Yolks on You Box Set

Chapter 5-1

Chapter 5

“They’d better give away good stuff here, not just coloring books,” said Alec as he drove up the dirt road that wound up a hill to the brewery. Dom rolled his eyes.

“The kids like them,” he said. “And places like the brewery can’t give away alcohol to minors.”

Alec glared ahead and ignored Dom, leaving him to get Alyssa and Gabe out of the car after he’d parked. When Dom entered the building he found Alec already enjoying what looked like a Golden Goose Egg at the bar beyond the merchandise area. Frowning, he led the kids over.

“Just going to drink, or do you want to take the tour? Maybe learn a little about beer?”

“I’m good,” said Alec, then waved a hand at the kids. “Go, go on, find some eggs.”

Alyssa and Gabe dashed off into the racks of shirts and sweaters, dodging other customers. Dom’s first inclination was to go after them and tell them to behave, but he was through with that. His second inclination was to have a beer himself, but apart from not wanting to drink with Alec, he figured someone should be able to drive when it was time to leave. Instead, he went in search of Buddy Miller. He found a young woman ringing customers up and waited his turn.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“I was told to talk to Buddy Miller about a box of eggs. I’m picking them up for Kiko.”

The woman grew more pleasant.

“Oh, of course! Just one moment.” She ducked in a back room for a moment and came out with a large cardboard box, which she set on the floor at the side of the counter. “Buddy’s on a tour right now, but he should be back in, hmm, twenty minutes. But you don’t need to talk to him, you can just take the box.”

Dom stared at her. It occurred to him that anyone could have access to anything in this town just by asking. No one knew him. She continued talking after realizing he wasn’t going to say anything.

“Just awful about all of it, isn’t it? Poor Buddy…he’s taking the loss hard. And now all the eggs destroyed or confiscated! It’s a good thing we always make up a spare box. Buddy says it’s unnecessary, but Deb insists. Of course, this year it’s come in handy. You’re Kiko’s new worker?”

“Just doing him a favor,” said Dom. “He’s short staffed since this morning.” He bent to the cardboard box, deciding to take it out to the car. “Thanks. I’d like to talk to Buddy when he gets back.” If for nothing more than that Dom wanted Buddy Miller to know what had happened to his eggs so that Dom wouldn’t find himself part of an investigation if the police went looking for any unusual activity.

When he returned, he noticed Alyssa and Gabe playing in a round rack of clothes. Alec was still drinking at the bar, blissfully ignoring them. Gabe had a yellow plastic egg in one fist. Staying far away from them, Dom wandered the merchandise while waiting for Buddy Miller to appear, wondering if the entire town of Mount Angus was comprised of a selection of varying themes. Kiko’s store was entirely about eggs; everything here had to do with beer, of course. He was trying to comprehend the need for seven different kinds of coasters with the Mount Angus Brewing Co. name on them when the door to the brewery area opened and the previous tour emerged. Dom moved past them as they descended on bar and gift area and made his way toward the cashier’s counter.

Buddy Miller wasn’t difficult to spot, the wide-shouldered, plaid-wearing, red-faced man looking mournful behind the counter could only be him. He was exactly what Dom pictured when he thought of the kind of guy who worked in a brewery, right down to the beard. But the flush in his face was not from sampling his product.

“Here, I’ll get you a tissue,” said the woman, disappearing into the back room as Buddy sniffled. He seemed to be completely unaware of Dom, who cleared his throat.

“Buddy Miller?” he asked as the woman passed him the tissue. The man blew his nose loudly; the woman gave Dom a look that pleaded with him to be gentle with Buddy.

“Yeah, what can I do for you?”

“I’m Dominic. Kiko sent me to pick up the eggs. I already have them,” he added as Buddy began to look around blankly for the box. “I just wanted to meet you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Buddy, then went silent.

Dom glanced at the woman but she looked worried, so he decided to not ask any questions, even though he was curious why Buddy seemed to be overdoing his grief at the death of a cow.

“Thanks for the eggs, then. And sorry for your loss.”

Buddy’s lip trembled as Dom turned and made his way back to Alec.

“You plan on being here awhile?” asked Dom, noting that the yellow egg now sat on the bar.

“Why?” asked Alec. “Gabe found a good one. Beer soap. Not as good as a shirt, but there’s still four more eggs here to find today.”

“I want to borrow the car.”

Alec set his beer down hard.

“No. You think I’m stupid?”

“I just have a short errand to run.”

“You go where I’m going,” said Alec, “or you rent yourself a car somewhere.”

“I don’t know why you’re so suspicious,” said Dom, frowning down at the near-empty beer. “I’m not the one who cheated. How many of those are you going to have?”

“I was just done,” said Alec, finishing the last of the beer. “The kids want to stop by the ice cream caboose and look for free sundaes. There’s probably some eggs left there.”

“I’ll wait in the car.”

Dom didn’t want to bother collecting the children. He was not about to give Alec any more help than necessary. It seemed to take forever for Alec to return, kids in tow, bar of soap in hand, and Dom had gotten irritated in that amount of time. He said nothing to Alec until they had gotten on the road again, did not even look his way.

“Drop me off at the Yolks on You on your way, will you?”

“I told you I’m avoiding the place,” said Alec. “Illegal activity.”

“I’ve been asked to take a box there,” said Dom. “It’ll be a few minutes at most.”

“No, Dom.”

Dom glared over at Alec, thinking he should never have agreed to come with him this weekend. Alec’s phone buzzed indicating a text that he made no move to read.

“After what you’ve done—” began Dom.

“Stop being so dramatic. Life happens.”

“That doesn’t just happen. You know what really hurts, Alec? How little you must really think of me. How stupid I was for thinking you were worth my time.”

“Not around them,” hissed Alec, referring to his kids, but Dom no longer cared.

“What, you don’t want them to know their father’s a chronic cheater? You did it to Megan, too, didn’t you?”

Alec slammed on the brake, eliciting shrieks from both Alyssa and Gabe. Gabe started crying.

“Get out.”

Dom stared at him; Alec looked livid, hands clenched on the steering wheel, eyes like stone fixed on the view directly through the windshield. He did not look open to further talking, but before Dom could make up his mind Alec spoke again, his voice an attempt at restraint.

“Get out. Take your box and get out of my car. Do it now.”

Dom slammed the door behind him and walked around to retrieve the box of eggs. After he’d hefted it up, Alec drove off so fast Dom could only blink at him for a few moments before the car disappeared from view. He stared at the road, not at all happy. It was several miles back to Mount Angus, at least, and he was on his own with an awkwardly large box. He cursed Alec, put one foot in front of the other. It was a good thing Kiko would not be needing the eggs until tonight.