Without a Brew by Ellie Alexander

Author:Ellie Alexander
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

APRIL SWEPT INTO THE TASTING room the minute we turned the sign on the door to OPEN. “Sloan, I have news!” She swung the contract we had signed last night between her gaudy fake nails. “Your offer has been accepted! Wir freuen uns sehr!”

In German, that meant “We’re very happy for you.” I wasn’t sure what she meant by using the plural. Were the owners also happy for me?

“Offer?” Garrett tossed a bar towel over his shoulder.

April pounced. “Sloan didn’t tell you? Oh, shame, shame.” She shook her index finger at me. “We put in a very generous offer on that adorable cottage at the top of Front Street. I’m sure you must know that cottage I’m talking about. It’s simply the sweetest little property, with a lovely deck on the back that looks down over the miniature golf course and Waterfront Park.”

“You’re buying a house in the village?” Garrett sounded stunned.

“I was planning to tell you and Kat this morning, but we got so busy with Chief Meyers.”

“Chief Meyers? Chief Meyers was here?” April forgot about the contract and practically lunged at us. “Why? Is there news on the—” She glanced around to make sure no one was listening, despite the fact that there was no one else in the tasting room. Or with April, it was more likely that she was actually hoping someone would overhear her as she loudly whispered, “Murder?”

Garrett tried to stifle a laugh. It was hard to take April seriously as she stood in front of us in a black and yellow barmaid dress with knee-high black socks, bright yellow snow boots, and a matching hat. I often wondered how much April’s elaborate fake German wardrobe cost her. I rarely, if ever, saw her in the same outfit twice.

“They don’t know,” I answered, reaching for the contract. I wanted to hold it in my hands to make it feel real. “She was here to clean out the guest room.”

“Oohhh, this is a new development. I must go find Chief Meyers. I’m surprised she didn’t come to me first, but then again, I wasn’t in my office. As your real estate agent, I take pride in reviewing every offer—line by line. That’s the level of service I provide, even at the expense of my duties to our community. Look this over, Sloan. Call me with questions. I’ll get the inspection lined up for this week, and it should be smooth sailing from there.” She spun in a full circle. “Now, before I make my departure, can we please discuss the monstrosity you have going on in here? IceFest is in less than a week, and this space looks like a clean lab. Where are the IceFest posters I delivered? Where’s that box of Bavarian thermometers I had sent over? We need every business in the village on board with decking the halls for IceFest, verstanden?”

Neither of us responded.

April clapped. “Chop, chop. Get decorating. I want you to der-bling this place! The next time I’m here, I want it to look like winter threw up all over.

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