Chapter Ten
On Thursday Travis was working with Blair in the café, so it was time to put her plan in motion.
She first cast a small listening spell on herself to confirm that Luke was next door.
Blair then made a pumpkin spice latte in a to-go cup using her special syrup, finishing it with a swirl of whip cream and dusting of cinnamon.
She made herself a drink, too, a chamomile lavender tea to calm her racing heart.
She then told Travis she was taking a half-hour break, and took both drinks to Luke in the bakery, ready to suggest a truce.
Blair smiled as she knocked on the glass door of Shirley’s Sugar Mountain. A woman in coveralls with a hammer in her tool belt opened the door, and Blair asked if the owner of the establishment was in.
Luke came up behind the woman. ‘Blair. What do you want?’ He looked annoyed, which made sense considering Blair had accused him of sabotage the last few times she saw him. But she didn’t think he was sabotaging her business anymore, thanks to Belinda’s prophecy. She took a deep breath.
‘A truce.’ Blair held out the pumpkin spice. The woman in coveralls snorted a laugh, looking between Blair and Luke. Luke did not take the coffee from Blair’s hand.
‘It’s a pumpkin spice latte. Harvest Moon’s speciality.’
Luke glared at Blair. Maybe she’d taken things too far at the town council meeting? ‘I thought . . . I thought maybe we should talk? Clear the air, you know?’
He raised one brow, mouth still a straight line. ‘Clear the air.’
Blair nodded. This wasn’t working. The woman in coveralls was still watching their conversation, clearly amused.
‘You’re not going to throw it on me like you did the last time you brought me a coffee?’ he deadpanned. Which made his companion huff a laugh again. Luke looked at the woman. ‘Iris, can you leave us, please.’
‘Sure thing, boss.’ The woman waved to Blair, then disappeared into the bakery.
‘I’m sorry I spilled coffee on you,’ Blair said. ‘It was an accident. I didn’t know you were . . . you.’
‘But now you know it’s me, so you’re even more likely to do something shady. Is the drink poisoned?’
Blair shook her head, despite the fact that Luke was pretty close to the truth. The drink wasn’t poison, but it was magic. ‘I’m trying here, Luke. You said we had to learn to co-exist, and I agree. I thought we could have a chat? Here, or in Harvest Moon?’
He looked at Blair, eyes narrow. Blair had no idea what he was thinking. She knew what she was thinking – that this was the exact expression on his face right before they kissed at the farmers’ market.
Luke shook his head. ‘I’m busy. And truthfully? I don’t want to talk to you.’ His eyes narrowed even more.
Blair blinked. She’d never seen him look at her with that much disdain.
He sounded like Blair was nothing to him.
This hadn’t been what Luke was like when they were dating, but it also hadn’t been what Luke was like when they were rivals, either.
She’d been an annoyance, his nemesis, his adversary, but she’d never been nothing.
Maybe she’d imagined it, but Blair always assumed that Luke enjoyed their rivalry. There had always been a bit of mischief in his eyes. And when she’d broken up with him, he’d looked at her with gut-wrenching sadness, not disdain. Blair almost cried at the sight of real animosity in his eyes now.
Blair’s hand fisted. This was ridiculous. She needed to get her emotions in check when it came to this man. This was too important.
‘Okay. I’m sorry I bothered you.’ It looked like she wasn’t going to get the information she needed from Luke today, but she was more upset because . . . Luke couldn’t actually hate her. It seemed wrong.
She turned, afraid that if she said anything else her voice would crack. She was one step away from the door, when a warm hand landed on her shoulder for one long second, stopping her. Luke didn’t want her to leave.
His expression was softer now. ‘It’s not a good time,’ he said. ‘I just had a double espresso, and we’re working on detailed trim.’
Okay. That was better than a heartless I don’t want to. ‘How about later?’ Blair suggested. ‘I’m closing at six today. You haven’t seen my place yet! My café, I mean. If you’re available. We can do it another day.’ Blair needed to stop talking. She squeezed her lips together.
Luke blinked. ‘I have a thing at seven, but we can talk before it. I’ll meet you at your café.’
Blair nodded, relieved that maybe Luke didn’t hate her after all.
‘And, sorry about the coffee,’ he added. ‘I really did just have a double espresso.’
‘It’s fine.’ She laughed awkwardly and held out the tea. ‘Want this instead? It’s a chamomile lavender herbal tea. No caffeine.’
