“I’m fine.Olivia is the sweetest and Rhys did most of the sick bed tending.He’s a very good doctor and nurse.”
“Is there any way you could come up for a visit if Rhys has the girls?”
“I wouldn’t ask him—”
“He’s standing here right now saying he can definitely switch places with you.He said you deserve a break.So, two o’clock?”
Cat cleared her throat.“May I speak to him?”
“Yes, just a moment.”Cara laughed as she handed the phone over.“Rhys, she’d like to speak with you.”
“Cat?”His voice was clipped, and he sounded every bit the prominent surgeon he was.
“Did you really offer to come here so I could go there?”
“I did.”
“Rhys, you have work to do.”
“I can do it there.And you deserve some girl time.Adult girl time,” he clarified.
She couldn’t help smiling.“It does sound fun, and very English.”
“Even though Cara is hopelessly American?”
“Tell me she can’t hear you!”
There was a smile in his voice.“Oh, she can, but she’s laughing.She says she’s a hopeless countess and could use some American conversation.”
“I’ll be there at two.”
Cat hung up and stood in the kitchen smiling.She was actually quite excited to go to Langley Park for tea, as well as meet this American who had snared the handsome earl—although apparently at the time he’d been the viscount.
At quarter to two, Rhys arrived at the cottage.He’d walked back but he insisted on driving Catriona to the house as it was quite cold and blustery, and he didn’t think she’d want to walk in her delicate little heels.
“I’ll wear my boots then,” Cat protested.“And I can change before I enter the house.”
“Or you can just let me drive you, and I’ll come collect you when you’re finished.”
The girls were excited that Cat was going for tea with Lady Sherbourne and agreed that their father should drive her.They didn’t like her first outfit, said it wasn’t posh enough for afternoon tea, but then reluctantly approved her soft ivory cashmere jumper when she said it was really the nicest thing she had.
“Also, leave your hair down,” Jillian added.“You don’t need to pull it all back when you’re not working.”
“It will look messy,” Cat protested, knowing her thick hair was harder to manage after she’d just washed it, and she’d just washed it that morning.
“It won’t.It looks natural, and quite nice,” Jillian assured her.“I could loan you my hairband—”
“No, I’ll just leave it loose but thank you for the help.I feel much better now about tea with Lady Sherbourne.”
In the car, Rhys smiled at Cat.“Jillian has lots of opinions.”
“She gave me invaluable advice,” Cat said, smiling back.
He drove her to the front door, which Cat hadn’t used before.“Shouldn’t I use the side door?”she asked him.“Isn’t that what you use?”
“But you’re a guest today, going for afternoon tea.It’s proper to use the front door.”He slowed and then braked at the front of the elegant Georgian façade, afternoon sun glazing the rows of tall windows.“You’ll like Cara.She’s lovely and funny.Very down to earth.Just call me when you’re ready for a lift home.”
Cat felt a bit like a child being dropped off for her first day at a new school as she used the brass knocker to announce her arrival, butterflies filling her stomach.
