The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane

by Sheila Roberts

  That evening at dinner, she had lots to share with her sister. “It’s so much fun being at the lodge.” She sighed happily. “Everything’s working out.”

  “Everything usually does,” Cecily said.

  “You sound like Mama,” Bailey teased.

  “Can you think of anyone you’d rather I sounded like?”

  “Nope.”

  Cecily forked up a piece of trout. “So, have you seen Eric?”

  “Yeah.” Bailey regarded her sister. “Why are you asking?”

  “No reason. Just wondering.”

  “You’re lying. What, do you have…a feeling about him?” Her sister was famous for her instincts when it came to matchmaking. But if she thought there would ever be something between Bailey and Eric, she’d lost her gift.

  “No,” Cecily admitted. “He’s a nice guy. I honestly can’t understand why he’s still single.”

  Bailey shrugged. “Maybe he’s just…too nice?” She frowned. “That sounds weird, doesn’t it?”

  “Well, not really,” her sister said.

  “It makes him seem, I don’t know…boring. Gosh, that’s kind of mean. But I want to fall in love with someone exciting. I don’t want my love life to be one long snooze. Just because we live in a small town doesn’t mean our lives have to be small. Right?”

  “Right,” Cecily agreed.

  * * *

  Boring, Cecily mused Saturday night as she and Bailey drove to her friend Juliet’s house for a game night. Was that why Todd pulled her attention away from Luke so easily? He was definitely the more exciting of the two men, and if she wanted to live large, he was the logical choice. And yet here she was, wimping out and choosing an evening with the girls over pinball at The Man Cave. You have to start living large, she scolded herself. Get your cold feet out of the ice bucket and go for it.

  Luke called her the next week. “You in town for the three-day weekend?”

  “Yes,” she answered cautiously.

  “Are you up for a hike on Saturday? Unless, of course, you’re planning to do the fun run.” He knew her well enough to know that wouldn’t be happening. Cecily enjoyed hiking, but running? Not unless she was being chased by a bear.

  A hike would be nice, but she couldn’t keep doing things with Luke, not unless she was going to start dating him seriously. It wouldn’t be fair. “Oh, I don’t think so,” she began. I’m about to start living large and that means Todd.

  “Come on,” he urged. “The weather’s going to be great, and since all the tourists will be busy with the run and the band concert in the park, we’ll probably have the trail to ourselves.”

  Oh, dear. That was the last thing she wanted.

  “I’ll bring lunch,” he added in an effort to sweeten the pot.

  “All right,” she agreed, only because she couldn’t bring herself to say what had to be said on the phone. But somewhere on that hike, they were going to have a conversation about a very different kind of hike—one that Luke would have to take.

  * * *

  “Icicle Creek Lodge,” Bailey said, answering the phone.

  It was the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend and the last room at the lodge had been booked a week ago, but people kept calling, hoping for a cancellation.

  “Bailey?”

  She nearly dropped the phone. “Brandon?” She’d known at some point she’d have to see him, talk to him, but she hadn’t been prepared for that moment to sneak up on her.

  “What are you doing answering the phone at my mom’s place?”

  And what are you doing in Jackson Hole with another woman when you should be with me? “I’m working here.”

  “I thought you were in L.A., becoming a celebrity chef.”

  He had to be the only person she knew who didn’t read the Star Reporter while standing in line at the supermarket. Thank God. “That didn’t work out.” Part of her yearned to keep him on the phone, but fear that he’d ask her why won the day. “Do you want to talk to your mom?”

  “No, actually, I want to surprise her. I thought I’d come up for the three-day weekend and bring…” He stopped, like a man hesitating in front of quicksand.

  “I heard you met someone down there,” Bailey said. It wouldn’t help either of them to play dumb.

  “Yeah, I… Aw, hell, I didn’t plan this. I had a chance for a job in Jackson Hole, and, well, there was Arielle.”

  There was Arielle. And here was Bailey, still wanting the man who’d been leading her on since they were teenagers.

