Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83343 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83343 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
“Shall I show you around before you see the plans?” Vincent asks as he reaches the foot of the stairs where Michael and I are standing. “You can refamiliarize yourself with the layout and it might be a little easier to envision things.”
I shrug, pushing down my excitement at seeing the house again, ignoring the fluttering in my stomach at having Vincent so close.
“You can leave us, Michael,” Vincent says and Michael heads back up the stairs.
“Let’s start here.” Vincent sweeps his arm to the left, guiding me to a room I’ve never been in before. It’s lined from the floor to the very high ceilings with bookshelves filled with books.
“The library,” Vincent says. “The plan is to keep this and make it part of the casual dining experience. The hotel will serve light snacks and afternoon tea. That kind of thing.”
This is where Sandra wants to work. I wonder if I should mention it. No, I decide. There’ll be time for that.
I look up, taking in the rows and rows of books and the light streaming into the room from the windows on the upper levels. It’s a stately home, but this room’s so cozy and warm.
“This might be my favorite room,” Vincent says. “I think it’s the stained glass.” He lifts his chin at the windows with multicolored glass in them. I’d never noticed them from the outside. “It gives a church-like feel, which is completely appropriate given the importance of books.”
I can’t help but smile. “You won’t get an argument from me on that.”
Vincent meets my gaze and there’s a softness in his eyes, almost as if he’s proud to have found common ground with me. I look away. I need to focus on this tour and protecting the people of Crompton, not Vincent Cove’s dreamy eyes.
“And through here?” I ask, nodding toward an oak-framed arch.
“This leads into the morning room, which is perfect because it will also serve afternoon tea. Michael is a huge afternoon tea man, so no doubt, he’ll be all over the details on that. He says afternoon tea is the best thing about being in the UK. Are you a fan?”
For a moment, I think he’s asking whether I’m a fan of Michael, but then I realize he’s still talking about tea. “I can’t say I’ve ever had a formal afternoon tea. But Sandra makes the best Bakewell tart in the world. Good old-fashioned cake is more my jam—pardon the pun.”
Vincent laughs. “You’re a lover of history and tradition. I thought you might be into that kind of thing.”
I shrug. He doesn’t need to know how little I leave the estate. Whenever I mention to anyone how rarely I leave Crompton, it sounds weirder than it actually is.
“Let’s go through to the next room. It’s another sitting room that leads on to the long room. I know you’ve been in there recently.”
I catch his gaze and he’s looking at me as if he wants me to respond.
“Oh yes, after you reappeared as the new owner of the estate. I wasn’t expecting to see you again.”
“Must have been a huge disappointment,” he says as we wander down the long room, along the back of the house.
“A shock more like. It’s not like you mentioned to me you were thinking of buying the place.”
He laughs. “No. Of course I didn’t. Would it have changed anything if I had told you?”
“You mean, would I still have slept with you?” I ask as he looks at me, waiting for an answer that I’m not going to give him. “Before or after my panic attack about losing everything good about my life?” I try and say it in a calm, light, only-joking kind of way, but it doesn’t come out like that.
Vincent stops and I can’t help but mirror him. “Kate,” he says. “I’m not here to make your life miserable. Really, I’m not.”
I turn and start to walk. “I know you haven’t come here with the intention to make me miserable.” He’s doing his job. On a logical level, I understand. Now that I know everyone else welcomes his arrival, I see it even more clearly—how it works for them. Maybe it’s selfish, but I just can’t get past how drastically this is going to change my life, when there’s nothing about my life I want to change.
“Why do you feel so differently than the rest of the staff?” he asks.
How does he know how the other staff feel? I suppose he’s seen them in the pub. When he was there after the meeting, I saw Basil and Sacha and Amarjit talking to him. I suppose people have been telling him they’re in favor. And I get it. Pay raises and job security are important. Those who live on the estate get to move into brand-new homes with updated amenities. By all accounts, everyone wins.