Too tired to protest, Nigel allowed himself to be bustled back into the nook behind the counter. Luna went about boiling and brewing, in her element. Soon tea was pressed into his hands. It didn’t smell too terrible.
Nigel sipped, not altogether pleased with the sharp taste of cardamom on his tongue, but it did seem to have a reviving effect. He moved from the nook to the counter, where he could watch Luna as she fed the plants. And perhaps his sleepy gaze did linger rather, when she bent over the bag of Mama Morgana’s to scoop out breakfast for the double-delight rose—
“Never mind!”croaked Debbie.
Nigel swiftly bounced his eyes, staring fixedly at the ceiling as he took another gulp of tea.
“Well now, we’re looking much better, aren’t we?” Luna said some while later, as she checked the tiger lilies in their pots. She picked up the last pot of the row and held it up for Nigel to see.“None the worse for wear in the end,” she declared. “Look! We’re even putting out some new petals already.”
The rogue lily was looking quite revived, despite its adventures of the evening before. Nigel held his teacup out in solemn salute, as Luna tucked the pot back in among its fellows. “It was quite the little romp last evening, wasn’t it, Mr. Grimm?” she said, chuckling to herself.
An image flashed through Nigel’s brain of shapely legs draped over his shoulders. “Quite,” he managed.
“I’ve been thinking,” she added, turning suddenly to look back at him where he stood at the counter, “about that sorcery you used to blast open the gate. Do you think it might have left any . . . residue? Something Officer Ward may have detected?”
Nigel opened his mouth to answer at once with a confident negative. He wasn’t some sorcerer’s apprentice, after all! He didn’t practicemessymagic.
Still, that dead tree might be a giveaway for someone trained to know the signs to look for. If an SSSD officer were to go over the site with sorcery sensors, they might detect the energy transfer which had taken place. But that wardsman last night hadn’t seemed particularly keen on further investigation, distracted as he was by the pretty girl in the vicinity.
Nigel decided to put a brave face on it. “Certainly not, Miss Talbot,” he said with more confidence than he felt.
Luna accepted this and turned to the task of selecting blossoms for the day’s front display. “It was nice of Officer Ward, wasn’t it?” she said, musingly. “To help us out I mean. I thought our goose was cooked for sure when he first showed up! But then he put that Lord Bruxley in his place, and it did my heart good to see. And the way he handled that dog!”
Nigel suddenly wished he’d blasted that dog to oblivion, rather than booking it down the street. Headlong flight wasnotthe best way to impress a girl with his manly prowess . . . though,something told him Luna wouldn’t appreciate dog-murder much either.
He drained the last of his tea, thinking with satisfaction of the magic he’d performed in the dark hours of the night before. Officer Ward shouldn’t be a bother in their lives anymore. Things would go back to the way they ought to be and, eventually, memory of his petty heroics would fade from Luna’s mind.
The clock chimed nine. “Opening time, Mr. Grimm!” Luna declared.
The day began with a line out the door. Ten Silly Young Things, all eager for fortunes to be read. Luna maintained her policy that tea was for buying customers only and directed their attention back to the flowers, but Nigel was under no delusions. He knew why this queue had gathered. Still, the flowers of The Arcane Bouquet were luscious and fresh; he had to believe theflowershop’s reputation would catch on sooner or later.
During a lull around 2 o’clock, after the lunch-hour rush, Luna brewed up a pot of tea just for the two of them. “One of these days,” she declared, setting a porcelain teacup before him, “I’m going to discoveryourtea, Mr. Grimm.”
Nigel looked at her uncertainly over the rising steam.
“It’s my belief,” she continued, splashing a dab of milk into her own cup, “there is arighttea for every drinker, if one can just be properly matched. Auntie Arabella used to say it was like love—you didn’t know it was the real thing until it happened to you.”
Nigel’s throat tightened. “Every tea you’ve made for me has been delightful.”
“Yes, but that’s the way of it with love too, isn’t it? You might be fooled for a time with substitutes, thinking you’ve found the real thing or close enough. Thenwham!True Love! A craving which can only be quenched by the Right One!” Luna grinned,raising a speculative eyebrow. “I’m sure I can inspire craving in you eventually, Mr. Grimm.”
“I’m . . . sure you can, Miss Talbot,” Nigel whispered rather hoarsely. He took a quick gulp. It scalded over his tongue, and he couldn’t say if it was his True Love Tea or not, because he didn’t taste a drop.
Luna sipped her own tea and looked musingly around the shop. Her expression was contemplative, her brow set in that little line which Nigel was coming to recognize as her thinking face. Asthoughtgenerally meantactionwhen it came to Luna Talbot, he knew he would soon be on the receiving end of whatever idea she was forming. He drank a little more tea to fortify himself.
Then it came: “What would you think about getting a couple of tables?”
“Tables?”
“Yes. Tables.” Luna turned to him, head tilted to one side. “As our customer base seems to be really keen on the teas, I thought we might set up a few tables and maybe invest in another kettle and a couple more teapots. We could serve more people that way.”
“You mean like . . . a café?”
“Yes. I suppose so.”
“But it’s aflowershop.”
She grinned and took another sip. “Of course, Mr. Grimm.”
