Her head dropped from her hand with a dramatic clunk. “Thirty? Next. Who else?”
Edward, looking slightly amused, glanced at Elinor. She was all too familiar with Marianne’s idea of old. But she didn’t want to have secret looks with Edward. She wanted him to be just a neighbor.
“Will Abley is here visiting his aunt. She lives alone in a big house and loves visitors but rarely gets them. He’s in his early twenties like you. Satisfied?”
Marianne beamed. “Yes. And how nice of him to visit his lonely old aunt.”
“I’m sure it’s mutually beneficial. She’s a widow with a lot of money and no one to spend it on. And, as Greta so nicely pointed out, it’s okay to like someone for their nice stuff.”
“Exactly,” Greta said, sitting up taller.
“He’s being sarcastic,” Mom added, turning to Edward with a look that said confirm it, or else. He was not exempt just because he was a dinner guest.
“Yes, I’m being sarcastic, little one. Be nice to people regardless of whether they have nice stuff. Okay?”
Greta gave a great sigh, “Yeah, okay. When are we having cake?”
***
Edward was such a fool.
Elinor was determined not to take the job at his office. That much was clear. And the only logical conclusion as to why… well it had everything to do with what Edward had said at his house after bandaging up her arms. Why had he thought he needed to clarify his engagement as something secretive? Something not what it seemed? Like somehow that would make how he felt about Elinor better.
There was no way to fix it now. He was still engaged, and couldn’t reveal anything else about it without jeopardizing Lucy’s book deal. If they would just release the thing and give her the money, they could both move on with their lives. The circular frustration was pointless, so he made the effort to once again push it from his mind.
Once they’d eaten cake, he had planned to find an excuse to leave, not wanting to overstay his welcome, but he couldn’t help looking around at all the little home repair tasks that he could do while Greta’s matter-of-fact statement of ‘we don’t have anything nice’ echoed in his head.
So, when they asked if he wanted to stay and play a game, he agreed, as long as he could get something from his house first. He didn’t say what that something was, precisely because of the look on Elinor’s face when he showed back up with his eight-foot ladder, his power drill, and various other tools.
He went straight over to the pile of mini-blinds that were sitting in a heap hidden behind the couch and picked up the set on top.
Elinor looked embarrassed. “We found them at a yard sale, and they gave us the whole lot for twenty bucks. I figured it was a good risk to take.”
He thought so too, though it was not certain any of them would fit. Currently, most of the windows were covered in sheets held up by thumb tacks.
He positioned his ladder in front of the closest window to the door and grabbed his measuring tape to find out. “Okay, Greta, what game are we playing? I think tag is out, but what else do you have?”
Greta dug through a box in the corner. “Um, Chutes and Ladders. That’s a no.” She giggled. “We also have Crazy Eights and Monopoly. Nope and nope. We could play Truth or Dare.”
“Greta.” Carol and Elinor said her name like a warning at the same time.
“Okay, well then I want to play hide and seek, but you can’t play that up on a ladder either.” Greta glanced around. “Oh, I totally know. I’ll be right back.”
She came back clutching a worn paperback book in her hand and scurried up the ladder after him before he could stop her. He took the book she held out to him and stared at the cover.101 Dad Jokes.
“We’re going to have a joke off. I figured you might want to look up some good ones before we start. The first one to laugh loses.”
He flipped through a few pages, skipping the knock-knock joke section because he’d rather be tortured than participate in those in any form. He had a feeling Greta would be a level aboveOrange you going to come in?
“Sounds great to me. Who else is playing?” The wary looks on all the women’s faces took him by surprise. Had he done something wrong?
Greta noticed too and let out an exaggerated huff. “Just because I’m letting him read Dad’s book doesn’t mean I wish he was Dad. I just want someone to play this with. You’re all bad at it. Marianne laughs at everything, Ellie never laughs, and Mom can’t tell jokes. She forgets the endings.”
Carol patted Greta’s shoulder. “Sometimes I wish you were a little less honest, Gret.”
“So, we can play?”
“Of course you can play.”
