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ELLIOT is stronger than I expected.
They’d been in the workshop in the back of the shop for a little over ten minutes, and Olivia was feeling impressed as she poured tea into the cups on the worktable. She was watching Elliot, the sleeves of his neatly ironed shirt rolled up, as he easily lifted a box she would have struggled with. He looked slimly built under his clothes, but now that she could see his sturdy shoulders and prominent arm muscles, she realized he was rather fit.
Maybe traders have to do more manual labor than I thought.
The boxes disappeared as she watched.
“I’ve finished moving them,” Elliot announced.
“Thank you. You’re a lifesaver,” she said, then the two sat across each other at the worktable and drank their tea.
Olivia opened the paper box with anticipation, and the sight made her heart leap. “Wow!”
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The box held rows of small, round pies about the size of a child’s fist. On top of them was a variety of chocolate, nuts, thinly sliced apple, and more.
She sighed, enchanted. “They’re all so beautifully made; you can tell the baker worked incredibly hard on them. And the aroma! It’s almost like I’ve been transported to an apple orchard!”
“You really do become quite eloquent when it comes to food.” Elliot looked away, a hand over his mouth like he was trying hard not to smile.
They each picked out a pie and began eating. Olivia chewed with joy as she looked at Elliot with gratitude.
“Thank you so much. Really,” she expressed. “These are delicious. And thank you for moving the boxes. I could not have managed on my own. You’re pretty strong.”
“It was nothing. And thank you for the tea.” He looked somewhat bashful and quickly looked over his shoulder through the open door to the front end of the shop. “It’s turned into a wonderful shop.”
“It has. I was surprised.”
Elliot looked at the brand-new blue sign on the worktable that was going to be hung at the entrance. “You went with Olivia’s Magic Jewelers, I see.”
“Yep. I thought about a lot of different options but decided I wanted to use the name my parents gave me.”
“That’s very nice. I think it’s a great name.”
“Thank you.” Olivia smiled, her cheeks red. At one point, she was considering flower names or names of constellations but eventually settled on this. She was embarrassed at first, putting her own name on it, but now she was glad she chose to leave her mark with something her parents left her.
Elliot looked at her with soft eyes, then said with admiration in his voice, “When I first met you a year ago, I never would have imagined you’d have your own shop in this short a time.”
“Me neither.” Olivia nodded fervently. There were still times she thought she was dreaming.
Elliot smiled. “You might have some hard times after this, but please come to me if you ever need anything. I’ll help.”
“Thank you. But you have already given me a lot of advice and important information. I’d feel bad if you helped me even more,” Olivia replied meekly.
Elliot smiled in exasperation. “You really are bad at relying on others. I don’t want you saying that. We’re friends.”
“But—”
“No buts. Friends help each other out when they need it. Please. Rely on me if you need to.”
Olivia was grateful for Elliot.
I am so blessed to have a friend who would offer that.
It was a stroke of good luck that made her bump into him that day when she came to the capital.
“All right, Elliot,” she relented. “I really do have a good friend.”
“Me too, Olivia.” He smiled, though there was something plaintive in his downcast gaze. Then he stood and declared, “Right, I’ll help you unpack.”
“Really? You’re a huge help!”
“Which crate should I open first?”
“Um, well…”
After that, the two worked late into the night. They took a break for dinner but continued talking as they cleaned up the shop.
They just about managed to finish before the clock struck midnight.