“What is it?” Miss Harriet asked, as he stood and began hurriedly packing things back into his briefcase.

“Keep my tea and scones warm for me, Harriet, I’ll be back in a bit.” He squeezed Miss Harriet’s hand, grinned at Katherine, and was out the door before they could say another word.

“Well, Dearie,” Miss Harriet said as the door slammed shut behind him. “I suppose that must mean you’re not to give up hope yet. When Harold has an idea like that, it’s always a good one!”

* * * *

The morning had dragged by, despite the fact that the shop had been very busy. In a brief lull after the lunch rush, Katherine and Miss Harriet went back to the kitchen to quickly wash up a few of the morning’s dishes before more customers arrived.

As they worked, Katherine looked up at Miss Harriet. “Do you think Mr. James will be able to find Serena?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” Miss Harriet said frankly. “As much as I’m inclined to tell you that Harold can do anything he sets his mind to, I simply don’t know if it’s possible, especially since we’re not family. In the eyes of the officials who could access such things, we’re all just curious bystanders.”

“Would you be happy? —If we found her, I mean.”

Miss Harriet smiled. “Of course I would. One doesn’t just erase a friendship because the friend is gone.”

“But I thought…”

“That I was angry at Serena for leaving without telling me? I was, at first. But then, I stumbled upon another of the old paths. I was reading in Matthew, in the Lord’s Prayer, and Jesus’ words fairly jumped off the page and into my heart. He said when we pray, we should ask God to ‘forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’ I realized how wrong it was for me to come to God asking forgiveness for my own sins, while holding on to bitterness over what I perceived to be Serena’s abandonment of our friendship. So, I decided to forgive.”

“And if she came back?”

“I think I would be thoroughly glad to see her again. Perhaps she didn’t mean to leave like that. As Harold would say, we can’t make an assessment of someone else’s actions until we have all the facts.”

Just then, the bell over the door rang furiously and Mr. James burst into the kitchen.

“Hello ladies! Have you saved me anything to eat?”

Miss Harriet held up a plate of scones “Yes, but we’ll only surrender them if you tell us why you darted off this morning.”

“Ah, you drive a hard bargain, but how can I resist?” he said jokingly. “Katherine’s comment about everything coming back to Serena gave me an idea.”

“We know that already,” Katherine said impatiently.

“Let him tell it like a newspaper story, it’s what he’s used to.” Miss Harriet interjected with a wink.

Mr. James stood up straighter and struck a noble pose as he continued in his best imitation of a radio announcer’s voice. “The intrepid reporter left his breakfast steaming on the table and went off to chase his lead, only allowing himself one brief, longing look at the meal he left behind as he bolted off to save the day.”

“And? Where did you bolt off to?” Katherine asked, even more impatiently.

“To City Hall.”

“Why did you go there?” Miss Harriet asked, still holding the plate of scones.

“Because that’s were the city’s business records are kept.”

“Business records?” Katherine asked. “What could the business records tell you about Serena?”

“You wanted to save the Harborside, right?” Mr. James asked.

Katherine nodded.

“Well, then, you might like to know that Captain Braddock doesn’t own the Harborside outright. He shares it with Serena, fifty-fifty.”

“How does that help?”

“I wrote a story once about a small general store whose joint owners disagreed on whether to keep the store or sell it. One owner decided to quietly sell it without telling the other, which was sad, really, because they were cousins, very close as children. They never spoke again after the incident with the store.”

“And?”

“Well, as I wrote the story, I had to look into what the law had to say about joint-owners. I learned that in an equal partnership, each has to have the consent of the other in order to make any major financial decision pertaining to the business.”

“But I don’t think the captain’s decision is exactly a business one. It’s more of a decision about his own assets, not the business.”

“That’s why I went to the bank next, to have a hypothetical chat with Mr. Patten. He said that the bank’s policy requires the signature of both owners before unlocking funds from investments above a certain amount. He hinted that this had thus far prevented the captain from turning in the paperwork you saw that day.”

“That means that he can’t sell the Harborside or take the drastic step he was considering without Serena’s approval.” Katherine took the plate of scones out of Miss Harriet’s hands and handed them to Mr. James. “Thank you! You’re the best reporter I know!”

Mr. James beamed, looked down at his scones, and said brightly. “Do you have any tea to go with these?”

33 The Braddock Gift

Katherine stood at the counter, gazing at Mrs. Penelope, deep in thought. She had gotten to know the old lady quite well in her time at Miss Harriet’s, and had observed that Mrs. Penelope was decidedly a creature of habit.

All the dailies were, of course, but Mrs. Penelope had proved to be the most resistant to change. When presented with a change, she became hesitant, almost stubborn. And though the quiet, unassuming old woman enjoyed her tea and scones each day, Katherine wished she could get her to try something different. She felt sure the demure old lady would enjoy something more flavorful than the English Breakfast tea Miss Harriet had served her ever since the first day when Miss Penelope had ordered “plain black tea.”

In the months Katherine had spent at the Harborside, she had picked up a fairly thorough understanding of the flavors and nuances of the different varieties and blends of teas and had begun to notice that certain types of people tended to like certain types of tea. She wondered if this was something like the “gift” everyone spoke of when referring to Serena’s ability to pair people with just the right tea. She also wondered if she would ever be able to do that.

Looking at the sweet, but slightly frail woman in her brown tweed skirt and blazer, with a little brown hat perched on her head, she decided to act. I’ll never know if I never try, she thought, as she crossed the room to speak to Mrs. Penelope.

“Good morning, Katherine.”

“Good morning, Mrs. Penelope. I wondered if you might like to try a cup of Earl Grey this morning?”

Mrs. Penelope frowned. “Well, I’m not sure… you see, I’m used to my plain black tea.”

“I think you’ll like Earl Grey even better.” Katherine said.

“Well, I don’t know…”

Just then, Mr. Patten walked in, giving Katherine an idea. “Would you be willing just to try a cup? Mr. Patten orders it every day, and highly recommends it.”