A Little Bird Told Me by Laura Bradford & Guideposts

Author:Laura Bradford & Guideposts [Bradford, Laura & Guideposts]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Guideposts
Published: 2024-08-27T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Maybe it was the cold, damp air she’d run through on the way in and out of Cindy Summerton’s house—twice. Maybe it was the cancellation of the clinic’s last two scheduled appointments for the day. Or maybe it was a mixture of both, with the added toppings of worry, fear, and uncertainty. But whatever the reason, Harriet simply couldn’t shake the chill she felt down to her toes, despite the hot tea Polly had insisted they get at the Happy Cup Tearoom & Bakery.

“You look positively gutted.”

Harriet set her teacup back on its saucer and tried to make her answering smile as genuine as possible. “I’m not upset, Polly. Not about the painting behind Emerson’s door anyway. Truthfully, I’m glad it wasn’t Grandad’s, because that would have brought with it a whole different set of problems and worries.”

“I suppose.” Polly took a sip of tea and grinned. “My thirst worked well to buy you time to check, didn’t it?”

“It did indeed.”

“I’m glad. I drank as slowly as I could.”

“Well, if the clinic ends up closing, maybe Van could get you on with the police department,” Harriet said glumly.

Polly rolled her eyes. “The clinic is not going to close, Harriet.”

“Every single appointment we had today canceled.” Harriet wrapped her cold fingers around the steaming cup. “I can’t stay open if that continues.”

Polly pushed a plate of banoffee pie toward Harriet. “I think you need to eat some of that. Things will look better once you do.”

Harriet took a bite of the pie and hummed. “You’re right. This is amazing.” She’d had the tearoom’s banoffee pie before, but somehow it tasted better today. Perhaps it was that the warm flavors of toffee and banana and the soft whipped cream contrasted so sharply with the rotten weather outside and the despair in her own heart. Perhaps the pastry chef had done something new. Either way, the pie was a balm to her soul.

“Eventually, you’ll learn that I’m usually right,” Polly teased with a wink. “And maybe you’ll take my advice more often.”

“If your advice is about desserts, I’ll take it.” Harriet savored another bite. “I wonder how someone came up with this pie.”

“Two mates invented it more than fifty years ago in a restaurant in East Sussex. They called it banoffee pie in honor of its two main flavors.”

“Banoffee pie,” Harriet repeated, setting her fork on the empty plate. “Very clever and so delicious.”

Polly stacked Harriet’s plate with her own and set the stack to one side. “Feeling better now?”

“A bit, yeah. I’m sorry for being such a downer, Polly.”

“You can be down. You’ve earned that right with everything that’s been going on. But you can’t let it defeat you. That’s not your way, and it won’t solve anything. A spoonful of sugar always helps.”

Harriet poured herself a fresh cup of tea from the floral pot on the table then stirred in a sugar cube and a splash of cream. “I felt like we were finally gaining traction with the clinic. Word was getting out that I actually know what I’m doing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.