A two days after their previous encounter, Rose stepped into the bakery again. Was her bun a little neater? Had she curled her bangs? Nah, it wasn't like Rose was vain enough to get up earlier to do it. Okay, she had.

The bell tinkled as he was in the middle of pulling bread from his oven. When he came to the counter, he smiled at the sight of her. "Good day, Miss Ward," he said with his usual courtly bow. "How may I help ye today, miss?" He did that lean on the counter again and seemed earnest to be speaking to her.

Rose suppressed a smile as he once again displayed such formal manners. "Good morning, Mr. Willaby. I hope you are well?" And she gave her order.

"Better now that you're here, miss." He winked and then moved to fill her order. "Don't ye look like a bright shiny pence today?" he complimented her while handing her the food. "I trust yer day is well, miss?"

"Better now that I'm here," she said, far more forward than she would. But hey look, every man paying attention to her might be a lifeline. And this was the second time Mr. Willaby paid her such attention. She was clinging to that line alright. With a baker who owned a shop, she wouldn't do bad for herself.

Andrew couldn't believe his lines were working! He reached into his display and grabbed a chocolate tart, then handed it to her. "Have a tart. A sweet treat for a sweet lass."

Wow. Was he going to give her free food all the time now? That was kind of nice. Probably also creepy. But also nice. "Oh no, ser," she declined politely, giving him a shy look that wasn't all that shy. "I couldn't possibly eat yer food all the time, with ye feedin' them bairns in t' school as well."

"I insist. Save it for later when you might need a smile." He set the pastry down on the counter between them and left the choice to her. "The world could stand to see your smile."

Rose blushed and looked down, but she smiled. Then she reached out and took it. "You are too kind really, Mr. Willaby," she said. She took a small bite, because if she ate it here, she would spend longer here.

One or two tarts would hardly be missed and he knew that. He was just glad she liked them. "I am just glad ye're here," he admitted and grinned.