“What?”
“Ameraucanas are the breed of chickens Sara’s family raises, and they lay blue and green eggs,” Ramsey said patiently as he took the bowl of eggs from the refrigerator and a container of butter. It was labeled SHAW FARMS, as was the loaf of bread. “I’m starving. Want some toast and scrambled eggs?”
“I thought you could only cook that pasta dish of yours.”
“I don’t think scrambled eggs count as cooking.”
“If I could scramble an egg I’d go on TV as a cook.”
Ramsey glanced at her as he pulled a skillet from a cabinet. Last Christmas he’d bought her a complete set of pots and pans. A month later, when she still hadn’t opened them, he took them out, washed them, and put them away. Whereas the other men in the office gave Tess gifts of considerable value in gratitude for all she did for them, Ramsey gave her things he knew she needed. But then, he was the only one who’d seen the inside of her apartment and knew what she didn’t have. For the most part, his gifts had stayed to the kitchen, as he gave her knives, dishes, glassware, and small appliances. Luke said it gave Ramsey a reason to go to Tess’s apartment and unpack everything, but that wasn’t true. He wanted her to be comfortable, and also, he wanted her to stay in tiny Edilean. Since she’d arrived, his life had run much smoother—and best was that she was a friend he could talk to. A real friend, not a blood relative. One thing about Tess was that whatever she heard, it stayed with her. He could tell her the most intimate things about his life and he knew she’d never tell anyone.
“So?” he asked. “You want some eggs or not?”
“Will it get rid of you faster if I eat something?”
“Yeah,” he said, giving her a one-sided grin. “What’s your date going to think when he arrives and I’m here?”
“That you want some work done,” she said as she took a seat at the little table against the wall.
“Okay, so don’t tell me,” he said as he broke eggs into a bowl, mixed them with a fork, then dropped them into the hot skillet.
“One thing about you is that your ego is always intact. No matter what I say, you still think that I want to be with you.”
“Tess, whether you like it or not, you and I are friends.” He paused as he searched through a drawer for a spatula. “You need some pot holders and some new dishtowels. I’ll pick some up for you at Williams-Sonoma.”
Tess shook he
r head at him. “What am I? Your maiden aunt who you have to take care of? Would you please tell me what you have to say, then leave? I have—”
“Yeah, I know, a mysterious date who hasn’t shown up yet even though it’s after ten.” He divided the eggs, put them on two plates, and set one in front of her. “Eat,” he ordered. “I think you’re losing weight.”
“Sex burns a lot of calories. Speaking of which, I take it you didn’t score with your little Alice.”
“Alice?”
“Luke said she dresses like Alice in Wonderland.”
“When did you see him?”
“A couple of hours ago. Jealous?”
Ramsey snorted in derision. “Of Luke? You must be kidding. Anyway, as I was saying, my grandfather let me read Miss Edi’s letters when I was growing up. She wrote a lot about this little girl, Jocelyn Minton, who she was half-raising.”
“Let me guess, you fell in love with her through the letters and now you want to make her your wife and live happily ever after. Good! Now that that’s done, you can leave.”
“Finish your eggs,” Ramsey said when she stood up. “I don’t know why you have to be so cynical about everything.”
“Maybe it comes from spending my days with lawyers. It makes me see the world as one long lawsuit.”
“The way I see it, I help people.”
“Yeah, like with the Berners’ divorce? You and I both know that man hid his income to keep his wife from spending him blind. He bought her that big house he couldn’t afford just to try to please her, but all she does is nag him. If you had any conscience, you’d tell her she gets nothing and has to earn her own living. But no, thanks to your cleverness, she’s going to walk away with it all, and he’s going to get the debt. He’ll be seventy before he’s back on his feet again.”
“So maybe that isn’t a good example of my helping people.”
“So what is?”
“How about Miss Edi?” he asked.