Abilene brushed a lock of blonde hair out of her face and tied her apron around her waist. Today was a particularly cold one, so she was wearing a long-sleeve blouse with a collar that came up to just below her chin and a long skirt. It was much warmer in the bakery, and though her hands had been frigid to the touch when she arrived a few minutes ago, they were already warming up as she prepared for the workday ahead. Though she'd only been there a few days, the bakery was becoming like a second home for Abilene. It had all the things she loved- baking, a homey atmosphere, warmth, the occasional chance to see a child smile at her as they took a bite of a pastry- and she hoped she'd be able to work here for some time yet.

Glancing to Andrew in the kitchen, she called, "'Morning, Andrew!" in a cheerful manner. She'd received a letter from home yesterday evening and in it was news that her grandmother was wavering on her opinion of Linnie, Abilene's wheelchair-bound sister, coming to Whitby to live with the baker's apprentice. A light flush was on Abilene's cheeks from the cold and as she entered the kitchen, a bright smile on her face and her hair done up in a comely bun, she looked quite lovely, though she would have been embarrassed to be told that, being a relatively-humble girl.

"Good mornin', Miss Abilene," he said in return. He was currently elbow-deep in a large batch of bread dough, kneading the heck out of it. "I'll have ye shape these loaves of bread with me as soon as I'm done kneading. Why don't ye grab a broom in the meantime and sweep the stoop? I like to have everything nice and tidy." He nodded and punched at the dough. "When ye're through with that, wash yer hands and join me." He had yet to look up at her, for he was concentrating on what he was doing.

Andrew was in a fabulous mood. He had been in one since the day he had asked Rose to marry him and she had said yes. Assuming Abi did the quick task of sweeping the stoop, she would probably find him whistling a happy tune as he was slicing through the dough to portion it out when she came back in. It wouldn't be until she joined him in the back that he would look up and notice how lovely she looked.

Abilene replied, "Gladly," and started singing to herself as she grabbed the broom and headed out to do as he asked. She slipped her coat on as she stepped out the door and danced about with the broom a little. Her dreams last night had involved a prince sweeping her off her feet at a ball, and she still the tune stuck in her head, though she didn't think she'd ever heard it before in her waking hours. When she was done, she headed into the back and warmed her hands by the oven for a moment. She smiled at how Andrew was whistling a happy tune and as she washed her hands, she looked over her shoulder at him and asked, still smiling, "Receive any good news lately?"

"That it has. I am getting married soon, me bakery seems to be thriving, and life is just grand. Ye'll meet my Rose soon. She'll probably be by sooner or later ta get bread for her employer. She's a lovely lass." He grinned because he thought it was true. "And ye're lookin' well today, lass." He picked up a piece of dough and said, "And we have work to do." He chuckled and then proceeded to show her how he shaped the loaves of bread, folding it over itself just so and leaving the seam for the bottom. It was going to take at least twenty minutes or so to shape all of the loaves.

Andrew was going to be married? Abilene didn't like how that made her heart sink. She told herself she had no business fancying her employer, not for the first nor the last time, and listened as he went on, but paused at the name. She waited for him to finish and blushed becomingly at the compliment, then started folding the dough beside him on the counter. A bit of flour poofed up and dusted across her nose, but she didn't seem to notice. "Oh, I've met Rose," Abilene replied casually and glanced at him to gauge his reaction. After a moment, she smiled.
"She is lovely," she added, "we were childhood friends, and I saw her again just last week. We caught up a bit-" She glanced up from the dough again, taking the higher path despite her inner conflict as she went on. "-and she mentioned she was courting someone, specifically, you. I didn't mention it until now because I wasn't sure if you wanted to keep that part of your life private, but she did mention-" Here she wiggled her eyebrows at him. "-she thought you were a handsome devil." A little white lie, but it wasn't far off from what Rose had actually said, so Abilene didn't think there'd be any harm done.

"Oh, so ye know Miss Rose Ward?" he asked with surprise. He was delighted that his wife-to-be had a friend in town. "I am glad ta hear of it," he went on to say. He seemed to be genuine about it. However, he wasn't blind. He was staring at her for sightly longer than he meant to. An unwelcome stab of attraction greeted him. "Aye, I am glad," he repeated absently... Then he realized there were no more loaves to shape and he showed her how to proof them before starting on the tart shells. "The butter makes the dough flaky," he mumbled.

Abilene smiled softly at how genuinely glad he seemed to hear she knew Rose. Truth be told, she was a bit worried as to what the young woman's reaction would be when she learned Abilene was working in her fiance's bakery. Hopefully, all would be well. It wasn't as if she intended to steal Andrew from Rose. Though the shameful thought had crossed her mind once or twice, late at night. She followed his instructions well for how to proof the dough, but when she looked to the dough he'd rolled out versus what she'd done, she frowned. "I don't think I did this part right," she said, getting a little frustrated at herself. "Could you-" She gestured with her hands rather limply. "-show me again?"

"Certainly." He put one of her loaves in front of her. "May I?" He asked, gesturing to the dough and then behind her to get permission to stand behind her to guide her hands.

Abilene was surprised, but her heart gave a flutter (which she scolded immediately after) and she agreed with lightly-flushed cheeks, though they'd been like that for the last few minutes. She placed her hands on the dough and waited for him to do as he'd requested.

He moved behind her and took her hands in his. "Ye fold the dough into itself, just like so." He guided her hands gently, inhaling her scent without meaning to. Shit. He shouldn't have done that. But he had a lesson to teach. As soon as he was sure she had a grasp on it, he let go of her hands and moved to her side, his fingers gently curling around her hands again and showing her a second time from a different angle.