Page 13 of The Magical Tea Shop

Ivy rushed about serving her new clientele ofmen. She absolutely couldn’t fathom it, all these men in her tea shop amidst the lace-curtained windows and floral-patterned china, the delicate cups and saucers. They all perched on her newly upholstered chintz-padded chairs. But the chairswerecomfortable and the shop welcoming.

Still, it was odd to see so many male customers. The tea shop was primarily favored by a female clientele. Well, with the exception of Seymour as part of the Hazard Historical Society.

Ivy happily served tea, scones, and croissants. She made sure to hand out little slips of paper with the day’s lunch offerings in the hope that she’d tempt her new customers to return midday.

Holly popped over in the midst of the rush. Her sister frowned, brow furrowed.

“What’s up?” asked Ivy, as she prepared three more pots of tea and trays of goodies to carry out. “You want to give me a hand?”

“No, I don’t. Where did all these men come from? Why are they here?”

“Don’t know, don’t care, but I plan to keep them happy, so they’ll come back.” She breezed by her sister and took a tray out to Joel, second baseman for the Rebels.

“So, Ivy,” he said, as she set down a blueberry scone in front of him. He took a bite and rolled his eyes in delight. “These are so, so, so good. Are you free tonight? I was hoping we could catch the play at the community center?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s a comedy, should be fun.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Joel. It’s a little short notice for me.”

“Okay, what about tomorrow, Sunday?”

“Can I let you know?”

“Absolutely, I just really want to spend time with you.”

It was Ivy’s turn to furrow her brow.Why?was her first thought. Joel had shown zero interest in her before. She’d known him since middle school. She considered her reply, and decided she might as well make a plug for her business. “Well, you could come back at lunch,” she told him brightly and handed him a list of her specials.

“What’s this?” said Holly, still behind Ivy’s counter and glaring at the board Ivy had labored over. She waved an impatient hand at it.

“Today’s lunch specials. The weather’s been a bit blustery, so I thought a hot soup and sandwich combo might be popular. Say, do you have your panini maker? Mom gave us both one last Christmas. I think I could really use it today.”

“Well, I’m not running home to get it.”

“No, but I could probably get Aunt Lydia to get it, if you gave me the okay.”

“Why would I do that?”

Ivy stopped. “Wait, are you mad?”

“Of course not,” said Holly. She stood a little straighter and tugged on her pink bakery tunic. “Why would you think that?”

“Because your face is all red and you’re glaring. I thought you’d be proud of me since my business picked up.”

“It’sonemorning.”

“The first of many.” The little bell over Ivy’s door tinkled. Holly stomped off.

Ivy blew out a long breath. Not her sister’s best moment, which didn’t seem fair. Ivy always celebrated Holly’s wins.

Roman caught hold of her hand in a tight grip as she walked by. She nearly tripped as he tugged her back to his table. “Listen, I need to go man the counter at the hardware store, so my guys can unload the stock arriving in half an hour. Will you go out to dinner with me tonight?”

Ivy scrambled for a reply. “Oh, Roman, I really need to plan my menu out for the next week.”

“But it’s Saturday night. Please.” He gave her puppy dog eyes. She gave in, and nodded. Crispy crumpets! Now Joel would find out and be mad that she’d turned him down and accepted Roman’s invitation. But it was just dinner. A girl had to eat.

And Jaxon wasn’t asking.

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