The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane (Life in Icicle Falls) by Sheila Roberts Page A

and on weekends, evenings and special holidays, the local music teacher came in to serenade the guests. A grand staircase, with an elaborately carved bannister, led to the second-floor landing.
    In addition to the family’s private quarters, the building had thirty-six guest rooms and a large dining room that Olivia rented out for everything from wedding receptions to high school reunions. It was always booked, but when it wasn’t, she partitioned off half, which she kept available as a conference room.
    Olivia hired locals to clean the rooms and work in the dining room and kitchen, but she made the breakfasts herself. She was especially fond of baking and, as she liked to say, had the figure to prove it. The lodge rarely had a vacancy, and with the rooms’ Victorian decor and beautiful mountain views, it was a popular choice for anniversaries and girlfriend weekends. One thing Bailey knew for sure, she’d have a wonderful working atmosphere.
    “I’m so sorry about what happened to you,” Olivia said after she’d about smothered Bailey in an enthusiastic, vanilla-scented hug. “But we’re all happy you’re back home. And having you here will be like having a daughter working with me.”
    “Sounds like you may be getting one real soon.” Maybe her sisters were wrong. She held her breath and hoped Olivia would deny it.
    “Well, it does look like it’s getting serious between Brandon and Arielle.”
    How Bailey wished it had gotten serious between Brandon and her. She was positive her mother would say that God had something better planned. It was hard to imagine anything better than Brandon.
    “She’s a lucky girl,” Bailey said.
    Now Olivia began fiddling with the blue turquoise ring on her finger. “I know you and Brandon used to be interested in each other.”
    Interested? There was an understatement. She’d given her virginity to Brandon Wallace when they were teenagers. All her friends had warned her that he was a heartbreaker, and they’d been right. Still, she’d come home for the first Sweet Dreams chocolate festival, and he’d flirted with her. That had been enough to encourage her to revive the dream of Brandon finally falling hard for her and swearing undying love.
    There’d been no falling and no swearing, but when she’d come home for the Fourth, there’d been some hooking up. And that was all it had taken for her to move into his back pocket once again. What a dope she’d been. And now that she was back home for good, he was living in another state.
    “But I bet you’ll find some wonderful man here, now that you’re back,” Olivia hurried on to say. “And I agree with your mother. I think you were meant to return to Icicle Falls.”
    “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Bailey confessed. What kind of way was this to conduct a job interview? She felt her face ignite. “Well, I mean, not that I don’t want to work for you.” Right now she’d clean toilets, dig ditches, anything. She needed money, and she couldn’t live off her sisters like a big old leech.
    “Oh, honey, I know what you mean. You were born to cook. In fact, I was thinking you might like to help me in the kitchen on weekends once in a while.”
    That suggestion instantly doused the fire on Bailey’s face. She’d just as soon jump off Sleeping Lady Mountain. She shook her head violently. “Oh, no.” The very thought of it made her heart pound as if she’d overdosed on caffeine.
    “I understand,” Olivia said. “But you can’t let one bad experience define your whole life.”
    Sure she could.
    “You know what they say,” Olivia continued. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
    “I thought the tough went shopping,” Bailey said. Anyway, she liked that saying better than the one Olivia had quoted.
    Olivia gave Bailey a hug. “You didn’t come home a minute too soon.” She released her with an affectionate smile. “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll get you straightened out.”
    Bailey