Page 50 of A Spot of Tea
Eighteen
The tassel rolled in Eliza’s hand, light catching on the fine gold thread. It was real, and it had come from the robber’s hat. She was sure of it.
What she wasn’t sure of was why Joey had it in his plane. She had ideas, of course.
Maybe he’d found it on the ground and thought it looked pretty. Maybe he collected tassels for fun. Or he might have worked with the robber, helping him escape the island by seaplane, just as the rumors had whispered.
There was, of course, a chance that the charming pilot who had fallen out of the sky to tell her she was the only one who might be able to catch the robber could, in fact, be the robber.
Not that she believed any of that. Not intellectually.
Just in her gut and in her heart, which raced through the night, leaving her staring at the ceiling as Mackenzie snored.
Eliza hated secrets. She hated wondering. Years ago, when her parents were getting divorced, when her life was severed into abeforeand anafter, she found out something she shouldn’t have.
Though her parents had said they’d fallen out of love and the divorce was mutual, the truth was that her dad had been having an affair. What was more shocking – her mother had known for months.
Months!Eliza was sure she’d never understand it. How could her mom put up with that? Why didn’t she confront him? Confronther?Tell the world and scare this interloper off and save their family?
There was a touch of juvenile naivety there. Eliza knew that, but she couldn’t fathom why her mom had kept quiet about it all that time.
Until now. As soon as she’d found the tassel, she should have called Stacy, the mean ATF agent. She should have told the police. At the very least, she should have told Mackenzie. (But not Cora. She couldn’t keep a secret to save her life).
Instead, she went to work at the tea shop as if nothing had happened, keeping the tassel in her pocket, checking on it now and again, only daring to look at it when she was sure she was alone.
For the rest of the week, she gave Joey excuses as to why she couldn’t see him. She told Cora and Mackenzie she was busy working on a website update for the tea shop and didn’t have much time to spend with them, either.
It worked. Mackenzie, had she not been in the process of getting fired from her job, might have noticed. Cora didn’t buy her lie for a second, but she was too busy trying to get discovered to pry.
It gave Eliza time to think, time to argue with herself. Her mind was vindicated.See? I knew he couldn’t be into you. He justwanted to see if you’d figured him out. If you confront him, he’s going to toss you out of the plane to be swallowed by the sea.
Her heart was another story. It had hope, and she knew a hopeful heart would make a fool of her.
She didn’t tell anyone, but used that hope to pluck up the courage to return to the scene of the crime.
Despite the island being only fifty-five square miles, she’d managed to avoid going anywhere near the bank. Cora agreed to cover the tea shop, and Eliza made the trip.
Driving there now was just as bad as she’d imagined. Sweat pooled on her top lip and her hands shook as she pulled into the parking lot.
“There’s no truck today. There’s no bank robber,” she repeated to herself.
What if Mackenzie was right? What if no one could be trusted? What if you could never truly know someone?
She pulled into a spot and muttered, “The bank robber isn’t here because he’s probably busy flying around.”
Could Joey be so cold-blooded to sit around, drinking tea and laughing, all while goading her into finding the criminal he knew to be himself?
Being at the bank wasn’t as bad as being in her mind. She shuddered and got out of the car.
She walked inside and one of the tellers spotted her immediately.
“Eliza!” The teller smiled and waved. “How are you?”
“I’m good,” she said, trying to steady her voice. “How are you?”
“Oh, you know. Having nightmares about bombs. No big deal.”
Eliza nodded. “I hear you.”
