Page 22 of The Tea Witch's Promise

"Mind if I sat?" I asked.

Carly looked up and gave me a weak smile. "Sure."

"Everything alright? I saw...whatever that was with Gus." I waved in the direction the goose ward had stormed off in.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I tried to convince him to stay again, but he's made up his mind. He's leaving for the Nest tomorrow."

"I'm sorry." I gave her arm an encouraging squeeze and held out my tankard. "Here."

"You're sweet." She took a big swig from my beer and sighed. "I wish I could stop him but he's a grown man. It's only fair that he's allowed to make his way in the world. I just worry about him. You know Gus, he's too trusting, and he's got a heart of gold. I don't want him to get taken advantage of. But I also can't tell him that because he'll be insulted."

"I'm sure he'll be fine." It was an empty reassurance because I knew nothing about where he was going, and I didn't actually know Gus all that well, but it came from a good place.

Carly nodded and shot me a pained smile. "I should go apologise. If he's leaving soon, I don't want to part ways on bad terms."

"That's a good idea."

"You're going to be all right without me?" She handed back my tankard.

"I'll be fine. Go talk to Gus."

"Thanks, you're a good friend, Kat." She got to her feet, a surprised expression on her face when she locked eyes on someone. Maybe Gus had come back on his own. "I see why you're going to be all right now," she joked.

I twisted around to follow where she was looking, my gaze landing on Brew.

He raised his tankard in my direction, causing my heart to flutter like a fickle leaf in the wind and my feet acted on their own accord, carrying me to the man who was making me feel all sorts of unexpected things.

At least Carly had a mission of her own to go on, so I didn't feeltooguilty about the fact I was leaving her on her own.

The fire only illuminated one side of Brew's face and made his jaw look even sharper than it already was. The glow of the flames was bringing out the red in his curls which were flattened for once instead of sticking up all over the place. I could tell he'd made an effort, but it did make him look a little less Brew.

"Hey," I said, pausing a few steps still between us, though it was harder not to close the distance than I expected it to be. "Your hair is different."

He reached up, touching it gingerly. "I tried to make it neat. Did it work?"

"Sort of." I stepped forward, very aware of the heat radiating from him now that we were closer together. I reached up and brushed a rebellious strand on his forehead out of the way. "There, now it's neat." My words came out as more of a whisper than I wanted them to.

For a moment, the firelight made it seem as if Brew was blushing, but he hid it behind his tankard. "How's Oliver's neck?"

"My dumb brother is fine." I sighed in exasperation. "I don't know what he was thinking, letting Howie land on his head. He's going to give wards a bad name."

That made Brew chuckle. "No, never. Everyone knows how awesome you and Banjo are. Speaking of, where is he? I have treats in my pocket that won't eat themselves."

"He's at home, he's not the smartest when it comes to staying safe when the fire's going." And there was a part of me that didn't want to be distracted while getting to the bottom of whatever it was lingering between the two of us. "Why do you always have treats in your pockets? Do you love jerky that much?"

"Oh. No, I carry them around for Banjo." This time, Brew wasdefinitelyblushing. "I told you, he's my favourite familiar. I want him to like me."

My breath caught in my throat. Of all the reasons I'd ever considered for the amount of jerky Brew carried around in his pocket, I'd never once thought that he was doing it because of my dog.

Because ofme.

I didn't think I'd ever heard of anything more endearing. No wonder my heart was racing whenever Brew looked at me, he'd been showing me how much he cared in dozens of small ways that I'd never even noticed, and not expecting anything in return. I suspected that if he hadn't confessed to me outside the tavern, and I hadn't asked him what he'd meant, I could have gone my whole life without knowing about whatever this was between us.

It was a miracle that I'd never been affected by him before, because now that I was caught by his charm, I couldn't look at him without picturing him in ways I'd never seen him before.

Or maybe I was finally really looking athimand not the face he showed the world.

I touched his arm, an intense feeling crossing over me at the contact. Had I truly been this blind to everything between us? "The fire is getting a bit big. Want to go for a walk?"