"As ye wish." Pardon? As she wished? A flash of anger went through Abilene. She didn't want this- she thought Rose was being ridiculous, there was nothing between her and Andrew, she'd had a job here, a way to make a living, and now- Abilene had to take a deep breath before the tightness in her chest would loosen. "Goodbye," she said simply. Slipping her coat on as she headed out the door, she swallowed at the lump in her throat, but it would not go away. Down the street she went, shooting one last glance back through the window of the bakery. If Andrew was looking, her face was sad, if both he and Rose or just rose, her expression was like steel.

Now what would she do? She'd been incredibly lucky to be offered a job at Andrew's bakery, and she doubted many other folk in town in the trade would be willing to train a girl who might open her own bakery here in Whitby and become their competition. Maybe she could become a cook at some rich person's house. Maybe she'd have to find work in a factory. A governess wouldn't be half-bad work, but Abilene wasn't born into the right status to have a chance at a job like that. The cold wind swept around her as she walked down the street, alone, pained, uncertain.

Rose relaxed a little and seemed to breath out air she had been holding all this time. "Thank you..." she said quietly. I'm sorry ye had to do that." But also kind of not sorry.

He looked miserable for having just let Abi go like that. He was tempted to go after her but stayed where he was at, flinching when Rose apologized for him having to do it. He shook his head and said, "No need to apologize ta me, it was all my fault." With that, he looked at her with chagrin.

He did not look happy. Had she ruined it? What if he would hold a grudge against her for this and realize she was not that pretty and kind after all? What if Abi would come to him later and put her up against her? Rose moved over and took his arm, putting her head against it. "Soon I will be here to assist ye in the bakery and ye wouldn't have needed another assistant anyway," she reasoned.

Except there was a reason father had insisted that Anne rather than Rose prepared the food when Andrew had visited them.

For now, he was blissfully unaware that the woman he was about to marry wasn't good at baking. He was probably going to have to find help. But that was for another time when he would find out. He gave a half smile, not mad at her, but mad at himself for this whole situation. "I appreciate that," he said.

Rose smiled up at him. She took his hand, lifted it, and planted a kiss on it. Then she looked up again. "So we're good?"

"Aye lass," he said, forcing a smile on his face and hoping it reached his eyes so she wouldn't worry. Now he would probably never see his friend again.

Rose was not sure how to read his face, and she wanted to cry over the anxiety she felt. Instead, she stepped closer, hugged him and pressed her cheek against his chest. Don't drop me, please, she begged him mentally, but she dared not speak the words. "I am used to hard work, and I don't complain. You'll see how much help I'll be once we're married," she said - pleaded. But she knew that she did not have Abi's charms. "Ye'd be able to put yer feet up in the evenin', and we'll do everything as you like, go to the church you like, and move where ye like and have as many children as ye like."

It was the first time she was getting under his skin in the wrong kind of way, acting as if there was something to worry about now. He wasn't going to shove her away from his life for it, but she was talking herself up as if she needed to and that bothered him greatly. He held up a hand. "Everything is alright," he said, hopefully reassuringly enough that she would calm herself down. While Abi was an attractive young woman, he was not interested in that poppycock of a love triangle... even though there were more sparks toward her than his wife to be for a brief time. Not that he had acted upon them...

His words did calm her a little. But now there was the need to cry, and Rose cursed herself for suddenly being so emotional. She could not quite push away the insecurity that had slipped back into her when she had seen Andrew and Abi, nor the hurt she had felt being dropped before. It was always there, lurking in the back of her mind, waiting to be unleashed, and once it was, what havoc it wreaked.

Rose nodded slowly, but did not look up, for fear that he would somehow be able to see all those emotions - and their shameful cause. "Right... I'm sorry." She let go, cleared her throat and gave herself a mental, stern talking to, while she pulled and organized sleeve, which she had used to dry her face, with great concentration.