Sadie scratched at her blonde hair and then started, “I won’t yell-”

“No, we are looking for what can you do,” Evelyn interrupted her. 

Sadie scrunched her brows together in thought. “But how do I say I won’t yell as something I will do.”

Evelyn resisted shrugging and sat absolutely still. “Think about something you can do to help you achieve not yelling.”

Sadie sat there silently in deep thought.

“I - I think I know what I can do,” Richard said in the silence. “I will come home in time for dinner and stay home till I leave for my work shift.

Evelyn smiled at him. That seemed like a very good first step to Evelyn, but it was ultimately on his spouse to agree. “That seems like a good thing you can do to help improve what is upsetting Sadie. What do you think, Sadie?” 

She nodded. “It would be nice to have him home at least for dinner,” her face was still scrunched in thought and she didn’t seem to be very focused on what Richard said. 

Her brows scrunched and she smiled. “I’ve got it! I will ask Richard to do something nicely the first time I ask.”

Her words carried a threat of not asking nicely the second time, but it was why Evelyn insisted on having them come up with positive behavior things to try. Evelyn knew “not yelling” all the time wouldn’t happen at the start. “Richard, what do you think? Are you willing to accept this?”

He seemed to think more about what his wife said before responding. “If she asks me to do something and I don’t know how or what she wants, it would be nice if she would not yell at me then as well.”

Sadie frowned and took a deep breath as if to say something, and then let it out. “I won’t yell -”

She stopped speaking when she saw Evelyn shaking her head. Sadie furrowed her eyebrows, tapped her foot against the floor, and ground her teeth. She was clearly feeling frustrated with the exercise, but Evelyn was now feeling more certain in her approach. She quietly let the woman stew her thoughts. 

The rain drowned out the silence, but she could tell that people were feeling uncomfortable in the lack of conversation from the shifting in the seats and the way both Richard and John were glancing between Sadie and her. 

John grabbed some more popcorn and sat a little stiller in his chair while eating. Richard followed suit and started munching on the popcorn in his bowl. 

Sadie’s eyes widened. She smiled and gave a small laugh. “I will ask nicely the first time, and if Richard asks me for more clarification I will explain things in a nice manner.” She shook her head. “That seems so simple now that I say it, but figuring that out was so complex.”

Evelyn nodded. “It can be really hard to come up with new behavior patterns.” She turned to Richard. “Do you agree with this solution?”

Richard nodded with a smile. “I can accept that.”

Evelyn looked at one person and then the other. Both people looked a lot less stressed than when they first arrived. “Then that ends our session for this week. After the flower festival we can schedule another session and you can tell me how your tries are working for you.”

Richard stuffed some popcorn in his mouth.

“Feel free to hang out and look at the flowers while you eat your popcorn. In the future I will request that you buy some flowers each time you visit. I am running a flower shop after all.

Sadie laughed. “Thanks for talking with us. I’ve never heard of anyone talking with married couples before to help them solve their issues.”

“I don’t know anyone who gives counseling around here either, but where I’m from, it was more common.” Evelyn  stood up and put her popcorn on the counter and then pulled her chair back to the wall. 

Sadie cocked her head slightly as she stood. “Where are you from? I’d heard you were Lady Lafett’s made previously.”

Evelyn waved her hand vaguely in the direction of the sea. “Over yonder.”

The couple finished their popcorn, passed the bowls to Evelyn, and helped her put away the chairs while John stood near the counter out of the way. 

Oilskins on and then they left the shop as quickly as they came in. 

“I know I suggested you counsel them, but I have to admit I hadn’t expected you to be that organized and good with your counseling. I thought you would just listen and maybe give some advice,” John siad, and Evelyn looked over to see him smiling at her as he took some more popcorn from the counter.

“After how you’ve talked me up, I had to live up to your expectations,” Evelyn said in a joking manner as she grabbed some popcorn as well. 

He chuckled. “You're just convincing me I have to talk you up more to the guys at the bar.”

“You really are just trying to turn me into a matchmaker and relationship shop aren’t you?” Evelyn asked and looked over at him.

His brown eyes were looking at her from under the fringe of his black bangs and he had a soft smile. “It will be good business during the slower months.” 

Evelyn felt a strange feeling that was almost like a yearning to be close to John, and she stamped it down by breaking her gaze to look over at the sunset flowered plant he’d brought in right before Richard and Sadie arrived. 

“Is this the plant you think we should enter?” she asked.