Page 51 of The Magical Tea Shop

“If you told Holly, won’t Ivy already know?”

One would think, but Jaxon was pretty sure Holly was keeping it from Ivy for her own reasons in her one-upmanship way.

“Lydia probably already knows, too,” Cece pointed out.

“I’ll keep you informed, and let you know when the sale’s final.”

“Guess I can expect a rent increase.” Cece sighed. “Oh well, nothing stays the same.”

Jaxon headed to Lydia’s. He paused outside Ivy’s shop, but it looked as if she was cleaning in the back, so he moved on to LaFleur.

The door chimed like a doorbell as he entered and stopped to take it all in. It amused him how differently each tenant arranged the nearly identical spaces. Cece’s salon appeared long and thin, with haircutting stations down one side and shampoo bowls down the other. Holly’s bakery looked square, with a counter cutting the space in half and all the space before it open and empty to accommodate early morning crowds.

Lydia’s space could best be described as jungle-themed secret garden. Towering tropical plants interspersed with local flora reigned, the clutter rather like its proprietress. Glass shelves packed and nearly overflowing miraculously highlighted each trinket for sale. A glassed room in the middle, filled with blooms of every variety, made the shop smell floral and earthy—a bit like Lydia, who frequently over-applied her perfume but maintained a practical down-to-earth mien.

Had Holly told her great-aunt about Jaxon selling the building? Lydia, not one to leave a thought unsaid, hadn’t approached him. He wound through the densely packed shop to find Lydia at a back counter, flower cuttings spread before her. Two completed arrangements of a dozen roses loomed, one in deep red, another in white.

“Those are lovely,” he said.

“They’re for the two leads in the play Ivy saw. She asked me to send them flowers to congratulate them for a successful run. The red ones are for Tessa, who played Irene Adler, and the white are for Chad, who played Sherlock Holmes. What can I arrange for you?”

“I’m not here for flowers today.” Was he ever? Jaxon couldn’t remember ever ordering from her shop. Candace never had any use for flowers, considered anything that could die a waste of time. She preferred money spent on experiences. But couldn’t receiving flowers be an experience? “I wanted to let you know I’m leaving Hazard and selling the building.”

“No,” said Lydia. “Oh, no, no, that’s wrong.”

“No, I am.”

She shook her head with emphasis.

“Lydia, I know what my plans are. Escrow will be closing…” But Lydia was shaking her head. She waved a hand at him to stop.

“You don’t know.” Lydia pressed her lips tight. “Fine. Make your plans. Fine.” She went back to stabbing a third set of roses into the vase she had set up. Despite her obvious agitation, each rose went in straight, perfect, and flawless. Even upset, Lydia knew her business. “Who wants to buy your building? Not that horrible Derrick Cross.”

“Well, yes.”

Lydia’s lips got tighter.

“How do you know Derrick?”

“Man made an offer on Oleander House before I joined the historical society. I didn’t trust him to do right by my house. Even if I’d sold it, I’d want it preserved. That Mr. Cross, well…” Her lips pinched tighter until they were a thin red slash. “Next, he tried to purchase Sundial Sands. As if! Hazel will never sell that Gilded Age beauty. She grew up there as a girl. It’s her grandson’s last connection to his parents, after they perished in that frightful accident. That stuffy Mr. Cross even made an offer on the Hazard Inn, but the buyer chose someone out of New York. Kate somebody, who actually wants to be an innkeeper. I don’t trust that Cross man’s motives.”

“Most of the women in town find him charming.”

“Don’t patronize an old woman. Doyoufind him charming?”

Jaxon wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “It’s a business deal.”

“Yes, yes, well, you’ll see, won’t you?” She stopped stabbing roses and started fluffing up ferns. “Have you told my nieces?”

“Holly, I told Holly.”

“And Ivy?”

Lydia’s intent gaze made Jaxon shift. What was it with these older women and their piercing gazes? He’d swear they saw straight into his soul to his attraction for Ivy Wayland.

“I plan to go there next. I just told Cece.”

“And passed Ivy on your way to tell me? Why ever would you do that?”

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