—I Love You More Than Cupcakes—

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LISA

Three months later

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Gramps hoists himself up onto one of the barstools and pulls a bottle of my homebrew out of the inside pocket of his coat and sets it on the bar. "Uncap that for me, Lisa."

I shake my head but do as he asks, then retrieve a pint glass from the freezer.

"No, no. I want it out of the bottle."

"You can't drink this out of the bottle, Gramps."

"I can do whatever the hell I want. It's my damn bar."

"This girl giving you a hard time?" Jennie sidles up beside me.

"She won't let me drink my beer out of the bottle." Gramps gives me the stink eye. "I'm not gonna start a bar fight with it."

I laugh and shake my head. "I know you're not. The problem is that we don't carry this in the pub, and if people see they might want to know what it is and you'll be drinking the only one 'cause you brought your own beer into the bar."

"Well, start serving it and I won't have to bring my own."

I shrug. "I don't have enough space to brew it in large batches yet."

"I already said I'd cut you the check," he grumbles.

I lean an arm on the bar. "When'd you say that?"

He waves a hand around in the air. "I'm old, how am I supposed to remember when. After you won that Best Bar award, I said I'd cut you a check for the start-up cost."

"Are you sure you said it out loud?"

Gramps gives me a look and turns to Jennie. "Are you listening to this? Giving this old guy a hard time, making me question my memory. It's ageism is what it is!"

"Maybe you already cut her the check and she's messing with you to make you think you didn't," Jennie teases.

I lean on the bar and fight a smile. "Whose side are you on?"

She grins up at me. "I'm not taking sides on this."

"Sounds like she's taking my side." Gramps gives her a wink and an affectionate smile. "When you putting a ring on Jennie's finger? Everyone's waiting for it, ya know."

"Yeah, Gramps, I know. Everyone needs to find some chill about it, too." I kiss Jennie on the temple. We've only been together for a few months, but I can't see my life without her. "And I've been thinking about the brewery situation lately."

"I'll miss driving in to work with you." Jennie gives my arm a squeeze.

"Well, that's the thing…Chan is a good kid, but he isn't anywhere near ready to take over this place, and I kinda like what we've got going on here." I put my arm around Jennie's shoulder and pull her in closer. "People really love what we're doing, and I figure I can put the brewery on hold until we can settle on a location."

"But that's what you've been working toward," Jennie says.

Gramps nods and sips his beer, a hint of a smile there, like maybe he knew this was coming. "The McCurdys next door have been thinking about selling. At least that's what Bertie says pretty much every time I go over to buy some cold cuts."

"If they decide to sell we could look at what it would take to convert it. Wouldn't take much to make a doorway to connect the two," I say.

"Things to think about." Gramps shifts his attention to Jennie. "Might be a good time to mention that thing you were thinking about. Pretty sure you might be on the same page."

Jennie gives him a meaningful look. "I'm not sure now is the time."

I look between them, unnerved that Gramps and Jennie are having conversations about whatever, apparently behind my back. "Now isn't the time for what?"

Gramps wears an expression that looks a lot like a smirk and then turns away as a couple of his friends walk through the front door—they've taken to coming out at least once a week for beers and wings—and he slips off the stool. "I'll leave you two lovebirds to talk."

"Are you going to explain what that's about?" I motion between Gramps and Jennie as he ambles over to one of the four-tops.

He's been in such better spirits lately. So happy with how the bar is doing, glad to see it full of life and people again. And honestly, so am I.

Jennie slips her arm through mine. "Come on, let's go talk in your office."

"Are you going to try to distract me with sex?"

Jennie laughs. "I could, but I won't. Especially not while Gramps is here."

I slip into the office first so I can quickly shuffle some of the papers around on the desk, hiding the ones I'm not sure I'm ready for Jennie to see yet. I close the door and sit on the edge of the desk, giving her the new executive chair. As much as Gramps loved the old one, it was falling apart. Literally. One of the arms fell off two weeks ago and it was really all the encouragement I needed to buy something comfortable.

"So what have you and Gramps been talking about behind my back?" I go for light, but I'm not sure it comes out that way.

Jennie reaches up and takes one of my hands in hers, skimming along the design on my wrist. "It was just something I mentioned a few weeks back, more as a joke than anything."

"Okay." I wait for her to elaborate, but after a few seconds of quiet, I press. "Jennie? Are you gonna tell me?"

"I just made a comment that it would be a lot easier to run all of our cohosted events if we put a doorway between BB and The Manoban Cap." She laughs, but it's high and nervous.

I have to give it to Gramps; he really knows how to force a conversation I wasn't sure I was ready to have. I lace my fingers with hers. "Oh yeah? And what did Gramps say about that?"

She waves her free hand in the air. "Oh, you know Gramps."

"So you were just joking about that? About a doorway between our places?"

Her expression is somewhere between embarrassed and nervous. "I'm already moving in with you. It's not like you want me in your face all day every day, too. Besides, Gramps has had to manage enough change with all the renovations this year."

Last month I suggested she move in with me. It's maybe five minutes farther from the bars, but my place is also twice the size of hers and nicer, and my bed is bigger. And she actually kind of lives in a shithole, not that I would say that out loud. But it isn't great. So she's been driving stuff over by the carload.

