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

said.
    “You know, the best Mother’s Day would be to have you here.”
    “I know.” His mom lived in Medford, Oregon, now, not exactly close to Icicle Falls. Still, one of these days he needed to hop on his bike and drive out there to see her. “It’s hard to get away with the business and all, but count on me for Thanksgiving. So, what are you doing today?”
    “Oh, just hanging out.”
    Which meant his brother wasn’t on the job. The turkey was living in Medford now. He had no excuse not to go see their mom on Mother’s Day.
    Todd frowned. “Where’s Devon?”
    “I haven’t heard from him. But I’m sure I will,” Mom hurried on, always ready to cover up her younger son’s neglect.
    “Yeah, I’m sure you will, too,” Todd agreed, because as soon as he got off the phone, he was going to call the little twit and give him a verbal boot in the ass.
    “I did see him the other day,” Mom said. “He came by for dinner.”
    Oh, yeah, if there was a chance to sucker Mom into cooking for him, Devon would be there. Probably brought a load of wash for her to do, too. Well, that was how it worked when you were the baby of the family, the golden boy.
    Devon was Dad’s darling, too. And why not? He’d grabbed the brass ring (for about two seconds) and had that pro ball career. If you could call being on a farm team for a couple of years a career. Devon had trashed his shoulder, and that had ended his pitching days, but not before he made it into the family hall of fame. He was still living on the old glory days, drifting from one construction company to the next, getting DUIs and generally living it up. Yep, the darling of the family.
    “Do you still have that tavern?”
    Mom was getting better at hiding the disgust, but Todd could hear it lurking there. Very low class of him to invest in a tavern. Even if it was a little gold mine, it was a tacky one. “Yeah, I’ve still got it. I just bought another house.”
    “A house?”
    Now, that interested her. “It’s commercially zoned, great location. I’m going to rent it out to someone for a shop.”
    His mom had been to Icicle Falls to visit, and while she didn’t approve of The Man Cave, she did approve of the town with its lovely scenery and intriguing shops.
    “Or you could put in a shop yourself,” she said.
    “It might be hard to run a day business and a night business.”
    “There is that,” she admitted. “What sort of shop do you see going in there?”
    “I don’t know. The house is an old Victorian, lots of gingerbread.”
    “Oh, how sweet. So, what don’t you have up there?”
    “Nothing.” They had shops for everything a tourist could want, from clothes to specialty soaps and bath items.
    “Oh, there has to be something.”
    “I don’t know. I thought maybe a restaurant, but the town has plenty of those.”
    “It doesn’t have a tearoom.”
    “A what?”
    “A fancy little restaurant where ladies can go for tea.”
    “I don’t know,” he said again, doubtfully. “A whole restaurant for tea?”
    “Like in England, with fancy china, little tea cakes and sandwiches. When I went to London with your aunt for our birthdays, we went to Harrods and had tea. It was lovely. Expensive, too,” she added. “They must make a fortune off silly tourists like me and Aunt Sue.”
    “This isn’t exactly London.”
    “No, but you’ve got a female population and a lot of visitors. Done right, it could be a real moneymaker.”
    “Maybe,” he said. He’d have to do some research. “Thanks for the tip. I’ll think about it.”
    “I’m sure whatever you put in will be lovely. You’ve become quite the businessman, sweetie. One of these days you’ll be flying down to see me in your own private plane. But don’t wait that long,” she quickly added.
    “Thanksgiving, Mom,” he promised again.
    They chatted for a few more minutes, and then he hung up and called his brother.
    Devon mumbled a sleepy hello.
    “You’re still in bed?” Todd