Winter's Warmth (Bramble Wood's Royal Tea Shop Book 3)

by Ivy Ruthven

  I wound through the line of customers that waited outside the gates. Most people recognized me as their waitress, so no one stopped me from entering.

  The whiff of cinnamon and ginger was strong in the air as I stepped in. People were ordering more of the special menu drinks, so tea was slightly less popular.

  I changed into my uniform and began my shift. Ryan came in fifteen minutes after and took his preferred seat by the window. After serving a table, I went to greet him.

  “That was a good performance,” he said, looking up at me. “You guys will do great tomorrow.”

  I glowed at his praise. “Thanks. What can I get you?”

  “I want mugs of that spiced hot chocolate,” he said. “And a deli sandwich and some cake.”

  “Sure,” I said, making a note. “The carrot cake, okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  I was about to turn away when something caught my eye. Michael Hawthorne was staring at me with a fang-toothed grin.

  “What’s he doing here?”

  Ryan followed my gaze. “Did you tell him you worked here?”

  “No…he had me followed.”

  “What? When?”

  “Not now,” I whispered. “It’s about one of those things I haven’t told you.”

  His eyes turned cold. “Are you telling me he knows things about you that I don’t?”

  I fidgeted but nodded. “If it’s any consolation, I didn’t tell him. He hired a private investigator.”

  “So, you were never going to tell me? How long has he -”

  “Not now!” I hissed. “Not here! We’ll talk later.”

  Before Ryan could utter another word, I fled. Michael caught my eye again and waved at me. Dorothy was not in the dining hall and Jeanne was busy at another table. Without another choice, I walked towards him.

  “What would you like to order?” I said, reaching his table. Then narrated the day’s special in a mechanical voice.

  “This is a nice little place,” he said, looking around the room. “No wonder you like to come here to play maid.”

  “Your order, please,” I said through gritted teeth. I could feel Ryan’s stare boring into my back.

  “It’s too bad all my efforts to get you in St. Paul’s Academy. Now I’ll have to bear with whatever happens with the competition. You and your partner gave a striking performance today.”

  I was startled. “How’d you know? Were you there?”

  He tapped his finger on the cell phone on the table. The screen flickered to life. A video of me and Jenny was paused on the screen.

  “You have spies in our school?” I asked, aghast.

  “Of course,” he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “Why are you here today?” I asked. “Are you out to get me or something?”

  “No.” His pale eyes became serious as they stared at me. “I came to see how you were doing after the burglary incident. It had been you and that boyfriend of yours, huh?”

  “Yeah,” I said, seeing no point in lying to him. “It’d been us.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re safe.”

  The sincerity in his voice surprised me.

  He chuckled softly. “Don’t look like that, Olivia. I am capable of thinking well of others.”

  “Right,” I said, still trying hard to get my head wrapped around this change in him. “What can I get you? I can’t really stand here chatting with you.”

  “Nothing. I am leaving,” he said, taking something out and slipping it inside the menu card. “Don’t forget your tip.” He stood up. “Bye, Olivia,” he said and as he passed by me, kissed me lightly on the cheek.

  I stood there, stunned into silence. It was a few seconds before I looked around, hoping no one saw that. Ryan was staring daggers at me.

  “Oh no,” I moaned, turning away and hiding my face in my hands. I picked up the tip he’d left. Opening the menu card, I found a check for a thousand dollars. My mouth fell open. For a moment, I swayed between anger and incredulity. Michael Hawthorne was impossible!

  Snatching it up, I crumbled it in my palm and pocketed it. Perhaps, I could cash the money and give to a charity for Christmas? To escape Ryan’s glares, I went into the kitchen. As my mind calmed down, I decided to give the check back to Michael. There was no way I was letting him think he could bribe me.

  To hide from Ryan, I begged Jeanne to take his order to him.

  “You’re gonna owe me for it,” she warned me as she headed out with his order.

