Bryony let him take the basket from her, even though she was perfectly capable of carrying it to the kitchen herself. She knew he'd grown up with the same expectations of courtesy that she had, but she also knew that when it came to her he did them out of affection, instead of duty. Once her hands were free, she rested one at his waist and leaned up to kiss his cheek. Her day had been tedious, and not very pleasant, but she suspected his had been worse. "She makes even more when it's for you," she insisted. In fairness, it was hard to fault her logic. Marcus's build and occupation meant he needed more feeding than someone like Ephron.
"It was... as expected, really." Bryony had never been able to find just the right present for her mother and had suffered many years of seeing her proudly wear brooches and scarves and gloves bought by Shauna or Allegra while anything Bryony offered stayed firmly in the back of a closet. "Lunch was nice. Roast beef, which is probably what's in the sandwiches." She had seen Tilly sneak four mini apple pies in there, too, which more than made up for the fact Bryony had been the only one not offered truffles after lunch. She hesitated only a brief moment before asking, "How was yours?"