Grams passed away a little over a year ago, and for a while there I was worried Gramps was going to follow in her footsteps. They’d been together for more than sixty years and had been working side by side every single day since they met. In all the time they’d been married, they’d never spent a night apart. Sure, Gramps would go out with his friends and play poker, and Grams would have “knitting” nights with her friends—which were really gin martini socials with a few balls of wool and sets of knitting needles lying around for decoration—but there wasn’t a single night in over sixty years that they didn’t sleep beside each other.

I’m not sure if I’d consider that romantic, clingy, or an extreme case of codependency. Regardless, they loved and bickered fiercely. So when Gramps woke one morning to find that she’d passed in her sleep, I wasn’t so sure he was going to be able to manage the world without her. And more selfishly, I worried about how I would handle it if Gramps couldn’t deal with the loss.

My dad—his oldest son—and my mom were killed in a car accident when I was twenty. I was old enough to survive on my own, but it still shook the foundation of my life. I’d always been close to my grandparents, so they stepped into the role of surrogate parents. Which is how I ended up back here, running the show instead of just bussing tables and tending bar—although I still do those things, too.

I’d been working my way up the ladder in finance, because that’s where the money is, but it isn’t my passion. Not even close. It was a nine-to-five grind that lined my pockets but gave me zero in the way of job satisfaction.

For the past several years I’ve wanted to open my own brewery, but to do that I need cash. So I went to Gramps for a loan, hoping to circumvent the bank’s high interest rates.

Having immigrated from Scotland to America as a kid and growing up in a middle-class family that sometimes struggled to make ends meet when they first came to America, he’s a big fan of working for what you get. Which means he didn’t just hand over the money. Not a big surprise.

However, he offered me an opportunity. The Knight Cap has been in our family for three generations, and he can no longer handle the responsibility of managing the place on his own. Plus, it was in serious need of an overhaul. He would fund the renovations and if I could breathe some life back into the pub, he would loan me the start-up money for the brewery—no interest. It would give me the experience I needed running a business and hopefully keep his pride and joy from going belly up.

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.”