to go into town for lunch?” He looked at his watch. “I have a phone call at two thirty, so we can’t linger too long, and maybe you’d rather stay here, but . . .”
She shook her head.
“I’ll get my purse and my coat.”
She ran up two flights of stairs to her bedroom, her book under her arm and Malcolm’s note gripped between her fingers. The first thing she did when she got into her bedroom was look at herself in the mirror. Thank God, all of her frenzied feelings of the morning hadn’t made her hair as disheveled as her emotions felt. Then she opened Malcolm’s note, read it, and laughed. She tucked it into the pocket of her suitcase where she’d put the rest of his notes, and put some lipstick on.
Maddie would tease her forever if she knew she was going out with Malcolm again. Vivian hadn’t told her yet that she’d invited Malcolm for Christmas Eve dinner, even though she had cleared it with Julia first. She’d almost held back from inviting him to dinner; she knew her daughter would never let her live it down.
But, as her mother always used to say, life is short. Between her sister’s illness, her work colleague who had died suddenly the year before, and other crises that had hit her friends and family members, that maxim resonated a lot with her after the past few years. It was one of the reasons she’d given in and had come on this trip with Maddie. You never knew what could happen. She’d gotten the chance to flirt some more with an attractive British man. She wasn’t going to let this slip through her fingers.
Malcolm was still alone in the front hallway, thank goodness. James appeared with her coat, just as she was about to look around for him. She was pretty certain that man was magic.
“Thank you, James,” she said. Malcolm took her coat from James and helped her slip it on. She thanked him, like this was a normal and everyday thing for a man to do and not something making her swoon inside.
“Thank you.” She turned to the front door and then back around with a start. “Oh no, I need to apologize to Julia for missing lunch. Do you want to wait for me here?”
Malcolm shook his head.
“I’ll come with you. We can go out through the kitchen door.”
Vivian led Malcolm through the house to the kitchen and came upon Julia stirring something in a big red pot. It smelled delicious.
Before she could say anything to Julia, Malcolm stepped in front of her.
“Julia, please forgive me, but I’m stealing Vivian here away for lunch. I hope it doesn’t ruin your plan.”
Julia looked up at them and shook her head.
“First you come and steal all of my scones, then you steal my guest away. What are you going to do next?” She waved them out the door. “No hard feelings, this time.”
Vivian looked at Julia. She still felt guilty for bailing on her for lunch, when they’d discussed the soup just this morning.
“I’m so sorry, Julia. I don’t want you to think . . .”
Julia brushed her apologies away.
“Go, and have a great time, and come back and tell me how much better my food is.” She grinned at Malcolm. “Glad you can join us for Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, there are no scones on the menu.”
Malcolm opened the back door for Vivian.
“I take that as a personal slight. I hope you realize that.” Julia’s laughter rang out at them as they walked out the back door.
Malcolm put his hand on her back to guide her to the right when they got outside. She felt that small touch throughout her body.
“This is the easiest way to get to my car.”
It was colder than the day before; Malcolm put his hands in his pockets and hunched against the cold. She really couldn’t hold out against the hat any longer, could she? She took a few bobby pins out of her coat pocket and twisted and pinned her hair into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. With a sigh, she pulled her hat on.
“How close is the town?” she asked.
“Just about ten minutes away. It’s an easier commute than when the Queen is in London or Windsor, that’s for sure. The traffic from here to there—especially at this time of year—is almost nonexistent.”
“Commute?” She realized she hadn’t thought of that. “Where do you stay when you’re working out of