Fourteen
With the changes at the sea pen site, Joey was in high demand, flying as many workers and supplies as he could fit into the plane.
He didn’t mind. He liked being busy and it was his job, after all – but he felt himself pulled to the tea shop. Every time he took off, his mind was back on the ground, wondering what it’d be like to meet Eliza’s mysterious older sister and her wild best friend.
When Eliza had first told him they were going to visit, all she would tell him was, “They’re both lovely, but very different. It’s…complicated.”
Joey liked complicated. It gave him something to think about on the long flights between Seattle and Stuart Island while his passengers discussed drywall and ductwork and filtration systems.
It took two days before he snagged himself an invite to the tea shop. Eliza was hosting a board game night for the patrons, and both Mackenzie and Cora had insisted on participating.
“You’re lucky,” Eliza said when he met her in the tea shop kitchen. “We only had one more spot at our table.”
“I know I’m lucky,” he said, loading the dishwasher with cups. “This is the social event of the season.”
She rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“It’s packed out there! I saw a dad threatening to make his kids play Monopoly if they didn’t stop arguing.”
“Did it work?”
“Oh yeah, right away. Those kids knew better than to ruin their big night out.”
Eliza flashed a smile at him and filled four teapots with hot water. She loaded them onto a tray and held it up. “Do you mind carrying this for me?”
He was already reaching for it. “Not at all.”
“Our game tonight is Cascadia – Mackenzie’s choice. You win by building the best habitat for the animals. Bears, eagles…you get the idea.”
“Sounds hard.”
“It’s not. It’s fun, but I have to warn you. Mackenzie’s competitive.”
He followed her out to the London-themed tearoom, where a group had pushed two tables together for a sprawling game of Settlers of Catan.
“What about Cora?” he asked, placing the teapots down.
“She’s more of a saboteur. Her favorite thing is to annoy Mackenzie. Luckily, you can’t really do that in this game.”
“Too bad. I would’ve liked to see it.”
They returned to the kitchen just as a bell rang out – a request for a plate of cookies. Eliza didn’t need his help, but he tagged along anyway and secured a lemon sugar cookie for his troubles.
This was the sort of business he could get behind. A cozy, laidback spot to hang out and drink tea.
He hadn’t even liked tea before meeting Eliza. Like a fool, he thought the only tea out there was Lipton. There was an entire world of teas Eliza had introduced him to – fruity herbal teas, green teas, oolongs. Tonight, he was drinking pu-erh, a fermented variety Eliza made him try. He couldn’t get enough.
“Well hello there!” Cora yelled as they approached the table. “Took you two long enough.”
“People need their tea,” Eliza said, taking a seat. “Joey, this is Cora, and—”
Cora thrust her hand forward. “I hear you’re Eliza’s partner in crime.”
She had a delicate, cold grasp and an intense gaze. Her blonde hair was smooth and fluffed – what his sister called a blowout? Yeah, a blowout.
She wore a lot of makeup – red lipstick, black eyeliner, lots of shades of brown and glitter on her eyes. It fit with her nose ring and sequined shirt, but none of her seemed to fit with the rest of the tea shop – or Eliza, who didn’t wear makeup at all.
Or maybe she did? He couldn’t tell. Eliza was just pretty.
“Partners in crime,” he mused. “I like that for us.”
“I’m Mackenzie, Eliza’s mean older sister.” Mackenzie waved from her seat and made no attempt to smile.
“I’ve got a mean older sister of my own,” he said, dropping into his chair. “I’m not afraid.”
She didn’t laugh, raising her eyebrows at him. “What made you decide to involve Eliza in your hunt for the bank robber?”
Eliza shot her an exasperated look. “You don’t have to immediately interrogate him. He’s not a threat.”
Mackenzie looked at her and narrowed her eyes. “Everyone is a threat.”
Eliza shook her head. “Don’t mind her.”
He smiled and poured himself a cup of tea. “I thought working with Eliza would give me the best chance at getting the reward money. I thought she’d be a good investigation partner.”
“Smart,” Cora said, nodding.
“But,” he added, “I was wrong.”
Cora dropped her teacup onto the saucer with a loud clang. “Sorry,” she whispered.
