“Do you think she can be repaired?” Katherine asked, feeling a glimmer of hope.

“Maybe. It’s worth a try, anyway.” He glanced up at Katherine. “It’s always worth a try.”

17 Peach Tea and Kindness

“Katherine, have you noticed anything strange about Rosie this week?” Sally took a batch of scones out of the oven and replaced it with a pan of pasties.

“No, but I haven’t really seen her. I’ve been out the door before anyone gets here in the mornings, and she doesn’t usually stay till closing time. What have you noticed?”

“Well, you know that fake injured air she puts on when she comes in here now?”

“Yes.”

“Well, the past few days, she hasn’t been like that. She seems to be genuinely sad.”

Katherine reached up into the china cupboard and pulled out a cup and saucer. “Have you asked her what’s wrong?”

Sally frowned down at the scones she was placing on a rack to cool. “I don’t think she’d tell me. After all, she’s never liked me, and after that day when we blew up at each other, I’ve just ignored her best as I can.” Setting the empty pan on the counter, she got out a mixing bowl and spoon. “If Auntie H. were here, she would know exactly what to do.”

“That’s true.” Katherine put a couple scoops of loose tea into the diffuser of a teapot she was prepping for Mrs. Penelope’s very predictable daily order. “Do you remember what she told us that first day after the blow-up, when Rosie came back in?”

Sally put her hands on her hips. “Yes, that our job was to be ‘Kind, you hear?’”

Katherine laughed at her friend’s imitation of Mrs. James’ stern tone. “Yes, that. Well, if you want to find out what’s wrong, maybe you just need to find a way to be extra kind to her.”

Sally’s eyes lit up with interest. “How?”

“I don’t know… I haven’t thought it out that far yet.” Katherine glanced up at the clock on the wall. “I should get over to the Harborside, but I do think you’re on the right track.” She chuckled. “It’s funny for the two of us to be talking about Rosie like this, instead of complaining.”

“I guess that’s the difference forgiveness makes,” Sally slowly picked up a batter bowl and set it in the sink. “I never would have cared before if Rosie were sad or not.”

“But now?”

“Now, it matters. I don’t know why, but I just know it matters, and that I’m the one who’s supposed to do something about it.”

“Then pray. God will help.” Katherine took her apron off and hung it on the old coatrack they used as an “apron tree.” Halfway to the door, she suddenly stopped and walked back to the kitchen “And Sally,” she said, peeking around the curtain, “Try giving her peach tea—with honey.”

* * * *

Inventory…ordering… Tommy will help dust the jars later…Ledger is up to date…Katherine scanned the to-do list she had hurriedly scrawled that morning. She finally felt caught up on the Harborside’s normal tasks. Now it was time to sort through another stack of papers from the trunk. She put the kettle on in the small hidden kitchen and stopped at the desk for the key to the secret tower and the box she had used to carry a stack of papers the day before.

Mounting the staircase had lost some of its excitement over the past few days, especially since a new excitement had taken the limelight on the stage of Katherine’s imagination. Sorting through the papers was tedious at times, but it still held all the thrill and promise of a real-life treasure hunt.

Reaching down, she worked her fingers into the scattered mass, glad to see the trunk noticeably emptier than the day before. As she lifted a messy stack, an envelope fell out and landed on the floor. Sliding the papers into the waiting box, she bent to pick up the envelope. Return to sender… She flipped it over. It hasn’t been opened.

She peered at the shaky handwriting. It looked like Grandma Braddock’s writing, and it was addressed from the Harborside. The “Return to sender” covered the first name of the recipient, but the last name and address were readable. Strange. Katherine frowned. It’s addressed to a Braddock… but she had thought there were no other Braddocks left, apart from the captain and Serena.

Her fingers itched to open the letter, but instead she deliberately stuffed it underneath the papers in her box. She would ask Serena about the letter later on. After all, they were looking for paperwork about the trust, not family correspondence. The prize of restoring the Harborside’s lost warehouse still seemed so far away.

* * * *

“How did you know?” Sally asked as Katherine slipped through the kitchen curtain that evening.

“How did I know what?” Katherine flung an apron strap over her head and tied the strings while Sally squirted soap into the sink.

“About the peach tea and honey for Rosie? I mean, how d’you just look at someone and know what they’d like?”

“Magic.” Katherine winked, gently nudging Sally over and taking her place at the sink.

Sally took a dishrag from the drawer and threw it at her, before grabbing a towel for herself. “I know very well it’s nothing of the kind. So how do you know? Or is it some secret you can’t tell me?”

“It isn’t a secret.” Katherine said, watching the foamy bubbles rise as the sink filled. “Just difficult to explain.”

“Well can you try? I’ve seen you and Auntie H. do it, and I want to know how.”

“I just sort of picked it up from watching the captain, and she picked it up from watching me, although I think she was already naturally good at reading people.”

“Reading people… but how do you know, what do you look for?”

“Little things… At first, I just paid attention to the Dailies, like Mr. James and Mrs. Penelope.” Katherine handed Sally a plate to dry. “I thought about what they ordered, what their personalities were like, what kinds of things they liked or disliked, and then as I learned about the different teas, I just had a hunch they would like a certain kind.”

“So I need to learn about the different teas.” Sally frowned. She finished drying the plate and set it on a shelf in the cupboard.

“That would be a start. But you don’t have to study them, just notice things as you make different kinds of tea for people. Notice how each tea smells, whether or not people tend to put milk or sugar in it, what kinds of people really enjoy it. It’s mostly a matter of observation.”

“Well, you must be good at observing, because that tea really opened Rosie up.”

“Really?”

“Yes. She came in looking sad, like she has been, and so I brought out the tea and said that you thought she would like it, and to be sure to put honey in it.”

“And?” Katherine handed Sally a pink floral teacup before sliding its matching saucer into the dish water.

“She looked like she didn’t know what to do at first.” Sally reached for the saucer and looked down with a blush as she dried it. “I suppose she isn’t used to me being nice to her.”

“Maybe not.” Katherine bent her head to catch her friends’ eye. “But I’m proud of you for being kind to her today.”