"What do you think?~"
"You look magnificent as always, dear."

I chuckled as I spanned around, showing Ruth my outfit for the day. Instead of a dress, I went for a plain white short-sleeved blouse, with beige shorts and a white bandana with a floral design for my hair. I thought I'd switch up, so I won't get bored of dresses.

"I agree, you always do be lookin' good~"

I turned to face Billy who came walking with some boxes in hand.
"Morning Billy! And I try, thank you." I chuckled and walked over to him as he placed the boxes on the kitchen counter.
"This is?" I asked as I took a look inside.
"From the Pattersons, they live a mile from here. Technically your second house neighbors, this is their welcoming gift." He said.
Ruth pulled away from the stove and took a look inside.
"Fresh vegetables? Oh, that's so nice." She smiled widely. "We must pay them a visit later and thank them for this lovely gift." She said then turned back to the stove.

"That's a lot of food you makin' there, Ruth." Billy said as he took a look around the busy kitchen and turned to me. "Expecting someone?"
"More like a hundred recipes, and I yes the Callan's coming over for lunch." I responded.
"Oh really? By the way, what happened yesterday? I hope everythin' was cleared—-"

My eyes widened at the mention of yesterday's events and my encounter with that jerk, which reminds me, Billy bad someone explaining to do. I rushed toward him, took his arm in mine, and pulled him outside the sliding door.

"Woah- what is it?" He narrowed his eyes confused.
"Lair." I begin. "Billy you are such a liar," I stated, bugging him.
He titled his head. "Lair? But w-what did I even—-"
I let go of him and placed my hands on my hips as I raised a brow.
"You said James Callan is a nice man, which is far from the truth!" I called. "That man is the rudest jerk I've ever met!"

"Why, what happened? I thought everythin' was cleared up yesterday? Did somethin' else happen?"
"Not really, I was actually having a great time until he showed his face." I took a deep breath and sighed. "what I'd like to know is, what is his problem?" I started pacing back and forth on the porch.

Billy chuckled and crossed his arms as he leaned on the wall.
"Well, Jamie is usually a nice guy. He's not very...talkative, but everyone knows that." He said.
"Now I don't know about this sudden change in his character, but he'll come around." He shrugged.

I couldn't help but laugh.
"And who said I want him to come Around? It's quite the opposite! I hope I see him less and less until the end of our stay." I uttered. "Ugh. You know what? I'm over it."
Billy laughed. "Are you?" He teased.
"Haha. Anyways- oh! I almost forgot, Billy can you drive me to town? There's something I'd like to get." I asked.
"Sure, I finished most of today's work yesterday. I got nothing much to do today." He shrugged.
"Great! Then let me grab my purse and we can go."

After Getting into the car, Billy drove us to town and we had some little conversations
here and there.
"You tellin' me you're already 24 and without a license!" He laughed.
"In my defense, I didn't think I'd need one till now! I mean back home I'll just walk most of the time or just take a taxi...or in some cases, Ruth would drive me." I complained. "Besides, driving scars me!..especially road rage, you never know who you might encounter on the road." I argued.
"maybe up there in the big cities, not around here. Everybody knows everybody and besides we got enough space on these roads for everyone." He shrugged.
"Yeah, maybe it is a big city problem." I mumbled.

Once we made it into town, I parked somewhere and continued walking on foot.
"I think it was around here, I mean it was the only one I saw around here.."
"Yep, There's only one flower shop in town, Amanda's shop and it's just around the corner." Billy confirmed.

As we walked arm in arm, which is a habit of mine I do with people I'm comfortable enough around, and Billy didn't seem to mind; we were called out or at least Billy was by someone.

"Billy!" Someone called from behind us, just as we stopped in front of the flower shop.

We both turned to see a group of teenagers walking toward us, one of whom I recognized right away. And before I could say anything, one of the boys spoke directly to Billy.

