Uncle Norbert chuckled and patted her back. “Local girl. Ending up with a guy wouldn’t be much of a happy ending for my niece.”

The woman’s large eyes—they were a warm brown, as Susanne could now see—widened even more. “You…you are…?”

Oh great. Just when she had thought this day couldn’t get any worse, it turned out she’d be working with a backwoods person who acted as if she had never met a gay person before. She just hoped the woman wouldn’t turn out to be a homophobe. The homophobic attitudes at her former workplace were part of the reason she had quit her last job, and she wouldn’t stand for it in her uncle’s business either. She squared her shoulders and tried to look as dignified and proud as her coffee-stained clothes and wet boot would allow. “Yes, I’m a lesbian. Do you have a problem with that?”

“W-what? No! That’s not what I… I didn’t… I just meant…”

Susanne waved away her stammered excuses.

Uncle Norbert wrapped one arm around each of them and beamed as if he hadn’t noticed the tension between them. “Susi, um, Susanne, may I introduce you to Anja Lamm, my favorite full-time employee?”

“Only full-time employee,” Frau Lamm threw in.

Lamm. Susanne bit back a snort. That was exactly the way Frau Lamm had just stared at her—like a lamb who’d glimpsed a wolf. She gave her a brisk nod, not in the mood for meaningless pleasantries, and then turned toward her uncle. “Is there someplace where I can get cleaned up?”

“Of course. Let me show you.” He lightly gripped her elbow and led her toward the door in the back.

Susanne left the room without giving Frau Lamm another glance.

Anja grabbed the mop that Nobby had left behind, sank against the island display, and stared after them. That was his niece?

It hadn’t been hard to guess that the tall woman wasn’t a local. In her well-pressed, black slacks, a cream-colored cashmere sweater, and a long, black wool coat, she looked like a lawyer here for a case, a guest lecturer at the university, or an overdressed tourist.

As much as she tried, Anja couldn’t see any family resemblance. Even after she had stepped into the Bächle, not a single strand of the woman’s chestnut hair had been out of place. It was swept up into an elegant twist that accentuated the long line of her neck. In comparison, the ring of gray hair encircling Nobby’s otherwise bald head often seemed to defy gravity, lending him an Einstein-ish look. His niece definitely hadn’t inherited Nobby’s bowlegs either—or his kindness. Her gray eyes had been as cool as the weather outside.

No wonder! She thinks you have a problem with her sexual orientation.

Anja groaned. Nothing could be further from the truth.