  The next few hours passed by.

  After the shift, I met Ryan outside the gates of the teashop. Without a word, I climbed into his car. I waited for him to speak, but soon realized he was driving us in a different direction.

  “Aren’t you taking me home?” I asked.

  “Not yet. I want you to explain me what Hawthorne knows and I don’t.”

  “Please, Ryan,” I said, laying a hand on his arm. “Not tonight.”

  “Then when?” The car came to a stop in the middle of the road.

  “This weekend. I promise,” I said, looking at him desperately. “We’ll go on our first real date and I will tell you everything about me. That’s how these things work, right?”

  He stared at me a moment longer. A slow breath rushed out of him as he gripped the steering wheel. “I wish you knew how much this is burning me on the inside.”

  “I’m sorry. I never intended for anyone to find out.”

  He shook his head. His eyes lost their coldness and rage. Suddenly, he looked remorseful. “I’m sorry, Olivia. You don’t need this right before the competition.”

  “May be that’s why he appeared today,” I said slowly, thinking. “He left me a check for a thousand dollars as a tip.”

  “What?”

  “I was going to give it to a charity,” I said, with a small smile. “But realized how it’d look. Like I was accepting a bribe or something. I’ll give it back to him.”

  “Yep. You should.” He swore under his breath.

  I laughed. “Calling him that doesn’t help us.”

  “No,” he agreed. “Let me take you home now.”

  “That’d be a good idea. I want to go to bed early tonight. I’m not in the mood for homework.”

  “Relax,” he said, starting the car. “Study this tomorrow after school and during the weekend.”

  We were near my house within a quarter of an hour. Leaning towards him, I kissed him. It was a slow but sweet kiss. When we parted, he had a goofy smile on his face.

  “Feeling better now?” I asked.

  “Totally,” he said, giving me another short kiss.

  Chapter 11

  The morning of the competition, I woke up earlier than usual. The sky outside my windows was still dark. The whole house was quiet. On a normal day, I’d have been happy to go back to sleep, but that Friday, I made the effort to get up and get an early start.

  I finished dressing up for school before James had woken. The sky outside lightened, bathing my room in its pale gray light. To pass time, I took out a novel from my bag and read until I could hear noises from the other rooms.

  At breakfast, James fixed me a bowl of cereal. My brother knew about the competition and I supposed it was his way of encouraging way. Either way, the gesture made me smile.

  Sarah came down five minutes after we’d sat down to eat. She looked disheveled and yawned widely as she slipped into a chair at the table.

  “I couldn’t sleep last night,” she moaned. “I’ve been so anxious about this competition. You must not lose to St. Paul’s after their sneaky move to bribe you.”

  “We won’t, Mother,” I said. “We practiced enough to play and sing in our sleep.” This was no exaggeration after the hours of practice that Jenny put us through.

  “Don’t fuss, Mother,” said James. “It’ll be fine.”

  I stood up to wash my bowl. Once I was done, I picked up my bag and went to give Sarah a kiss.

  “Wait for me,” said Ja
mes, hurrying to the sink.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “I’m walking you to school.”

  “What?” I asked, confused.

  “It’s safer that way,” he said in his deep voice. “I don’t trust the kids from St. Paul’s to play fair. Come on.” He strode past me. I exchanged a look with Sarah before running after him.

  We’d never walked to the school together. Whereas I jogged all the way on most days, James walked with a steady, relaxed pace.

  “You should stay surrounded by people throughout the day,” he said.

  “Did you hear about the boy who was poisoned last time?”

  “Yeah. Don’t eat anything they give you either.”

  “I’m not stupid!” I shot at him.

  He raised his eyebrows. “Just be careful. Keep Ryan around.”

  I frowned. “He’s got classes, you know. He can’t always be around and Stacie would be busy all day looking after the arrangements in the auditorium.”

  “Is that all the people you know at school?”

  “There are people from the music team too.”

