“Oh. Right.” I swallowed. “Sure.”
Neither of us moved.
“I’m going to show my hand,” he said, “and tell you that I’m afraid that if I leave you and go home, I’ll wake up to discover this never happened.”
I smiled up at him. “If it would make you feel better,” I said, “we could make plans to do this again tomorrow.”
He stroked my hair, twirling a curl around his finger. “Don’t play coy with me, Jane Woodward. I don’t think my heart could take it.”
“You’re not wrong. It’s been a”—I searched for the right word—“tempestuous time. I have a lot of sorting to do. Celia and I are finally back on the right footing.”
He smiled. “I’m glad.”
“And Margot’s still settling, and we’re pressing on with the tea shop. But even with all of that, I think this, right here, is very much worth following up on.”
“This?” He leaned forward again, pressing a new, sweet kiss to my lips. “Right here?”
I kissed him back, enjoying the mix of kissing and laughter. “Yes,” I answered. “This right here.”
He laughed then, a full-hearted laugh, swinging himself around and off the hammock gracefully. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s say good night so that tomorrow we can say hello.”
38
I will tell you. I was going to. I just need tea.
—JOANNA TROLLOPE
Jane
“So,” Celia said over the breakfast table the next morning. “Either you had a good date last night or you had a facial, because you’re glowing.”
“It was a really good date,” I said, feeling my cheeks turn pink.
“Margot,” Celia asked sweetly, “does Jane look like she’s blushing to you?”
Margot closed the fridge to look, and then burst into cackling laughter. “She totally is!”
“Tease me now,” I told them. “When you’re both in love, I won’t hold back.”
Celia sat up straighter. “Speaking of being in love, you’ll be pleased to hear that while you were cavorting on your date last night—”
I snorted. “We were hardly cavorting.”
“You wouldn’t be blushing so hard if there wasn’t any cavorting,” Celia pointed out.
“There might have been a little,” I admitted primly. “Some.”
“You were making out,” Margot crowed.
I raised my eyebrows at Celia, but she ignored me.
“I created an online dating profile last night,” she said. “And tomorrow, I have a coffee date.”
“Coffee?”
“It’s casual,” Celia said. “If he’s worthy, we’ll go to tea.”
I laughed, and reached out to grasp her hand. “Good plan. I hope it goes well.”
“Yes,” Celia answered. “I just wish…”
“Not over Teddy yet?”
Celia swallowed hard. “Not quite yet.” She gave a tremulous smile. “But I need to be. It’s time.”
Within a matter of days, we had a signed lease and keys to the new space. Celia and I spent our days setting up the salon and getting things ready. We ordered the sign that would hang outside the door, proudly announcing Valencia Tea Company.
At last.
Ian, Roy, and Callum, along with a few staff members from Smoky Top, helped to get the marble-topped bar into place.
“Hello, love,” I said, running my hand over its cool, smooth surface. “It’s nice to see you.”
“I see,” Callum teased. “I thought it was just me, but it turns out you’re friendly with your countertop too.”
I spun and wrapped my arms around his neck before pressing a kiss to his lips. Mostly because I wanted to, a little because it was the fastest way to stop him from teasing me any further.
Roy carried a box in. “That Lyndsay Stahl girl stopped in the other day, at Smoky Top,” he said, setting the box on top of the bar. “This one’s labeled ‘teapots.’ ”
“There on the bar is fine,” I said, glancing at Celia. Her eyes were downcast, preoccupied with the placement of our vintage cash register.
“She was there with her new husband,” Roy continued. “Didn’t know she’d gotten married, but congratulated the kids. Gave them dessert on the house.”
“Good,” Callum said, catching the look on my face.
I’d told him the story of Lyndsay and Teddy and Celia, and he’d shaken his head. “I don’t understand,” he’d said at the time, “how any sane guy would date Lyndsay after Celia. Your sister’s a class act.”
I had agreed wholeheartedly.
Celia was quiet for several minutes after Roy left, but by the time we began to unpack the teacups, her smile had reappeared.
“We won’t put the shelves up until after we’ve redone the wallpaper,” I said. “But I think it’s going to look really good.”
Celia hugged me, resting her chin on my shoulder. “I agree.”
We settled on a pretty black-and-white print paper from Graham & Brown that featured pen-and-ink blossoms, tree branches, and butterflies on a white background. It somehow straddled the line between modern and old-fashioned, which perfectly suited our concept.
Three days later, the rolls had arrived, and Celia and I were up to our elbows in wallpaper paste and loving every minute.
“It’s going to look really good,” I said, “with the hanging windows.”
“Is it blasphemy to say I like it more than the paper we had in San Francisco?”
I considered the question. “I don’t think it’s ever wrong,” I decided, “to love what you have more than what you had.”
“That is very wise,” Celia said. “It would sound wiser if you didn’t have paste on your nose.”
We were laughing together, mostly at my attempts to wipe it off with the back of my arm, which left even more than I’d had in the first place, when the bells over the door rung behind us.
My first thought was that Callum had come to visit. But when I heard Celia’s intake of breath, I realized I was wrong.
“Celia,” said Teddy’s voice. “Hello.”