  “I’ll come down to L.A.,” he’d promised, but the New Year came and went, and he never showed up. The texts had faded away, and he’d dropped off Facebook.

  He’s busy, she’d told herself. She hadn’t found out what he was busy with until she came home for good.

  “Bails, it just broadsided me,” Brandon continued. “I didn’t expect to fall in love.”

  She’d hoped he’d been starting to fall in love with her. Of course, Cecily had insisted all along that they weren’t a match. She should have listened to her sister. Then maybe she wouldn’t have let herself hope, wouldn’t have foolishly convinced herself that once she returned home, she and Brandon would pick up where they’d left off and skip happily into the sunset together. What the heck had Arielle done to get Brandon to lay his heart down at her feet?

  “But she’s incredible. She’s an artist.”

  Bailey was an artist, too. Her medium was food. There was probably no point in mentioning that. In fact, there was no point in saying much of anything. As if sensing her lack of interest, he finally abandoned the topic of Arielle. “Anyway, I wanted to let Eric know. I thought he could take Mom out to Schwangau Saturday night. Then we’ll be there waiting. Kind of a belated Mother’s Day present.”

  She guessed that he’d given Olivia only a card. It was Eric who sent flowers or took her out to eat. Of the two sons, Eric was the more considerate, the more responsible. Why couldn’t she fall in love with Eric? I had a chance for a job at the lodge and, well, there was Eric.

  He came in from outside, where he’d been doing some touch-up painting on the trim. He smiled at her as he entered the lobby. It was the same smile he always gave her, a big-brother smile. Eric Wallace would never break a girl’s heart. Too bad there was no chemistry there. Maybe chemistry was overrated.

  “Your brother’s on the phone,” she said and held out the receiver.

  Eric nodded his thanks and took it. “What’s up?”

  Bailey tried to look busy, to pretend she wasn’t interested in what was being said.

  “Yeah. It’s a three-day holiday weekend. Where else are we going to be?”

  He sounded mildly exasperated, and that made Bailey think of her older sister, who’d been less than happy to hear she didn’t want to work in the family business now that she was back home. Samantha carried the responsibility of Sweet Dreams Chocolates on her shoulders just as Eric carried most of the responsibility for the lodge on his. Younger siblings who skipped off to do their own thing were apparently a trial to responsible firstborns, no matter what the business.

  “Yeah, yeah. Okay. No, you can’t have the Edelweiss Suite. That’s been booked for two months. You guys’ll have to make do with your old room.”

  Bailey tried not to think of Brandon and his new love sharing a room, a bed.

  “Yeah, fine, I’ll have her there. No problem,” he said and ended the call. He handed the receiver back to Bailey.

  “That’ll be a nice surprise for your mom,” she said, trying to hide her own feelings behind a screen of politeness.

  “Yeah, it will,” Eric agreed. “She misses him.”

  “It’s too bad he didn’t stay here,” Bailey muttered. Then he would never have met the incredible Arielle.

  “You still in
love with him?”

  She was so pathetically obvious. All of Icicle Falls probably knew she was crazy for Brandon.

  Eric spoke before she could either confirm or deny. “Sucks to be on the wrong end of love, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes,” she said, “it does.” Then she couldn’t help but wonder. Who had put him on the wrong side of love?

  * * *

  Saturday did bring lovely weather. The sun painted a golden nimbus above the mountains surrounding town, and the sky was spring blue. It was a perfect day for a hike.

  But uneasiness crept over Cecily when she saw where Luke was going to take her. Lost Bride Trail. There was nothing even remotely subtle about his choice. This was the hike almost every couple in Icicle Falls took when things were getting serious. The trail led to a waterfall where the ghost of a long-ago missing bride was rumored to lurk. If a woman saw the lost bride, it was a sure sign she’d be getting engaged.

  Crap. She should have gone ahead and had that uncomfortable conversation on the phone.

