Page 74 of A Wonderland Wish on Ever After Street
In answer, I throw my arms around his neck and pull him down for a hug, loving the noise of surprise he makes, and even though my back is to the rest of the shop, I canfeelthree gazes on us. Marnie lets out a cheer.
Bram plants his legs apart to keep us upright as his arms wrap around me and he hugs me as tightly as it’s physically possible to hug another person. My fingers automatically slide up to play with his hair, and his body relaxes against mine as he lets out a long exhale. ‘That’s the best feeling in the world.’
I can’t help grinning at his typical Bram openness. I’ve spent the past five days fearing that I wouldn’t get to hug him again and this feels so good that my eyes are threatening to well up and I have to take a shuddery breath that isn’t as deep as it should be because he’s holding me so tightly.
‘And just in case you think he’s completely heartless, he did genuinely feel awful when he realised how far Tabby had gone. We had a heart-to-heart talk with no egos and no expectations. I don’t think he ever realised how serious I was about taking over the tearoom and I didn’t realise that it wasn’t personal when we saw your application. I don’t know what you said to him the other night but I know you said something, because that chat felt like the first time he’d everheardme speak. Our father-son relationship isn’t magically mended, but maybe it isn’t a completely lost cause either, and this is the first time I’ve felt like that in years, so thank you.’
I hold him impossibly tighter. There’s so much I want to say, but it’s not the right time when we’ve got an audience of three, but it’s been too many days since I had a hug and I’m not ready to let go yet, no matter who’s watching.
Marnie’s cheer alerted the inspector to her presence, and he’s stepped aside to let her out of the food preparationroom, and she comes over. ‘Hate to interrupt, but if you don’t need me any more, I’d better go and relieve Darcy from bookshop duty.’
I reluctantly disentangle myself from Bram and give her a hug instead. ‘Thank you for being thebestbest friend ever.’
‘Text me later, I want details! Alotof details!’
I let her out and lock the door behind her, and when I turn back, Bram has gone to join his father and the inspector at the counter.
‘I trust you’ve found nothing of concern in your investigations?’ he asks, his tone suggesting that he’s expecting the answer to be no.
‘Well, not really, but…’
‘The toaster crumb tray needs emptying,’ I interject.
Bram looks over at me and then at the inspector. ‘Allow me.’
The inspector and Mr Hastings watch in amusement as he goes out to the back room, empties the toaster crumb tray into the bin and washes his hands, and comes back with a hilariously smug Hatter grin on his face. ‘There we go, you can strike that one off your long and elaborate list. Was there anything else?’
‘There’s a bit of cracked grouting in the splashback behind the sink, and…’
‘Right, grouting. I can do that. And…?’
‘Previous food hygiene scores are exemplary, I’m sure there’ll be no problem going by them for the time being.’ Mr Hastings doesn’t give him a chance to add anything else.
‘Andourkitchen is available for inspection at your convenience,’ Bram says.
I meet his eyes across the room and he gives me a subtle wink, and my heart flutters at what he means. That things are okay and we can go back to how we were.
‘I’m sure you’re very busy today.’ Mr Hastings reaches over to pat the inspector on the shoulder. ‘We wouldn’t want to hold you up any further. Is that everything you need for your report?’
The inspector ums and ahhs for a minute, but clearly doesn’t fancy trying to argue with Mr Hastings. Even if he’s slightly less heartless than I thought he was at first, I doubt many council employees would want to get on the wrong side of him.
The inspector packs his laptop and gathers up his things, and the three of us follow him to the door and wave him off.
‘I’d better get back to work too.’ Mr Hastings starts patting down his pockets as if to make sure he hasn’t left anything behind. ‘That was quite an eventful morning.’
‘I’m sorry about the cupcakes and the scene at the wedding, Mr Hastings.’ I’ve been debating with myself whether to bring it up, but if there’s one thing we need in The Wonderland Teapot, it’s a bit more honesty on all sides, including mine, and I finally blurt it out as he goes to open the door, and he turns back to me.
‘And I’m sorry too, Miss Jordan. I made a mistake in sharing our private business with Tabby. I acted as if she was still my daughter-in-law without ever truly understanding what had happened between her and my son. Given how insistentBramwas about us making this right, I suspect we may be seeing more of you in our family life.’ He glances at Bram uncertainly, like he’s making sure he’s used the right name, and then reaches out to shake my hand. ‘And I really do apologise for my part in this debacle. I hope The Wonderland Teapot will continue to thrive for many happy years on Ever After Street.’
He shakes Bram’s hand too, and we stand together in the doorway as we watch him walk off down the street and then both realise at the same moment that everyone has gone and it’s just the two of us. He grins at me. ‘’ello.’
‘Hi.’ It seems a daft thing to say when I’ve been standing next to him for the past twenty minutes and just confessed my love for him.
He reaches out for myhand. ‘Can we talk?’
I can’t slip my hand into his fast enough. ‘I didn’t realise how much I’d miss you.’
‘Me too. I mean, I always knew how much I’d miss you, but life has been extraordinarily dreary since Sunday. I’ve come to rely on your hugs like oxygen. If I couldnothave to go another day without hugging you, ever, it would make me very happy.’ His cheeks go gorgeously red and the tightness that was still clenching around my chest and shoulders suddenly lifts, and we’re just smiling at each other again. He jiggles my hand and tugs me towards the nearest table. ‘Tea?’
