The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane

by Sheila Roberts

  * * *

  Cecily arrived at Samantha’s house on Friday to find the dining room table set for four. Their mother’s big crystal vase sat in the center, filled with flowers from Lupine Floral. Okay. This wasn’t just for her.

  “Who else is coming?” she asked Samantha.

  “Um, Luke,” Samantha said and skedaddled into the kitchen.

  Luke? What was going on here? As if she couldn’t guess.

  She followed her sister out to the kitchen. “What are you up to?”

  Samantha got suddenly busy checking the lasagna in the oven. “Nothing.”

  “You are such a rotten liar.” And an equally bad matchmaker. She should leave right now. Samantha could tell Luke she’d gotten sick.

  She was about to announce her departure when she heard male voices drifting into the kitchen from the direction of the front door. Great. He was already here.

  She could still go. She should. This little setup looked so…obvious. And Luke would think she was in on it, that she’d changed her mind about their relationship.

  “You know, I’m going to have to leave. I’m getting a headache.”

  Samantha set the lasagna pan on the stove and then turned her stern older-sister gaze on Cecily. “You try to leave, and I’ll give you a serious headache.”

  Then she walked out of the kitchen–family room area and went to the formal dining room, obviously expecting Cecily to follow.

  Cecily trailed her, irritation growing with each step. Samantha had every right to run Sweet Dreams Chocolates, but she sure didn’t have the right to run her sisters’ lives.

  Luke and Blake stood in the dining room chatting while Blake opened a bottle of wine. Luke looked surprised to see Cecily and then pleased. “Hi, Cec.”

  It would be so incredibly rude to bolt. Anyway, they were still friends. They could have dinner without anyone—namely Luke—getting his hopes up. “Hi,” she said. “You’re a brave man to come and eat my sister’s cooking,” she joked.

  “Hey, I’m just as good a cook as you,” Samantha protested.

  “Well, we all know who the real chef in the family is,” Blake teased.

  Bailey. For a moment Cecily felt guilty that they hadn’t made up, but all she had to do to get over that was remind herself what a sneaky brat her sister was.

  “Our man’s got excellent taste in wine,” Blake said, holding up the bottle of merlot, which bore an Icicle Winery label.

  “Ed told me it’s one of his most popular reds.”

  Blake began pouring the wine. “I think he says that about half the wines he has at D’vine Wines. But this is a good one, and it’s one of our favorites.”

  “And it’s perfect with lasagna,” Samantha said.

  Luke rubbed his hands together. “Lasagna’s my favorite.”

  “Good food, good wine and good friends. It doesn’t get any better than that,” Samantha said.

  “You sound like you’re channeling Waldo,” Cecily said as Blake handed her a glass of wine. Ironic, considering how crazy their now-deceased stepfather used to make Samantha.

  “He couldn’t run a business worth squat, but he did have the right attitude about life,” Samantha said.

  Blake started to hand Luke a glass, but he motioned to Samantha after saying, “Ladies first.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not much of a wine drinker. Anyway, I’m not drinking these days.”

  “Not for another six and a half months,” added Blake, beaming.

  “Wait a minute,” Luke said slowly, “are you guys—”

  “Yep,” Blake said.

  “Sweet.” Luke slapped him on the back. “Man, you are going to love being a dad.”

  That was certainly a different reaction to the idea of having kids than Todd had displayed, Cecily thought as Blake and Luke took their wine.

  “I wouldn’t mind having more myself someday,” Luke said, and his glance slipped to Cecily.

  Why, oh, why wasn’t she in love with him?

  “So, babe, you need me to help you carry stuff out from the kitchen?” Blake asked.

  “Yes, thanks,” Samantha said, and they hurried off, leaving Cecily and Luke alone like two people on a blind date.

  Cecily suddenly felt tongue-tied. This was ridiculous. She’d known Luke for years. “We haven’t seen your mom and Serena at the gift shop for a while,” she said. “What’s with that?”

