Winter's Spell, page 22
“I think so,” said Tessa.
“You are okay taking it slow?” Again, that weird emphasis. Tessa could hardly believe that Mo was asking about her sex life, but there really wasn’t any other way to interpret the question. She reminded herself what Roxy had told her about Mo not understanding social cues and decided to ignore whatever innuendos might be present in Mo’s words.
“Of course,” said Tessa. “Whatever Roxy wants.”
Roxy came back with their drinks, and Tessa was saved from having to make any more awkward conversation with Mo. The three of them enjoyed their beverages and whiled away the hour. Finally, Tessa spied Joy walking back down the street. A moment later, she joined them in the booth, sliding in next to Tessa.
“Brr, you’re bringing in the cold with you.” Tessa rubbed her arms. It really was frigid out.
She tried to get a good read on Joy from the side. She seemed…fine.
“Sorry! I guess the cold air just clings to you,” said Joy with a smile. She shivered a bit in her jacket and blew on her hands. “I can’t believe I forgot my gloves.”
“So, how was it?” said Roxy. “We’re all dying to know.”
Joy sat back in the booth and shrugged. “It was fine. A little spooky. She’s good, you know. Knew a lot about me and the theater and the show. But again, it’s a small town. We’ve been here nearly a month. She could get a lot of information from anyone or just from keeping her eyes open.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary?” asked Tessa. “What did you talk about for an hour?”
“We talked a lot about Princess Pancake, to be honest,” said Joy. Her eyes teared up a bit. She sniffed. “That was nice.”
Roxy and Mo were clearly confused. “Who is Princess Pancake?” said Mo, sounding intrigued.
“That was Joy’s pet cat who passed away recently,” explained Tessa. “Joy had had her for over fifteen years.”
Roxy and Mo looked disappointed.
“So that was it? Just stuff about your cat?” said Roxy.
Joy wiped her nose with a tissue before stuffing it back in her purse. “We talked about the show. I asked her if she thought the show would be a success.”
Tessa’s heart started to hammer. Not that she put much stock into the words of a for-hire clairvoyant, but the show was her baby. She wasn’t sure she could stand to hear anything bad or concerning about it.
“And?” Tessa prompted her, trying to read Joy’s expression, which was suddenly a blank.
Joy cleared her throat. “This is where it got kind of weird, honestly. She said the show would be a success, but not in the way that I expect.”
“What on earth does that mean?” said Roxy.
Tessa could feel her throat go dry.
“I don’t know,” said Joy. “I tried to press her on it, but all she would say is that there are too many factors at work in the theater and the future was too foggy to know. Or maybe she said vectors?”
“Or actors?” suggested Roxy.
“I don’t know,” said Joy, looking concerned. “I mean, she did say it would be a success. I guess that’s good. And I asked if we should be concerned about any kind of sabotage. And she just said that thing about too many factors or vectors or whatever it was.”
Tessa sighed. This was getting ridiculous. “Joy, what was your feeling about her? Is she the real thing? Or just a hack?”
“The stuff about Princess seemed awfully real, but it’s still such an emotional topic for me. Maybe she’s just a really good fake.”
Tessa nodded. “That’s what I think. We can’t take her words at face value.”
“Really?” Roxy sounded deflated, as if she’d been hoping for a more exciting explanation. Next to her, Mo looked unconvinced.
“What does this Madame Clerval look like?” said Mo. “Can you describe her?”
“Sure,” said Joy. “She was very ordinary. I mean, anywhere from forty to sixty years old, long brown hair pulled up and back, no makeup, but she looked pretty good. Not stunning but not ugly either. She looked like a librarian or a schoolteacher. Just…ordinary.”
Roxy and Mo looked disappointed.
“Were you expecting a turban and gold chains?” said Tessa teasingly.
Roxy smiled. “I guess. I mean, what’s the point of being a clairvoyant if you’re not going to wear the part, right?”
Joy nodded. “She was wearing very practical winter boots and some rather basic black pants and a sweater. The place was kind of dingy. Hardly any decorations or anything. Like she was in a temporary space except that her name was painted on the window.”