“Do you guys want me to read the rules aloud?” Eliza asked, holding up the instructions to Cascadia.
Mackenzie waved a hand and leaned in. “What do you mean you were wrong?”
“Eliza’s not a good partner.” He took a sip of the tea. Excellent, as always. “She’s an amazing partner.”
Cora loudly sighed.
“Joey,” Eliza said, her tone stern but her face hiding a smile. “Let’s focus on the game, please.”
“She remembered almost everything about the guy. The bank employees open up to her and tell her things they forgot to tell the police, and I’m convinced she’s going to figure out his identity any day now.”
“Interesting.” Mackenzie sat back. “If she’s so great at this, what does she need you for?”
He didn’t miss a beat. “She’s using me for my plane.”
Eliza laughed. “I like the plane, but that’s not it. Joey is the motivation. I wouldn’t have done this on my own. He’s sort of like an airborne cheerleader.”
“Do you put on a little outfit, too?” Mackenzie asked with a smirk. “Pom-poms? Ribbons in your hair? I’d love to see it.”
“So would I!” Cora said. “I mean, I want to go flying. I don’t care what you wear.”
“There aren’t pom-poms, but I’ve got sunglasses. Does that count?”
Mackenzie shrugged. “It’s not really the same at all.”
“I’d be happy to take you up. We could—”
Eliza loudly cleared her throat. “Okay, everyone, we need to focus. We don’t have all night.”
“I have an idea,” Mackenzie said. “Why don’t we make this more interesting? Everyone put twenty dollars in. Whoever wins the game takes it all.”
Cora bit her lip. “I don’t know if I have twenty dollars.” She pulled out her purse – the sequins matched the pink of her shirt – and came out with a pair of bills clutched in her hand. “Got it! I’m in!”
Joey pulled a twenty out of his wallet and offered it up as Eliza went through the rules.
Her rule-reading lasted for about three minutes before Cora started loudly whispering to Mackenzie.
“Have you talked to Steve at all?” she asked.
Mackenzie shook her head. “No.”
“Who’s Steve?” Joey whispered.
Eliza shot him an annoyed look but kept reading. “The way you are scored at the end…oh wait, I think I skipped a part…”
“Steve is my ex-boyfriend. Sort of.” Mackenzie shifted her weight.
“They just broke up,” Cora said. Her voice was more just a hoarse-sounding voice at normal volume than a whisper.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Joey whispered back.
“Thanks,” Mackenzie said flatly, no longer trying to lower her voice. “Have you ever dated anyone? Or do you just fly around breaking hearts?”
He laughed mid-sip and threw himself into a coughing fit. “Sorry,” he said when he regained his composure. “I never said anything about breaking hearts.”
“I never took you for a romantic, Mack,” Cora said.
“I’m not. My heart is only used to pump oxygen to my brain, so I’ll remember to never loan you money.”
Joey started choking again as Cora threw her head back and laughed.
For the first time, Eliza stopped reading. “Mackenzie! You have to at least try to be nice.”
“No, it’s okay.” Cora held up her hand. “That was really funny. I love Mackenzie jokes. They’re so brutal.”
For the first time that night, Mackenzie smiled. “Thank you.”
A bell rang out and Eliza stood. “Please look over the rest of the instructions so when I get back, we can get started.”
“Sure,” Mackenzie said, picking up the booklet.
“I’m glad Steve hasn’t tried to talk to you,” Cora said. “He’s an idiot for what he did.”
Mackenzie made a noncommittal noise, keeping her eyes on the booklet.
Joey looked at Cora and mouthed, “What did he do?”
“Did you tell his fiancée that he’d been two-timing you both?” Cora asked loudly.
Oh. Joey had not seen that coming. Mackenzie didn’t seem like the type to get cheated on.
Not that there was a type, but he was surprised the guy was still standing.
“No,” Mackenzie said. “I’m not sure how to do that without sounding like I’m jealous.”
“Well, you’re not jealous, so that would be on her for imagining it,” Cora said simply. “He’s a jerk.”
“He is.”
Eliza returned and took her seat. “Ready to start the game?”
“Do you believe in soulmates?” Cora asked Mackenzie.
