Page 16 of The Tea Witch's Promise

"Thanks, Kat. I appreciate it."

I smiled at her, hoping she felt reassured. I was going to do everything I could to ensure that the ward ceremonyandtattoo apprenticeship went ahead. I knew that it was an important part of what our community needed. And if I had to, I was sure I could convince Brew to support me on it.

Brew.

Carly cleared her throat. "All right, what's the face for?"

"Face?" I echoed.

"Yes, you were sitting there all fine and then you got a confused look on your face. What's with that?"

I sighed and considered how much to say about what was going on with me and Brew. Or wasn't going on, which felt like a much more accurate way of describing the current situation. "What does it mean when a man says he's interested in you but then starts being weird and kind of avoiding you?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, I can't say I have much experience with dating men."

"Right. Well, what if a woman did that to you? What would it mean?"

"Maybe that she's embarrassed? I don't know, I can't say I've had a confession like that before." She gave me a bit of a cocky grin. "I'm usually the one doing the confessing."

I sighed. "You're no help."

"Never claimed I would be. I'm a tattoo artist, not a love expert."

"You know a lot of people," I pointed out. "And Hugo's your brother."

"I wouldn't ask him for any advice, he'd be about as useful as a tattoo needle without any ink."

I sighed and ran a hand over my face. "He was tipsy when he told me he was interested. Or rather, I think he told me he was interested. Maybe I'm getting it all wrong and he was simply drunk and saying something he didn't mean. Or he thought I was someone else. Maybe I'm overthinking it."

Carly chuckled. "Likely. Maybe you could ask Hugo for advice after all, he's got lots of experience with men. And drinking, so that works on both fronts."

I shook my head. "No, I'll just figure it out myself. It probably means nothing. I mean, this is Brew we're talking about.

"Wait, Brew as in Rooibos Brewster?" Amusement danced over Carly's face.

"Yes."

"Huh, took you long enough, I figured you'd catch feelings for him much sooner seeing how he’s always making eyes at you."

"I didn't say I had feelings for him," I responded.

My best friend just laughed and got up to sort out some of her inks. "Why would you be bothered about if he'd confessed to you or not if you didn't?"

I opened my mouth to protest but then shut it again, not really sure what I could convincingly say to the contrary. "It doesn't matter anyway. He can't leave his house without some woman batting her eyelashes at him. He could have anyone he wants, why would he be interested in me?"

"Because you're great. You work hard, you have an adorable dog, and you're smart." Carly said, her gaze travelling up and down my body. "And you're easy on the eyes, objectively speaking."

I snorted. "Objectively speaking?"

"Well, you're not my type but I know good bone structure when I see it," she said, flashing me a grin.

I was lucky to have Carly as my best friend, she always knew how to cheer me up.

A door slammed upstairs and someone ran down the rickety stairs, causing lots of ruckus. I only caught a glimpse of Carly's younger brother before he stormed out. A quacking goose followed him at a leisurely pace, sort of raining on his angry parade. Gus snatched the goose up, left the house without saying a word, slamming the front door so hard it made the whole building shake.

"What's that about?" I asked.

Carly's smile fell away. "Gus has got this stupid thing in his head. He’s been saying he wants to leave."