Ed's eyes flicked to Rick's face and he tried to sort out the undercurrents that were suddenly swirling around the little group gathered in the stairwell. He was man enough to admit he was relieved when Rick had ordered them to lower their burden and he flexed his left hand to ease the ache that the strain of gripping the heavy furniture had caused.
He smiled at the woman when she addressed him, "I'm Ed. I moved in recently and thought I'd be neighborly and help out...although if we get this thing stuck in here, I'm not taking any of the blame!" His tone was light and friendly and he resisted the urge to look from James over to Jude, despite wondering about the way Jude had addressed James.