Chapter 6
Eleanor POV
There were four places set at the table.
I sat beside Derek, with Jonathan opposite me and Catherine at his side. A glass of water stood beside my plate. I picked it up, took a sip, and put it down again before anyone asked me a question.
“You look less tired tonight,” Catherine told Derek.
“I had some sleep.”
“Not enough, judging by yesterday.”
He unfolded his napkin. “You had me in a chair for five minutes before you offered to put me to bed.”
“You could barely keep your eyes open.”
“He managed when his phone rang,” Jonathan said.
Derek glanced at him. “Thomas doesn’t let people sleep.”
“I hope you thanked him for dinner,” Catherine said.
“He reminded me to.”
Jonathan laughed, and Catherine shook her head as the food was served.
I watched Derek reach for his water. He was comfortable here, his shoulders loose, his attention moving easily between his parents.
When Catherine asked whether he’d eaten lunch, he answered without hearing an accusation in it. When Jonathan disagreed with something he said, Derek disagreed right back.
I waited for a gap before passing the bread.
“Thank you,” Jonathan said. “How was your day, Eleanor?”
“Busy.”
“Catherine tells me you’re working on the gala flowers.”
I glanced at her, then back at him.
“I’m hoping to. I sent a revised proposal this afternoon.”
“What needed revising?”
“The entrance display. They wanted something more visible when people arrive.”
“And you can do that?”
“Yes. I’m waiting to hear whether they’re happy with the changes.”
He nodded and took a bite of his food.
I let out a quiet breath.
“That sounds like quite a lot for one little shop,” Catherine said.
“We’d plan the other orders around it.”
“You wouldn’t want to disappoint them.”
“No.”
I cut a small piece of food and set my knife down. I’d spent the afternoon checking exactly what I could deliver. I didn’t need to recite it all at dinner.
“They’ve asked for a quote,” I added. “I haven’t accepted anything I can’t do.”
Catherine looked at me for a moment.
“Of course.”
Beside me, Derek picked up his glass. He’d been quiet through the exchange. When I glanced his way, he was looking at me.
I turned back to my plate.
The conversation moved on to a friend of Jonathan’s, then to someone Catherine had seen that afternoon.
I ate while they talked. It was good food, and I was hungry. At the shop I’d kept putting down my lunch to answer something, and I hadn’t finished it.
Derek noticed when I reached for the serving dish.
He passed it before I could stand.
“Thanks.”
His hand brushed mine as I took it. I put the dish down carefully.
There was no reason to react to every small contact. We’d been much closer than that a few hours ago.
Across the table, Catherine was asking Jonathan about his schedule.
“Are you both going in early tomorrow?”
“I am,” Jonathan said. “Derek has his own people to deal with.”
“Plenty of them,” Derek said.
“And you’ll be at the Boston office all week?” Catherine asked him.
“That’s the idea.”
“You might actually manage lunch at a reasonable hour, then.”
“Mom.”
“What? I’m allowed to ask.”
He gave her a look, but there was no real irritation in it.
I knew they’d missed him. It was there in the way Jonathan made room for him in the conversation and the way Catherine kept checking his plate.
I’d missed him too. I simply didn’t have a place at the table where I could say it that easily.
“How long do you usually stay at the shop?” Jonathan asked me.
“It varies. Later if there’s an event coming up.”
“And you’re there every day?”
“Most days.”
Catherine glanced at Derek.
“Well, now that he’s back, you’ll have to find some time away from it.”
I kept my eyes on her.
“I can make plans around work.”
“I only mean you don’t need to spend all your time there. You have someone at home now.”
I looked down to move my glass out of the way as a plate was cleared.
Yesterday morning, I’d had a business. This morning, Derek had discovered it. By dinner, I was being asked how I would fit it around him.
“We’ll work it out,” I said.
It was a small answer, but it was the only one I wanted to give with everyone watching.
Derek set down his fork.
“I’ve been back a day, Mom. You don’t need to organize the rest of the week for us.”
“I’m hardly doing that.”
“You’re getting started.”
Jonathan reached for his water. “Let them eat.”
Catherine gave him a brief look, then asked whether anyone wanted more.
I didn’t mistake Derek’s irritation for a defense of me. He’d never liked being managed. It didn’t mean he understood why I’d needed to leave on time that morning.
But the conversation moved on, and I was grateful for that much.
After dinner, Jonathan wanted to show Derek something on his phone. Catherine asked me about the colors I’d proposed for the gala.
I answered without taking out my own phone. I didn’t want to turn the evening into a presentation, and I didn’t have an approved design to show her yet.
“You should be careful about promising a particular flower,” she said. “People remember what they’ve been told to expect.”
“I’ve included alternatives.”
She nodded, apparently satisfied.
From the other side of the room, I heard Derek laugh at something his father said.
I kept my attention on Catherine.
By the time coffee was offered, I could feel the long day catching up with me.
“None for me, thank you.”
“You’re not staying a little longer?” she asked.
“I need to get home.”
Derek looked over.
I stood, smoothing the hem of my blouse.
“Thank you for dinner.”
Jonathan got up to say goodbye. Catherine walked with me into the hall, asking whether I had a ride.
Before I could answer, Derek came out behind us.
“We’re going the same way.”
He took his coat from the hook.
I hadn’t assumed he would leave when I did. I watched him put it on, then reached for mine.
Catherine kissed his cheek.
“Don’t make it another two years before we see you.”
“I was here yesterday.”
“And now I’m spoiled.”
He bent to let her straighten his collar, then stepped back.
She wished me goodnight. I thanked her again and followed him outside.
The air was cold enough that I buttoned my coat before we reached the car.
Derek slowed beside me.
“You weren’t going to tell me you were leaving?”
“I just did.”
“Before you stood up.”
I looked at him. “I didn’t know you wanted to leave.”
“You could’ve asked.”
I could have. Then I would have had to sit there waiting for him to be ready, or leave after he said he was staying.
“You were talking to your father.”
He studied me for a moment, then opened the car door.
I got in.
When he sat beside me, his coat brushed my leg. I moved my bag onto my lap so there was room for him.
He gave the driver our address.
I looked out through the window as we pulled away.
“Did you get an answer?” he asked.
I turned back. “About what?”
“The gala.”
“Not yet.”
“How long do they need?”
“I don’t know. It has to go through the committee.”
He nodded.
“You want that one.”
“Yes.”
I said it without trying to sound casual. I’d done enough of that already.
“Then why didn’t you tell my mother more about it?”
“There isn’t anything else to tell until they decide.”
He looked at me for a moment, then leaned back.
I waited for him to offer advice. He didn’t.
My phone vibrated inside my bag.
I took it out, expecting a message from the shop. Instead, the gala coordinator’s name appeared above a short email.
They wanted to proceed with the revised proposal.
I read the first line again, then opened the attachment to make sure I hadn’t misunderstood.
“Well?” Derek asked.
I looked up.
“They’ve approved it.”
“The flowers?”
“Yes.”
I could hear the difference in my own voice. I stopped trying to hide it and read the rest of the email.
“Good,” he said.
I nodded, already thinking about the supplier I needed to call in the morning.
“Eleanor.”
“Mm?”
“You can breathe.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding and lowered the phone.
His gaze moved from the screen to my face. I wondered how long he’d been watching, then turned back to the message.
“I need to answer this.”
“Go ahead.”
I began typing, checking each detail before I sent it.
At the end, I signed my name above the shop’s.
Then I pressed send.