Somewhere in Tessa’s mind, a faint alarm bell was going off, though she couldn’t quite figure out why.
“Maybe she knows she doesn’t have to invest in that stuff if people already want her services,” said Tessa. “How much did it end up costing?”
“A hundred dollars for the hour,” said Joy.
“What?” said Roxy, clearly startled by the cost.
“That’s pretty normal,” said Joy. “Which, by the way, Tessa, you still owe me your half.”
Tessa had a fifty ready and passed it over to her.
“Thanks for doing that,” said Tessa, “even if we didn’t get a whole lot out of it. At least we know sort of what she looks like now. Oh, did you ask her about coming to the theater to see if she could detect any evil spells?” They’d concocted this idea as a way of getting Madame Clerval to come to the theater so Mo, Roxy, and Tessa could get a sense of her vibe.
“I did, but she said absolutely not. She was very adamant that she wouldn’t go there. Sorry.”
“Did she say why?” said Roxy.
Joy shook her head. “It was kind of weird. She was pretty even keel the whole time I was there, but when I mentioned the possibility of her going to the theater, she got kind of harsh. Like I’d offended her. She did say the theater was completely safe, though, but that she wouldn’t go there. She made it sound like I was asking her to go there like a freak show, which I guess, under the circumstances, it kind of would be.”
Roxy sighed. “That’s too bad. Huh.” She thought for a moment. “You said she was ordinary looking. So how would I recognize her if I saw her?”
Joy paused to think about it before smiling. “She was ordinary, but…she was wearing a ring that was not. Ordinary I mean. It was a large green stone, but not an emerald, and to be honest, it kind of looked like an eye.”
“Wow, that is pretty unusual.” Tessa tried to keep her voice neutral, even as the alarm bells were going off in her head. An eye ring. That had to be a magic object—and not good magic, either. It was still possible it was a fake, like the rest of Madame Clerval. But Tessa’s intuition said otherwise.
They chatted a bit more about more general topics before Tessa started yawning. Soon they were all yawning, and they decided to call it a night. They walked Joy home first, as she was staying right in the center of town with a friend, then they walked to Tessa’s apartment, since Roxy didn’t want Tessa walking home that late by herself.
They left Mo at the gate, and Roxy walked Tessa all the way to the door before cupping her face gently in her hands and kissing her deeply. Instinctively, Tessa pressed her body against Roxy’s and put her arms around her. Even through the layers of winter wear, she could feel Roxy’s hard body. Her own body lit up with desire. Her worries and concerns about everything else were momentarily forgotten.
They pulled apart, and Tessa could see the hunger in Roxy’s eyes, mirroring her own. She wanted to keep on kissing her forever, but another giant yawn came over her.
“Sexy,” said Roxy with a laugh before catching the yawn too.
“Ha.” Tessa snuggled up against Roxy. “I miss you. I know I get to see you almost every day, but somehow, I still miss you.”
“I know the feeling.” Roxy kissed the top of Tessa’s head through her hat. “I have this Saturday off, though, so maybe we can spend the day together?”
“Mm, sounds good,” said Tessa before planting another kiss on Roxy. She couldn’t help herself. This time, Roxy’s arms went around her tightly and squeezed, and Tessa felt herself melting inside, even as the wind cut through all her warmest layers. She sighed into Roxy’s mouth, and she felt rather than heard Roxy’s breath hitch.
They broke apart, both of them breathless.
“Roxy! Is everything okay?” shouted Mo from the sidewalk, and Roxy and Tessa laughed.
“I’m going, I’m going,” said Roxy. She gave Tessa a chaste peck on the cheek. “See you at the theater tomorrow, right?”
Tessa nodded, still too wound up to speak. She waved at Roxy before letting herself into the apartment. Her whole body was thrumming with desire.