  He made a derisive noise in his throat. “Punch anyone funny. Got that?”

  I laughed.

  “I’m serious.”

  “I know. I’ll be careful. Wonder if I should tell the rest of the team to be careful too. They are kind of impressed by the student president.”

  “Idiots,” he muttered under his breath.

  When we reached the school, James and I parted. I decided not to linger near the school gates to wait for Ryan and made my way towards the Washington Building.

  All through the day, Stacie appeared only during the classes and then rushed out afterwards. She even skipped lunch. By the end of noon, students from other schools began coming in. I sat with some of Stacie’s friends at the cafeteria, wishing I’d gone out with Ryan for lunch.

  The competition didn’t start until two P.M. So, I whiled away the time in the classroom. My mind was preoccupied. I mindlessly copied whatever the teachers wrote or dictated, but had no idea what they were teaching that day.

  When it was quarter to two, Miss Jennings, the history teacher called out my name. I looked up, afraid she would ask me to answer a question.

  “You should head to the auditorium, Olivia. It’s almost time,” she said.

  “Yeah. Thank you,” I said, standing up to gather my things. The class cheered and whistled. Cries of “Break a leg” followed me as I exited the room. I smiled, warmed by their encouragement and walked towards the staircase at the end of the corridor.

  The area around the Washington Building was deserted at the time as classes were still not over for most students. The auditorium was on the other side of the campus, so I hurried towards it.

  I had only gone a few steps when a familiar face stepped towards with two girls on his either side. This was the boy from St. Paul’s Academy who’d spoken to me a few months back and had goaded me into participating in the competition. His name was still unknown to me.

  “Hey there,” said the boy, coming to block my path.

  “If you don’t mind, I’m in a hurry,” I said, stepping around him and facing one of the girls.

  “Too bad you wouldn’t take the President’s offer and join our team,” he said, grabbing my arm and pulling me backward. “Last chance, Buchannan.”

  I kicked at him but he moved aside. Tightening his fist around my arm, he pushed me to the ground. The fall scraped my hands, but I was not hurt otherwise.

  “You know I can report you for this,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “Yeah? With what proof? No one is here to see us. Camilla here,” he said, gesturing to the dark skinned girl to his right. “She can break your legs in the wink of an eye. We can leave you somewhere until the competition gets over.”

  I glared at him. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  He smiled but his eyes remained cold. “That’s exactly what I have in mind.”

  My gaze shifted to Camilla. She was as tall as the boy beside her. Her mouth was pursed in a tight line while she watched me. I must have seemed like a cockroach in the dirt to her.

  “What are you doing, Stephen?” came a cold, male voice. Turning towards the sound, I saw Michael Hawthorne standing there. The dread in my chest increased. I looked around frantically for some passersby.

  “We were going to take care of her,” said Stephen, throwing out his chest in a gesture of pride.

  “Are you crazy? After what happened to that kid last time, do you think they won’t take her word? Two accusations against you won’t look good,” said Michael, walking towards me. He extended his hand down to me.

  Silently, I took it and he pulled up to stand. I brushed my dress and glared at him and his friend.

  “Are you all right, Olivia?” he asked, taking my hand in his.

  I pulled them back. “I’m fine.”

  “I’ll walk you to the auditorium,” he said. His features looked grim. There was no threat or mockery in his voice.

  “And you,” he said, glancing at Stephan. “Stay with your team mates. I don’t want any trouble here. Understand?”

  Stephan scowled and remained silent.

  “Go now,” said Michael in a deadly calm voice. His pale eyes were like chips of ice as they settled on Stephan.

  Stephan lowered his eyes and walked away with the two girls. Michael looked at me.

  “Come.”

  “What if you do something worse to me?” I asked, standing my ground.

  Michael rubbed his forehead. “I won’t, okay? Now let’s go.”

