Chapter 15
As she came down the stairs, Alethea was greeted with the glorious smell of fresh coffee, wafting out of the kitchen in huge drafts. She breathed in deeply. It was her aunt’s highly cherished Jamaican Blue Mountain that she only drank on special occasions. Alethea was pretty surprised that her aunt had left the coffee here and hadn’t taken it with her to Florida, that stuff wasn’t cheap. She thought Priya had been reading up in the loft but she must have come down to make coffee without Alethea noticing. As she reached the bottom landing, the front door swung open, and there stood Brent, his hand held up in a fist as if he was about to knock and a perplexed look on his face.
Alethea tried not to laugh. “Wilbur was having issues with the door sticking, he must’ve tried to adjust something.”
“Gotcha, I’ll take a look at it right after the one in the kitchen.” As he walked in, Alethea couldn’t help but notice he wore another well-fitting pair of Levi’s, only this pair had a few splashes of paint and stains here and there. In contrast, his plain white tee was spotless and gave her a good look at his muscular chest. The tan work boots he wore looked well worn from use, but they were surprisingly free from dust and dirt. Suddenly, Dandelion, who Alethea hadn’t been able to find all morning, appeared out of nowhere and trotted over to Brent like he was covered in cat treats.
“Well good morning to you too, Miss Dandelion!” he said cheerfully. Brent was clearly a morning person. He looked over at Alethea with a warm smile. “That smells amazing, I forgot how good your aunt’s coffee was, she always had it brewed for me whenever I visited.” He glanced down at the white to-go cup he was holding. “Just don’t tell Joannie I said that.” He winked at her and set down his toolbox in the hallway.
Alethea offered to get him a fresh cup while she poured a tall mug for herself. She took the carafe of Priya’s homemade oat milk out of the fridge and added a generous splash to hers. Grabbing a muffin off the counter, she took a big bite, a chunk of raspberry bursting with tangy sweetness on her tongue. The muffin was even more delicious than Priya’s last batch, if that was possible. But it was still missing something. There was definitely another layer of flavor in Joannie’s muffins that Priya had yet to replicate, and she mulled over what the mystery ingredient could possibly be while she chewed.
“Mmmm coffee sounds like a good idea!” Priya walked into the kitchen and pulled down a mug with a quote by Tolkien written in decorative letters across it. Not All Who Wander Are Lost, it read.
Alethea looked over at her in confusion. “Wait, you didn’t make this?”
“Nope!” Priya stirred a heavy helping of cream and sugar into her mug. “Must’ve been Dani.”
“Weird that she would’ve made coffee, being a tea drinker and all.”
Priya just shrugged and loaded up a plate with some slices of cheese and cut up fruit. “Who knows what gets into that one’s head.” She gestured over towards the muffins, using the wedge of cheese in her hand like a pointer. “That batch is closer, huh? I think I’ve almost cracked the recipe! Anyhoo, I’m heading back up to keep reading, I just can’t put it down!” Priya had discovered the first book of a popular fantasy romanceseries in the parlor bookcase yesterday, and Alethea hadn’t seen her without the book in her hand since. Aunt Scarlet was an avid romance novel reader with an impressive range. The bookshelves were sprinkled with everything from vintage bodice-rippers to high fantasy.
Alethea carried the mugs back out into the entryway to find Brent already on a ladder replacing their patchwork job of garbage bags and tape with something much more secure.
“Just for the time-being, until I finish the window at my workshop.” At the foot of the ladder sat Dandelion, intently watching what Brent was doing. Alethea set his coffee down on the butler’s table and went to go pick up her cat, but Dandelion dashed to the other side of the ladder before she could grab her.
“Come on now, Princess. Let’s get out of the man’s way so he can get some work done.” Dandelion easily slipped out of her grasp once again and hopped up onto the landing through the banister.
“Oh she’s fine, she’s not in my way at all.” Brent was all smiles and cheer this morning, which made Alethea feel even more grouchy. She had never been a morning person and couldn’t understand where people got all that energy so early. She needed a solid fifteen minutes of scrolling on her phone and preferably at least one cup of coffee before wanting to speak to another human being. Dandelion didn’t count of course.
She left Brent to his work after one last unsuccessful lunge at her doting cat and went through the backyard towards the cottage, only to remember that Danica would be streaming her class right about now. The guest house was too small for her to hang out there without being a distraction, so she decided to sit on the bench on the small patio, her bare feet enjoying the warmth of the flagstones beneath them. She had almost drained her coffee but ironically didn’t have the energy to get back up for a refill. Exhaustion seemed to creep into every part of her body, a mixture of soreness from painting and sheer fatigue from the lack of sleep. She had yet another fitful night caused by those same vivid, recurring dreams. Alethea finished her last sip and looked out over the yard, watching the swallowtails getting their breakfast on the patch of milkweed under the birdbath. Maybe she could sneak in a nap later. She intended to avoid Brent as much as she possibly could, so a nap would be just perfect.
