“Promise. No shotguns will be in attendance at our wedding. And my fiancée is not pregnant. That I know of.”
Finn laughed. “Considering how fast this wedding is coming about, I don’t think the Bellinis would be all that upset if you added a baby to the mix.”
Jason held up his hands. “One thing at a time. With the wedding and moving in together, that’s more than enough. We can wait on a baby.”
Finn and Clay looked at each other.
“You watch,” Clay said. “Erin will be pregnant by the time Alice and I get married next year.”
Finn nodded. “Not even going to bet on that one. It’s a sure thing.”
Jason went a little pale. “Come on, guys. Give me a break.”
Finn laughed and took a long drink of his beer. It was intense and had the perfect bitterness, just the way he liked it. Owen really knew how to brew beer. He was glad to see his friend back to doing what he loved again. Though he hadn’t known Owen as long as Jason and Clay had, they’d become friends as soon as Finn had come to the United States.
All the guys had taken him under their wing and decided right then and there that Finn would be part of their inner circle, despite them knowing nothing about him. If the Bellinis had given him their seal of approval, that was good enough for Jason, Owen and Clay, and from then on, they’d done everything together: hanging out in the summers when everyone was home from college, going out to celebrate milestones and birthdays and hanging out at the lake or going fishing.
For someone who’d never had siblings, these guys were the closest thing to brothers Finn had ever had, and they’d come into his life when he’d needed friendship the most.
Kind of like Brenna and her sisters. He’d been lucky, and he had Maureen Bellini to thank for that. He had no idea what would have happened to him if he’d been left on his own in Ireland.
Jason nudged his shoulder. “Hey, you with us?”
Finn pulled himself out of his thoughts. “Yeah.”
“You’re quiet,” Clay said. “Something on your mind?”
“Just thinking about when I first got here, and how you made friends with me right away.”
“Well, someone had to,” Jason said. “You were sad and pathetic.”
Clay nodded. “This is true. We felt sorry for you. We knew no one else would be friends with you so we took pity on you.”
Finn rolled his eyes. “No, you thought, ‘Look at this stud. He’s going to draw the ladies to us. We should make friends with him.’ ”
Jason looked to Clay. “I don’t remember it like that at all.”
“Me, either.”
Owen came over and pulled up a spot. “What are we talking about?”
“How we rescued Finn from a life of obscurity when he first arrived,” Clay said.
“Oh, that,” Owen said. “Yeah, you were a total shitshow. You’re lucky to have us.”
“All of you can eat shit.”
Clay grinned. “See how he loves us? Like brothers.”
Finn laughed. They were like brothers. Insults flew regularly, but he knew that they’d always have his back.
“How’s business, Owen?” Jason asked.
“Damn busy. Appreciate you all coming out. How’s the beer?”
“Excellent, as always,” Clay said, lifting up his glass. “This pale ale is damn good. I like the lime and lemon flavors in it.”
“Good choice. It’s selling well, too. I think it’s the late-summer heat.”
Clay nodded. “Quenching my thirst after a long day of working cattle.”
“Good to hear.”
“And how are you doing?” Jason asked. “Or are you tired of hearing that?”
Owen offered up a smile. “Never too tired of knowing you all care. I’m doing fine. All my scans and tests are clear. I feel good, my appetite is back and I don’t have to see my oncologist for three months, so I’d say that’s all good news.”
Finn was relieved. “That’s really great news.”
“You’re putting some pounds back on again,” Jason said.
Owen patted his stomach. “Was that a remark about my weight?”
Jason laughed. “Only complimentary. You lost a lot of weight during your treatment and you were looking scary for a while.”
“Now you’re insulting my appearance.”
“Well, you’re ugly even on your best days,” Clay said.
Finn grinned. “Yeah, we’ve been meaning to mention that to you, buddy.”
“I can’t believe I let you bastards in here.” But Owen smiled.
Finn was glad they were picking on someone else. Though they eventually made the rounds so everyone was equally insulted, as typically happened. How else would they know they were friends?
“How’s it going with Brenna?” Clay asked him.
Finn was hoping that was one topic that wouldn’t be brought up. “It’s going.”
Jason studied him. “That means they had a fight. What did you do?”
Finn lifted his head. “I didn’t do anything. She walked away in the middle of an argument. That she started once she found out about the whiskey warehouse and that her dad has invested in it.”
“Ah.” Owen nodded. “Brenna’s really close to her dad. Maybe she felt threatened.”
“But why? My relationship with Johnny has nothing to do with her.”
“In your mind, yeah,” Jason said. “In hers, she probably sees it as something entirely different. The two of them and winemaking have been an inseparable combination since Brenna was a kid. For as long as I can remember she was out in the vineyards with him, following him around, learning about winemaking. It was a given that she’d follow him into the business.”
“That’s true,” Clay said. “And Johnny never showed interest in anything else. And then you come along and start making whiskey, and suddenly you have a whole operation going. An operation that Johnny’s interested enough to invest in. Maybe she sees that as him showing less interest in winemaking.”
“Which he isn’t.” Finn made the whiskey. It was damn good whiskey. Johnny just knew a good business investment when he saw one. It wasn’t like Johnny was in there making whiskey with him. If there was one thing Finn knew about Johnny Bellini, it was that nothing could ever tear him away from making wine. It was in his blood and that would never change.