Petunia's Tea and Cake Shop

Song of the chapter: Ghost of you - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stdr6o0-HOM

Calum froze, then started putting bottles back into the box. “I was just cleaning this up,” he half joked.

“That’s not going to work this time, buddy.” Ashton remarked with a humorless smile, and nudged Luke along. “And step away from the bar, I know what you have hiding back there.”

Calum lifted his hands up and moved to the side of the bar, rolling his eyes at Ashton.

“Oh my god, would you two just stop!” Luke exclaimed, startling Calum and Ashton out of their bickering. “If I have to die to night, I at least want to know why you’re fighting.”

“You’re not going to die, Luke, I could never…” Ashton’s posture changed and he shook his head as he lowered the revolver.

It was deadly silent for a long moment as the three pairs of eyes flicked between each other.

A rustling in the back of the bar caught their attention, and they all turned just in time to see Michael emerge from the back entrance. “Alright, Cal, I’ve got everything set with...oh fuck no.” He swore when he saw Ashton and started to go back the way he came.

“Stop it right there!” Ashton shouted and raised the gun again. “The police are on their way!”

Seeing no way out of this, Michael slumped down on a crate of gin and rested his chin on his hands with a disgruntled sigh.

“You called the cops on us?” Calum gave Ashton an odd look, that say ‘wow, you really did that’ - betrayal, mixed with disappointment. “You know what, Luke is right. If it’s all going to end tonight, then I’d also like to get to the bottom of this. Tell us what happened, Irwin, tell us about the night you betrayed us all and nearly had us killed.”

“Other than tonight?” Luke’s comment went unnoticed as the tension muffled his words.

“You mean, the night you killed my fiancee?” Ashton retorted with anger, shoving Luke away.

Luke gladly moved away from him, and Michael shot up from his seat to join him.

“Whoa, hold on a second, your what?” He asked Ashton, and Calum looked equally confused. “And we weren’t driving that truck, we were in the back.” He added more calmly, as the pieces started to fit together.

Ashton gritted his teeth as his face turned a darker shade of red. “That’s not what I saw, and I had a front-row seat.” Ashton shouted, his voice getting rough with emotion. “I was sitting at her favorite table at the restaurant we’d gone on our first date. She loved the table by the window because of the way you could see straight down Market Street. We used to sit there and watch all the people coming and going, wondering what their stories where.” His eyes got a little softer at the memory, but continued talking. “I had gotten there early to set things up. The waiter was going to bring the ring out in her champagne glass after dinner, but…” His face flashed with anger again, his cheeks turning a cherry red. “I saw her walking down Market Street in that shimmery dress she usually wore when she sang at The Viper. I waved to her as she crossed the street, and I shouldn’t have distracted her, because...the truck came out of nowhere.” His face streamed with tears, and it was clear he couldn’t continue the narrative.

It was quiet as the other three tried to figure out what to do, when Michael broke the silence. “So, you ratted us out to the Prohibition Bureau? It was an accident, he didn’t mean to hit Ang-”

“You don’t get to say her name!” Ashton interrupted violently, nearly falling across the table separating him and Michael.

“James lost control of the truck; a tire blew out and he couldn’t stop in time. It wasn’t intentional, why would it be?” Calum asked.

Ashton’s demeanor changed at the question, and almost looked confused. “Well, because she was…” He looked back and forth from Calum to Michael. “You mean you didn’t know?”

“Didn’t know what?” Luke butted in, and they all looked at in surprise, as if they’d forgotten he was there.

“She was working for the Bureau undercover.”

“I knew we had a mole,” Michael spat, and shook his head. “Things were too close too many times for it to be a coincidence.”

Calum nibbled his lip in contemplation. “How long did you know?” He finally asked Ashton.

“A month or so.”

“Were you feeding her information?” Calum followed up.

Ashton shook his head. “I didn’t have to - she knew more than I did. No one suspected her of anything and spoke freely around her.”

“Did she know about this place?”

Ashton hesitated a moment. “She knew he had The Rattlesnake, and the conflict with Vinny.”

“Did she know that I own it now?” Calum asked, a bit more sternly this time. “Is that why you let Alfred give this place to me, instead of taking it for yourself?”

“No, and if she had known, this place would have been raided the night The Viper had been, not that they would have found anything.” Ashton added, knowing the place had been empty up until recently.

“Hey, about that night…” Michael asked acusatorally.

“I was mad, okay? I saw you guys running from the driver’s side of the truck, and I guess I made the wrong assumption. I turned over her notes to the Prohibition Bureau, and that’s how I eventually became an agent too.” Ashton shrugged, and looked down, a splash of remorse dancing in his eyes.

They contemplated this for a moment, before Michael asked, a bit kinder this time, “Why didn’t you say anything? Turn us in?”

“I- I don’t know. I’d just lost Angie, I couldn’t lose you guys too, I guess.” Ashton shook his head regretfully.

“Too late for that,” Michael responded indifferently, and glanced at Calum to see if he felt the same way.

