Anne, who I already know is great from all the times she’s ignored me doing objectively abnormal things and ignored when I fled from her chaperoning, is wonderful company.We drink what feels like all the tea in the Isle of Wight.And I only think of Leo a handful of times.Maybe a dozen.A baker’s dozen, at most.
“I’ve noticed you like to see the sights.Maybe you would like to take a quick trip into town before dinner?It would take your mind off things.And then as soon as you know it, you’ll be back near London and seeing your Lord Basildon daily,” Anne says.
I ignore the entire last part of her sentence.“Yes.I would love to see a bit of the island.”
“Excellent.”Anne nods at me encouragingly, and we set off after she calls for someone to take the tea dishes.
On the way to town in the royal carriage, the salty sea air whips past us as the horses pull us closer to our destination.Seagulls squawk around us, adding to the idyllic beach village ambiance.
When we stop, I step out, and I’m in the prototype for the perfect English seaside town.There are cottages with thatched roofs, adorably painted doors and windowsills with just the right amount of scuffed paint to make it look rustic, and artfully arranged hedges and flowerpots.
Brightly colored signs vie for my attention, in case I wanted more tea, some food, or alcohol.One even wants to help me rent a bathing machine, which can roll me from the sand into the sea so men don’t get the chance to see even a hint of my skin while I enjoy the bracing, cold, sea water.
I hear waves crashing against the beach, the ocean out of sight behind the village cottages, and take a deep breath of salty seaside air.I could live here; it’s calming.I could find a nice life here when I flee Victoria.I still don’t know what I would do here, but that can be a task for another day.
“What would you like to do first?”Anne asks.
“Is there a bookstore?”Maybe there will be something there that can distract me from the drama in my own life.
Anne nods.“Right this way.”She starts walking in one direction, when we hear a yell that stops us in our tracks.
“Meera!”
I turn, the blood rushing from my face when I see who it is.
CHAPTER35
“Leo.Hi.”
Those are the only words I can get out.NotWhy the hell are you here?What are you doing here?Do you know how hard it was to say goodbye to you once?Then why are you making me do it again?
Those words would have been way more helpful.
Leo moves toward me, rushing from his own carriage.He stops just short of me, like he was going to hug me before he remembered we’re in public.And in a sexual repressive nightmare where people can’t hug, because heaven forbid men and women touch genitals through a combined eleven layers of clothing.
The absolute scandal.
“I am so glad to have found you.”
I firmly tell the part of me that lights up at the words to stuff it.We are not supposed to be seeing him again; this is not part of the plan, nebulous though it may be.“What are you doing here?”I don’t even try to infuse my voice with the warmth or excitement at seeing him.I’m not going to encourage the perfect man who’s hurting me right now.Even if it’s not intentional.
“I received your letter from the footman.I wanted to see you again before you...”Leo looks at Anne.“Well, I wanted to see you again.”
Anne is giggling off to the side, like this is the most romantic thing she’s seen.The hero tracking down his heroine when she’s dragged away by a forceful guardian who doesn’t care that she’s interfering with true love.
Only the heroine is from the future and the guardian is trying her hardest to matchmake us.
I quickly change plans from the nice, quiet bookstore day to deal with this.“Let’s take a walk on the beach.”
Anne leads the way, and then falls back so she can chaperone from a distance, giving us some privacy.I don’t want privacy!The last time we had privacy, we fucked on a balcony.Privacy gives me leave to make terrible, wonderful, bad-for-me decisions that I enjoy a lot in the moment, but only make it harder for me in the long run.
“What are you doing here?”I ask again when we’re firmly on the sand, the water and seagulls I heard earlier much louder now and giving our conversation further privacy from Anne.
“You said goodbye, Meera.Did you expect me to accept that?”His voice is uncharacteristically sharp and I look up at him over the rebuke.
I glare back at him, immediately in defensive mode.“You knew this was always going to end.Whether it’s in a letter while I’m swept away by a head of state, or I disappear into time, or I watch you get married to your rich heiress from afar.This was always going to end.So I don’t know why you’re here right now, doing inadvisable things to change the inevitable.”I slap him on the chest with my small purse.He’s lucky this isn’t the future when I carry around my huge work tote, with laptop and books and a spare sandwich, just in case.
“Damn the rich heiress!”
