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“It’s behind us,” he said.
“Cara explained about the prenup to me. I understand it better.” She looked up at him, her gaze locking with his. “It doesn’t mean I like it, but I understand it.”
“A prenup is not romantic,” he agreed.
“I’m not romantic,” Ella protested.
Baird grimaced. “I’m not going to touch that one now. I’ve only just arrived.”
“Probably smart,” she agreed, glancing around the lobby and then back to Baird who had no luggage with him. “Are you staying here? Do you have a room?”
“I am, and I’m all checked in. I’ve just been hanging out here waiting for you.”
“You could have texted.” She couldn’t risk poking him a little. “Or called.”
“Yes, we have access to modern technology.”
She looked up at him, and she smiled into his eyes, and she saw such warmth in his gaze that it filled her with hope. Maybe…
Maybe.
But she wouldn’t let herself go there. It was too much too soon to imagine there could be a relationship. Baby steps were needed. First, a friendship, and then trust, and then perhaps deeper feelings could develop that would help them find a way.
*
Baird waited downstairswhile Ella went to her room to put on warmer more comfortable boots and to collect a knit cap and gloves. She didn’t make him wait long. She was back down in just a few minutes and, while she bundled up, they discussed what they should do.
“What have you seen?” he asked.
Ella tugged her sage green knit cap on, pulling it down to her brow. “The train station. The outside of the Abbey. The front of the Pump House. I didn’t go inside anywhere. I was just trying to get my bearings.”
“What would you like to do first?”
“I was studying my map, and the Royal Crescent isn’t far. Maybe a twenty-minute walk from here. What if we go there first, and then on the way back we could stop at the Bath Assembly Rooms and the Jane Austen Museum?”
It was good to see her, he thought. Really good to see her.
Baird had felt off the entire time he was home in Edinburgh, and he hadn’t known why. But the heavy empty feeling was gone. He no longer felt low. It was amazing how just seeing her again lifted him, making the clouds part and the sun shine, despite the cold front moving in. “A sound plan.”
She grinned and drew on her gloves. “I don’t believe I’ve asked if you are an Austen fan.”
“In the spirit of full disclosure, I wouldn’t say I’m a fan, but I’m familiar with her work. My mother and sisters watched all the Austen BBC productions, and there were spirited conversations at home about Jane Austen versus Charlotte Bronte—”
“So, you know that Charlotte was not a fan of Jane Austen?”
“I do. My sister Allison, she’s youngest of my three sisters, teaches English at a secondary school in Melbourne.”
“That’s who your parents are visiting?”
He nodded. “She’d love talking to you about books, but she’d probably be a little intimidated. Allison has a diploma in education, and she’s working on her masters, so she’s more than qualified to teach, but she doesn’t have your education.”
“You don’t have to have a lot of degrees to be passionate about authors and reading.” She followed him to the hotel entrance.
One of the doormen rushed to open the front door for them. Ella smiled and thanked the doorman as they stepped outside.
“Who do you like to read?” she asked Baird.
“I don’t do much pleasure reading. I read so much for work that reading isn’t my favorite way to relax.”
