It was about four days later that she made him a shepherd's pie as an excuse to go to his shop and thank him for the clock. Of course, she had to get the neighbor to watch her children in return for her having done the same with the neighbor's children, and she would carry the dish in a wide basket slung over her arm. She entered the shop and looked around for him. As soon as she spotted him, she said, "Hello, Fred." (Or his proper name if there was a customer.) "I thought I would bring ye some dinner. I know ye have been busy," or so she assumed, she thought with a pause.

She would lift the basket with both hands then and indicate that he should take it.

It had been a busy day for Frederic, so when he finally heard the door shut behind a particularly picky customer, he breathed a sigh of relief and rolled back under an old grandfather clock that had the bottom pressure springs broken. Clover sat beside him, playing with another wind-up toy and handing his father whatever tools he needed. The door opened again and the bell above it gave its usual chime, and Fred was about to call out that he'd be with the person in just a moment when he heard a familiar voice say, "Hello, Fred." His heart gave a leap and he immediately rolled out from underneath the clock, almost scratching his face on a loose cog in the process. It was, in fact, Karen Calloway, and he couldn't help but smile at her standing right there in front of him, looking just as lovely as she had the last time he'd seen her. 

"I thought I would bring ye some dinner. I know ye have been busy."

Frederic's smile grew as he gratefully took the shepherd's pie- little did she know, he and Clover had been going to have oatmeal for dinner for the third time that week because Fred hadn't the time to cook anything, so this was a treat more generous than she knew. "Karen! It is so good to see you again," he said, completely earnest in his words, for in fact, he hadn't been able to get her off his mind for the last few days. "How are Harold Jr. and Niahm?" Still sitting on the floor, Clover waved up at Karen but was too invested in his playtime to properly say hello for the time being.

"I didn't mean to interrupt yer work," she said as he took the pie. He asked after the children and she smiled, "They are fine. They have eaten and are now sleepin' peacefully fer me neighbor." She then looked down to Clover and greeted him with a soft hello, recognizing his concentration for what it was. "How are ye and Clover?" Her hands fell to her sides when they were empty of the basket. She then noticed the scratch on his face and she gasped softly, "Are ye quite alright? Ye've gone and scratched yerself." she reached into her handbag and pulled out a hanky, offering it to him to clean his face up if he needed to.

"Goodness," she said, "I hope it doesn't hurt too much."

Frederic's smile turned almost bashful and he felt somewhat like a man barely out of childhood again, nervous over offering a girl his handkerchief, but in this situation, it was vice-versa. "Clover and I are well," he replied, taking the handkerchief delicately, "And I am alright, just a price of the trade, I suppose." After dabbing at his cheek, he rolled up his right sleeve to show her the long scar- about a half-foot long -along his forearm. "I've had worse. This was from a clock with a bomb hidden inside- the police in Scarborough brought it to my mentor at the time, panicking over it needing diffusing, but I was the only one in the shop at the time. I managed to stop the timer with a good three minutes to spare, but in the process, a bar snapped out from where it had been bent in and sliced my arm open." He paused, realizing this was a bit of a gruesome story to tell a lady, and finished quickly, "It healed right up, no harm done other than the scar."

Her eyes were about as round as saucers by the end of his story about his scar. "I am glad ye're alright, else we may not have met." With that, she smiled. Karen thought he was endearing and didn't mind listening to such a story. Indeed, it was a gruesome story to tell, but she was the daughter of a doctor and she was a nurse, it did not bother her the least bit.

"I hope ye like the shepherd's pie. There is plenty there," she said earnestly. Having been taught to cook by the kitchen staff at her old lodgings, Karen was a fairly decent cook, but it was her first time embarking upon that particular dish. "I haven't ever made it before, but me neighbor was kind enough to share her recipe with me." She sounded a little nervous when she spoke, as if she hoped for the best with the food.

Frederic could feel the warmth in his smile turning from content to adoring as she spoke, especially endeared by her giving thanks of their friendship, and he moved to put down the pie on his desk behind him. He used the moment his face was turned away from hers to recollect himself and regroup his messy thoughts. "I am sure it is delicious," he said, turning back around to Karen, his smile once again light.

Clover, done with the scene with his toy, leaped up and ran to Miss Calloway, but paused right before he would have thrown his arms around her legs like he always did when greeting his father. "Sorry, Miss Calloway!" he said, his mouth slightly open as he wondered if he'd made a mistake, and fidgeteted with his hands as he looked up at her.

She nodded to Fred when he spoke of it being delicious. Then she turned in surprise to Clover who stopped short of hugging her, it seemed, and she glanced over to Fred as if to ask for permission. Assuming he granted it, Karen would give the boy a hug and then pat his shoulder affectionately. She liked Clover quite a bit, he seemed to be a good child and devoted to his father in a way she had never seen. There was a bond between father and son that couldn't be shaken, and she admired that about the two of them. "I like hugs," she said to Clover then as she pulled away from him. She looked up to Fred right after she said that, and still speaking to Clover, she said, "They make me smile." Her lips pulled upward in a soft smile and she straightened her form.

Clover happily accepted the hug and his smile stretched from ear to ear when Karen stepped back. "They make me smile, too!" He hopped over to his father, going in a dizzying circle as he did so, and threw his arms around his Pa's legs. "Now go hug Miss Calloway and we'll all be hugging!" he ordered, clinging onto his father's legs like a monkey.

Frederic froze and looked to Karen to see if Clover had made her annoyed or uneasy with his suggestion- well, it was more of a command, he had to admit, and although he hated to disappoint his son, he also didn't want to make Karen uncomfortable. "Erm..." he wasn't sure what to say and awkwardly, slowly moved his arms out in the proposal of a hug, but in a way that he'd be able to play it off kind of well if she refused.