She stared at the stack of cards on the table. “Absolutely not.”
“Really? Why not?”
Mackenzie threw the booklet onto the table and started laying out the pieces for the game. “Because it’s something made up by the diamond industry.”
“Maybe you’ll feel differently when you meet yours. Steve wasn’t your soulmate.” Cora turned to Joey. “What about you?”
“Believe in soulmates? Sure.” He poured another cup of tea from the pot. “Steve still could’ve been her soulmate.”
Mackenzie’s narrowed eyes flashed up at him, her lip curled. “Are you serious?”
He went on. “Just because you don’t end up together doesn’t mean you weren’t soulmates. Maybe some soulmates are supposed to show us how not to live our lives.”
That had been his experience. There was a time when Joey had been a romantic. His girlfriend in college had given him a stuffed puffin after a trip they’d taken to Maine. The bright-billed birds had captured his imagination – they could fly at speeds over fifty miles an hour, dive two hundred feet into the ocean, and they mated for life.
He'd kept the little puffin on his bed, and his girlfriend started calling him Puff-Puff – sickeningly-sweet, but it didn’t bother him. They were soulmates; he was sure of it.
He woke with only her on his mind and dreamt of her gentle smile when he slept. Joey could see their future as clear as a movie in his mind – their wedding, their coastal cottage with flowers spilling from the windows in the spring. He could feel the heat of the sun on his skin, he could smell the briny air.
“You might be on to something there,” Mackenzie said, eyeing him. “Steve convinced me we were a power couple. After the same goals. It turns out he’s a liar and a cheat and maybe a sociopath.”
“Definitely a sociopath,” Cora said with a nod.
“So I’m pretty sure I want nothing to do with the way he lives his life.” She paused. “Or the way I was trying to live mine.”
“See? Maybe next time you’ll see it coming,” Joey said. “You can leave before you’re left.”
Eliza took a deep breath and puffed out her cheeks. “This is turning into some sort of soulmate support group.”
Mackenzie laughed. “No, it isn’t. He couldn’t have been my soulmate. How did I not realize that until Joey started pontificating?”
Though that was the exact opposite of what Joey had said, he smiled. “Happy to be of service.”
His own soulmate had left him, and it was entirely due to his own mistakes. There was no wedding. No cottage. No flowers.
The breakup had left him heaving, completely empty, completely lost. He later found out there was some debate whether puffins did, in fact, mate for life. Though they returned to the same mate every year, it was possible they were only returning to the same burrow, and the particular bird waiting there didn’t matter as much.
Joey had read on. He’d learned puffins spent more than half the year out at sea, alone, and realized the beautiful life he’d imagined was nothing more than a fantasy. One that wasn't meant for him.
He had to be completely gutted to see it, but once he did, he left, flying around the world, living his life the way he was supposed to: alone.
He looked up from his cup of tea. Eliza’s eyes were focused on him, but she snapped them away, back to the booklet in her hand.
She cleared her throat. “Should we just start playing and I’ll explain the rules as we go?”
It was hard to tell in the low lighting, but it looked like her cheeks were a little pink. Her stare was fixed on the booklet, allowing him a chance to look at her – the gentle slope of her nose, the curve of her lips…
His heart thudded against his ribs and his breathing picked up. Joey looked away, staring into his teacup.
This was not how his job on San Juan Island was supposed to go. The plan was to stay a few weeks, save some cash, and book his next adventure.
A few weeks might be too long. He glanced up at Eliza again. Thankfully, she was busy arguing with Cora about messing up the piles of tokens.
His hand shook as he reached for his teacup.
What was going on with him? He took a sip of tea, trying to steady his mind.
He knew this feeling. He used to chase it. He used to wake up with it, take it to dinner, dream with it under his pillow. But he’d managed to travel the world without running into it again – until this very moment.
What was it about Eliza that had brought it back to life? Was it the tea shop? The fact that if she gazed at him for too long, she could unravel him entirely and see every secret he’d desperately buried?
How would he get through the evening – even the next two minutes – without getting up from his seat and sprinting in the other direction?
“I’ll go first,” he said, picking up a token with a grizzly bear. “Or this game might never get started.”