Chapter 12♥A Little Mishap with the Butter
The fluttering balloons tied to the front door of the office told Edward exactly what Rosa thought about his wishes for a low-key birthday. But then, he should have suspected something when Elinor mentioned his birthday the night before.
His mind had been back on her porch all morning long. Maybe it had been wrong to tell her, but all he felt was relief. At least now Elinor would understand why things were the way they were, even if he couldn’t change them yet.
He untied the balloon strings and attempted to walk in with the bunch. The balloons did not want to cooperate. It took a couple of tries to get them through the door, much to the ladies’ amusement.
“Wow, is it someone’s birthday?” Rosa asked with a cackle.
Edward glared at her. “It’s bad fiscal policy to spend money solely to annoy someone.”
“On the contrary, it was worth every penny.”
A stifled snort turned his attention to Elinor, who was cowering behind her computer. She picked up a plate of cupcakes and held them up like a peace offering. “Greta helped me, if it makes you feel better.”
“Tell her thank you for me.” He took one and unwrapped it, not about to pass up chocolate cupcakes, even at seven-thirty in the morning. “Are you going to have one? These can’t all be for me.”
Elinor looked at the platter and finally unwrapped one for herself. “What the heck. It is your birthday after all.”
“What about me?” Rosa asked.
He begrudgingly handed Rosa a cupcake. “I still think you should believe me when I say I don’t need all this birthday stuff.”
“Nobody needs it. That’s not the point.”
“What is the point?”
“That we love you.” Rosa smiled at him sweetly before taking a bite of her cupcake. “Ooh, these are good.”
“Love you, too, Rosa. Thanks for all the birthday… stuff.”
“You’re very welcome.”
Edward turned back to Elinor. “Did you sleep well?” he asked in a lowered voice.
“Just fine, thank you.” She wiped at the corner of her mouth where she had a smidge of chocolate, but her fingers had frosting on them as well and all she managed to do was add more chocolate to the side of her lip. Her eyes widened. “I just made it worse, didn’t I? I’ll be right back.”
He smiled as she quickly retreated to the bathroom to wash up.
Rosa cleared her throat behind him. “Edward.” She said it like a warning. “‘Did you sleep well?’ What kind of question is that to ask her out of the blue? Are you interfering with Elinor’s sleep somehow?”
“No. Now don’t start in with all that again. Let me guess, asking if Elinor slept well is one step above offering a ride home but not quite to the tampon-buying level of impropriety.”
“You mock, but I—” Elinor stepped out of the bathroom and Rosa bit back the rest of her retort. Her eyes were saying it all, anyway, shooting daggers at Edward before relaxing into a smile whenever Elinor looked at her.
“Have a nice morning, you two. I’ll be in here if you need anything non-birthday related.” Edward gathered his balloons from their perch against the ceiling and walked to his office, only to set off the birthday song as he entered.
He closed his door to drown out their laughter, but secretly he was glad they were getting along so well. Rosa could be a bit much, as was demonstrated by today in so many ways.
Once his computer started, he checked his schedule before studying the market and the trades he needed to make. As he went to pull out a fresh legal pad from his bottom desk drawer, two more helium balloons attacked him before soaring up to hit the ceiling.Rosa.
He wouldn’t even be here long enough to enjoy them. His first two appointments were at homes in a neighboring town. Rosa had purposely grouped them together so he would only have to make one trip. They were the type of clients who weren’t savvy enough for video conferencing. His type of clients, he realized.
Once he had everything he needed packed up and the right forms printed out, he walked out, making sure to take a wide step over his doorway.
“I’m off to Mission Ridge. I’ll see you two this afternoon.”
Rosa looked up from her typing. “Why don’t you take Elinor with you? Janet Staley’s already tried to make a move on you once. Let’s not make it twice.”
