Page 17 of The Tea Witch's Promise

"Home?" It took me a moment to fully comprehend what she was saying. "He wants to leave Purple Oak?"

She nodded. "There's a settlement for bird wards a few days away called the Nest. Gus said he wants to go there, and try his luck. Dad won't have it and they've been arguing for days. The more they fight, the more I worry he'll actually go."

I didn't know what to say that might be helpful. If Oliver brought something up like that, I would do everything in my power to make him stay too.

"Is Gus not happy here?" I asked instead. "Is there something I could do that would make him stay?"

Carly shook her head. "I don't think so. He's just restless, I know the feeling. Don't get me wrong, I don't want him to go either but he's an adult and he hasn't been happy in a while. Maybe this is the right choice for him?"

"It's a shame when the right choice might end up hurting your loved ones though," I said.

"It is, but your loved ones also shouldn't stop you from making the right choices. If they do, they're not worthy of your love."

I couldn't help but smile. "Are you sure you're not a love expert after all?"

"I am sounding very wise, aren't I?" Carly quipped with a grin. "Maybe you should just talk to Brew. You have a mouth, right? Use it. Now if that's not good love advice, I don't know what is."

I gasped. "Carly!"

"I meant to talk. You're the one who made it dirty," she said, but her sly smirk made it clear she made her insinuations on purpose.

Lewd suggestions or not, talking to Brew was actually good advice. If we could talk about this while tipsy, then we should be able to talk about it sober. And if he wasn't capable of doing that, then I guessed I'd know where I stood. I didn’t like the thought of that which should tell me all I needed to know about the state of my own feelings, no matter what I told my best friend.

Chapter10

Katie

There wasa chill in the meeting room that couldn't be combated by the fire roaring in the hearth. I pulled my shawl closer around me, which did nothing to help distract me from Brew sitting opposite me. If anything it made memoreaware of him.

It was ridiculous. My shawl didn't even smell like him any more and he was doing everything he could not to look at me, which gave me ample opportunity to look athim.Though that was concerning. He had dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't been sleeping well.

Was it because of me? Or was something else going on that had taken the pep out of his step? I hated the idea that I might have done something to upset him, though I didn't know what. Maybe it was because I hadn't said anything about the night outside the tavern. But that couldn't be it. He wasn't being serious then, was he?

I closed my eyes and tried to regain some control over myself. Carly was right that I clearly needed to talk to Brew, especially if I couldn't even be in the same room with him without spiralling over what was going on between us.

Mrs Brewster knocked on the table to get everyone's attention and bring the meeting to order. I was almost relieved that we had to talk about serious things. That would take my mind off Rooibos Brewster for at least a little bit.

Even if he was in the room and would be part of the conversation.

"Does anyone want to start?" Mrs Brewster asked, looking around the room.

Unsurprisingly, nobody said anything, probably because we all knew that she had something important to talk about.

"All right, so the tea," she said.

I sat up straighter. Having helped the Brewsters with the stock check, I knew the basics about the situation, but I wanted to hear the outcome. And it was going to impact the entire settlement. Tea was the source of power for the tea witches, and without it, they wouldn't be able to run the infirmary. I was sure there were other things they wouldn't be able to do, but I had no idea exactly how the magic worked.

"We've been through the warehouse and sorted out the situation with the rat infestation. We're looking at having about two months' worth of tea left, three months if we ration it," Mrs Brewster said.

"Though we're expecting the trader soon," Jasmine said.

"If nothing goes wrong," Mrs Steeper interjected, a serious expression on her face.

Her wife nodded. "The trader has been late in the past and they're not the most reliable. We need our own plantation to succeed more than ever. That's why the meeting with Grower's Cove should be a priority. If the dryads can assist us, it'll be worth whatever they demand from us. I suggest Grey goes to negotiate with them."

Upon hearing his name, Grey looked up with a hesitant expression. "Me?"

No one answered his question. It was a bit of a surprise that his aunts hadn't talked to him about it. The Steepers always seemed close, but maybe there were some complicated dynamics going on. I wasn't sure what had happened to Grey's parents, but he'd lived with his aunts and cousin for as long as I could remember.