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“Your classic comfort food,” Rory says. “Good man.”
“I can’t tell you how much better I feel,” I say.
Rory takes a sip of coffee and smiles. “You look a lot better too. I think today’s rehearsal will go much more smoothly, and we’ll be in good shape for our debut tomorrow night.”
I breathe in. “We have to be, Ror. I’m not going to blow this for us.”
“Damn right you’re not. That’s what your little sister’s here for. We take care of each other, Jess. We’re going to make this work. We’re going to make Dragonlock a household name.”
I nod as I take another bite of eggs with roasted tomato.
We’ve come this far. We willnotblow our one shot.
High tea with Ennis Ainsley turns out to be quite enjoyable. So far, I’ve managed not to make eye contact with Brianna, but it’s been difficult since she and Maddie are sitting together in the large living room.
Mr. Ainsley brought in extra chairs to accommodate everyone.
His butler, Havisham, looks like he came straight out ofDownton Abbey.
The tea is surprisingly good. Robust and flavorful. I drink mine plain. Brianna adds a tiny bit of lemon to hers. Maddie drinks herbal tea.
Blueberry scones, cucumber sandwiches, mini quiches with ham and spinach, and red velvet cupcakes.
“So the first lesson of high tea,” Ennis says, “is that no one calls it high tea. We simply call it afternoon tea. It’s more like an early dinner.”
“We should’ve known that,” Callie says.
“No reason for you to know.” Ennis takes a sip from his cup. “The Yanks have taken over and now call it high tea. But to us, it’s simply afternoon tea.” He directs his gaze to Brianna. “Second rule is your saucer stays on the table.”
Brianna reddens. She’s holding her saucer and taking a drink. “Oh,” she says.
“Not a problem, my dear. There’s no reason for you to know.”
Brianna sets her saucer down.
“The next rule—don’t wrap your hands around the cup, which I can see none of you are doing. Use the cup handle. The handle of the teacup stays at three o’clock, unless you’re left-handed. Then it stays at nine o’clock.”
“Looks like none of us are lefties,” Maddie says.
“Good. Keep those handles at three o’clock, and don’t over stir. You may have noticed that Havisham did not serve cream. We only add milk to our tea over here. We also don’t use tea bags. Always loose tea. Havisham went ahead and put the loose tea leaves in the teapots for us, but sometimes, people serve tea directly into the cup.”
“How?” Callie asks.
“You place a small strainer over the cup, add the tea leaves to the strainer, and pour hot water over them.”
I take a sip as Mr. Ainsley continues.
“Now, for the order of the food. Sandwiches first, and then scones. This is all finger food. To eat a scone, you simply break it in half with your fingers.”
He demonstrates, though I’m pretty sure we could have figured it out.
“Add your clotted cream first, if desired,” Mr. Ainsley continues, “followed by jam or lemon curd if you so choose.” He demonstrates, again, and then he laughs. “I almost forgot the most important rule of all. Never put your pinky out when you lift your teacup. For the life of me, I don’t know where that horrid habit came from.”
Way too many rules for me, but the women are having a great time, laughing and jovially following the directions. Especially Brianna and Maddie.
I regard all three of my sisters. This is the most amazing experience for them, and Maddie especially. I’m so glad she came along.
And I have Brianna to thank for that.
