Page 98 of The Barkeep and the Bro

Chad, Vince, and Brett exchanged a look that made me feel like a thimble-sized moron.

“They’re planning to go in a different direction,” Vince said delicately. “They’re thinking bigger.”

Chad pivoted on his loafer. “Alpha Bravo wants to turn this place into the region’s new family destination. Sourwood and the surrounding towns are seeing their biggest demographic growth among families with young kids. This area is older, and there aren’t as many family-friendly options. We’re going to fix that. There will be food and drinks, but also a kids’ play area and a virtual reality arcade upstairs.” He pointed up.

My office.

“That is primo space up there. I could see why you liked using it as your hideaway.” Brett ribbed my side but quickly realized that was a bad move.

“I use it as my office. Lets me keep an eye on what’s going on in my bar.”

“Won’t be your bar much longer.” Brett laughed at his joke. His smile slid off his face when I did not reciprocate. “Relax, Mitch. Soon, none of this will be your problem anymore.”

I shot Vince a glare, as he did not fill me in on their plans. He’d been curiously vague at the wedding, and now I understood why. “When are you starting renovations?”

“We’re debating whether to renovate or start from scratch.”

“Tear it down?” I asked.

“Rather than build on top of an older establishment, we can build something new, something more energy-efficient,” Brett said. “Is this building even LEED certified?”

“No,” I said flatly. “When my dad and grandfather built it with their bare hands, they didn’t think much about energy efficiency.”

He and Chad gave me exaggerated nods like they were placating a crazy old man.

“Times change,” Chad said with a shrug as he took pictures of the space on his phone. He swatted Brett in the chest. “Dude, I’m thinking like blue and green racing stripes, maybe? Make it super colorful. Oh! And what if we installed a slide from the upstairs arcade down to the ball pit?”

“Dude! Yes!” Brett exclaimed. “That idea fully fucks.”

Uh, was that a good thing?

Chad turned to me, all business again. He hopped up and sat on the bar, the same bar where my dad first taught me to pour drinks. The same bar where Charlie’s lazy grins made me melt.

“Are any of your staff under contract, or are they all at will?” Chad asked.

Dread filled my stomach. I knew where he was going. “They’re all at-will employees. They’re loyal, hard-working people.”

“They can all apply for jobs once we’re operational.”

“They have to apply for their same jobs?”

“Yeah,” Brett said. “It’s standard procedure.”

I tried to picture Natasha happily serving helicopter parents and their screaming kids. It was a disaster in the making—a funny disaster, but a disaster all the same.

Brett and Chad clacked their loafers to the front doors. They shook my hand and thanked me for my time. It was all very pleasant with an ugly undercurrent.

“Did you have any questions on the contract?” Chad asked, his gum-chewing involving half his face.

“You should be excited, bro,” Brett said. I hated being called bro. Charlie was the exception to that rule. “This new place is going to transform Sourwood.”

“Did you get approval from the mayor’s office for all these changes?”

Brett waved the question off. “We’ll take care of that. We’re not worried about some small-time mayor.”

What kind of political tricks would they pull to get the green light from Leo? Builders like them were everything he fought against in this last mayoral campaign. Money wouldn’t sway him. Would they resort to blackmail? To getting him booted from office to get their way? Maybe I was overreacting, but I felt an unnerving lack of control in this situation.

Once I sold, I would have no control. The thought made my throat go dry. Charlie was right.

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