Hearing Audrey Sutton ntion "later," Shane Warner’s eyes darkened slightly.
He looked down at her clumsy hands tying the tie, clearly knowing she was doing it wrong, but he remained silent, just watching her wordlessly.
As she continued tying, she seed to realize sothing was off, retraced her steps, paused to recall, and then tied it correctly.
After tidying the tie knot, she looked up and proudly smiled at him: "See, I can do anything."
Shane chuckled lightly and teased her: "Selling yourself short, huh?"
After breakfast downstairs, her second and third brother along with Shane headed out almost simultaneously.
When Audrey said she wanted to pick strawberries in the orchard, Norman Sutton, who usually wasn’t interested in these things and only wanted to play gas, surprisingly said he would go with her this ti.
Norman drove, with Audrey in the passenger seat.
Norman would compete with her over everything; when Audrey turned on the stereo and played her favorite songs, Norman switched it to his own tunes.
Afraid he would be distracted while driving and cause an accident, Audrey scolded him a bit but didn’t change the music back.
"You’re acting strange today, aren’t you? Don’t you usually sleep and play gas during holidays?"
Norman smiled at Audrey: "I’m just here to accompany my precious sister. It’s so pitiful going alone; no one to accompany you on a day off."
"Bah!" Audrey didn’t believe his nonsense. If anyone else said that, she might have believed it, but not when it ca from Norman’s mouth.
Norman just smiled, seemingly in a good mood, but didn’t divulge the real reason for going to the orchard.
After arriving at the orchard, sure enough, Norman left Audrey and didn’t go into the greenhouse to pick strawberries with her.
Audrey couldn’t be bothered with him, so she grabbed a basket and chatted with one of the won working in the greenhouse while picking and eating strawberries.
Norman headed straight to a flower market next to the orchard, where several florists were trimming and packing roses ready for dispatch.
Most of the people in the market were middle-aged, making a young girl with braided hair and a linen dress stand out even more.
The market had a warm atmosphere with everyone chatting and laughing while diligently working.
"Young Master, you’re here again?" An old florist greeted Norman warmly.
Norman’s gaze lingered on the young girl as he cheerfully replied to the woman in front of him: "Just checking things out."
The woman smiled knowingly, asking: "Here to see Lana, right?"
Without thinking, Norman denied: "Why would I see her? My sister ca to pick strawberries, I just ca along with her for a look."
"Oh, Miss is here too? It’s been a while since we’ve seen her."
Norman responded absentmindedly with a "Hmm," staring thoughtfully at the busy young girl, before asking the woman: "How is she? Has she been working hard lately?"
The woman glanced in the direction of Norman’s gaze, "You’re talking about Lana? She’s great; cos over every break, hardworking and easygoing, everyone quite likes her."
"Good, you carry on, I’ll go have a look."
Norman walked off with his hands behind his back, looking like a boss inspecting the workplace.
The girl sat with her back to him on a small stool, wearing white gloves, with scissors in hand trimming flower branches and leaves.
Opposite her was an older woman, and whatever they were chatting about, they seed quite happy, as Norman had walked up behind her unnoticed.
The older woman was the first to spot him, nodded with a smile, and greeted: "Young Master."
Only then did the girl turn to see Norman standing behind her. Her previous smile vanished instantly, and she seed to ignore him as she continued her work, as if pretending Norman wasn’t there.
"Ahem—" Norman faked a cough and said to the older woman sitting opposite the girl: "Why don’t you take a break?"
The older woman paused, considering herself not tired, but being perceptive, she glanced at the girl, found an excuse to grab a drink, and left.
Norman leisurely sauntered over and sat on the stool vacated by the older woman.
The girl kept her head down, not acknowledging him at all.
Norman picked up an untrimd rose nearby and tossed it gently at the girl, landing right on her head.
The flower’s untrimd thorns scraped her forehead. Luckily, Norman didn’t throw it hard, and it didn’t break her skin.
The girl glared at him, knowing she couldn’t afford to offend this young master, remained silent despite her anger, and continued her work forlornly.
"You seem to be doing well here. Why not stay and work here permanently?" Norman suggested.
Upon hearing this, the girl finally raised her head: "Rember, once I finish working this weekend, I won’t owe you money anymore."
"Is that so?" Norman frowned, pretending to ponder, seemingly unaware of how quickly ti passed.
"The debt might be paid off, but it doesn’t change the fact you’re short on money; working here is better than at the bar, isn’t it?"
Without hesitation, the girl replied: "I just like the bar!"
Norman snorted, thinking this girl was utterly ungrateful.
Watching her busily work, Norman observed her for a while from across the table. Apparently growing bored or dissatisfied with her blatant disregard, he picked up another flower. Instead of throwing it, he held one end of the stem, using the flower to brush across her face.
The girl leaned back to dodge, furrowed her brow, and glared at Norman, filled with anger yet unable to express it.
Seeing her irritated look, Norman chuckled roguishly.
"Young Master, we’ll be shipping soon; can you stop bothering ?"
"Alright." Norman agreed readily and indeed stood up and walked away.
However, he didn’t leave the flower market, rely wandered around, occasionally coming back to the girl to stir up trouble. Receiving her annoyed glares, he would nonchalantly walk away, only to return after a while...
Audrey had picked two full baskets of strawberries, eating her fill in the process.
Seeing lunchti approaching, Audrey wrapped up her work, asked the workers where Norman had gone, and headed to the flower market.
Everyone there worked thodically, so Audrey easily spotted Norman standing in the flower market, chewing a stalk of foxtail grass idly.
"Six! Ti to go!" She called out to Norman from a distance.
Norman lazily glanced at Audrey, indifferent, and turned to look at a girl not far away helping to load roses.
Seeing him ignore her, Audrey frowned and approached: "Your mom’s calling you ho for dinner!"
Norman gave her a sidelong glance: "I heard you. No need to shout like you’ve never eaten before."
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