The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane (Life in Icicle Falls) by Sheila Roberts Page A

the phone, followed by, “Seriously, do you sometimes wonder if you’ll ever get it right?”
    “All the time,” Cecily said.
    “Oh, well. If I can’t have great sex, I’ll have to settle for making a huge commission on this dog of a house I’m about to show. Oh, and this is my client pulling up. I’d better get my game face on.”
    “Go for it.”
    “Ciao,” Margo said airily.
    Cecily went back to writing a product description for their newest chocolate flavors. It would be nice if, for once in her life, she could get those matchmaking instincts that worked so well for everyone else to work on her own behalf.
    * * *
    Bailey looked out the plane window at the lush trees and lawns below. Federal Way was now in view, which meant that within minutes the plane would be landing at Sea-Tac airport outside Seattle. Both her sisters were coming to pick her up, and her mother was home preparing all her favorite foods—mushroom lasagna, chicken Caesar salad and chocolate cake. It was the same chocolate cake her mother had taught her to make when she was twelve, the same recipe she used when she catered parties and needed mini cupcakes.
    Those days were now gone. Her business was dead. So, why had she packed up so many of her kitchen tools and shipped them to Icicle Falls? What a fool. She’d spent a fortune sending home things that would only remind her of her failure.
    Well, a girl still needed mini muffin tins and baking sheets and measuring cups and spoons and mixing bowls, for crying out loud. Maybe not a case of cute cupcake holders or tiered serving trays or pastry bags. But still, people would be having birthdays. And baby showers. She’d continue to make fun dishes and treats. She just wouldn’t be doing it for a living now.
    What would she be doing? She blinked hard and told herself not to be a baby. No more crying. She was so done with crying.
    “Almost home,” said her seatmate, an older man with silver hair.
    He was single and lived in Seattle. He’d been a good listener, nodding sympathetically while she told him her woes. He owned a company that distributed seafood, and she’d thought he’d be perfect for her mom. But he hadn’t been remotely interested in hearing about her sweet, pretty mother. He’d wanted to know if she ever dated older men. That had been icky and awkward.
    She’d told him she had a boyfriend back in Icicle Falls. What a lie! She had no one back in Icicle Falls. She blinked again and wiped at the corner of her eye.
    “Is your boyfriend coming to meet you?” asked Mr. Lech.
    “No, my sisters will.” Her fabulous sisters, who were always there for her. Another tear tried to sneak out of the corner of her eye. She wiped it away and reminded herself that she had much to be grateful for.
    And there was a rainbow at the end of this storm. Although her career was over, her love life could take off. There was more than family in Icicle Falls. Brandon Wallace was there. She smiled. Brandon Wallace, ski bum and resident heartbreaker, had been cracking her heart like a jawbreaker off and on since they were kids. In fact, the last time he’d dumped her for another woman had been the final straw. She’d been more than happy to move to L.A.
    But that was then. She was a big girl now and more than ready to show Brandon what he’d been missing. Her career might have fizzled, but that didn’t mean her love life had to.
    The plane landed with a couple of bumps and then taxied to the Jetway. Okay, she told herself, you are now approaching your new life. It will be an adventure. She only hoped this adventure ended in success.
    The plane stopped and everyone hurried to stand up and wait.
    “I hope everything works out for you,” the older man said. He handed her his business card. “If you ever need anything.”
    What she really needed was a trip back in time and a chance to turn down catering Samba Barrett’s party.
    Her suitcase took forever to appear on the baggage carousel, and after