Page 18 of The Tea Witch's Promise

"I can negotiate too," Jasmine said.

Brew snapped to attention, looking at his sister with a look that said he wasn't keen on her dealing with the dryads from Grower's Cove, but that was just the protective brother in him. He'd felt protective over his other siblings ever since his dad died along with my parents.

It was always sweet to see him like that and warm affection for him settled in my chest.

"All right," Mrs Brewster said. "Grey and Jasmine can take the lead on the negotiations with Grower's Cove."

Discussions continued into the logistics of that, and I found my mind drifting. I wasn't needed for any of these discussions, being neither a dryad or a tea witch. It was at times like this that I wished my ward tattoo of Banjo was somewhere on my hands so I could entertain myself by watching it. Maybe that was where I'd get my next ward tattoo for that purpose.

Without meaning to, I stole a glance at Brew. He had a serious expression on his face as he listened intently. It was making his forehead wrinkle. If we were still children, I would've smoothed those out with my finger because he always said he worried about looking old.

He noticed me staring and smiled with just his mouth, a hollow echo of the signature Brew grin. That wouldn't do, but it gave me hope that I could manage to get the right kind of response out of him.

I brought my hand behind my head to make bunny ears. It was silly and childish but it brought a little spark to Brew's eyes. They crinkled as he made some bunny ears of his own and inflicted some on Earl sitting next to him who was giving us confused looks.

Jasmine turned in our direction, giving me a strange look that I couldn't decipher, but she didn't say anything and carried on with her part of the conversation about the dryads.

I leaned back and put bunny ears behind Naida's head, making Brew grin in response.

Now that was the mischievous Brew I knew. Still, his smile didn't last and fell away quickly. Something was definitely up with him.

I should talk to him. Even if this wasn't about what happened outside the tavern, maybe giving him a chance to talk would be good and he could let me in on what was bothering him. Perhaps we could even fix it together.

The meeting finally came to an end and I sprung up from my seat, determined to find out what was making Brew frown like this. I made my way around the large table, cursing my position at the far side because it put me on the back foot.

Outside, Brew's long strides had already carried him past the gates of the property. Since I didn't want to cause a scene with all the others around, I could only quicken my pace so much. I caught up with him but he was no longer alone. Two women had snared him with small talk and coquettish smiles that did nothing to hide their intention.

While I usually waited and let them do their thing, I didn't have the patience for that today. I barged in on their conversation, slightly out of breath but determined all the same.

"Brew, a word?" I said, hoping my behaviour wasn't too brusque.

He looked surprised but nodded, which made the two other women slink away. One of them squeezed his arm before she did and mouthed something that I couldn't make out.

They really were everywhere.

"Friends of yours?" I asked.

Brew hummed. "Patients. I treated one of them for a lung infection earlier this winter."

While it was a likely story, that didn't stop me from being annoyed at how familiar they were acting around him. They didn't know him, not like I did.

"Do you never tire of all the attention?" I asked, cursing inwardly as the question slipped out. This wasn't the way I wanted this to go.

"I like talking to people and it's part of my role to be friendly to everyone so they'll tell me what troubles them," he said with a little shrug. Knowing him, he truly meant it too.

The infirmary was lucky with a dedicated healer like him, even if his response made me a little jealous.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Brew asked, reminding me that I'd come running after him.

Heat rushed to my face and I avoided looking directly at him. It would be easier to ask this when I wasn't feeling overwhelmingly embarrassed.

"It's about that night outside the tavern," I said, quietly hoping that might be enough to jolt his memory.

Brew hummed but didn't say anything. He was going to make me say it, wasn't he?

I finally looked at him but got distracted by fresh snow fluttering down on us. It was only light but big snowflakes were settling on his unruly auburn hair. It looked a little like snow settling on a tree.

"Katie?" he prompted.