Page 100 of Goode Tidings

"Hah. That's great. Superb shock value." Eden leans in and presses a sweet kiss to my cheek. "Is that how business decisions are made? Someone has an idea and then it happens?"

"There's a little more to it." I run my hands up the sides of her body. "I'll need to run it all by our lawyer." I feel the familiar press of excitement at the prospect of a new undertaking. "They'll have to draft giveaway language that protects everyone."

"Ooh, you have a lawyer? Fancy."

"It's only kind of fancy. I don't need her often enough to keep her on retainer. Thankfully."

"I still think it's all the way fancy." Eden dips her head and kisses me.

"I'm proud of you," I tell her, when the kiss breaks. "It's not easy being bold and taking risks."

Eden pushes away my admiration with a flick of her wrist. "Drawing I can do. Running a business? That remains to be seen. If it all fails, I hear the circus is hiring." Amongst the euphoria of her decision flows a vein of apprehension. She's hedging.

I won't let her fail. She won't fall, not when I'm standing beside her.

"I'll do everything I can to help you be successful."

A smile plays on her lips. "Superman," she jokes, straightening my collar.

Eden's phone vibrates. She reaches across the table to where it lies.

"It's Angelique," she says in a panicked voice, straightening up quickly. She bites at the side of her lip and stares at the screen, conflicted.

"You don't have to answer it if you don't want to. You don't owe her anything."

"I know, but I am curious to hear what she has to say."

I nod, saying nothing, and wait to see what she will do.

She taps the screen. "Hi, Angelique."

A woman's muffled voice floats through the phone. I catch a few words here and there, but nothing cohesive. Spoke with... They said... I can't believe it... Contract.

Eden's eyes are wide. She pinches her lower lip between two fingers, her breathing shallow. Angelique's voice cuts off, and Eden says, "I appreciate that. Thank you, Angelique."

Angelique responds, and Eden says, "Actually, yes. I'm starting my own company." She glances at me. "Eden Paper Co."

I close my eyes and duck my head, honored that she's going with the name I came up with.

Eden's wiggling in my lap now. Shimmying her shoulders. "Talk soon," she says in a voice that would never give away her current squirming. "Goodbye."

"What?" I ask the second she's ended the call.

She drops her face into her cupped hands and yells.

I'm smiling and laughing even though I have no idea what her good news is. All I know is that it is good, and I'm grateful for that. Eden deserves everything good this world has to offer.

"Angelique explained to Becca and Michael McMann what happened with the design they chose. They asked to meet the real designer, and Angelique had to tell them I resigned after that day." Her words come out one on top of the other, her face flushed. "They said they weren't comfortable moving forward with the collaboration, and there is language written into their contract to protect them from events such as these. But"—Eden shakes her shoulders with excitement—"they are obsessed with the design and want to license it from the designer." Her head tips back as her hands cover her face and she laughs disbelievingly. "Anything I created while under the employ of Blossom is supposed to belong to them, but Angelique is giving me the design back."

Until now, my opinion of Angelique was low. But this? It speaks to her true character. "I'm glad she's doing the right thing."

Eden adjusts herself on my lap, turning to face me. "Callum." She looks stunned. Her forehead drops to mine. "Thank you for⁠—"

"I didn't do a thing," I insist.

"Let me finish," she says. "Thank you for believing in me. It gave me confidence. I've been thinking about this a lot, and I think I've been choosing what is safe and easy and comfortable and using Oliver as my excuse. The truth is, I'm afraid of the future. I'm afraid of what comes next when Oliver is grown. I'm afraid of becoming unnecessary."

There's so much I want to say. At the very least I'd like to refute her claims, tell her she could never be unnecessary when she is vital to me. But I stay quiet, because she has more to say.