Page 47 of A Spot of Tea
“A break?” Every step she took away from him only pulled him in closer. “I can take a break. Just promise you won’t figure out who the robber is without telling me.”
She flashed a smile over her shoulder. “Yeah, ha. No way.”
Joey had to believe that it was a break and not an end to their search. Otherwise, he’d have no way to get through the dull conversations with Russell’s celebrity friends.
The only person who was excited by all the Hollywood hullabaloo was Cora. She asked to spend a day with him to try to rub elbows with “the rich and fabulous.”
“Maybe I’ll get discovered! That’s what happened to Russell, you know. They just plucked him out of a crowd and voilà!”
That probably wasn’t how it went down, but Joey wasn’t going to say anything. If he could make Cora happy, maybe she’d help at the tea shop again so Eliza could have a day off.
He took her up on a Friday morning. Cora sat in the front and within the first thirty minutes, he had to yell at her four times to keep her hands off the control panel.
Their first trip was flying Russell’s agent back to Seattle. Cora peppered him with questions.
“Who’s the worst person you’ve had to work with?”
He laughed. “Like I’m going to tell you.”
“Good point.” She pointed at him. “Who was the best, then?”
“Russell, obviously.”
She groaned. “You’re no fun.”
“Fun doesn’t pay the bills,” he said.
This seemed to hit Cora and she sat back, quiet for a moment. “You are so right. Fundoesn’tpay the bills.”
They dropped him off before he had a chance to discover Cora and her special talent – whatever that was – and on their flight back, Cora turned to questioning him.
“Tell me, Joey. You seemed to have a pretty developed theory about soulmates. What’s your dating history?”
“My dating history? You want a full rundown or something?”
She waved a hand. “You know what I mean. Your greatest love story, Joey. Don’t jerk me around.”
This was a first. People didn’t normally ask him questions. He was much better with listening. He’d probably make a great podcast host, if he ever found the time. “I had a love story once. A girl I dated in college.”
“Do tell! What was she like? What happened?”
“There’s not much to say. She was perfect. I was madly in love, I messed it up, and that was that.”
“What do you mean, there’s not much to say? You made me think of a hundred more questions.”
“Er, yeah. I should’ve seen that coming.”
She gawked at him, mouth open. “Wait a minute. Are you a Steve?”
Their relationship had ended so badly it had made him fly to the other side of the world. So… “I guess. Yeah, I was a Steve.”
“What!You’re a cheater?” She smacked his arm.
“Ow!” He pulled away, rubbing his shoulder. “No hitting the pilot!”
“Steve status trumps pilot status,” Cora said, eyes narrowed.
“I’m not a cheater! I thought you meant a Steve was a disappointing boyfriend.” He shouldn’t have brought this up. Maybe he wasn’t cut out to be a podcast host after all. “I don’t think you want to hear this story.”