Chapter Twenty-one—Roxy
That Saturday, Roxy picked up Tessa at her apartment, and they drove to a location picked out by Roxy. It’d snowed the day before, turning all of Cape Cod into a picture-perfect New England holiday village. The snow had stopped early enough that the plows finally came through and the roads were relatively clear. With the help of Jack and Hunter, Roxy had planned the perfect winter weekend date, and she couldn’t wait to surprise Tessa.
“Am I dressed warmly enough for today’s adventures?” asked Tessa as she got into the car.
Roxy took in her fleece-lined pants, snow boots, ski coat, warm hat and mittens, and shook her head with a laugh. “Absolutely. Also, you are the cutest snow bunny.”
Tessa smiled with pleasure before leaning over and giving Roxy a kiss on the lips. The kiss was electric, soft, and yet also full of passion and things unsaid. Roxy marveled yet again at the fact that this beautiful, smart, adorable person wanted to be with her, kiss her, and generally, spend time with her. It was a novel sensation—being wanted so unabashedly.
“Okay, that’s enough of that,” said Roxy with a grin. “We might never get out of this parking lot if we keep going like this.”
“Would that be so bad?” said Tessa, and Roxy felt desire deep inside her flare up, heating her through. Her resolution to take things slow was pretty much gone. Three weeks was taking it slow, and if their date went well, Roxy had a feeling that it might be time to pick up the pace.
“Now, now,” said Roxy. She flashed a grin at Tessa as she backed out of the parking lot and pulled into the road. “I’ve got the perfect winter date planned for today and your sexy eyes are not going to distract me.”
They giggled as Roxy drove and continued the flirtatious banter while admiring the snowy landscape.
It didn’t take them long to get to their first stop—the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Roxy had the supreme pleasure of surprising Tessa with snowshoes that Jack and Hunter had lent them for the day. Tessa had never snowshoed before, and Roxy could tell from her excitement that it was a pleasant novelty. Roxy felt the glow of pride in being able to bring Tessa so much joy, even if she’d had some help with the idea for the date. In fact, in some ways, she was absolutely delighted to have had help—her employers and new friends were showing themselves to be truly generous and genuine people, and she loved both working for them and having them as friends. It was amazing how much her perspective on life had changed since the night of Hazel’s wedding.
They had the trails to themselves, and aside from the quiet crunch of their snowshoes in the fresh snow, it was blissfully peaceful and quiet. After about half an hour, they made it to the spot Jack had told her about. Roxy stopped and pulled out some binoculars he’d lent her for the outing.
Tessa looked at her with a smile of surprise. “Binoculars?”
Roxy nodded with a grin. She lifted them to her eyes and began scanning the trees, looking for the spot Jack had described to her. Just as she was about to give up, she saw it. She couldn’t help gasping quietly—it was more majestic than she’d expected.
She moved the binoculars away from her face and gestured to Tessa to come closer.
Tessa lifted the binoculars and then paused. She looked up at Roxy, who was standing slightly behind her now. “What am I looking for?”
“Hold on,” said Roxy. “I’ll show you where to look.”
Tessa looked intrigued. She put the binoculars up to her eyes, and Roxy bent her knees slightly to approximate her height. She could see the bird now with the naked eye, and she directed Tessa’s binoculars in that direction.
“Right there, that tree with the big branch next to a bulge in the bark,” said Roxy.
“Oh my God,” said Tessa quietly, her voice hushed in awe. “It’s beautiful. Majestic.”
When Roxy had asked Jack about what kind of wildlife they might go out and see in the wintertime on Cape Cod, he mentioned this wildlife sanctuary and a specific spot where you could often glimpse a snowy owl. Roxy had worried it would be hard to find one out in nature, but Jack had assured her that there was one particular owl that everyone in that area knew about. It showed up regularly in the preserve, and the community had jokingly named it “Bob.”
“So cool, right?” said Roxy, pleased that the bird had impressed Tessa.
Tessa gazed at it a little longer before turning toward Roxy and handing her the binoculars. “You should look again. He’s really something.”
They took turns looking at the owl, and Roxy marveled at it again and again. It was really something to behold in its natural habitat. They also managed to spot a few other birds—some sparrows, a dark-eyed junco, and even a brilliantly colored purple finch that Tessa spotted.
