“Could have been,” Theodosia said. She harbored no love for Bill Glass. He was nosy, pushy, and arrogant. Plus, he was always on the prowl for a juicy story.
“Doing business?”
“If he was, that’s none of your business,” Theodosia said. She noticed that Drayton had turned away from them and was busily measuring out tea.
Glass peered at her. “I bet he was at the death tea yesterday, am I right?”
Theodosia just gazed at him. Better not to engage. Be polite, but never negotiate with a terrorist.
“Sure. ’Course he was,” Glass said. “Chauvet’s one of the partners in that Banana Peel line.”
“Lemon Squeeze Couture,” Theodosia said.
“Whatever.”
“Do you think he could have murdered that chick?”
“Honestly,” Theodosia said, “at this point anybody could have.”
“Want me to sniff around? See if I can scrape up any dirt on him?” Glass asked.
It was tempting, but Theodosia decided no. Instead, she dropped two butterscotch scones into an indigo blue bag and shoved it at Glass, anxious to be rid of him. “Here you go. Two for the road.”
Glass touched a hand to his heart. “You’re kicking me out?”
“Apologies. But we’re awfully busy.”
* * *
* * *
At three o’clock Haley came out of the kitchen, brandishing a notebook and pen, a serious look on her face.
“We need to talk,” she said.
Looking worried, Drayton put a hand to his bow tie and said, “About . . . ?”
“Bridal shower teas,” Haley said.
“Ah,” Drayton said, relaxing.
Haley shook back a curtain of blond hair and tapped her pen. “As you know, we’ve got six or seven bridal showers coming up in the very near future, and I’m fairly sure we don’t want to keep doing the same old thing.”
“I prefer to view each tea we cater as something unique and lovely,” Drayton said.
“Well . . . yeah,” Haley said. “But . . .”
“But it couldn’t hurt to brainstorm, right?” Theodosia said as she joined them at the counter.
“It sure would help,” Haley said. “When we have a few different themes we can present to prospective brides, it helps me develop the menus to go along.”
“So it’s a business decision,” Drayton said. “In that case why don’t we consider doing a Spa Tea?”
“Explain, please,” Haley said.
“I’ve been dying to serve some of our wonderful herbal teas,” Drayton said. “And we’ve already got Theodosia’s T-Bath products to use as favors.”
“We could even bring in someone to do shoulder massages,” Theodosia said. “And I know we could probably get a couple of makeup artists as well.”
“Does that give you menu ideas?” Drayton asked Haley.
“Yup. I’m already thinking quinoa salads, tomato and goat cheese tea sandwiches, avocado toast, and grilled cauliflower steak.”
“Okay, here are a couple more ideas,” Theodosia said. “We could do a Paris Tea, a Great Gatsby–themed tea, or even a Shabby Chic Tea.”
“Why not bring in a string quartet?” Drayton said. “Do a Music Tea.”
“Slow down,” Haley cautioned. “I’m writing as fast as I can.”
“For something really outside the box we could give our guests basic calligraphy lessons,” Drayton said.
“And there’s always a Pretty in Pink Party or a champagne brunch,” Theodosia said.
“I’m loving this!” Haley cried. “But it’s almost too much. You guys are way over-the-top creative.”
Drayton smiled as he took a step back. “Does all this seem strange to you?”
“What do you mean?” Theodosia said.
“Nadine was murdered yesterday, and today we’re brainstorming ideas for bridal shower teas?”
“I guess . . .” Haley stopped mid-sentence.
“You guess what?” Drayton said.
Haley closed her notebook and said, “I guess life goes on.”
As if to underscore Haley’s words, the front door flew open with a loud bang. Looking over to see what the ruckus was, they saw Bettina standing there, a look of anguish on her young face.
“Or maybe I spoke too soon,” Haley murmured under her breath.
6
“Bettina!” Theodosia cried. “What are you . . . ?”
Bettina stumbled toward Theodosia on shaky legs and said, “Please, I need to talk to you.”
“You poor thing,” Theodosia said. She met Bettina halfway, put an arm around the girl’s shoulders, and led her to the nearest table. Haley was there to pull out a chair while Drayton hovered nearby.
Once Bettina sat down she looked up at the three of them and said, “You are all so kind, but I’m okay. Really.”
“Let me grab you something to eat,” Haley said.
“I’ll fix you a nice cup of tea,” Drayton said.
Theodosia sat down across from Bettina and said, “What’s going on? How can I help?”
Bettina tried for a smile but failed miserably. “I need to talk to you about . . . you know.”
“About your mom,” Theodosia said.
“About her murder.” Bettina seemed to cringe inwardly, then said, “There, I’ve said it. Her murder.”
“Okay,” Theodosia said gently. “What about it?”
“Mainly the circumstances surrounding it. Because the thing is . . . it feels like Sheriff Burney is giving me the runaround. I’m sure he thinks I need to be protected from the awful truth, even though I was right there and pretty much know all the grisly details.”
“Uh-huh,” Theodosia said. She decided to simply let Bettina talk. Let the poor girl get it all out. Do a kind of emotional purge.
“But the circumstances are all so mysterious. There doesn’t seem to be a logical explanation for Mom’s murder and there still aren’t any suspects.”
Theodosia patted her hand. “I know.”
“And even though your boyfriend, Detective Riley, was super helpful yesterday, even made a few suggestions, I know it’s not his jurisdiction.”