Norman shrugged. “I was waiting for Theo to say something first after she caught up with me.”
Beatrix arched a brow at Theo. “May I dare hope that you’ve only recently caught up with Norman?”
“I found him about five minutes after I parted ways with you,” Theo mumbled.
Beatrix flipped up the face of a dainty watch that was attached to a bracelet around her wrist. “You do realize that was over forty minutes ago, don’t you?”
“Theo and I haven’t been standing out here for forty minutes.”
“We have,” Theo countered. “But I thought you were staying silent so I’d know how annoyed you were with me over the business about Miss Waterbury going to the Palmer ball with you.”
A dull throbbing took root in the back of Norman’s head. It was becoming abundantly clear that his life wasn’t simply peculiar of late; it was rapidly moving toward the chaotic. He didn’t enjoy chaos, tried to avoid it whenever possible, but it seemed to be closing in on him, causing him to act in a very un-Norman-like way . . . ever since he’d met Beatrix.
Theo turned a scowl on Beatrix. “You have done something to him, haven’t you?” she demanded, thrusting Norman directly back into the chaos.
Beatrix rolled her eyes. “Why do you keep asking me that? I already told you I’ve not done anything to Norman. If you’ll recall, I mentioned that you were to blame for him abruptly leaving the store, while also telling you how to rectify that situation, something you’ve evidently not attempted to do yet.”
“I couldn’t seem to find the right words.”
“Would you care to have me assist you with that?” Beatrix shot back.
Theo began dragging the toe of her shoe in the dirt on the sidewalk, the action causing a weight to settle in the pit of Norman’s stomach.
He’d been acquainted with Theo for years, spent hours every week in her company, and . . . he knew her. Any experiment he was working on, she was by his side, handing him whatever tool he needed or lending him her advice when an experiment failed.
She was incredibly intelligent and more awkward than he was in social situations, but she always tried to be helpful.
Realization hit him square in the face.
Theo had not deliberately set out to embarrass him with Beatrix. She’d only been trying to spare him the unpleasantness of having to attend the ball with Miss Dinneen or Miss Ashburn. He’d done her a disservice by storming off in a huff as well as by refusing to speak to her once she’d rejoined him.
Grabbing Theo by the hand and all but dragging her closer to Norman, Beatrix then gave Norman a bit of a push as well until no more than a few inches separated him from Theo.
“You two are probably the most intelligent people I know,” Beatrix surprised him by saying.
“Thank you,” he said in unison with Theo.
“I wasn’t finished.”
“Of course you weren’t,” he muttered.
“Intelligence aside,” she continued as if she hadn’t heard him, “you’re both incredibly dense when it comes to what most people consider common everyday occurrences, such as the situation you now find yourselves in.”
“Did she just insult us again?” Theo asked.
“I think she did.”
Theo’s nose wrinkled. “I might be a touch deficient with social expectations as pertains to interactions with others, Miss Waterbury—”
“Beatrix,” she corrected.
“Beatrix then, but—”
“And shall I call you Theodosia?” Beatrix interrupted.
Theo’s mouth dropped open for a good few seconds before she smiled. “That would be lovely.”
Beatrix returned the smile. “Wonderful, and you were saying?”
It took a full minute before Theo spoke again, one she evidently used to gather her thoughts, a very unusual occurrence for Theo if there ever was one.
“Ah yes, as I was about to say,” Theo continued, her cheeks a little pink, “I may be deficient when it comes to interacting with others, but I was going to take your advice in regard to Norman. I just hadn’t sufficiently composed what I wanted to say to him before you happened upon us.”
Beatrix nodded. “Perfectly understandable, but may I dare hope that you’re ready now?”
Theo gave a jerk of her head and turned to him. “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you before with Beatrix. That was not my intention. I was merely trying to . . . ah . . .”
“Make it possible for me to attend the ball without Miss Dinneen or Miss Ashburn as my guest?” Norman finished for her when Theo faltered.
“Exactly.”
“I just recently came to that conclusion as well, but allow me to extend an apology to you. It was not well done of me to storm off like that.”
“I’d embarrassed you.”
“You did, but I’m afraid I overreacted.”
Theo inclined her head as the comfortable silence he was accustomed to whenever he was in her company settled around them, until Beatrix opened her mouth.
“Don’t the two of you feel so much better?” she said cheerfully. “And see, that wasn’t very difficult at all, and now the two of you will be better prepared the next time you suffer a spat, something that friends occasionally suffer.”
Norman frowned. “As has been mentioned before, by both of us, Theo and I aren’t friends.”
Beatrix released a snort. “Of course you are. One doesn’t normally ask an acquaintance to participate in a shopping expedition, but here both of you are, standing outside Marshall Field & Company after spending time in each other’s company while shopping. Furthermore—”
“There’s a furthermore?” Theo interrupted.
“There’s always a furthermore,” Beatrix said.
“And while I’m sure you’d love to launch into what that furthermore entails,” Norman hurried to say before Beatrix could continue, “I’d like to return the conversation to something I believe is more important, that being the reduction in pay you mentioned earlier. You never said how much of a reduction you’re going to take.”
“That’s hardly more important than what I was going to say, but if you must know, fifty cents a week.”
“I suppose that’s not too extreme,” Norman said slowly.
“It is when
