Miles, I observed, seemed to know every guest that passed through his doors. Wild Haven was a small town, but I knew its population was somewhere north of ten thousand people, a not insignificant number of humans. But still he managed to greet just about every guest by name. It was easy enough for me to pick out the core regulars, the ones who would come in and beeline for their preferred seating. Also the ones who would look askance at me, the newcomer in their midst.

“Woah, fresh blood!” one such person exclaimed at me, pulling out a barstool in front of my well. “I was beginning to think Miles would never take someone else on.”

“I’m very persuasive,” I told the man with a grin. He smiled back, white teeth flashing under a shock of red hair.

“I’m Roddy,” he said cheerfully, extending his hand.

“Harper,” I said, returning the shake.

“The city boy,” Roddy said with a knowing smile.

“And the… beer delivery guy?”

Roddy's smile grew, if possible, even wider.  “You been talking about me, Mi?”

Miles had come to stand beside me, dropping a full pint glass in front of my new friend without him having ordered.

“Of course not,” Miles said. “I’m hoping to keep him, wouldn’t want to scare him off.”

“Well now he’s getting a firsthand look at how cruel a boss you are,” Roddy said cheerfully, taking a deep swig of his beer. “Ooh, is this the Rhionne Red? Wow that’s good, I hadn’t had a chance to taste this batch yet.”

‘Yeah, you’ll have to work much harder to scare me off from a place that makes beer this good,” I told Roddy. He grinned up at me.

“I think you’ll fit in just fine, City.”

“You make friends fast,” a new voice interjected. I turned to see Reid Decker approaching, dressed casually in jeans and a tee.

“I’m very likable,” I grumbled at him. Seeing him made me uneasy. If this town really did have ten thousand people why was I constantly running into just the one?

“I would never argue against your likability,” he said softly, smiling his lopsided smile. He gestured at the stool next to Roddy. “Join you for a drink?” he asked the delivery driver.

“Dude, I feel like I haven’t seen you since Spring league,” Roddy replied, slapping the bar top next to him.

“Work’s been busy lately. With Mary out on maternity I was picking up extra shifts. She’s back now though; said she finds riding around in an ambulance infinitely more relaxing than life with a three month old.”

“I bet,” Roddy said with a smirk. “How’s Lewis?”

As Roddy and Reid continued to discuss people I’d never heard of, Miles dropped another unordered beer in front of Reid, who nodded gratefully.

“Always the Alma for Reid,” Miles told me as we leaned against the back bar, surveying the room. In the times with no tickets or unattended bar guests, Miles filled the gap with information about how The Haven was run.

“He’ll pretend sometimes like he’s going to order something else, but once he finds what he likes he’s pretty loyal, and it’s been Alma for years now. Roddy, on the other hand, will drink whatever you feel like pouring for him. He drinks for free so he doesn’t really care. Still ring it in, so I have the inventory, but then you can just comp the ticket.”

“Roddy drinks for free?” I said, eyes wide. “How’d he get that deal?”

“By sharing a gene pool,” he said with a sigh. “Roddy is my baby brother. I've accepted that it’s easier to just give him free beer than to have him sic our mom on me.”

“Wow,” I said with a laugh. “Kind of makes me wish I had an older sibling to exploit. Any other relatives I should know about?”

Miles’s laugh was a soft huff. “We have three sisters too, but you shouldn’t have to worry about them anytime soon, they don’t live around here. I do try to give a warning when the triplet tornado comes to town, though.”

“Your sisters are triplets?” I asked, agog. Miles nodded.

“And two of them are married with kids, so family reunions are… loud.”

“I literally can’t imagine what that’s like,” I said, and he grinned at me in a way that made my pulse tick up a notch.

“If you wind up sticking around I can guarantee you’ll get to experience it at some point.”

“Not sure you’re making a case to keep me,” I replied with a laugh.

“Well it’s only been two shifts. You might not turn out to be any good,” he replied, his face nonchalant but I could identify the teasing note in his tone.

“Hey now,” I said, grabbing a new ticket as it came in. “I am an excellent bartender, and soon you’ll be wondering how you ever ran this place without me.” I grabbed an empty shaker and gave it a flip; the minute it left my hand I happened to glance just past Miles, to see Reid Decker staring at me intently from his seat at the bar. The shaker came tumbling back to earth and my fingers fumbled for it; instead of a clean catch I knocked it into the sink with a loud clank.

“OK, superstar,” Miles said, outright laughing. “Good thing this ticket is for a couple of drafts.”

I laughed it off with Miles, grabbing some pint glasses and holding them firmly in hand. Many heads had turned towards the commotion, but as I pulled the pints I refused to look at the lopsided grin I just knew was directed at me.