Sweet Home Summer by Michelle Vernal

Author:Michelle Vernal [Vernal, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008226534
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2017-12-04T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

By the time the keys to the Kea were officially handed over late on a Friday afternoon with the first hint of winter nipping at its’ heels, Isla had her parents on side. She’d swayed her dad around to the idea of his daughter being the owner of the town’s tearoom by asking whether he would consider providing her with seasonal produce to use in the daily menu. She’d promise to pay him a fair price for it. His chest had puffed up, and he’d stuck his fingers in the loops of the waistband of his jeans before swaggering home to plant out another row of leeks. As for Mary, well she’d been easy. The offer of a free cake on Fridays had done the trick. Her only request was that it please be Black Forest.

Now, Isla sat in the empty tearoom with the keys to her new kingdom on the table in front of her. She’d already put a sign in the window proclaiming the business to be under new ownership and apologizing for the inconvenience of it being closed for renovations. She’d placed an advert in the Bibury Times which would run in the next edition advising the same thing too. It would help quell the small town stories going around as to what was happening with the Kea. Gran told her that when she’d popped into the Four Square, Ellie, the girl whose pants always looked like they needed to be surgically removed, had asked her if it was true. Was Isla planning on opening a wine bar? Then there was Ted from the butcher’s who’d asked if it was going to be a TAB and Frances from the craft shop who’d heard it was going to be an artisan cheese shop. The change of ownership seemed to have given locals the opportunity to lend voice to their dream retail outlet.

A truck thundered down the road, and Isla felt the floor tremble slightly as she looked at the surrounds she now owned. She’d bought the plant as well as the building, and her dad was going to store what she wasn’t keeping in his garage while she listed the surplus plant for sale on Trade Me. She didn’t expect much for the furnishings but whatever she got would go towards the new coffee machine she’d already ordered online.

Annie had been elated at the news and kept going on about how she could officially call herself a barista once it arrived. Isla didn’t like to point out that there were courses one had to attend before graduating as a qualified master of coffee making, there was plenty of time for that. In the meantime, so long as she got the hang of how to work the thing everyone would be happy. The kitchen would stay as it was, it was functional and passed all council requirements. It was the dining area that was to be her project and once she got the furnishings out it would be a blank canvas with which to work with.

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