Page 63 of The Magical Tea Shop

Ivy nodded.

“I knew you would.”

“It isn’t in the recipe.”

“Well, of course not, not everything is written down.”

“How was I supposed to know?”

“You did know.” Her mother shrugged. “I knew you would. Honestly, darling, when it’s important, you just know. I knew with your father.”

“Knew what?”

“That he’s the one. I baked the cookies and used the press and here you are.”

“Mom, you aren’t making sense. I used the cookie press and now an entire baseball team is devoted to me. The second batch that I baked for Jaxon got eaten by Holly. And the third batch…”

Ivy’s mother raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, you think this time it will work?” Hope blossomed in Ivy for one second before she remembered what Jaxon had done.

“The magic of Hazard never goes awry.”

Ivy frowned at her mother.

“The magic of Hazard knows best.”

Ivy shook her head. “I don’t believe it.”

“You don’t have to. It still works. That’s all part of the magic. Now, let me get a deck of cards, and you can help me practice for the jubilee.”

Ivy rose to do her mother’s bidding. On the way back, she peeked in the kitchen to confirm her cookies remained safely tucked in the hutch.

They had vanished.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jaxon had enough.He couldn’t wait to leave Hazard. He hadn’t been able to bear telling Ivy the truth about leaving, andshetook that as a slight. Seriously, he’d tried to spare her. Let her be—what—happy?

Jaxon let out a grown. What had he been thinking?

He hadn’t, that’s all—at least not with his head. Of course she felt slighted. He let out a shuddering sigh. She was mad and rightly so. He might as well skip right on out of here. He had a job lined up. An apartment. He could design actual houses instead of small remodels. So what if they were unimaginative, cookie-cutter houses? Small and cramped and affordable. That’s right, he was off to save the world by designing affordable housing.

Of course, his idea of an affordable house and his soon-to-be employer’s idea were vastly different. He wouldn’t be in charge. A job was a job, and it would further his career until he could make enough money to buy land to build his own not-so-affordable house. He needed a serious job, working for a serious corporation, to do that.

Was he selling out? Or being smart? Candace would’ve said he was being smart. Unfortunately, she hadn’t lived to see it.

Ivy would say—what?

He had a meeting with the Realtor to sign the final paperwork. To sell his building to Derrick Cross. He just needed to find his way.

*

Ivy had doneit. She had banished Jaxon Langford from her mind, and sampled hersignaturetea blend. It was better than Find Your Way. A touch sweet, a touch earthy, and a touch wholesome. A bit like herself. She never considered herself earthy before. But after Saturday’s stint in the oleanders, she had a new rapport with nature. She was connected to the earth, safe, and at home on the planet.

She fretted over the mysteriously missing cookies. Even after quizzing Malory, she had no clue who took them.

She frowned. She just needed someone to test out her new concoction. Ah, here was a customer—a dark-haired, dark-eyed, classically handsome male. Her new bell tinkled when he walked into her shop—a repeat customer Ivy recognized from the other day. He was here and she was in business yet for a while.

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