As they stood there, Roxy felt herself getting cold again, and she figured Tessa must be too. They snuggled together as they bird-watched in the snow, and Roxy felt a deep sense of calm. She loved that Tessa enjoyed being outdoors, and she also loved that it was a place where she had some expertise over Tessa. At the theater, she often felt like a fish out of water, but here, in nature, this was her domain. And she was glad to be able to share it with Tessa.
Tessa handed back the binoculars one last time, and Roxy placed them in her backpack after taking one last look at the finch. She turned back to Tessa and kissed her gently on the lips.
“Wow, you are cold,” said Roxy, pulling away. Tessa’s lips were like ice.
“Gosh, I hardly noticed until you said that just now. I guess I am pretty cold.” Tessa shivered right on cue.
“Let’s go back to the car and warm up.”
The walk back in the deep snow certainly helped them warm up, though by the end, Roxy’s fingers and toes were numb from the cold. The temperatures were dropping over the course of the day, so their next stop was all about getting warm—a tea shop.
It didn’t take long to drive over to one of the little towns halfway down the Cape where there was a tiny little tea shop Hunter had told Roxy about. Roxy had called on Friday to reserve a table, just in case, and they were right on time.
Adeline, the proprietor, was a tiny little old lady with gray hair in a bun, bejeweled chains on her tiny reading glasses, and a fluffy pink sweater with a teacup and saucer embroidered onto it. The tea shop was cluttered and homey, with every inch of wall decorated with tea-themed décor. She escorted Tessa and Roxy to a table that was already brimming with tiny sandwiches and cookies, slices of decadent cakes, plates, silverware, and embroidered napkins. Two teapots sat on the table, steaming with hot water.
“Here is our tea list,” said Adeline, handing them each a menu printed on light pink cardstock. “Take a moment, have a think, and I’ll come back in a jiffy with the teas.”
After she left, Tessa looked over at her with a big smile. “This place is amazing. How on earth did you find out about it?” She sounded genuinely pleased, and again, Roxy felt herself beaming with pleasure. Working at the theater several days a week for the last two weeks, it was impossible not to notice how much hot tea Tessa drank all day long. Just in case, she’d double-checked with Chayo, too, and she’d enthusiastically agreed that an afternoon tea would be just the ticket for Tessa. Apparently, she’d grown fond of them during her time in London.
“A girl never shares her dating secrets,” said Roxy with a wink. “So, you like it?”
“I love it.” Tessa studied the extensive tea list. “So many options, I hardly know how to choose. I kind of want them all.”
“I’m no tea expert, so feel free to choose for both of us and we can share,” said Roxy. “I’m pretty sure we each get two flavors as part of the booking.”
Tessa was excited and impressed. When Adeline returned, Tessa ordered a black breakfast tea and a black currant hibiscus fruit tea to start. Rather than pull out little baggies as Roxy expected, Adeline brought out tiny tins of whole leaf and whole fruit tea mixes, expertly filling up small silver balls with them on a chain and placing the whole ball into each of their teapots. She left and returned almost immediately with tiny pitchers of cream, an adorably miniature pot of honey with a little honey stick in it (just like in a cartoon), and a sugar bowl with an elaborately decorated spoon in it.
“Now then, would either of you like anything else to eat? Today’s hot lunch specials include clam chowder or tomato bisque, quiche Lorraine served hot or cold, or a warm croissant sandwich—ham and brie with cranberry sauce or roasted vegetables and avocado.”
Tessa decided on a bowl of the bisque and Roxy ordered the ham and brie croissant. It was the perfect way to warm up after their snowy hike. There were also plenty of little finger sandwiches. Roxy had to stop herself from eating too many to leave room for the desserts, which were plentiful—raspberry swirl pound cake, lemon poppyseed muffins, Linzer tart cookies, carrot cake mini muffins with cream cheese frosting, and tiny scones with raisins and jam.
At the end of their meal, Adeline showed up again with a decorative cardboard box that she loaded up with their leftovers.