"Hey Bill, did you get yourself a gf behind our backs!" The same one who called him said.
"And a fine one I'd say!" Another whistled.
"Edith?" Said the person I recognized, which was none other than Abby, from the coffee shop.

My eyes widened in surprise at the boys' comments, and my lips twitched into a smile.
"Hi, Abby!" I greeted her.

"you know her?" One of the boys asked her.
She gave me a smile before looking at him. "Yeah, this is—"
Billy cleared his throat and interrupted her. "This is Miss Beckett," he said and kicked him in the knee, playfully. "And show some manners, Casey."
"Ouch! Shit—"

I chuckled a bit and pulled away from Billy.
"I'm gonna leave you with your friends, I'll be done quick." I said as I opened the shop's door. Abby pushed past the boys and her eyes lit up. "Would you mind me joining you?" She asked.
I only smiled widely and opened the door wide for her. "Not at all!" I replied.

Inside Abby and I looked at the different types of flowers, and I had a particular type in mind. The shop's owner who's name is Amanda looked at me surprised and confused at the same time. "Peonies? I believe they're out of season...I don't usually have peonies around but if your wedding's not that close then I can arrange somethin." She offered.

"What? O-oh no! No no, there's no wedding!" I laughed as my face turned red from blushing.
"I always hear that they're associated with weddings but I just really, really like them.."

"Ohhh yeah, the bride usually chooses 'em for their bouquets, well I'm sorry darlin' but I'm Afraid they're not available at the moment.." Amanda replied.
"I just looked them up, they're pretty though." Abby commented as she scrolled through the phone.

"It's fine, I think the carnations will do." I ended up buying them instead.
"I think these are pretty too." Abby said as we stood waiting for Amanda to wrap the flowers.
"Um, Edith?" Abby's tone suddenly changed as she looked down.
"Hm?"
"I can call you that right?" She asked.
"Yeah, yes." I replied. "What is it, Abby?" I could tell she wanted to say something.
"Okay, uh..can I ask you something? If it's not any trouble!"
I laughed a bit and nodded. "Of course, you can ask me anything. What is it about?"
She looked up at me and glanced at the group of boys outside before looking back at Me.

You can say, I immediately had a hint of what was on her mind, and since we couldn't stand there and have a proper conversation as I had to go back, I invited her to come over whenever she'd like to talk about whatever was in her mind. Abby agreed to the idea, and after I got my bouquet we walked out and soon parted ways with Billy and I returning to the car.

As we arrived back, I got out and looked back at Billy.
"You're not staying?" I asked.
"Told the boys I'd meet them back at Casey's, I'll be back here in the evening. If you need you already have my number." He said.
"Okay, have fun, and thanks for the ride by the way~"
"Don't, I'll be happy to give you a ride whenever you'd like." He said with a smile as he tipped his hat. I waved him goodbye as he left and went back inside.

Walking inside with my bouquet I heard Ruth calling for me.
"Edith, are you back? I'd like you to taste some dishes!" She called from the kitchen.
"Coming!" I shouted back.

"Oh no peonies?" Ruth commented as I walked into the kitchen with the floors
"Sadly no, but these are almost as pretty." I shrugged and walked over to the counter.
"So, are we using the outside dining table or should we stay inside?" I asked.
"Let's stick to the dining room for today." She responded.

I grabbed a few things along with the flowers and walked into the dining room, then started setting it up and arranging the flowers. Ruth soon followed and started placing the different dishes on the table since it was almost lunchtime.

"Yes, I think the green one is— oh!" I was interrupted by the doorbell which means our guests have arrived.
"Come, let's go greet our guests," Ruth said after checking on everything one more time before heading to the door.

I checked myself in the mirror hanged on the hallway wall and fixed my hair before finally opening the door for our neighbors, with Ruth standing behind me.
"Hello! Come on in, please. How are you doing today? Mr and Mrs Callan, and Mrs Eleanor and...."