  They parked at the trailhead, and he pulled a backpack, which was bulging with who knew what, out of the trunk.

  “Are you planning on running away from home?” she teased.

  “Nope. Just planning to eat.”

  Eat? There was an understatement. Once they reached the falls, they settled at a little picnic table, and he began to empty his backpack. Out came chicken salad sandwiches made with croissants, veggie chips, grapes, chocolate chip cookies and white wine.

  “You can pack my lunch anytime,” she said, taking it all in. “Did you do this all yourself?”

  “Of course. Well, with help from Ginny at the Safeway deli.” He pulled out two plastic cups and poured wine into them. “Just because I’m big doesn’t mean I’m not in touch with my feminine side.”

  “Having a little girl probably has something to do with that,” she said, accepting the glass.

  He nodded, giving her a wry smile. “Last night I had to wear a princess tiara and drink lemonade out of a pink plastic teacup.”

  Envisioning Luke in a tiara, sipping from a child’s teacup, made Cecily smile. “I’m sure it was a great look for you.”

  “I don’t think the pink boa was my color,” he said, deadpan.

  She giggled. He was such a nice man. She could be happy with him.

  But not happy enough. He deserved to find a woman who was crazy about him and melted every time he kissed her. She had to tell him now. Her heartbeat broke into an anxious trot. “Luke.”

  The easy smile on his face began to fade.

  This was awful. There was no way she could do this and not hurt him. She tried to soften the blow. “You’re a great guy.”

  “Uh-oh,” he said. His tone of voice was light, but she could see in his eyes that he was bracing himself for what was going to come next.

  “I don’t want to lead you on.”

  He clenched his jaw. He looked straight ahead and took a sip of his wine.

  Oh, this was so not going well. She laid a hand on his arm.

  He turned and faced her, shaking his head. “Cecily, what the hell are you doing?”

  “I’m trying to pull us back from the edge of a mistake. I don’t want to hurt you, and I want to stay friends.”

  He heaved a deep sigh. “The F-word.”

  She gave his arm a gentle rub. “You do want to be my friend, don’t you?”

  He managed a smile. “I’ve always been your friend, and I always will be.”

  He was so sweet. Any woman with half a brain would fall instantly in love with him. But, oh, yeah, as she already knew, she had only a quarter of a brain. She sighed and looked away, unable to face him. You’re doing the right thing, she told herself. You can’t keep stringing this man along.

  This should have been the moment to leave friendship behind and fall into mad, crazy love, and this should have been the man with whom to fall. Instead, here she was, stepping back. She hoped she knew what she was doing, for both their sakes. She sighed and stared out at the waterfall with its miniature rainbows dancing in the sunlight.

  Wait. What was that? What was she seeing?

  CHAPTER NINE

  Cecily blinked. She was hallucinating, had to be. Opening her eyes again, all she saw was a rushing torrent of water, no shadow of a woman in a white wedding gown. Good. Because the last thing she needed after filing her relationship with Luke under “friends” would’ve been to see the lost bride.

  But what if she had?

  “I guess we should start back,” he said.

  Excellent idea.

  Their trip down the trail was a subdued one. Not that Luke was pouting. He’d occasionally point out some wildflower he thought she might have missed on the way up, just to show there were no hard feelings. But after she’d dropped the F-word, there wasn’t much to talk about—no discussion of what they could do that night, no plans for future activities. They’d exhausted the topic of their families on the walk up, and Luke had already shared his vacation plans—Disneyland with his daughter and mom. So, that was that. It gave Cecily plenty of time to mull over what she’d done. And what she’d seen.

  Catching a glimpse of the lost bride simply meant a person was on the verge of an engagement. That could be with anyone. And if not Luke, there was only one other person it could be.

  So there it was. She couldn’t have asked for a clearer sign. She was meant to be with Todd.

