Shortly after, he made three sets of pancakes. He was about to bring the pancakes downstairs when he realized it was a bad idea. Sam would be in his way. He needed to speak with Emmeline alone.

However, if he had asked Sam to eat her breakfast alone at the cafe, it would be too obvious that he wanted to be alone with Emmeline, which could anger Emmeline further. He would not want that either.

He sighed and brought the pancakes downstairs. “Breakfast is ready. Let’s dig in!” Emmeline and Sam went upstairs, and Abel returned upstairs as well.

To his surprise, Sam took her plate of pancakes and said, “Someone needs to be in the cafe. I will bring this to eat downstairs.”

To his dismay, Emmeline followed Sam downstairs, “I need to watch the desserts I am baking. I will eat downstairs too.”

They left Abel sitting in front of his pancakes alone. They did not know he was so full now he couldn’t eat the pancakes. He had had a heavy breakfast with Mateo at the Nimbus Hotel earlier. He would not have Mateo working on an empty stomach.

He did not know what to do with the pancakes now. He sighed and decided to bring the pancakes to the balcony, where Mateo was working. Mateo might enjoy the pancakes after a morning of hard work in the garden.

Mateo was hard at work when Abel found him. “You are right, Mr. Abel. This garden needs a trim. Everything is out of shape now.”

“Take your time, Mateo,” Abel said, “Why don’t you eat some pancakes first?”

“Pancakes?” Mateo was surprised. “We already had a heavy breakfast this morning.”

“You should be hungry now after working so hard,” Abel brought Mateo the plate of pancakes. “Take a break and have some pancakes now.”

The pancakes looked appetizing, and Mateo began to feel hungry again. “Thank you, Mr. Abel. Then I shall dig in now.”

After Mateo finished the pancakes, Abel brought the empty plate to the kitchen and returned to the cafe. The ladies were still enjoying their pancakes, and they felt awkward as he stood watching them eat.

Emmeline glanced at him. “What are you doing here, Mr. Abel? Aren’t you supposed to be working in the garden?”

“I am here to get the empty plates to clean after you are done,” he said. Emmeline rejected his offer, “It’s okay. Please just leave us alone and let us have our pancakes in peace.”

He reluctantly returned upstairs. He simply wanted to see Emmeline, but she wouldn’t let him.

Janie visited at noon. Once she saw Emmeline, Janie immediately gave her a big hug. “Oh my god, Emma! Thank you so much for yesterday!”

“What about yesterday?” Emmeline asked. She began to like Janie now.

“Mr. Benjamin and I had a pleasant conversation when he sent me home yesterday,” Janie was delighted, “We talked so much. It felt like we had known each other for a long time.”

“Well, that’s good to know,” Emmeline smiled. She was happy for both Janie and Benjamin. She did not want Benjamin to waste his time on her because she could not reciprocate his feelings. She would want him to have a life that wasn’t revolving around hers.

“What have you talked about? Would you mind sharing?” She asked Janie. Janie looked like she was afraid Emmeline would never ask.

“He asked me how I got to know you,” Janie began. Emmeline’s heart sank. It seemed Benjamin was still focusing on Emmeline. However, she believed as long as Janie was there with him, he would soon focus more on other people besides Emmeline.

Someone cleared his throat as he got downstairs. It was Abel.