  “Serena’s on chocolate restriction.”

  “Chocolate restriction?” Was there any worse punishment? “What did she do?”

  “She sneaked into the cookies after my mom told her she couldn’t have any—ate every last one out of the cookie jar. Talk about a sugar high. Then, when Mom got after her, she called Mom a ‘doodyhead.’”

  Cecily snickered.

  “Yeah, it’s funny now, but Mom wasn’t laughing at the time.” Luke let out a long-suffering sigh. “I think the kid’s going through chocolate withdrawal. She’s a bear to be around.”

  “I’d be a bear, too, if I couldn’t have chocolate.”

  “Well, maybe,” Luke said, “but that’s hard to imagine. In fact, it’s hard to imagine you ever being anything but nice.”

  He should have been in her condo a couple of nights ago.

  Samantha and Blake were back now with lasagna, tossed salad and French bread, and the four of them sat down to dinner, two couples about to enjoy a meal together.

  Except that Cecily and Luke weren’t a couple.

  But sometimes it felt as though they were. Conversation flowed easily, and it was as if she and Luke had never had their awkward moment on Lost Bride Trail. Later there was plenty of laughter as they played Hearts and ate gingerbread cookies from Cass’s bakery.

  “Okay,” Samantha said. “Cecily’s got the lowest score. We need to get her.”

  “Who’s second lowest?” Cecily asked suspiciously.

  “That would be Sam,” said Blake. She stuck out her tongue at him, and he grinned at her.

  “Aha.” Luke slipped Samantha the Queen of Spades that hand, giving her thirteen points. He also managed to give Blake, who had the highest score, enough hearts to put him out and end the game with Cecily the winner.

  “Oh, fine,” Samantha muttered to him. “Turn on your boss.”

  Luke shrugged. “What can I say? I guess my loyalties are elsewhere.”

  The smile he gave Cecily felt too intimate. It was time to go home.

  “It’s Friday night. What’s your hurry?” Samantha said, stifling a yawn. Even though she refused to admit it, pregnancy was slowing her down.

  Luke rose from his seat the minute Cecily did. “Moms-to-be need their sleep. And you’d better enjoy it now while you can. Both of you,” he said.

  “You’re scaring me,” Blake joked.

  The sisters hugged, and the men shook hands. Then Luke exited right along with Cecily.

  Now things really felt awkward. “Well, see you Monday,” she said and started toward her car.

  His hand on her arm stopped her.

  Oh, no. What’s he going to do?

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  From the look in his eyes, Cecily could have sworn Luke was going to kiss her. Instead he asked, “Whose idea was that little dinner party, yours or your sister’s?”

  “Samantha’s.” Thanks, sis, for getting his hopes up so I could hurt him all over again. Feeling she needed to say something, she added, “I had a good time. I hope you did, too.”

  “Of course I did. I just hoped you’d changed your mind about us.”

  “I’m sorry, Luke,” she said gently. “The chemistry’s not there.”

  “It could be if you gave me half a chance.” He must have seen the dread in her face, because he ended the awkward
moment, saying, “But I guess you’re solid with Black these days.”

  She nodded.

  “Okay, but if he ever doesn’t treat you right…”

  “You’ll be the first man I call,” she quipped. And maybe she would. Luke Goodman was the sort of guy a woman could tell her troubles to.

  He leaned over and kissed her cheek, surprisingly setting off butterflies in her stomach. “Good night, Cec,” he said, then walked away.

  She stood watching him until he turned the corner to his street. What was that she’d just felt?

  Nothing compared to what she felt with Todd—that was what. She got in her car and drove home, irritation riding shotgun.

  The next morning it was time for another little talk—with a different sister.

  “Please don’t do that again,” she said when Samantha answered the phone.

  Her sister didn’t insult her intelligence by pretending she didn’t know what Cecily was talking about. “Why, because you had such a lousy time?”

