He sighed, knowing he had been the cause of all of this and felt bad despite his irritation. He took her hand and kissed it. "Listen... I am sorry for causin' such a bother wit ye and Abi. I should have come to ye first about hirin' her on." He did not know why he felt the need to apologize again but there it was.

The tender gestures made the tears come again, though they came with some relief. She hugged him, pressing her cheek against his chest again. "Can we... just forget about it please? I was wrong too for overreactin', but... I wish we could just forget about all of this and go back to bein' happy." She had pushed her most anxious feelings away enough to dare looking up at him. "Can we do that?"

"Aye, Rose," he said softly. "We can." Andrew liked to think he was an honorable man, but even honorable men did stupid things, he thought. He was stupid to have touched Abi at all, he pondered. He hugged Rose back and gave a light squeeze; the kind that made other people feel happy on the inside when someone hugged them.

Rose looked up at his with a teary smile and then wiped her cheeks. Suddenly a shaky laugh escaped her lips, pressed out of her lungs before she could stop it. She sniffed. "You're a good man Andrew Willaby, and I am glad you love me." Did he? He was willing to stick to his promise to put a ring on her finger, and for now, that was all that counted for Rose.

Love. Did he love her? He didn't know the answer to that question. He had thought that with time, he would grow to love her. He needed a good, practical wife and she fit the bill, but did he love her? No... He gave her a hug, however, and said, "There, there. There's no need to cry. I'm here." He would grow to love her, he thought.

And that was just one of the many major red flags. But Rose's intentions were as practical as Andrew's. She calmed and smiled at him. "I am so awfully silly, all emotional. I completely forgot my order..."

"Ye don't have it written down somewhere?" he asked, patting her consolingly. He smiled at her despite the tension that had filled the bakery. Augh, but now he was behind. He sighed and stepped away from her, going back behind the counter and saying, "Ye just take what ye need, don't worry about payin'. Keep the money and buy yerself something pretty."

"Oh no, I can't do that," Rose said, walking over to the counter. "It's Mr. Meijer's money. It would feel like stealin' even if he would not lose out." For even though she strongly disliked her boss, she could never do something that felt criminal. "Oh, I remember! The usual, but with two buns..."

"Technically it is my money," he pointed out, "If ye hand it to me in payment for what ye are buyin' and I hand it back to ye, that is a gift out of me own pocket, not yer boss'." He smiled.

A playful smirk played around Rose's lips. "Well then, Mr. Willaby. Here's the money for the bread," she said, handing it over to him, but looking at him expectantly.