Page 66 of The Magical Tea Shop

Ivy wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

She shoved the turmoil from her mind. Too much to do today, and she needed to focus on each task at hand. She and Holly had a vendor booth together. Ivy had packaged up her special tea blends—Serenity, Cozy, Find Your Way. She hadn’t packaged any of the Magical blend. That was only for the tea shop. She was learning from Holly. To have the very best of her blends, you had to come into the shop to experience it. Magical had already grown in popularity and was the most ordered blend in the shop. Well, among the pleasant customers. The unpleasant customers couldn’t abide it. It really did bring out a person’s inner attitude. Bad attitude, bad taste. Great attitude, great taste.

The youngest of the kite flyers were already letting out their strings with diamond shapes fluttering merrily in the breeze. Parents were overseeing the activity and keeping their youngsters away from the perilous drop to the ocean. Cliffside was Ivy’s favorite place to walk. She loved the windy path, with a view of the surf crashing below.

She paused to watch the kite flyers and caught her breath. Jaxon in the afternoon, with the breeze ruffling his hair, always caught her just a little unawares. He stood in the midst of it all. Of course, he did. He was helping his Little Leaguers fly their kites: deltas and parafoils in a rainbow of colors. She watched as he helped Ronnie’s younger brother get his kite swaying and looping in the air.

Crowds were gathering as her parents began their show. First, card tricks with giant cards added a touch of humor. She could hear gasps and oohs as they performed their illusions, scarves and lop-eared bunnies appearing out of top hats and teapots. The teapots had been her idea, and her parents loved it. It gave her business a plug before they moved onto their disappearing act. Holly scowled.

Ivy ignored her sister and focused on her booth and the customers. She tried to avoid looking at Jaxon. She was not. She wasnotlooking at him. She was looking somewhere else, except somehow, he had moved straight into her line of vision. If she looked away it would be silly, wouldn’t it?

“I can see you watching him and pretending you aren’t,” said Holly. “It’s so obvious.”

“It is not,” Ivy murmured, and began straightening her tea packages.

“Is to.”

“Is not.” What were they, eight? Just because their parents were visiting didn’t mean they needed to resort to grammar school behavior.

“You can go over. I’ll watch the booth.”

“You’ll put all your items in the front and mine under the table.”

“Hah.” Holly widened her eyes in mock shock, then grinned. “Maybe.”

Rebecca chose that moment to wander over. “Do you ever need help in your tea shop? My dad says I have to get a job when I turn sixteen.”

Ivy opened her mouth to answer, when Holly talked over her. “Why don’t you find out if you’d like it? You can take Ivy’s spot while she steps away. Go,” Holly said to her sister, and made a shooing motion. “Go over to the kite flyers. I know you want to.”

She did. She really did.

“Becca will be my helper.”

Becca gave a pleased jump. “Can I?”

Ivy untied her green apron embroidered with the Ivy Way Tea Shop in elegant script and handed it to the excited teen to put on. She pointed her finger at her sister. “Don’t hide my product.” To Becca, she said, “Don’t let her hide my product.” Holly laughed, and they both waved her off.

As Ivy stepped away from the shelter of the vendor section, her light, flower-print dress began to flap against her legs, and she was glad she’d thought to put on shorts under it. She passed Malory, who was struggling with an elaborate dragon kite while simultaneously trying to keep her full skirt from flying up behind. Malory grumbled, but when she spotted Ivy, she shoved the kite string into her hands. “I can’t do this. My skirt almost blew all the way up in back. I refuse to flash these people. I must maintain my decorum.”

Ivy grinned at Malory’s consternation and took the string. “I wanted a kite to fly. How did you know?”

“Good luck with it. This wind’s too strong. Someone’s going to get hurt, tripping over themselves to keep up with their kite.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad. Let’s move over to the kite-flying section in the meadow.” Ivy nodded toward where Jaxon was helping the kids. “See, it’s all safe. It isn’t anywhere near the cliff’s edge. They even have it roped off.” She paused to watch Montgomery jump and dance his happy doggy dance around Jaxon, who was helping another Little Leaguer get his kite launched, demonstrating how to catch the best breeze.

“Oh, oh my,” said Ivy, as the kite gave a tug and Malory’s dilemma became clear.

“See what I mean?”

Ivy nodded and moved to the edge of the kite area. She loved watching the kite with its long dragon tail dip and rise and loop and turn. Dancing high above her like a live creature with a mind of its own, the fiery breath of her dragon kite was reminiscent of an apatosaurus in action. Ivy figured she had the coolest kite. Most of the kites for the youngsters were traditional diamond racers, but Ronnie’s had a box shape that caught the wind even better than Malory’s dragon. Ivy moved closer to the main section, closer to Jaxon.

Most of the participants were winding their strings in and heading toward the stage, bringing their kites back down to earth as her parents’ magic performance grew more interesting. Ah, her dad was sawing her mom in half now. So clearly a trick of mirrors. Ivy sighed. A classic, really, and a crowd-pleaser with the younger audience.

Ivy watched her kite, half-watched her parents, and kept an eye on Jaxon as she hummed the blessing. The tune caught on the wind, and she began to sway and move with her kite. She wouldn’t let Malory’s fiery dragon take wing on its own. She found she agreed with Malory that flying kites near the cliff would be hazardous. If she walked the path later, it would be sans kite.

The dragon gave a sharp tug, trying to escape. Kids were heading in. She saw Jaxon move out of the roped-off section and turn the kids he was helping back over to their parents. Jaxon sent Ronnie’s little brother off with him and watched until they were seated at the benches watching her mother disappear. The crowd applauded wildly. Jaxon caught her eye. She raised a hand to wave. But he had looked down to hook a leash onto Montgomery’s collar. They were off on a walk.

Her heart ached to go after him, but Jaxon was heading toward the cliff to walk the path with his dog. Ivy continued holding onto the kite strings, but it felt like her heartstrings were tugging and whipping about, now looping in a nauseating fashion. She reminded herself that Jaxon had kept things from her, but all she longed to do was chase after him. Running toward the cliff in the strong wind was a decidedly bad idea. She began to reel the kite in.

---