  “No, because it’s not fair to Luke. I don’t want to be anything more than friends, and your cozy little dinner party only raised false expectations. He’s a nice man, and I hated having to shoot him down.”

  “Yeah, I saw you shooting him down out there on the sidewalk.”

  “You were watching?” Bad enough that Samantha was interfering but then to spy on her as if…as if she and Luke were lab rats in an experiment! Cecily ground her teeth.

  “Of course,” Samantha admitted breezily. “Look, I know relationships are your specialty. Your instincts for who should be together are legendary. But you don’t seem to be able to apply them to yourself, so why not let the people who care about you help?”

  “Because you have no idea what you’re doing,” Cecily said hotly. “So, stop trying to ‘help’ me.”

  “Well, I would if you weren’t making such a mess of your love life,” Samantha said. “You can’t see what’s right in front of your face. You’re blowing it with Luke, and you’re way off the mark with Todd.”

  “Listen to you! Here you are, talking like Dr. Phil, and you don’t have a clue what’s going on between Todd and me.”

  “I’m not sure you do, either,” Samantha said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be so insecure. And you’d still be talking to Bailey.”

  Cecily wanted to protest that she was perfectly secure. Todd had wanted her ever since she’d come back to Icicle Falls. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was Bailey and what she was trying to do.

  But any protest would be halfhearted. She was insecure. There had to be something men found lacking in her and went looking for in other women. And, deep down, she was afraid Todd would spot that missing something.

  “I’m sorry I poked my nose in your business,” Samantha said. “God knows I shouldn’t talk—it took me long enough to see what was right in front of me.”

  “That’s about the most condescending apology I’ve ever heard,” Cecily muttered.

  “Well, it’s the best I can do on short notice. I’m sorry I made you mad. Really. I think you’re nuts to pass up a man like Luke, but I promise I’ll butt out. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Cecily said, somewhat mollified. Although Sam could have left that observation regarding her sanity out of the apology.

  “But you and Bailey better resolve things between you before this baby comes. I want both of my sisters at the christening.”

  Cecily made some noncommittal remark that was enough to satisfy her sister. Samantha ended the call to go look at cribs with Blake. Cecily set her phone on the kitchen counter and tapped her teeth with her fingernail, mulling over what her sister had said.

  Still mulling, she toasted an English muffin, then spread it with some jam and took a thoughtful bite. If Bailey had been there, they would’ve been having something like eggs Benedict for breakfast. Bailey did like to cook and bake for everyone, not just men with whom she was infatuated. Cecily knew her accusation had been an unfair one. Still, she wasn’t ready to call Bailey and make up. She needed to think about it some more.

  Which she did as she walked to Bavarian Brews for a latte. By the time she’d purchased her hazelnut mocha, she’d realized Sam was right. She needed to trust her sister, give her the benefit of the doubt. Men might come and go, she told herself, but sisters were forever.

  Bailey didn’t work at the lodge on Saturdays, so that meant she was probably puttering around at the future home of Tea Time. Cecily decided the best way to extend an olive branch would be to stop over and see how everything was coming along. She purchased another latte and went around the corner to Lavender Lane.

  * * *

  The tea shop’s hardwood floors were now refinished, the old oak glowing warm and inviting. The vinyl in the kitchen had cleaned up fine, and the necessary kitchen equipment had been delivered and installed the day before.

  “It’s perfect,” Bailey said to Todd as they surveyed their new commercial kitchen. “All we need now are tables and chairs, a cash register and shelves for our merchandise. Well, and merchandise.”

  “What about dishes?”

  “I have almost all the dishes. And the linens and glasses and cutlery have been ordered. I’ll put up the lace curtains next week.”

  “I still don’t know how you got those for thirty percent off.”

  “I’m a good negotiator,” she said, opting not to tell him about her klutziness or Tina’s gossip fest. She was in control of her career again, and she would not be breaking any of her inventory.