Luke stared at Blair for a few seconds, maybe wondering if Blair was actually trying to poison him. Which she wasn’t. There was nothing at all unusual about the tea she was offering. Finally, he took the cup from her. ‘Sure.’ He smelled it through the opening in the lid.
‘Smells good,’ Luke said.
Blair smiled. ‘I make my own tea blends.’
‘I’ll see you later, Blair. Thanks for the tea.’ He turned and walked back into the bakery, leaving Blair standing alone with a magical latte in her hand. She was going to have to dump it down the drain.
* * *
After closing, Blair wiped down the tables while telling herself that she wasn’t nervous at all about the fact that Luke Caldwell would be in her café at any moment.
Maybe. Then again, maybe he’d stand her up.
Blair had no idea – he’d seemed so angry when she brought that latte over.
Maybe this was his way of getting revenge on her for all the accusations, for all the times she’d laid into him for building the bakery. And for ending that kiss.
He said he had something to do at seven . . . Did he have a date?
Blair exhaled. She was spiralling. She needed another chamomile lavender if she was going to get through this night. Finally, there was a knock on the glass door. It was Luke, in his now trademark jeans and flannel. Blair put away her cleaning cloth, took a deep breath and opened the door.
And there he was. He didn’t look angry this time.
Maybe a little tired. Closed off, to some degree.
His eyes swept the café for the first time as he stepped in.
Blair was strangely self-conscious about Luke seeing the inside of her café.
Maybe because the bakery he was building was going to be so beautiful.
But her café was beautiful, too. Just in a different way.
It was especially beautiful now with the fresh paint and new art.
‘So, what can I make for you to drink?’ Blair asked. ‘After almost trying it twice, I’m sure you’re curious about my pumpkin spice latte.’
‘I’m fine.’ He looked at his watch. Yeah, he didn’t want to be here. ‘I don’t have much time.’
Blair put on a persuasive smile. ‘C’mon, Luke, I know you love pumpkin pie, and you’ll love my latte. First drink is always on the house for locals.’
Luke gave Blair a pointed look, clearly wondering why she was being so insistent.
Maybe this was a bad idea. There had to be another way to figure out Luke Caldwell’s role in the festival sabotage than cozying up to him.
His eyes . . . they were so deep. She could stare at them forever and she still wouldn’t see the bottom.
This close, Blair could see the scruff on his chin.
She wondered if he’d ever grown a full beard in the last twelve years.
‘How do you know I like pumpkin pie?’ he asked.
‘Because I’ve known you since you were six.’
He rubbed his chin. ‘Actually, five. We were in the same senior kindergarten class.’
Blair grinned. ‘I can do decaf if you can’t do caffeine at this hour.’
He finally exhaled, nodding small. ‘Yeah, fine, why not. Caffeinated is okay.’
Blair smiled, walking around the counter and taking down the special pumpkin spice syrup from the shelf.
While making the drink, she focused on Luke, peeking into his past to figure out what flavours in pumpkin spice appealed to him.
But the first memory Blair found was from when they were a couple, when Luke borrowed his mother’s car so they could go to a farm store that had an eggnog ice cream for the holidays.
Blair tensed, pushing past that memory until she found another one – Luke helping his mother make fruitcake.
She highlighted nutmeg and cloves to the forefront in his latte.
She needed him to love the drink so he’d drink the whole thing.
If it worked as well as it had on Melody, then she had no doubt she’d find out how Luke was the key to stopping the Moonbeam Hollow mishaps.
Blair slid the finished latte across the counter. He took it but didn’t inhale or taste it. ‘Aren’t you going to try it?’ Blair asked.
‘Are you hoping I’ll burn my throat?’
Blair exhaled, her hand fisting. He was not making this easy for her. It took all her self-control not to snap right back at Luke, because she suspected that if she did, he’d throw the coffee on her this time. ‘Should we sit down?’ Blair asked.
Luke shrugged but still followed Blair to a two-seat table near the wall. The café seemed eerily quiet, only amplifying the tension between them. It was fine. As soon as he started drinking that latte, Blair would start asking questions.
But Luke actually asked the first question.
‘Okay, so what’s going on, Blair?’ He didn’t sound as angry as earlier, but he was still clearly suspicious.
‘What’s your motivation for this? The last time you were this nice to me it was because you’d put ghost pepper flakes in my poutine when we were seventeen. ’
Blair tried to smile. ‘I’m not . . . I mean, I’m sorry about that. I don’t have a specific motive, just wanted to talk. Maybe even find a way to be friends. I feel bad for accusing you of sabotaging my business. Since the festival signs also went missing, I have to assume it wasn’t you.’