Page 10 of Dear Ripley

“Don’t you?”

“Eh.” I could hear her shrugging it all away. “It’ll keep until after breakfast.”

“Brunch.”

“It’s breakfast to me. Benefits of being your own boss.”

I laughed. “I’m my own boss, and I have breakfast at seven in the morning.”

“Yeah, but you own a shop. People expect you to keep certain hours. They’d get weird about it if the florist wasn’t where she was supposed to be by nine.”

“You don’t say.”

She paused and I could practically hear her thinking my statement through. “What’s that mean?”

“It means Edith was on my doorstep when I arrived this morning.”

“Edith was? What’d she want?”

“Well, flowers, probably, since, you know, that’s my main job.”

“Well, aren't you hilarious?” Her tone covered the eye roll I couldn’t see. “You know what I mean.”

I sighed. “Flowers for Harlow. Apparently, she’s getting in tonight.”

“Oh, I see. Edith wants flowers, you realize that means Alicia’s coming tonight, so you have today to be…nota hermit, and so you want to hang out.”

“You say that as if we haven’t hung out all week.”

“Doing your groceries with you hardly counts as a hangout.”

“Hey!” I protested indignantly. “I bought you an entire chocolate cake.”

She giggled. “I know. It’s delicious. Just had some for breakfast.”

I froze, my hands in midair, staring at the wall in front of me. “You just said you were coming for pastries for breakfast.”

“Yeah, I am. This was like… pre-breakfast. Don’t be judging me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I replied, raising my hands in surrender as if she could see me.

“You’re just jealous because I mastered adulthood.”

“By… having cake for breakfast?”

She laughed like a cartoon villain. “No. By having cake someone else bought me for pre-breakfast, and then making them buy me pastries for actual breakfast.”

“Don’t remember offering to pay.”

“You invited, you’re paying.”

“Oh, that golden rule that only applies when I ask you to hang out?”

“Yep.”

I shook my head. She was ridiculous, but she was my best friend and I appreciated her.

“I’m coming over now,” she said after a moment. “We can go get pastries immediately.”

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