parking spots back there and figured you wouldn’t mind.”
“By all means go out this way,” said Theodosia, starting for the back door. “But I’m going to have to move a couple things.” She kicked at a carton of tea candles, then bent down and picked up a flat box. It was heaped with some of the spillover from her perpetually messy desk.
“Sorry,” she told Delaine and Bobby Wayne as they edged past her. “I know I’m not the tidiest person . . .”
“You should see my office,” said Bobby Wayne. “It’s got . . .” He stopped abruptly, his eyes suddenly fixed on the box in Theodosia’s hands.
“What?” she asked him.
Bobby Wayne looked puzzled. “That’s some of the stuff that belonged to Mark?”
“Uh, yeah,” said Theodosia, glancing down at it. “I guess it is. Some of it is.” She almost forgot that she’d removed a few things from the two boxes before Haley carried them upstairs.
Bobby Wayne scratched at the back of his neck. “That little ceramic elephant . . . ?”
Theodosia stared at a shiny gray elephant with bright eyes and a curled trunk. It was a cute little collectible, the kind of thing you might put on a small shelf in your dining room along with other small knickknacks.
“I’d swear there’s one just like it at our office,” said Bobby Wayne. He frowned, his mind struggling to dredge up the exact visual. “Well, maybe not tucked in an office, per se, but sitting out on somebody’s workstation.”
Theodosia pounced on his words. “Whose workstation? Do you remember?”
Now Bobby Wayne looked nervous and a little unhappy.
“I think it might be Fayne Hamilton’s.”
As if things weren’t crazy enough, Drayton was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to get organized for his afternoon tea tasting.
“Our customers will be here in less than ten minutes!” he screeched, checking his watch for the umpteenth time. He was expecting a group of about a dozen women who had nicknamed themselves the Patriot’s Point Tea Club and showed up at the Indigo Tea Shop three or four times a year. Obviously, Drayton wanted everything to be absolutely perfect for these repeat customers.
“Take it easy, Drayton,” said Haley. “I’ve got everything lined up—scones, shrimp bisque, and cheese straws, plus cucumber–goat cheese sandwiches on herb bread. So the kitchen’s good to go. And Miss Dimple has the two round tables all set up. She went with the French Garden china by Villeroy & Boch and the Ashmont pattern flatware.”
“That’s all fine and fancy,” replied Drayton, “but I’m still playing catch-up and tinkering with tea selections.” He rolled his eyes as if to punctuate his sentence.
Theodosia edged over to where Drayton was dithering amid the chirp and hiss of teapots. “What do you
“A Nilgiri for sure,” said Drayton.
“Sounds like an excellent choice,” said Theodosia. Nilgiris were fragrant black teas that imparted a slight “green” flavor. Almost vegetable-like.
“And a traditional black tea from the Ambootia Tea Estate in the district of Darjeeling,” continued Drayton.
Theodosia nodded. As always, Drayton was spot-on with his tea selections. His vast experience as a master tea taster and blender always paid off big time. He had the know-how even if his confidence and patience occasionally faltered.
“And I’m thinking of tossing in a tea from the Gopaldhara Tea Estate,” finished Drayton. He gave a slight shrug as if to indicate it
“The Gopaldhara has a slight honey and sandalwood essence,” added Charlie. Despite Drayton’s persnickety mood, she was hanging in there.
Theodosia gazed at the two of them as a smile played slowly at her mouth.
“What?” demanded Drayton. “You see a problem?”
“No,” said Theodosia. “What I see are two people trying their darndest to put together a fantastic tea-tasting experience. All I can say is I’m delighted you’re working together so well.”
This last remark caught Drayton completely off guard. “We are?” he asked, fingering his bow tie and glancing nervously at Charlie. “Really?”
Just as Haley and Miss Dimple were delivering bowls of shrimp bisque to the Patriot’s Point Tea Club ladies, just as Drayton and Charlie were pouring steaming pots of Darjeeling, Leah Shalimar strolled into the Indigo Tea Shop.
“I couldn’t stay away!” she told a surprised Theodosia.
It was getting late and Theodosia hadn’t really expected many more customers, but she gladly led Leah to a small table set for two.
“The idea of enjoying some of your wonderful tea and scones kept pulling at me,” confessed Leah. “So I decided the best thing to do was drive over here.” She peered up at Theodosia. “You’re still serving, aren’t you? I saw those other tables of . . .”
“We’re delighted to have you,” said Theodosia. “And Haley’s been ferociously productive in the kitchen today, so depending on just how hungry you are you’ve got your choice of a full tea luncheon or an afternoon repast of tea and scones.”
“What would the full tea luncheon be?” asked Leah. “I’ve been running errands ever since the funeral this morning and haven’t had a bite to eat.”
Theodosia thought for a moment. They still had quiche from lunch. And the sandwiches that Haley had made for the tea club. And then there was . . .
“Wait a minute,” said Leah. “Why don’t you just
“All right,” said Theodosia. “We’ll fix a little tray for you.” But at the same time she was wondering if Leah had really dropped in for tea or if she was scouting Drayton again. Or just . . . scouting?
Theodosia’s questions were pretty much answered when, ten minutes later, Leah asked her to sit down at her table. And, out of the blue, began pitching her on investment products.
“A woman in your position really needs to employ a complete portfolio of financial products,” said Leah, as she nibbled daintily at a cucumber-and-goat-cheese sandwich. In your younger years,” said Leah, nodding sweetly at Theodosia, “it’s important to
“This building wealth thing,” said Theodosia. “What exactly are you recommending? Stocks? Mutual funds?”
Leah shook her head tolerantly, as though Theodosia had just given the wrong answer in a school spelling bee. “Way too conservative,” she told her. “Even if you pick what you think might be a more volatile sector, like oil or telecommunications, you’re not necessarily going to see guaranteed growth. Not in double digits anyway.”
“I didn’t think anything was guaranteed,” said Theodosia. She knew a little bit about investing. Her father had been a lawyer, had left her a small portfolio when he died. And Theodosia knew that risk was always a factor in investing.
Leah reached for her teapot and refilled her teacup. “Let me tell you a little about FOREX,” she began.
“FOREX basically means foreign exchange,” said Leah. “You invest a certain amount of money to purchase a foreign currency futures contract.”
“So it’s speculating on the value of foreign currency,” said Theodosia.
“I’m impressed,” said Leah Shalimar, “that you grasped the basic concept so readily. Believe me, it took me a while to understand the nuances.”
“Not having the best, uh, geopolitical understanding of the world’s currency markets,” said Theodosia, “I think I’d probably be pretty awful at this.”
“Ah,” said Leah, holding up a finger. “The beauty of our FOREX product is that you don’t need to be