“Hello,” she said, turning around fully.
I set down my paper and brush. “Hi, Teddy.”
“Hi.” He gave me a careful smile.
If seeing Sean again had been strange, seeing Teddy again was even more so. His hair had grown long enough to dust his collar, and he was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, which was the most dressed down I’d ever seen him. But he still looked like our Teddy, right down to the way he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Celia.
“It’s nice to see you,” I said. “How…how did you know where to find us?”
“Oh. Yes. I subscribe to your newsletter,” he said. “And you just sent out the mailing talking about how you found the place.”
“Ah,” I said. “That makes sense.”
It was clever, actually. But what didn’t make sense was what he was doing here.
“Jane,” he said, after a moment, “I’d like to speak to Celia for a few minutes.”
Celia took a half step closer to me.
“I don’t think so,” I said, raising my chin. I wasn’t trying to be mean, but after what Celia had been through, he’d lost his one-on-one privileges with my sister. “Not without her say-so, at least.”
“Whatever you have to say,” Celia said at last, her voice hoarse, “I’d like Jane to be here.”
“Right,” he said, glancing down at the floor. “Yes. Understandable.” A deep breath, and then he looked up at us again.
“Congratulations on acquiring Lyndsay Stahl as a sister-in-law,” I said, my voice as dry as one of James Bond’s martinis. “Congratulations, apologies, potayto, potahto. Our friend Roy served her at the Smoky Top recently.” I paused. “I hope you weren’t deeply disappointed. The two of you were dating, right?”
“Er, somewhat. Lyndsay and I caught up a bit,” he said, “after Celia and I broke up.”
“You were rebounding.”
“Mo
re or less.”
I shot a look at Celia, a look that meant more, but she wasn’t looking at me. I shifted my attention back to Teddy as he stammered on.
“Lyndsay and I dated a long time ago, in college,” he said, “and we reconnected over LinkedIn. But she came out here and spent time with Rob, and it seems that they hit it off.”
He cleared his throat. “I’m not surprised, to be honest. Rob’s start-up went public the day before. It made a lot of money.”
“So…now you’re here,” Celia breathed.
Teddy took a step forward. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I was lonely, and I missed you. I was tired of missing you. And Lyndsay liked me.”
“I liked you,” Celia said softly.
They stood there, each watching the other’s face so carefully. I felt certain both of them had forgotten I was even there.
“I understand why you broke up with me,” Teddy said. “I had a choice, and I should have chosen you. I should have chosen you without a second’s hesitation.” He took a deep breath. “If you don’t want to see me, I understand. But I wanted to see you and tell you that Lyndsay and I, well, that was never a thing, not really. And I also quit my job.”
Celia’s eyes widened. “You quit your job?”
“I left without notice, actually. Spent a lot of time thinking and packed up my desk. I’ve always wanted to go to seminary, and I’m going stop second-guessing myself and do it. I’ve applied to Dallas Theological Seminary and Fuller too. And if they don’t accept me I’ll apply to others. Talbot. Western. All of them.”
There were quite a few more, but I knew better than to open my mouth at such a time.
“You were right about me,” he said. “I should have been stronger. So I’m going to do better, and that means applying for seminary. And”—he paused—“I thought I’d show up and see what would happen if I begged you to give me a second chance. I love you, Celia.”
As it turned out, he didn’t need to beg. He just needed to be brave.
Celia rushed across the room to him. “I love you, Teddy!” she said, throwing her wallpaper-paste-covered arms around him.
And Teddy, for his part, clearly did not care. He held her tight, and in no time at all, they were kissing. I suddenly saw Margot’s point about making oneself scarce when one’s sister and her boyfriend were in the midst of a romantic moment.
I snuck out the back door and leaned against the alley wall.
Celia was happy.
Margot was happy.
And me? I might have been the happiest one of them all.
Epilogue
When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things.
—MURIEL BARBERY
Six Months Later
I turned off the Open sign in the window of the tea shop and turned around to face the assembly. More specifically, Celia, Teddy, Margot, and Callum. “Everyone take a seat,” I said. “And help yourself to a scone. I made them fresh this morning and saved them.”
“Even though we ran out of scones at three o’clock today,” Celia clarified.
“Those were regular scones,” I said. “These are special scones, with imported French butter. I don’t make these for just anyone.”
Celia snorted, but I pressed on.
“Celia and I have called a family meeting because,” I said, “there are going to be some changes.”
“Wait,” said Margot, taking the seat next to me. “Teddy and Callum aren’t family. Not, you know, ‘legally,’ ” she said, adding air quotes.
“Margot,” Teddy said, “I’ve asked Celia to marry me.”
“Really?” Margot squealed, her cheeks squishing her eyes until they were small but glowing. “When? Can I be a bridesmaid? Can I do the flowers? Is Jane going to bake everything?”
“We haven’t set a date,” Celia answered. “And of course you’ll be a bridesmaid. I thought the three of us could do the flowers together, and the food logistics are still under consideration.”
“I’m baking everything,” I told Margot. “Don’t worry.”
“What if you were just a bridesmaid for one day?” Celia asked me. “Have you considered that?”
