Page 26 of The Magical Tea Shop

“Let’s go to Buonvento. I’m in the mood for Italian.”

“Italian food or Italian men?”

“Both, of course. It’s up the road. I wouldn’t wish to put you to any trouble.”

“Oh, I expect you’re plenty of trouble.”

At Hazel’s low chuckle, Jaxon decided an evening spent with spunky Hazel Bestwick beat leftover homemade egg salad at home. Besides, one could never go wrong with the specials at Buonvento.

*

Ivy tried topay attention to Rob, clad in a dark-blue suit, across the cheery, red-and-white-checkered tablecloth. He was so intense talking about his work and the importance of commercial insurance. Of course, as a business owner, Ivy had commercial insurance for the tea shop, but she didn’t consider it a scintillating topic. Rob thought it was. Now, he was talking about flood insurance and how important that was.

“But isn’t a hurricane an act of nature and not covered?”

He choked on his glass of merlot. She was about to stand up and come around to pat him on the back when he recovered. She glanced up just in time to see Jaxon at the hostess stand. When he took a step to the side, she could see he hadn’t arrived alone, but with a woman.

Jaxon was on a date?

Ivy went hot and cold and her head swam a bit. Everyone swore he wasn’t ready to date, that he was still mourning his sainted wife. Surely, discovering him on a date at the fanciest place in town proved he wasn’t grieving.

But who was she?

Ivy craned, trying not to be obvious. When Rob gave her a questioning frown, she rubbed her shoulder like she was easing a crick in her neck, so he wouldn’t turn to see who she was staring at. The woman, dressed in blue, was tiny, whoever she was. Was she wearing a cloche hat? With velvet trim? Too many people blocked her view for Ivy to identify her, but Jaxon looked dashing. His shirt was open at the neck, and she could see that tanned bit of skin. His sleeves rolled up not quite to the elbows, showing off forearms with a light dusting of hair, and she wondered what his arm would feel like around her, the way it was around this tiny woman. If only she could see her face.

Ivy had a flash of jealousy, imagining Jaxon holding this woman close. She racked her brain for all the tiny women in town that he might ask out and came up blank. I mean, if he liked tiny women, she kept coming back to herself. Of course, she wasn’tthattiny, but next to him, well, they’d be perfect. She watched Jaxon until the hostess, leading him and his stylish date, went beyond where her gaze could follow.

Rob was frowning in confusion. “Where did you just go?”

“What? Oh, I was pondering what I would do in a sudden rainstorm. I’ve never been in a flood.” She took a drink of her sparkling water. “Have you?”

Ivy was grateful the waiter arrived to enumerate the day’s specials: Ziti Capricciosa and Scampi Pomodoro. She chose the ziti drowned in red sauce, topped with mushrooms and melting mozzarella. Kyle chose the scampi, which of course sounded delicious, but would make his breath fishy. She expected he’d try to kiss her at the end of their date.

She really hoped it went better with Rob. Despite her last two dates, she still felt out of practice and was certain it showed. When she glanced up from dipping her bread in balsamic and olive oil, Rob scrunched his face in puzzlement. “Is something on your mind? You seem so far away.”

“Not at all.” She quickly replayed what he had been saying while her thoughts wandered. She vaguely remembered something about him working on a CPCU certification, whatever that was. “Is that difficult,” she asked, “taking all those online courses? Is it like being in school?”

The lines in Rob’s forehead cleared when he realized shehadbeen listening, and he launched into a monologue about his many insurance certifications.

Ivy stifled a yawn.

*

The hostess ledJaxon and Hazel to the back corner of the restaurant. The twenty-something hostess in her form-fitting, black lace dress had acted inconvenienced they didn’t have a reservation, but really, with so few residents in Hazard one should hardly expect to wait for a table on a Monday night. The only reason for tonight’s crush was a large anniversary party in the center of the room.

Jaxon held the chair out for Hazel. When he seated himself across from her, he realized he was staring at a bouncy, blonde-streaked ponytail two tables over.

Only one person in Hazard had honey-colored hair that soft and sunny, with gentle wisps falling to caress the nape of her neck. Her springy-green dress had scooped shoulders, revealing the creamy tone of her skin where the back drooped down, and, ugh, she was seated across from the Rebels’s third baseman.

Another one of the cookie stealers on a date with his girl.

His mind skidded to a halt. He had no claim on Ivy Wayland. She was free to do whatever she wanted with whomever she pleased—even if it did include a date with the most tedious of all his teammates. Jaxon grabbed his water glass and took a long drink. He tore his gaze from the back of Ivy’s head and focused on Hazel, now in rare form.

“I love the shadowy atmosphere here, with the soft lighting. It’s very flattering, don’t you think?” She ducked her head and batted her eyelashes.

Jaxon realized Hazel must once have been quite the coquette. His eyes drifted back over her shoulder to Ivy, in that mouth-watering, off-the-shoulder dress. Her soft, smooth skin made it difficult to focus anywhere else.

“These little tables are so snug and cozy. Do you get out much these days?”

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