Page 24 of The Tea Witch's Promise

Brew chuckled and crouched down to fuss him. "Hello, Mr Strings, it's good to see you."

A low happy rumble came from my dog in response, making me smile.

"What are you doing here?" Brew asked, looking up at me with a curious expression on his face.

I showed him the basket of eggs. "The chickens were very productive this morning. I was bringing some over for your family."

It was a total lie. Especially because Oliver had lost all of the eggs in a bet with Hana Steeper not that long ago, so we didn't really have any to spare but here I was anyway. But the chickens would lay more tomorrow.

I also presented him with his scarf. "And your scarf from, umm, the other night."

He stepped closer to accept the garment, his gaze fixed on me. His smile twisted his lips up as he paused only one step away. "You beat me to it, I was going to come fetch that later since I don't have eggs to bring over."

Heat rushed up to my ears. I should have known he'd seen through my egg excuse. I would be embarrassed except that it was clear he was happy to see me.

"Care for some tea?" he asked, gesturing further into the house.

I hesitated, not sure if I was ready to face the rest of his family. There was coming to the door with eggs to see Brew, and there was being caught in his kitchen together.

"Everyone else is out," he assured me.

"Oh." I unwound my scarf. "Then I suppose a cup of tea won't hurt."

The expression on his face suggested that he knew I wasn't actually talking about tea.

I followed him through to the kitchen, not that I needed a guide. I'd spent enough of my childhood years running through these walls. I was fairly sure some of the dents in the door frames were my fault.

Brew held the door to the kitchen open for me like a true gentleman. "I would say welcome to my humble abode but we both know there's nothing humble about our homes."

I couldn't help but laugh. This was one of the things I'd always liked about him, how down-to-earth he was. He knew just how privileged we were growing up as children of the four families, but it never went to his head. Instead, he made sure to pay back his luck tenfold to the people who relied on us. Like giving his coat to the boy in the infirmary. No one would have blamed him if he hadn't done it. They likely wouldn't have thought anything of it. But that wasn't Brew, he'd wanted to care for people for as long as I could remember.

Banjo raced past us both and sniffed around the room as if looking for something.

"There's a raw bone for you," Brew said, reaching into a pot and pulling it out. "Mum was going to use it to make stock, but we won't tell her what happened to it, will we?"

My dog sat down in front of Brew, perfectly still except for the uncontrollable tremor of excitement. Brew gave him the bone and he raced over to the hearth, sitting down so he could chomp on it happily.

I put my eggs on the side, deciding to leave the basket. That would give me a new excuse to swing by Brewster Hall if I needed it.

Brew filled a kettle with water and set it on the stove. "Won't be long."

An awkward silence filled the kitchen while Brew fumbled around, getting mugs from the cupboard and fussing over the boiling kettle. It was quite a miracle that my sheer presence had managed to silence the loud and boisterous Rooibos Brewster.

A laugh escaped me and I quickly covered my mouth, not wanting him to think that I was laughingathim when really it was the situation. "You don't have to be nervous around me."

Brew slumped against the counter. "Sorry. I don't know how to behave."

"You didn't have a problem at the bonfire."

He ran a hand through his curls. "I just want to do this right."

As if he couldn't get more endearing. On my way over here, I'd been wondering if this was a fun little fling for him or if he was serious. Everything he'd said suggested the latter, but there was a part of me that still doubted it. Probably the part that had known him for so long and seen him flirt and charm his way through Purple Oak. His reaction to me meant that I no longer had to wonder, I could read the genuine intent on his face clear as day.

The kettle came to a whistling boil and he poured the water into the teapot he prepared. He did it with practised ease, the muscles in his forearm tensing slightly from the motion. Steam rose up from the pot, carrying the scent of the leaves. The smell of grass and tea filled the room and it was like being hugged by Brew all over again, answering a question I didn't know I had about where it came from.

"Smells nice." I crossed the distance so I could smell the tea. I didn't have it often. Tea was expensive, especially as it was mostly bought from outside the settlement. And as I wasn't a tea witch, I had even less of a reason to drink it.

Brew gave me a funny look. "Katie..."