  * * *

  Bailey wasn’t all that interested in nature, so she’d never quite understood the lure of hiking. If you asked her, it just meant a lot of hard work and getting sweaty to see pretty much the same view as you could see from town, only closer and with more bugs. Although she supposed if she was hiking with the right man, maybe she’d like it, especially if they were hiking up to Lost Bride Falls.

  She suspected that was where Luke and Cecily had gone. She loved seeing her sister with such a nice man. It was about time.

  She was in the middle of folding her laundry when Cecily returned home. “Did you have fun?” Her sister didn’t exactly look like a woman who’d had a passionate encounter at the falls.

  “We did,” Cecily said, then wandered into the kitchen.

  “Did you see the lost bride?”

  “You know that’s a superstition.” Cecily pulled a pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge and filled her glass.

  “Yeah, but did you see her?” Samantha had before she got together with Blake.

  “I don’t think so.” Cecily took a drink of lemonade.

  “So, you’re not sure?”

  “It’s easy to imagine all kinds of things up there,” Cecily said with a shrug.

  Bailey grinned. “You did see the lost bride.”

  “Well, it would be nice if I had,” Cecily admitted. “I’m really ready to find Mr. Right.”

  “It looks like you have,” Bailey said.

  “Looks can be deceiving.”

  That was true. Samba Barrett had looked like a nice person. “So, do you have a date tonight?”

  “I’m going to be doing something,” Cecily said, her expression guilty. “Will you be okay?”

  Bailey nodded vigorously. “Of course. You don’t have to babysit me, you know.”

  “I know. But I don’t want to ignore you, either.”

  She could hardly accuse her sister of that. The other night, Cecily had taught her a new card game.

  “You’re not ignoring me at all,” Bailey said. “Anyway, I have plans for tonight, too.” Thank God she wouldn’t be sitting at home thinking about Brandon and Arielle whooping it up at Schwangau. “I’m going over to Sammy’s for dinner. She invited you, too, but I’ll tell her you’ve got a hot date. Where are you guys going?”

  “Just hanging out a
round town.”

  Translation: none of your business. Of the three sisters, Cecily was the most private. She was also the most diplomatic; unlike Samantha, she’d never tell someone to butt out of her business. But when she didn’t want to share, she didn’t want to share. This was clearly one of those moments, so even though Bailey was dying for all the gory details of her sister’s upcoming evening with Luke, she knew better than to pry. Opening a clam with her bare hands would be easier than getting her sister to divulge any information on what she was up to if she didn’t want to.

  “As long as she’s out doing something with him,” Samantha said later when Bailey called her. “Luke’s a great guy, and I’m glad she’s finally got her head on straight.”

  “Well, how could she know about those other two guys?” Bailey argued, springing to Cecily’s defense. “I mean, they seemed really nice.”

  “When somebody’s asking to borrow money from you, he’s not a keeper,” Sammy said.

  Okay, she had a point. But, “Cec couldn’t have known about Number One. No way could she predict he’d go back to his first girlfriend.”

  “Oh, yeah? You were with them at the restaurant for breakfast when the ex just happened to come in, and he invited her to join you guys. Who invites his ex to pull up a chair and have a pancake when he’s out with his girlfriend?”

  “Yeah, that was a skeezy thing to do,” Bailey agreed. “At the time I just thought he was being polite.”

  “Would you want your boyfriend being polite with his ex?”

  “No way. You’re right. Why didn’t I see that? I could have warned her.”

  “Because, like Cec, you’re totally trusting. I think that’s why she can match up everybody but herself. When it comes to her own love life, she doesn’t see the big picture. Well, didn’t,” Sammy amended. “Luke is definitely big picture and picture perfect, thank God. I wonder what they’re doing tonight.”

  * * *

  As soon as Bailey was out the door, Cecily left the condo and made her way over to The Man Cave. It was only seven, but the potholed parking lot was already full of trucks and Jeeps, and the sound of country-rock music was seeping out of the place. The lederhosen-clad Neanderthal painted on the outside seemed to leer at her as she walked past. Welcome back, sucker.