked a wooden beam like a fierce warrior. Her nephew had two speeds—super and torpedo. He never sat down. Ever. Maisie stayed by the open double doors, leaning against the frame, having nothing to add. She didn’t know a thing about running a brewery. She knew how to mix colors to create perfect hues. How to use a pencil shading to bring a drawing to life. How to see beauty and replicate it. Before Pops passed away, she’d just finished her art major. In fact, she’d been days away from asking Clara to go into business with her. Maisie wanted to open her own art studio, selling her art and teaching children and adults how to draw. She wanted to host paint nights. She wanted to inspire people to dream, to create, to live their passion. But then Pops died, leaving them the property, along with a letter indicating he wanted them to use the money to open a brewery like he and her sisters had always talked about. He also left a personal letter to each of them.

Only problem, Pops didn’t know that Maisie didn’t want anything to do with the brewery. She had her own dreams.

“You look miserable.”

Maisie smiled and turned to find her favorite person in the world, Laurel Taylor, her best friend since the first grade. Laurel was a little taller than Maisie and had honey-blond hair that reached the middle of her back, but it was her soft green eyes that welcomed a person in. She had the kindest eyes Maisie had ever seen. So full of love. Maisie hugged Laurel tight before she said, “I didn’t know you were coming by.”

Laurel gestured over her shoulder. “We were visiting Hayes’s dad, so I wanted to stop by before we head back home. Just missing you.”

Maisie hugged her again. Even tighter. “I’m missing you too.” She noted Hayes sitting in the driver’s seat of his black car. Hayes had whiskey-colored eyes and was a rough-around-the-edges kind of man, with slightly wavy chocolate-brown hair that was cut short on the sides and longer on top. Laurel and Hayes had been together since Laurel was eighteen. Back then, it had been a bit of a scandal since Hayes was twenty-four. But everyone saw how in love they were, and even their parents finally got over the big age gap. Maisie had always been happy for them, until Hayes received a job offer from the Denver Police Department and they moved away from their hometown of River Rock.

Maisie waved, and Hayes waved back as Laurel asked, “When are you going to tell them you don’t want to do this?”

Maisie cringed. “How about never?”

Laurel frowned, crossing her arms over her mauve tank top. She glanced into the barn, obviously making sure Clara and Amelia couldn’t hear her before she said, “You need to be honest with your sisters. Everything is in the planning stages right now. Tell them you want your cut of what your grandfather left to open the art studio like we talked about. I’ll buy that quaint coffee shop right next door and drive from Denver every day. We’ll finally see our dreams come true.” Those had been their dream jobs since they were in the seventh grade. Their plan.

Maisie’s heart hurt. “I can’t pull out money from the brewery before they even get it going. Pops left everything so this dream could happen for them. What kind of horrible person would I be if I went back on his wishes?”

Laurel unlocked her arms and took Maisie’s hand. “Okay, that’s fair, but ask yourself this: Would Pops have left all this money for the brewery if he knew your heart wasn’t really in it?”

“Probably not,” Maisie said. He would have ensured Maisie fought for her dreams too.

Laurel gave a firm nod of agreement. “All I’m saying is, your sisters have their dreams. They’ve always been close like that. Made plans together. Done everything together, like we do everything together. But don’t forget about you and your dreams.”

Maisie threw her arms around Laurel, always feeling like Laurel understood her when no one else did. “You always fight for the best for me. Thank you for that.”

Laurel squeezed back tight, resting her head on Maisie’s shoulder. “You don’t need to thank me, babe. I love you like crazy, and you’d be saying