Page 13 of The Tea Witch’s Secret

"They're a good choice."

"My favourite story when I was a child was about the Moon Rabbit," I responded. "Well, it wasn't really about the Moon Rabbit, it's about the goddess of the moon, but when she ascended, she took her pet rabbit with her." Heat rose to my cheeks as I wondered why I was telling her this. She didn't care about stories that she'd never heard before.

"It sounds like a lovely story."

"It's a sad story," I responded. "She was a beautiful woman, and her husband was given two elixirs for immortality. A man came while her husband was out hunting and tried to force her to give him the elixirs. She drank them both instead of yielding them, then chose the moon as her home so that she could stay close to her husband."

"What happened to him?" Pepper asked.

"He made offerings to her, and then took his own life."

She blinked a couple of times. "He didn't become immortal with her?"

"He couldn't. The story goes that she lives in the Moon Palace with her rabbit. When I was little, I think I took comfort in the fact that she still had her rabbit to keep her company. When I was lonely, I would go out to the field behind our house and talk to the rabbits there. It made me feel better."

"I can't imagine that you must have felt lonely often with your cousins around."

I looked over to where Eva and Max were talking and looking around. "Not through any choice of theirs. They spent a lot of time learning from my mother and my aunt about their weather magic."

"Ah."

"So, the bunnies kept me company," I said.

"Have you talked to them here?" she asked.

"No. I didn't realise there were any," I admitted.

"Many." Pepper smiled. "One of my friends has a hare familiar. She's super cute."

"The friend?" I checked, getting a strange feeling that I didn't recognise in my stomach.

"No, the bunny. I'm sure some people think Hugo is cute, but he's not my type at all, and I'm not his either. His sister is more my thing, if you know what I mean."

I nodded as I processed what she was saying and why she was telling me this. I didn't realise we'd become close enough to discuss our love lives, but maybe the rules of friendship were different here in Purple Oak.

"So you like women? Romantically?" I checked, just to make sure I was understanding things correctly. Was she telling me this because she needed my help with Hugo's sister, whoever that was? Or did she somehow find out that I was inclined towards women and she was discussing common interests?

Pepper nodded while giving me a look that felt like it was more than a look. "Yes, just thought I'd put that out there."

"All right," I responded, still feeling confused. There was a chance she was flirting with me, but I dismissed that notion. She wasn't displaying any of the signals like trying to buy me drinks, complimenting my appearance, or asking me to come back to hers for the night. According to Eva, those were the tells to look out for when it came to courtship.

For some reason, I felt a little disappointed even if I didn't fully know why. Did I want her to be flirting with me?

Before I could figure it out, Eva and Max arrived. I hoped they weren't too annoyed that I hadn't returned with their drinks yet.

"There you are. We were wondering if you got lost," Eva said, relieving me of two tankards and passing one to Max. "Glad to see you're all right. Thank you for getting these."

"I was just talking to Pepper," I said, not sure why I was feeling a bit defensive. I knew I had kept them waiting for their drinks, but I hadn't been gone that long, had I?

Pepper offered the twins a smile. "I'm keeping my own friends waiting, so I should go, but it's nice to see you out and about. I might be biased, but I think Purple Oak is a great place, so I hope you'll stick around for a long time."

Max didn't respond, for some reason staring off into the distance.

"We might," Eva said while smiling at me as if something interesting had happened, but I had no idea what.

"Well, enjoy your night." Pepper briefly touched my arm. "Bye, Lian."

"Bye," I responded, still confused but also disappointed that she was leaving. It had been nice to talk to her and feel like part of Purple Oak, even if it was just for a moment.