14. Surprise Chai
Surprise Chai
Riding through the Colorado mountains in October was like stepping into a fairyland. The aspens had turned a vivid yellow, and the maples had become a brilliant orange. There were warm gold cottonwoods and crimson red tupelos.
The air smelled different too. I could smell the cold coming–it was the smell that told all the little forest creatures to prepare to burrow in for the winter.
But to me, it promised snuggles under blankets on cold nights and cinnamon hot chocolate.
Freshly chopped logs burning in the fireplace and the scent of my mother’s pumpkin pie.
At least, it had before my parents died.
There had been so much I’d wanted to tell Asher today.
I wanted to tell him about my argument with Casey, and about how she’d unenrolled me from my class.
But there hadn’t been time. And even if there had been, now I wasn’t so sure if I would have told him even if I could have.
After all, he was somewhere far away doing…
well, important stuff. Who knew what kind of real world problems he was dealing with?
Surely he didn’t need my petty problems on his mind as well.
I guided my horse past a squirrel she was eyeing suspiciously. Nevada didn’t spook easily, but due to a traumatic experience involving squirrels that had taken place when she was a colt, she loathed the creatures.
“Shhh,” I murmured to her, gently urging her down the path. “You’re fine. The squirrel isn’t going to get you.”
She turned her head to give me a disapproving look, but to my relief, she did begin to walk again.
The whole situation made me feel powerless, I realized.
And I hated feeling powerless, much in the same way Nevada hated squirrels.
She feared them, and therefore, she despised them.
Unlike my horse, however, I loved the ranch.
It both tied me down and drew me close. I’d never seen myself anywhere else.
But then again, I wondered, what had I imagined myself doing for the rest of my life?
Working under Casey’s thumb? When my parents were alive, and even when it was only my father, it had made sense to see myself at the ranch five or even ten years down the road.
It was where my parents had lived and had always wanted to be.
“Unfortunately,” I told my horse as I turned her down a fork in the path, “I’ve got to face the music. My parents are gone. And my father…” I swallowed hard, unable to go on.
My father’s lack of insight had led him to marry a cruel, selfish woman. And under her spell, he’d given it all away. Every dream and hope he and my mother had cherished–every hope we’d cherished in my mother’s memory–he had given to her.
Anger bubbled up inside me as I squeezed the reins between my fingers until my knuckles turned white.
After my father had died, I’d mourned him just as I’d mourned my mother. I’d been angry that he was gone. I’d cried myself to sleep for months. But never had I felt such white-hot anger directed at him before this.
Then again, I’d never felt so betrayed before either.
Would Asher do something like that? I wondered. Build a dream with someone and then give it all away?
I didn’t know what Asher would do. After all, I’d known the man less than a month. But even from what little I did know about him, I got the feeling he wouldn’t put up with antics the way my father had.
Just then, Nevada stepped out of the trees and back onto one of the town roads, and I suddenly looked around me in surprise.
I wasn’t sure how it had happened, as I hadn’t meant to go this particular way.
But as I’d thought about Asher during my descent from the mountain, rather than going home, I had apparently drifted toward Margaret’s bookstore instead.
The porch had even more pumpkins than it had the last time I’d been there, and she’d added twinkle lights to the edge of the roof.
A bowl of candy sat on a table on the porch, where all the neighborhood children knew they could take a piece.
And now the porch overflowed with not only pumpkins, but with countless pots of red, orange, purple, and yellow chrysanthemums as well.
The sign on the door said CLOSED, much to my disappointment. Only then did I realize that in my longing for my parents, I must have unconsciously directed my horse toward Margaret. Apparently, however, Margaret wasn’t there to be had.
But just as I was about to turn my horse toward home, I spotted a to-go cup with a lid and a letter on the welcome mat in front of the door. And the letters on the envelope had been written so clearly and in such large letters that even from my place on the horse, I could see the name on the front.
To Ella
Mystified, I climbed down from Nevada’s back and went up the front steps.
Sure enough, my name was on the front of the envelope in big, scripty letters.
It was on the lid of the cup beside it as well.
Which, I could now see, was on top of a book–a new young adult fairy tale retelling from one of my favorite fantasy authors.
Unable to figure out how she’d known I would be there–as I’d not even planned to come myself–I broke the wax seal on the back and pulled out her letter.
Dear Ella,
I had a feeling you’d be coming out this way this afternoon, so I took the liberty of leaving you a few treats.
I apologize for not being at home, but Belle and I had some business errands to attend to.
We should be open again bright and early tomorrow if you’re able to stop by.
But even if you can’t, please enjoy the new release and your pumpkin spice chai.
The book is a gift from Asher, by the way, as a goodbye present.
I couldn’t give it to you until today, however, because it only just arrived from the publisher.
As always, keep reading the storybook every night.
And if you’re impatient for the end, do your best to help the story along.
You’re a smart girl. It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. If you need me, you have my number.
Love,
Margaret
I stared at the sheet in shock.
Margaret had always had an uncanny ability to sense when things were wrong in my life, but I had always believed that to stem from a lifetime of people watching. This, though…
This was a new level entirely. And to be honest, it was a little terrifying.
I picked up the cup and lifted the lid, taking a deep whiff of the steaming liquid inside. Sure enough, it was pumpkin spice chai, and it was still as hot as when Belle might have poured the hot water from the kettle.
Standing up, I looked around. There was no one nearby, not even on the street, which meant there was no one to witness the same impossible things that I just had.
And yet, they were here. And, I realized suddenly, they were the kind of love I needed deeply right here and now.
So with an incredulous smile and a shake of the head, I gathered my letter, my tea, and my book, and made my way back to my horse.
Maybe there was such a thing as magic after all.