After a little while, Priya came outside to join her, book still in hand. “The hammering doesn’t go so great with high fantasy.” She animatedly described each of the characters in the book to Alethea, giving her a short rehash of all the major plot points so far. Alethea loved how passionate her friends got about the things they loved.
“So how’s Jake doing?” Alethea asked, making conversation. “You said you talked to him earlier?” With the time difference, Jake was usually in class by the time Priya woke up for the day and she’d normally have to wait until almost lunch time to talk to him, so Alethea was interested to know why he hadn’t been at the institute earlier.
Priya stared at Alethea a moment before responding. “Uh, he’s good but I never told you I talked to him. How did you know?”
“You didn’t?” Now Alethea was confused. “I could’ve sworn you mentioned it when we were getting coffee.” She shrugged. “I guess I must’ve overheard you or something.”
Priya looked doubtful but didn’t question her any further. “It’s a national holiday, so he was able to spend the day sightseeing. Apparently, he’s also learned the technique for making the perfect chocolate cake. I can’t wait for him to come home and show me!” Priya’s face lit up as she spoke about her husband, her love for the man evident even though they were an ocean apart.
Alethea hoped one day she could have that kind of love with someone. Jackson’s face had never lit up like that when he had talked about her. Sure, he had been thoughtful and generous, getting her dozens of roses on her birthday, taking her to the best restaurants. He would tell her she was beautiful and offer to put her aunt up at a posh hotel when she visited, which Aunt Scarlet always refused of course. Jackson had certainly treated her well, but now she could see that there had been no passion behind those gestures, no real love. Then why had he bothered? No matter how much she reran the course of their relationship over and over in her head, she kept coming back to the same question. Why had he asked her to marry him? Why had he been with her at all?
……
Danica and Alethea sat in the parlor, the game board and plastic pawns for Sorry! spread out between them. Occasional sounds of clattering pans and snippets of classic rock came from the kitchen where Priya was busy cooking dinner. Alethea could smell the glorious notes of thyme and rosemary mingling with the red potatoes that Priya was roasting until they turned brown and crunchy on the outside.
She cupped her hands around her mouth and hollered to the other room. “It needs more thyme!”
“No it does not! Just who do you think you are, Miss Food Critic?” Priya’s defensive protest was followed by a few moments of silence, most likely taste-testing, then finally a reluctant, “Okay, well, maybe you’re right.”
Danica looked at Alethea and shook her head in amazement. “Seriously, how do you do that?”
Alethea smiled back but had no answer, considering her extraordinary sense of smell to be more of a curse than a blessing. There was nothing more horrific than the smell of garbage and stale urine wafting out from the alley on a hot summer day in the city. Not to mention, how many people over-applied their perfumes or colognes. How she had hated going into the mailroom in her apartment building after John from down the hall had been in there. It smelled like someone had mopped the floors with a bottle of Cool Water. Alethea would happily give up her heightened sense of smell any day.
Dandelion made a tiny noise as she stretched and reached out a paw to touch Alethea’s foot before she lazily rolled over and got up, walking with seeming purpose out of the room. Where’s she off to now? Dandelion had been curled up on the carpet between her and Danica and it was the most Alethea had seen of her cat all day. She had followed Brent around the house like a shadow, always keeping a bit of respectful distance but never letting him out of her sight. Alethea couldn’t help it if it was irrational that she was irritated by her cat’s infatuation with Brent. It may be silly but it still felt like a betrayal. Her cat really should learn to be a better judge of people.
Dandelion swipedat the cobwebs clinging to her whiskers. Ugh, she hated those sticky nets. They could be such a pain to get out of your fur and they often had an unpleasant, bitter flavor. She pressed her nose further into the crevice, trying with all her might to squeeze behind the large hand-carved armoire. No luck. Maybe if she laid on her back she could stretch out and reach it with her paw? Dandelion prided herself on being exceptionally nimble, but this was beyond even her best contortionist abilities. Drat, she needed to think of a better strategy. Closing her eyes for a moment, she lay in silence, slowing her heart rate until her breathing was almost imperceptible. Suddenly her left ear twitched. Bingo! She dashed out of the room and ran as fast as she could, careening across the hallway and up the tower stairs to the loft.
“Whoa! Someone’s got the zoomies!” Priya almost lost her balance as Dandelion flew past her on the steps. Dandelion didn’t have time to stop, though. She had to strike while the iron was hot!