  I began walking towards the auditorium. He jogged after to catch up, but didn’t say anything further. It was quite different from the other times we’d been together. There were no fang-toothed grins, snide remarks or threats. Casting a side glance, I tried gauging his feelings. He was looking ahead and seemed lost in thoughts.

  “Hey,” said a familiar voice. Looking up, I saw Ryan standing in front of us. His eyes roved all over my body, focusing on my hands that had a few scrapes on. “What happened to you?”

  “Nothing,” I said slowly. “I fell. Michael helped me up. That’s all.”

  Michael stared at me, his eyes slightly wide from surprise. “Is everyone backstage now?” I asked.

  “Yeah. I told them you were in class.”

  I nodded. “I was. Miss Jennings let me off early to get here in time.”

  “Let’s go inside,” said Ryan, putting his arm around my shoulders.

  Leaving Michael, we walked towards the gate that led inside the backstage area.

  “We’re having a talk later,” whispered Ryan in my ears.

  “Okay.” I would tell him all that happened that afternoon after the competition was over. For now, I needed to focus on the task that was ahead of me.

  The backstage area was crowded with students from other schools. I found Jenny, Peter and the others, huddled together in a corner and went towards them. Stacie was talking to a group of a girls dressed in choir uniforms.

  “Couldn’t you skip class for the day?” hissed Jenny as soon as I reached her.

  “No.”

  “Just stop,” muttered Peter. “We’re all here, aren’t we?”

  Jenny frowned but let it go.

  Stacie came to us after a while. “We’ll be starting now. You guys feel good?”

  “I’ll feel good when it’s all done,” said Derek, one of the boys in our team.

  “Good luck,” said Stacie with a wink at me.

  Mine and Jenny’s turn came after an hour. To my relief, the piano was well tuned and I played flawlessly. Jenny sang along with me, both of us keeping to a good, steady pace.

  It was only after retreating to the backstage that I let out a long, deep breath. Everything had gone well. Four of our team members were left to perform but I was sure they would be doing well too. We were all there to cheer and support them.

  My eyes gazed to the corner where Stephen and his team sat
together. The two girls who’d accompanied him earlier were not there. Perhaps, they’d disguised as students to avoid detection.

  After another hour, the competition came to an end. Most of the teams were good in my opinion, though a few messed up their recitals. I enjoyed the performances after mine was over. All the stress that had built up in the past few weeks was gone.

  “We’re going for pizza after this,” said Jenny. “To celebrate.” To my surprise, she was actually smiling.

  I smiled back. “That sounds good. Is it okay if I invite Stacie and Ryan?”

  “Fine,” she said with a shrug. “Invite anyone you like. More the merrier!”

  I caught Peter’s eye. He was grinning at me. “She ain’t too bad, huh?”

  “No,” I whispered through my chuckles.

  The competition ended with us taking second place. St. Paul’s took fourth place and that seemed to raise our spirits even more.

  I walked towards Stacie who was picking up candy wrappers and scraps and throwing them in the bin.

  “We did well,” I said, helping her pick up some of the rubbish that the others had left behind.

  “Yeah! You guys were pretty close to the first place. No one saw St. Mary’s bringing in children to sing the chorus, did they? But it sure was impressive.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “They definitely brought on the surprise. We’re going for pizza. You’re coming with us.”

  “Thanks!” she said, her face glowing. “I didn’t think I’d ever be invited to go out with any of the teams.”

  I frowned. “Why not? You work so hard for us. You are part of the team.”

  “Not really. I just look after stuff,” she said, looking all around.

  “No matter. You’re coming!”

  “Is Ryan coming?”

  “I think so. I’ll have to ask him though. Hold on. I’ll call him.”

  He picked up my call at once.

  “Are you ready to go?” he asked.

  “No. We’re going for pizza first. With everyone.”

  “Do I have to? How about I pick you up after an hour?”

  “No way! You’re coming too!”

  I turned back to Stacie. “Ryan’s coming.”