"And she has the same last name as yours! Is she your illegitimate daughter?" Ashley teased.
Ellie pretended to be angry and darted an annihilating look at Ashley. "How could you say that? You know how young I am! How could Elain be my daughter? Stop talking nonsense, or I will really get angry with you."
Ashley put her arms around Ellie's shoulders. "All right, all right already! It's my fault. I guess I shouldn't have said that. That was way out of line. But where are this child's parents anyway? She's so adorable. I almost want to take her back home and raise her myself."
Ashley and Ellie were really good friends for a lot of reasons. The two of them shared a lot of things in common, and they both felt the same motherly tug in their hearts for this child.
When Ellie saw the little girl, she also wanted to take her back home, and raise her personally.
Then Ellie told Ashley everything she knew about Elain and Edmund, including how she met them and how they got familiar and so on.
Hearing Ellie's story, Ashley gazed at her in surprise, "Wow! Is that so? I never would have guessed!
Elain is so cute and adorable, but I never heard you mention anything about her mother. Why is that? Why does Edmund prefer to send his daughter here?"
When Ellie heard Ashley mention Elain's mother, she nudged her shoulders and subtly hinted her to stop speaking of her mother.
Ashley looked at Ellie with a confused look in her eyes.
Ellie glanced at Elain. She was relieved to see that the girl had not paid much attention to what Ashley said.
She put her head near Ashley's ear and whispered to her, "Her mother died when she gave birth to Elain. So her father raised her alone.
Maybe that's why Elain liked me so much when she first met me. Perhaps she's looking for a mother figure of sorts."
Ashley was shocked to hear the revelation about Elain's parents. Suddenly she felt very sorry for the little girl in front of them.
It was tragic
"All right. When we get off work, let's go to the supermarket. I want to make a sumptuous dinner to serve you,"
Ashley said happily.
"What's wrong? I appreciate the offer, I really do. But why do you suddenly want to serve me dinner?"
Ellie realized that Ashley was really acting strangely today.
Ashley glared at her and snapped, "Why do you say that? Would it be so bad if I just want to make you some dinner?
We run this cake shop together, and I know you have done so much for this bakery. The job's tough and I really appreciate your hard work. So I would like to cook some delicious food to comfort you. What's wrong with that?"
Ashley complained.
Ellie said, "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. It's all my fault."
Ashley snorted. She was not really angry with Ellie.
Ashley and Ellie got off work at about five or six o'clock in the afternoon. They weren't needed at the Memory Bakery until seven o'clock in the morning.
It was possible for them to leave the bakery a little late as long as they could start working around ten o'clock in the morning.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, Ashley and Ellie closed up and left with Elain.
Elain looked at Ashley curiously and asked, "Sister Ashley, will you go back with us today?"
Ashley hugged her and asked, "Yes. Would you like me to?"