Close to You

side. “I do expect full details about your date,
though.”
    The lingerie was so expensive, asking
for her firstborn child would have been reasonable. “Definitely,
but no pink champagne this time.”
    Olivia laughed and hugged her. “You’re
on.”
    On the way back to the café, Eve’s
cell phone rang. She plucked it out of her pocket. Seeing the New
York number she answered it immediately. “Eve speaking.”
    “ Eve, this is Carmen
McKnight.”
    She held her breath, trying not to get
her hopes up. “What can I do for you, Carmen?”
    “ We’re going to be in San
Francisco in two weeks to look at the venues who’d like to host
Daniela. We’re going to be in your neighborhood on March 18th. I
trust that works for you.”
    Not a question—she was being told it
was the 18th or never. “Of course. The eighteenth is
fantastic.”
    “ We’re visiting the other
store at”—the rat-a-tat of fingers on a keyboard sounded over the
line—”two. We can stop by yours at one-thirty.”
    Frowning, Eve pushed open the door to
Grounds for Thought. “Does that give you enough time? It takes a
surprising amount of time to drive from one place in the city to
another.”
    “ It’ll be fine. It’s just
across the street.”
    Eve stopped in her tracks.
“What?”
    “ A place called
Crumpet.”
    Whirling around, she glared out the
window at the teahouse down the street.
    Not realizing anything was amiss,
Carmen blithely continued. “We’ll see you on the eighteenth.
Daniela is looking forward to it. I’ll be in touch to coordinate
before then.”
    The call ended, but Eve was stuck
glaring at that woman’s store. Growling she put her phone away and
stomped to the counter.
    Allison’s eyes widened. “Uh-oh. Bad
news?”
    “ Daniela Rossi’s publicist
just called to arrange to see the store.”
    “ That’s fantastic. But then
why do you look like you’re going to explode at any
moment?”
    “ Because that woman across
the street is being considered for the event as well.” Eve tossed
the bag with the lingerie on a shelf under the register.
    Allison’s lips puckered in confusion.
“She’s vying for the event too?”
    “ Evidently.” She paced
behind the counter.
    “ Maybe she’s a Daniela
Rossi fan too,” her barista offered. “Maybe she didn’t know you
were trying to get the event here.”
    Eve gave her a flat look.
    “ You can’t seriously think
she’s doing it on purpose?”
    “ I wouldn’t have thought
that before, but she instructed that boy to hand out flyers for her
store to my customers. How can I not think she’s trying to drive me
out of business?”
    “ No one is that
bitchy.”
    “ She was. At the risk of
sounding like a conspiracy theorist, what if she’s behind the bad
Yelp reviews?”
    “ Then she’d be seriously
addled.”
    “ Yeah.” Eve remembered the
distant, cold way the woman had treated her and shuddered. “I need
to talk to her.”
    “ Yes you do.” Allison
looked at the time. “They open at noon, don’t they? Why don’t I
stay a little later today so you can go see her?”
    “ Thanks, Allison.” She
hugged her friend. “What would I do without you?”
    “ Don’t imagine doomsday
scenarios.” She grinned. “Now are you going to show me what you got
from Olivia?”
    Not wanting the customers to see, she
made Allison crouch behind the counter to look inside the bag.
“It’s awesome on,” she whispered.
    “ I can tell,” Allison
whispered back, touching the satin. “Which one are you wearing
tonight?”
    “ I don’t know. Maybe the
bustier.”
    “ Your man is going to
swallow his tongue when he sees you in it.”
    “ He’s not going to see me
in this tonight.” At Allison’s disbelieving look, she amended her
statement with, “Probably not.”
    “ Keep telling yourself
that.” Her barista frowned. “Why are we whispering?”
    “ We didn’t want to attract
attention.”
    “ Right. Hiding behind the
counter and whispering isn’t suspicious at all.”
    At noon, Eve reluctantly went across
the street to confront the ice queen who ran the
teashop.
    The store was open, so Eve walked in
for the first time ever, wanting to scope out her competition.
There were a few tables already filled, not surprisingly with
women. Quaint, she decided, taking in the doilies and Victorian
furnishings. Perfect for a teahouse, not so fitting for Daniela
Rossi. Surprising that Carmen would consider this place. It had a
different feel than Daniela’s