Evelyn saw strands of red hair blowing in the wind through her shop’s front window. She grabbed the popcorn container from under the counter and raced to the window. Sure enough She could see Marie with her long red hair talking to her longtime “childhood friend”, Mark. 

The best part of her job was the shipping. These two were meant to be! Even their names had the first same letters of the alphabet.

Eveleyn pulled out the old style red and blue cardboard glasses she had and put them on. As a proper shipper of many romance comics, she always had a pair in her pocket. When she’d found herself in this strange fantasy world, she still had three pairs in her pocket. The world clearly knew she was here to make ships sail!

She tucked the ends of the glasses into her hair the color of wet mud. Unlike Marie with her long blowing red hair, Evelyn kept her hair ties up in a sensible bun. Long hair was an annoyance for shopkeepers, but definitely looked beautiful on Marie with her flushing face holding a flower bouquet. 

Evelyn had cut that bouquet from her own greenhouse and insisted Mark take it to give to Marie when he asked her to go to the flower festival with him. The red blue color of the crocus flowers perfectly matched Marie’s eyes, and she was sure that Mark’s complement would help him woo the bashful Marie. 

Their voices drifted in through the cracked open window. 

“Marie, uh, I got these flowers for you. They - they match your pretty eyes!” Mark pushed the flowers toward her as his light brown cheeks and the tips of his ears turned red, particularly standing out against his black curls.

Evelyn squealed and ate a piece of popcorn. Young love was so cute!

A hand tapped her shoulder, and she shushed John while handing him a pair of glasses from her pocket. 

He sighed and grabbed a piece of popcorn, the crunch almost crinkling out Maries’ reply, but Evelyn could just barely make it out, or maybe she just knew the quietly spoken words, “Thanks,” Marie said with her pale face turning the same tomato red as her hair as she took the flowers from his outstretched hand. 

Evelyn leaned close to the window. She couldn’t wait for the finale!

“Will you, uh, go to the flower festival with me?” Mark finally asked.

Yes! Yes! He did it! She’d been coaching him for two months now! She’d almost thought the boy was a lost cause. 

Marie smiled up at him with a shiny smile that made even Evelyn’s heart beat a little fast. Oh how beautiful a smile! “Yes, I’d love to.” Marie's quiet reserved response didn’t match with her smile. 

Evelyn squealed again. Her ship was sailing! “Hug him girl.” She whispered hoping her whispers would push their relationship along.

John poked her. “You're getting ahead of yourself. They just finally agreed to date. You’ll be lucky if they even hold hands any time soon.”

“Shush, I know, but a woman can dream.” 

The pair started to walk down the street, and Evelyn saw one of her regulars approaching. “Customer coming, back to business.”

John handed his glasses over and Evelyn hurried back behind the counter putting her own glasses back in her pocket and the popcorn container under the counter just in time as the stunning Baron Lafett’s daughter walked in through the door. 

Her blonde hair was braided up around her head like a crown with purple amethysts set in silver dangling from her ears and a simple teardrop amethyst on her flawless neck. The jewelry matched the simple, yet elegant empire waist purple gown the girl was wearing. 

“Lady Lafett, what can I help you with today?” Evelyn smiled at the young woman, her eyes meeting the girl’s stormy gray ones.

Normally, nobility would send someone to pick up things at a shop, but since Evelyn used to be the lady’s maid, Elizabeth had a tendency to come here almost daily to talk with her.

“Evelyn, please don’t call me that. It makes us feel so distant now.” Elizabeth begged.

Evelyn couldn’t help but smile, she enjoyed teasing Elizabeth a little every now and then. “My Lady, I am but a simple shop keeper!”

“You are my dear maid! And why do we have to go through this once a week! Every week you switch to calling me Lady Elizabeth, and then on Sunday I’m Lady Lafett again!” She stomped her foot, clearly her annoyance with this was growing. Maybe Evelyn should stop this particularly fun antic, but she’d only had the chance to do this for two months so far since the shop was new. 

“My dear Lady Elizabeth, this will continue till you ask Lord Daniel Ramett to call you by your first name.” Evelyn knew from listening to Elizabeth’s long soliloquies how much the girl admired Lord Daniel, and they were a perfect ship. 

Lord Daniel Ramett was both a war hero and a sweet man who practiced chivalry unlike about half the noble men. She’d swooned just seeing his eyes following Lady Elizabeth around. He always asked her to dance first, he was gracious and always seemed to be around to help Lady Elizabeth whenever rowdier men tried to bother her. They truly were perfect for each other.

But Elizabeth’s tears told her something was desperately wrong. “That’s the problem Evelyn. My father has received a marriage proposal from that old Count Coolridge, and since Lord Daniel hasn’t sent me one, father is thinking of accepting it. Whatever should I do!” the young woman wailed the last line, tears pouring down her face.

The poor girl! This was preposterous. Evelyn’s ships could not fail because she was the greatest captain! She always picked the perfect ships, and they always became cannon!

“Do not fear my Lady. I have a plan!” Evelyn declared as her thoughts scurried around a way to save the ship. 

Elizabeth gave a faint smile through her tears. “I knew you were the best person to come to. You always manage to salvage every situation.”

John handed a handkerchief to Elizabeth, and she gratefully wiped her face before properly noticing Evelyn’s new employee. 

“Who is the man standing next to you?” She asked.

Evelyn held hand toward John. “This is my new employee John. I hired him a week ago, but he’s been out running errands every time you’ve stopped by.” Then she turned toward John who was about a foot taller than her and pointed toward the Lady, “John, this is Lady Elizabeth Lafett who I used to work for as a maid.”

John bowed. “It is nice to meet you, Lady Lafett.”  

Elizabeth nodded slightly, the greeting of a noble to a commoner. Her eyes glanced over him. “Likewise. What is a soldier doing working at my maid’s  flower shop?” 

John grimaced and Evelyn felt sorry for him. She knew this was a touchy subject. “I have a bum leg and can’t march anymore, my Lady. A flower shop employee is about all I’m good for.”

Elizabeth glowered at him, clearly still questioning if it was safe to have him working closely with her previous maid. 

“Don’t worry about him, my Lady. I’m a good judge of character, and he’s been a huge help. He has quite a green thumb and I think the flowers are doing better than ever with his help. He’s been helping prep our entries for the flower festival,” Evelyn rambled until Elizabeth nodded and turned back to look at her. 

“I was worried about you running the shop by yourself, but a soldier Evelyn?” Elizabeth’s worry leaked into her voice.

Soldiers were known for being rambunctious, but John had a knight’s manners. He looked to maybe be in his mid to late twenties. His straight black hair had yet to thin, but he had just a touch of crows feet starting to form at the corners of his brown eyes. His quiet acceptance of anything she asked and his perfect manners made him quite an enigma. She never really felt comfortable querying for more of his history with the way it clearly hurt him to remember.  He was a good employee who went along with everything she asked and was willing to help her with her schemes to make ships sail. 

“You need not worry, John’s a perfect gentleman. I couldn’t have found a better employee if I’d searched for years. Now back to the problem at hand. We need to get Lord Daniel Ramett to send your father a marriage proposal he can't possibly refuse.” As Evelyn said the words, Elizabeth’s face fell and she wiped at her eyes with John’s handkerchief. 

“What could possibly solve this issue?” Elizabeth’s voice sounded rough again.

“My dear Lady Elizabeth, the solution to this is my favorite solution. The sexiest solution of them all. Communication!”

Elizabeth looked surprised. “How could communication help?” 

Evelyn smiled. This was her space to shine!