“Of course I considered it,” I retorted. “But I can do both.”
“Teddy lives in Dallas,” Margot interrupted. “Are you moving to Dallas?”
“That’s the plan, yes,” Celia said, nodding. “At least while Teddy’s in school. We want to come back to Austin when he’s done. Plant a church.”
“Oh,” Margot said, noticeably more sober. “So…I’ll stay with Jane at the townhouse.”
Callum reached under the table and squeezed my knee. “Yes,” I said.
This was harder than I’d expected.
“Callum asked me to marry him,” I said in a rush.
Both of my sisters stared at me, wide-eyed, their ensuing questions—what, really, when—stacked on top of each other.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Celia asked, looking from me to Callum and firmly back to me. “I…I thought…” I knew what she was thinking, that we’d promised not to keep secrets from each other.
“I thought it would be easier to tell you both when we were all together, making plans,” I said. “And he just asked me.”
Celia turned a sharp stare to Callum. “When?” she demanded.
Callum held his hands up. “Yesterday. I couldn’t stop myself.”
I turned and arched an eyebrow at him. “Did you try?”
He winked at me. “Not really.”
“You’ve known since yesterday?” Celia reached over, picked up a scone, and lobbed it at me. “You knew for twenty-four hours, and you didn’t say anything?”
“Those are special scones! Don’t throw them!” But I picked one up and tossed it at her.
Margot reached out and picked up a broken piece of scone. “These are really good,” she said in a small voice, tucking the crumb into her mouth. “You probably shouldn’t throw them at each other.”
Celia straightened. “Margot’s right.”
“She is. Look,” I said, turning to my younger sister. “I was only a couple of years older than you when we lost the house we’d grown up in.”
Margot nodded. “I remember that house.”
“I loved that house, and after Dad sold it I felt completely unmoored. So it’s really important to me that you know that Celia and Teddy and Callum and I all love you. You have a room full of weird sister-brother parents, okay?”
“This is starting to sound like a cut scene from Chinatown,” Teddy murmured.
“She knows what I mean,” I said, haughtily. “Don’t you, Gogo?”
Margot nodded.
“If you wanted to come to Dallas with us,” Celia told Margot, “we’d love to have you. That’s one option.”
Margot wrinkled her nose. “But won’t you be, like, honeymooning and stuff?”
I waved a hand. “There’s going to be lots of honeymooning going around. It can’t be avoided, but”—I paused to take an anxious breath—“we’ll work it out. You’re important, Margot.”
“What your sister is trying to say,” Callum cut in, “is that we realize that this is your senior year of high school and that you may not want to relocate again. I have my house here, and there’s lots of room—including the finished attic.”
“Which has air-conditioning,” I added.
Callum nodded. “It does. We’d love to have you. But I know that Celia and Teddy would love to have you too. The choice is up to you.”
I squeezed his hand in thanks and held my breath. By now, I had a well of tears just under my eyelids, threatening to spill.
When Callum asked me to marry him, I was ecstatic. I loved him. We loved each other. We were going to be together.
And then I remembered Margot and Celia’s recent engagement and the conversation I’d shared with Margot so many months before, in that short window when Sean and I had been serious.
/> Also known as that time when Sean had asked me to marry him so I’d consent to being a roadie.
So as happy as I was about the prospect of being with Callum, I’d immediately begun to worry about Margot. She’d already been uprooted, moved across the country, and moved from the casita into an admittedly much more spacious three-bedroom townhouse.
Callum had offered to move into the townhouse, but I was enough of a pragmatist to think that maybe—while honeymooning—we might all appreciate the extra room.
And then I began to panic that Margot might choose the adventure of following Celia to Dallas. Losing Celia to Teddy—I could handle it. Almost. Mostly. I could deal with it, as long as I had a steady dose of texts and calls and silly photos paired with the promise of returning to Austin.
But losing Celia and Margot, both at once? My heart squeezed at the thought.
Sitting at the table, I waited for Margot to speak.
Callum squeezed my hand and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Don’t forget to breathe,” he murmured. I squeezed his hand back.
“It’s okay if you want to take some time,” Celia told her.
“No,” Margot said. “It’s okay.” She looked to me and Callum. “You guys are keeping Dash, right?”
“Of course,” Callum answered, a smile on his lips.
“And Celia will come visit? And I can visit her?”
Celia and I both nodded. I couldn’t speak.
“Then I’ll stay with you and Jane,” Margot said at last.
I exhaled in a whoosh, leaning over and wrapping my arm around her. “I love ya, kid.”
“I love you too,” she said, and I knew she meant it.
“And it’s okay that you’re only staying for the dog.”
“I don’t think it’s just about the dog,” Callum said, but I was crying now, and laughing, and hugging Margot, Celia too, and Callum. And all at once we were standing and hugging and crying. I didn’t know where my arms ended and anyone else’s began, and I didn’t care.
Celia might be leaving, but she’d be back. And maybe Margot would leave us someday. But we loved each other. And we were together now, and we’d be together again, and that’s what mattered most.
I opened my eyes to see Celia’s face across from mine, on the other side of Margot’s shoulder.
Jane of Austin Page 29