Page 51 of Sunset Serenade
“Is Rose coming?” Lucy asked. “I can’t keep track of her anymore.”
Claire nodded. “Not only is she coming, but she’s also bringing her boss, Craig, and his parents.”
“That’sthreepaying customers,” Lillian said, raising her eyebrows at Lucy. “Not bad. Rose might be our new recruitment officer.”
“Recruitment isn’t my department,” Lucy hissed. “I’m quality control! And I have to say, there was lipstick on my teacup.”
Claire gasped. “Really? That’s terrible!”
The teacups were made of fine bone china and had to be hand washed. It was a new task for the kitchen staff, and she’d worried it would be too much.
“It’syourlipstick.” Lillian pointed at the cup. “Look at the color. It’s your coral passionfruit whatever.”
“Oh.” Lucy frowned. “You’re right. Okay, the cups were clean. Nothing to worry about.”
That was a relief. They could always pivot to cheaper, dishwasher-safe teacups, but these were beautiful. She and the girls had debated what to order for weeks, finally deciding on two designs.
The first, her favorite, had a cuckoo bird and flowers, gold lining the rim. The ones Lucy insisted on were light pink with delicate roses all around, gold painted on the leaves.
“Craig’s parents are moving here.” Lillian delicately set the silver strainer on her cup and poured out a portion of tea. “From what Rose told me, Craig got a house for them as a surprise.”
“I can’t imagine that big of a surprise.” Claire shook her head. “I don’t do well with surprises.”
“You had enough of a surprise when you adopted us,” Lucy said. “Luckily, now the only surprise you have to deal with is one of us getting arrested.”
Claire laughed. “Therehasbeen a lot of that recently. It must be the island.”
“I blame Lucy,” Lillian said. “She’s at the center of all of the incidents.”
“Can’t argue there.” Lucy set down her teacup and when she looked up, her expression brightened. “There they are!” She dropped her voice. “Wait. Is that Craig? Rose didn’t tell us he was cute.”
Lillian turned around and Lucy whispered, “Don’t look at him now. You’re making it obvious we’re talking about him.”
“It’s too late,” Lillian said in a hushed voice. “You’re right. Very cute. Why didn’t she mention it?”
Claire suppressed a smile. Whatever Rose’s reasoning, the cat was out of the bag now.
She stood from her seat to greet them and gave Rose a hug. “Hi, honey!”
“Hey, Mom,” Rose said. “This is Craig, and these are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell.”
Craig’s mom stuck out her hand. “Please, it’s Denise and Leroy.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Thanks for having us,” Leroy said. He stood back, his eyes tracing the corners of the room. “It’s incredible what you’ve done with the place. I remember it looking a bit run down. Now it’s stunning.”
Claire couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you. Would you like to try our high tea? We can move to a bigger table and sit together?”
“And maybe afterwards we can give them a tour?” Rose asked.
“Of course!”
Lucy and Lillian gathered the teapots and cups and moved to a table large enough for all of them. The waiter came over and handed out menus, and it seemed like Denise couldn’t be more delighted by the choices, pointing and asking about every other one.
“I actually had quite a bit of help setting this up,” Claire explained. “My friend Margie lives on San Juan Island, and she introduced me to a woman who ran a tea shop there.”
“Margie knows a tea lady?” Lucy mused.
