The Goring hotel at 11:55 a.m. on December 28. He’d realized the day before that he and Vivian hadn’t communicated since those quick texts early on Christmas Day, so he’d texted her and arranged to meet her at her hotel at noon. He’d been so consumed with everything going on with Miles that he hadn’t thought of it until then.
Miles hadn’t come back home on Christmas Day until after Malcolm had left. Malcolm was pretty sure Miles had spent the day at his girlfriend’s house, but he had no idea. And to top it all off, Sarah had also been furious at him—she’d apparently been counting on him to make the situation with Miles better, not worse. He’d spent days getting angry texts from her, all of which just served to make him more frustrated and upset about this whole situation.
Malcolm knew he should have handled the conversation with Miles differently. He didn’t think he’d ever yelled like that at Miles in his life. But he’d been so shocked and blindsided, he hadn’t been able to think straight.
He sighed. He’d spent his whole career—maybe his whole life—successfully avoiding conflict. He’d even managed to have a conflict-free divorce, for God’s sake! And he’d somehow blown that all up in one conversation.
He just hoped he could put this whole thing out of his head for the next few days and enjoy this time with Vivian.
Speaking of Vivian, here was another situation where he didn’t know exactly what was going on, or how to resolve it. He’d hoped she’d be spending these few days with him, at his flat, but she’d never really addressed that part of his invitation. So he supposed he’d just see if she brought her luggage down today when she met him in the lobby.
Where was she? He glanced at his watch. 12:02. He had said noon in his text, hadn’t he? He pulled out his phone and scrolled down to their texts. Yes, definitely, he had. Should he text her? Or call up to her room?
12:05. Something must be wrong.
Had she changed her mind? Maybe she’d left with Maddie this morning and hadn’t told him.
No, Vivian wouldn’t do that.
At least, he didn’t think she would.
He had gotten the hotel correct, hadn’t he? He found the email that the Duchess’s private secretary had sent him with the Forests’ travel information. Yes, The Goring. Well, maybe . . .
“Malcolm! Sorry I’m late. I hope you haven’t been waiting long!”
There she was, walking to him from the elevator, with a smile on her face.
He smiled at her, so relieved she was here and not on her way back to California that he was almost not annoyed at her casual lateness. And almost not disappointed she had no luggage by her side.
“Not a problem. Are you ready?”
She smiled at him.
“That depends on what we’re doing today.” She cocked her head at him. “What are we doing today?”
His original plan had been that they’d swing by his flat to drop off her luggage before they did anything else, but that didn’t seem to be necessary. He’d have to quickly revise his plan.
He opened the hotel door for her.
“How do you feel about surprises?”
She laughed.
“I hate surprises.”
He stopped on the sidewalk and turned to her.
“Are you . . . do you really?”
She nodded.
“For the most part, absolutely.” She shrugged. “Well, you asked! So often, surprises are just a way for someone to do something they’re not sure you would like, so they present it to you as a fait accompli so you can’t argue with them about it. And even worse, you have to put on a happy face, because ‘It’s a surprise!’ so you’re supposed to be thrilled about it, and you look like a jerk when you’re not. There have been a handful of times in my life when a surprise was thoughtful, someone thinking about what would make me happy. But too often, it’s them thinking about themselves. The problem is so often surprises are about the other person and what they want, and not the person they’re surprising.”
Oh. Splendid. Just splendid.
She patted him on the shoulder.
“Oh God, you look crestfallen. I’m not saying all surprises are bad! I have had a few good ones . . .”
He knew when women said things just to humor him. Now he had no fucking idea what he was going to do. And now the one bright spot in his week had been ruined. Fantastic.
The surprises he’d planned for Vivian had been the only