Devonshire Scream (A Tea Shop Mystery #17)

That brought the raucous group up short. They stood there, glancing about, shifting their feet.

Never wanting to turn away potential business, and seeing that a large table was about to become available, Theodosia stepped in to smooth things over.

“It’s not a problem,” she told the group. “We have a Tea Totalers menu.”

Purple dress was not convinced. “What’s that?” she asked, suspicion evident in her voice.

So Theodosia gave a quick explanation of teas and tisanes. How tea was brewed from the leaves of tea plants, but a tisane was basically a fruit or herbal infusion. She told her that a tisane might look like a tea and be served in a lovely china teacup, but it was really a brew made from plums or raspberries, peppermint or chamomile.

Once purple dress was satisfied that she could partake of a fruit tea, things settled down to a dull roar.

“Now, don’t sneak any real tea into that lady’s brew and make me a liar,” Theodosia warned Drayton.

“Hah,” he said. “After our sneak-and-peek excursion of last night, a little white lie is nothing. I ought to call and report you to Detective Tidwell for suspicious lurking.”

She turned. “You wouldn’t.”

“No,” Drayton said as he measured out scoops of chocolate mint tea. “But you’ve certainly got me thinking the worst about Haley’s boyfriend.”

“I hear you. But why would he be wearing a tux if he wasn’t at the opera?”

Drayton poured a gush of hot water into a teapot, swished it around to warm the interior, and then dumped it out. “Oh, I don’t know. Perhaps his chosen profession demands that manner of dress?”

“You mean he’s either a headwaiter or a vampire?”

“Very funny. But what if we accuse Haley’s boyfriend of being part of that awful gang and it turns out he’s not?” Drayton asked. “If she gets mad at us for thinking the worst, she just might up and quit.” He glanced around at their roomful of customers. “Like right now. When we’ve got a full house.”

Theodosia had to agree. “That would be awful in more ways than one. We both love Haley. She’s part of our tea shop family.”

“I completely agree,” Drayton said. “Plus, we’ve got our Romanov Tea later today.” He lifted an eyebrow. “You really wouldn’t want to man the kitchen all by yourself, would you?”

Theodosia’s eyes practically glazed over. “There’s no way I could do what Haley does. Prepare all that food and get it out on time? Whip up actual blinis? I . . . well, I couldn’t do it.”

They gazed at each other.

“Then perhaps we’ll let the issue ride for now?” Drayton asked.

As if on cue, Haley came dashing out with a second tray of fresh-baked orange scones. “What are you two whispering about?” she asked as she set her tray on the counter. Her brows pinched together. “You look positively conspiratorial.”

“We were discussing you,” Drayton said.

Haley looked more than a little curious as she lifted the lid on a glass pie saver and began stacking her scones inside. “Oh yeah? What were you saying about me?”

“We’re worried that we’re putting too much pressure on you with all these themed teas,” Drayton said. “That you’re possibly feeling scattered.”

Haley dropped the lid, shoved back a hank of blond hair, and gave him a quirky look. “Scattered? Me? Haven’t you heard? I’m a millennial so I’m supposed to be scattered.” She struck a dramatic hand-on-her-hip pose. “And overly ambitious, too, don’t you know? I’m supposed to be, like, this killer chef who has a hipster boyfriend and is studying Mandarin Chinese while inventing new foodie apps for the iPhone. I’m supposed to want it all.”

Drayton was taken aback by her little outburst. “Goodness, Haley, do you want it all?”

Haley raised a fist over her head and grinned. “Of course I do. World domination, one scone at a time.”

? ? ?

At eleven o’clock, just as Theodosia was about to run into the kitchen and check on lunch, Detective Tidwell strolled into the tea shop. She glanced around, spotted an empty table, and ushered him to it.

“Tea?” Theodosia asked. She knew Tidwell had come to talk, but he didn’t mind being fussed over, either. In fact, all men enjoyed being fussed over when food was involved.

Tidwell’s jowls sloshed in the affirmative. “Tea would be grand. And I wouldn’t mind a scone as well.”

“Of course you wouldn’t.”

When Theodosia returned with a pot of Fujian white tea and two scones, Tidwell was smiling like the cat who’d swallowed the proverbial canary.

“I have news,” he said, his beady eyes seeking her out.

Theodosia glanced about the tea room to see if she could spare a minute, and then slid into a chair next to him. “What? Is this about that poor woman last night at the opera?”

“No. My news involves the jewel heist at Heart’s Desire.”

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