“Is it?” Luke interjected. “Is it too late? Now that we know the truth, is it possible for things to be mended?”

An approaching siren sent their heartbeats into rapid fire, and a slight smirk formed on Calum’s lips. “Let’s find out.”

Ashton glared at him. “What does that mean? What am I supposed to do?”

“You called them here, just tell them to go away.” Michael offered with a shrug.

“It’s not that simple.” Ashton shook his head.

“Come on, you’ll think of something.” Luke encouraged. “I heard you’re very good at talking your way out of trouble with the police.”

“This is different! I can’t just tell them you’re all sheep this time.” Calum and Michael chuckled at the memory, and slowly Ashton’s smile curved into a slight smile (or something like it). “Though, I do have an idea. Luke, go upstairs and open up the tea shop. Set out three cups of chai tea and a plate of scones, but make a lot of tea. Like, a lot.”

“Okay?” Luke smiled curiously, but didn’t question his directions before heading upstairs. He put a couple of kettles on to boil, and even filled a pot with water, unsure of how much tea Ashton required. He set out three cups and saucers on the table, put out a selection of scones and cakes on a plate, as directed.

The sirens grew closer and closer as Luke waited for the tea to boil. ‘There really is nothing like waiting for water to boil’ he thought sarcastically, and wondered how Ashton planned on getting them out of this all.

Suddenly, the other three popped up from the secret staircase, and rushed over to the table Luke had set. Luke carefully covered the trap door back up with a rug, and poured them each a cup of tea.

“Just go with it, okay?” Ashton muttered to Luke quickly, as the police arrived. Petunia barked at them from behind the counter, and Ashton sat at the table enjoying his tea and scone. Michael and Calum sat across him, looking far less at ease, but tried to sip their tea casually.

When the police barged in baring guns and badges, Ashton stood up and mocked confusion. “What is this? If you want a table, just ask,” he gestured with this half eaten scone at Luke.

“Have a seat, lads,” Luke answered on que, pointing out an available table.

“No, we’re here to search the place for illegal contraband. As you asked,” the police officer in charge looked confused as he spoke to Ashton.

“No, oh, no, Carson, that’s not what I meant,” Ashton responded with a laugh and took another bite of his scone. “I meant we’re going to raid this place, as in, clean it out. He has the best tea in the quadrant, and this scones are to die for - not literally.” He added, putting his hand on a raised revolver to lower it.

The police all looked around in confusion. “I’ll have a scone,” one mutterde, and Luke plated a scone for him as if his life depended on it (and in a way, it did).

“I think we should still have a look around,” Carson said to Ashton and eyed him suspiciously, though looked at the scones with a hungry eye.

“Knock yourself out, but tea is on me. Luke?” Ashton nodded to Luke, and he headed back into the kitchen to grab extra cups. When he returned, some police officers had lined up to place their tea orders, while a few helped search the place.

Carson knocked at various places in the wall and floor, looking for a hidden door. When he came around the counter, Luke pretended not to notice him, busy with his tea orders as the policemen picked out which type of cakes they’d like with their tea. Petunia did her best to scare him off with a growl, and Luke laughed nervously.

“She likes to sleep under the counter, so she’s very protective of this spot.” He quickly explained, hoping that would throw him off the trail.

Carson stood, looking unconvinced. “The deed states there is another level to this building, I was just looking for a staircase that led downstairs.”

“Actually, the stairs up to my apartment are just back through the kitchen. It’s just a small attic, not much to see, but you can have a look if you’d like.” Luke directed him toward the staircase, and hope that satiated the police officer’s concern.

“I think I shall.” Carson turned and disappeared through the kitchen, leaving his men to drink tea and raid Luke’s cakes. He looked over at the table Ashton, Michael, and Calum sat at, and smiled to himself once he got a moment. They seemed to be talking, and genuinely enjoying it, not just pretending in order to keep up the facade for the police. Grabbing a cup of tea for himself, Luke joined them at the table.

“Excellent tea, mate.” Ashton grinned and patted him on the back, sounding truly Australian for the first time since Luke had arrived. The four of them chatted about sports and girls and other non-work related activities until the police slowly filed out. It was almost like old times, but some wounds take time to heal.

When Carson had finally come to the conclusion that there was no alcohol on the premise, he had himself a cup of tea and gave Ashton a talking to. “That was a waste of police resources, and I’ll make sure the Bureau hears about your misstep. This is very good tea, though, thank you for the tip-off.” He added before taking his last sip of tea and leaving.

“So, maybe that’ll give you a reason to leave the Bureau?” Michael suggested.

Ashton paused. “I’m not sure I’m going to come back to all this, at least not like before. I like it at the Bureau, even if I don’t agree with prohibition. It’s exciting work, and I’ve made friends there.”

“So, what, we’re just going to go back to the way things were before? You ignoring us, and actively working against our business?” Luke sounded flustered, as if this whole afternoon was for naught.

Ashton cocked his head, and a smirk appeared on his lips. “No, I think we can work something out.”