  “We’re making fast progress,” Todd said. “We should have no problem being ready for a grand opening in August.”

  “I can hardly wait.” Bailey gave the ice machine a loving pat.

  “Do we have ice yet?” he asked.

  “We should have.”

  “Let’s see.” He reached in and pulled out a handful of cubes. “Well, look at that. We do.” He popped one in his mouth. “Want one?”

  She smiled and nodded, then opened her mouth. But instead of popping an ice cube in it, he slipped a couple down the back of her blouse, making her squeal from the shock of the cold against her skin.

  “This means war,” she said and dipped her hand in for some ammunition.

  He dodged away from her, and she chased him out of the kitchen into the main part of the house, giggling as she went. She tried unsuccessfully twice to get the ice down his shirt, with him grinning at each failed attempt and goading her to try again. On her third try, she dropped her cubes on the floor. He got to them first, and now it was her turn to run.

  But he was quick and caught her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her to him. She laughed and squirmed to escape, but the ice went down her back anyway.

  “I guess I’m interrupting something,” said a voice from the doorway, and Bailey whirled around to see Cecily, holding a latte to-go cup. The cold of that ice cube was nothing compared to the expression on her face. “I stopped by to say hi and see how things were going,” Cecily said, her voice frosty.

  Bailey swallowed hard. How to explain this to her sister? “The ice machine came in.”

  “Hey, Cec, we were just fooling around,” Todd added. He came over, put an arm around her and kissed her.

  She stood there like an ice sculpture.

  “You want to see the kitchen?” Bailey offered.

  “No. I can see you’re both busy,” Cecily said, stepping away from Todd. She set the cup on the floor, then turned and left, Todd following her out the door.

  His words echoed back to Bailey. “Come on, Cec. We were just goofing around—that’s all.”

  The screen door banged shut behind them.

  Oh, this was not good.

  * * *

  “I’m not sure right now is the time to talk about this,” Cecily said s
tiffly.

  The pleading look on Todd’s face changed to one of irritation. As if he had a right to be irritated? “Okay, fine. I need to get over to The Man Cave and do some paperwork. I’ll talk to you later.” His tone of voice said he’d rather not.

  Who was the injured party here? Cecily shrugged her shoulders as if she couldn’t care less where he went. “Fine.”

  Looking exasperated now, he stepped off the porch and went down the front walk at a brisk clip.

  “Cec,” Bailey said in a small voice.

  Cecily turned to her sister, the traitor, who was standing on the porch. “So, nothing’s going on.”

  Bailey shook her head, tears in her eyes. There she stood in tight jeans and a blouse that was like a billboard for her boobs and wearing full makeup.

  “Don’t cry. Your makeup will run,” Cecily said, her voice as cold as the ice cube Todd had slipped down her sister’s back.

  Bailey sniffed. “I’m not trying to steal him. I…”

  You would if you could. It was hard not to fall for Todd Black; Cecily got that. But her sister wasn’t even trying to keep their relationship professional. Who had started that ice-cube fight back in the kitchen? Cecily was willing to bet it had been Bailey.

  “I would never have done this to you,” Cecily said.

  “Cec, I didn’t mean… I didn’t think…”

  Oh, she’d thought, all right, but only of her spoiled, baby-of-the-family self. There was no point in taking this conversation any further. Cecily began to walk away.

  “Cec, please!” Bailey called.

  Cecily kept on going. Even as she walked away, part of her said, This is wrong, all wrong. She’s your sister.

  Yeah, but sisters didn’t sabotage each other’s love lives.

  “Cecily!”

  Cecily went on walking, and the next thing she heard was the screen door slamming shut.

  Just in time for Mom’s birthday party tomorrow, she scolded herself. This would make for a pleasant family get-together.

  Well, there’d be lots of people in attendance. She could stay on the far side of the room.

  But at some stage she’d have to talk to her sister.