"I'd be more than happy to have you in my face all day every day and every night." I raise our twined fingers and kiss the back of her hand. "But I totally understand if that would be too much of me for you."

"I can't ever get enough of you, Lisa. You know that. Anyway, it was just a silly idea I threw out, because it was cold and rainy and I didn't have an umbrella with me."

"What if I said I didn't think it was that silly of an idea."

She blinks up at me. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what if we joined forces permanently? I love you and I love this place, and I think we work really well together."

"So do I, and I love you, too." She gives me a gentle, inquisitive smile.

"I know how important it is for you to do this on your own, and I don't want to take that away from you, but my favorite nights are when we cohost events. And the thing I look forward to the most every day are the times I get to see you."

Jennie's fingers go to her lips. "You're serious?"

"I think we make a great team."

"Me, too." She smiles, and then her expression turns serious. "We'd have to open up a wall."

"The adjoining wall doesn't have anything but electrical to worry about, and that's easy to shift around."

She cocks her head to the side, considering. "What about the booths and the wall of photos?"

"We'd only have to lose one booth to put the doorway in, and we could have a host stand between the two."

"You sound like you already have a layout for this." She laughs.

"I might have drawn up a rough sketch and looked into a few things."

"Wait. You've already thought about this, too?" A small wry smile tips up the corner of her mouth. "So that's what Gramps meant by we're on the same page."

"I don't want to push you into this either way, Jennie. I know how important your independence is, and how hard you've worked so you don't have to compromise your dream. I just want you to know that if you're ever interested, I'd love to do this together with you, but it's really okay if you don't like—"

She launches herself out of the chair and wraps her arms around me. "I'm interested. I know I've always talked about not compromising my dream, but I realized I really love having a partner. Having the right partner. I only wanted to do it on my own because no one ever thought I could, and now I know I can. My favorite place to be is right next to you. I want us to do this together." She smooths her hands down my chest. "But what about the brewery?"

"I don't want to let this go—us, the bar, the connection I have to you and this place is far too important. I came into this thinking I would make it work and then move on, but I got so much more out of it. I got you."

"And cupcakes. Don't forget about those."

I chuckle and bend to kiss her. "And cupcakes. So we're in this together?"

"There isn't anyone else I'd rather do this with than you."

"Let's go tell Gramps the good news. He's been hounding me to ask you."

"How long have you been thinking about this?"

"A while." I've thought about it since I won Best Bar. But I started falling for her long before that.

I tug her by the hand and give Chan a covert thumbs-up on the way over to the table where Gramps is sitting. Chan gives me a quick nod and pulls his phone out of his back pocket, speed typing a message.

I survey the booths close to Gramps's table, glad everything seems to have fallen into place today. Like fate has stepped in once again and thrown something undeniable in my path, forcing me to stop and see what's in front of me. Or in this case, hugging my arm and practically skipping toward Gramps.

His gaze meets mine, and anticipation churns in my gut. He and I have sat down countless times over the past several months, hashing this out, me questioning whether I'm moving too fast, him telling me I'm moving too damn slow. I've been worried about making more changes to The Manoban Cap, but he's assured me that Grams would be all for it. Grams always said it wasn't about fixing broken things; it was about giving them a lift to make them feel new again.

And that's exactly what we're going to do.

Gramps pushes out of his chair, a little unsteady, just like me. "So? Do you like the idea?"

Jennie laughs and releases my arm so she can hug him. "I love it. I think it's perfect."

He hugs her back and winks at me over her shoulder. "I knew you would."

When he releases her I step in and give him a hug. "Thank you for believing in me."

"Always, girl, always." His voice cracks, and I feel the emotion rising, the sadness over our mutual loss—first his son, and my father and mother, then Grams. But he gives me a pat on the back, then he takes my hand in his, giving me the last piece of the puzzle. "Now stop stalling."

I nod once and turn to face Jennie, who looks like she's on the verge of tears—happy ones, though—and I drop to one knee.

Her eyes flare with surprise, but stay locked on mine as understanding dawns. I've taken a lot of big risks today and I'm about to take the biggest one of all.

I smooth my thumb over the worn velvet box, finding strength in it. It isn't a new ring, but it's special and it has meaning, because it was my grandmother's. I flip the lid open, the diamond catching the light, and rainbows dance across the back of my hand and Jennie's dress.

"Oh, Lisa," Jennie whispers. Shaking fingers touch her lips and she smiles behind them, even as a single tear tracks slowly down her cheek.

"Jennie, for a long time I didn't want to fall in love, because the reality of losing someone you love is so hard, especially when you don't expect it. But this, being here"—I motion to the bar, and all the people in it, watching me take a huge chance on the woman I love—"and meeting you changed everything. You came slamming through that door and you made it impossible not to fall in love with you and your determination and your beautiful, creative mind." I squeeze her hand, and she squeezes back. "I want you at my side every day. I want your good days and bad. I want your fight and your warmth and your effervescence lighting up my world. I want your forever. Marry me, please."

"Of course I'll marry you."

I slip the ring on her finger and push to a stand. "She said yes!"

Everyone bursts into raucous cheers as I wrap my arms around her waist. I kiss her, probably longer than is appropriate with the number of people watching. But I don't care, and neither does she, apparently. We've found forever in each other, and now I never have to let her go.

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