Another cough, followed by a laugh. He composed himself. “We’re not dating.”
An astonished expression filled Kate’s face. “I’ll be. You must be lifelong friends then.”
Cece shook her head. “We’ve known each other less than twenty-four hours.”
James caught their companions up to speed on how he had met Cece, and how they’d come to be on the tour together. “And here we are.”
“What a story.” Edwin slipped a small notebook from his pocket and scribbled for five seconds. “I’m taking notes. This could become the plot of our next script.”
“You’re right.” Kate clasped her husband’s hand, then looked at Cece and James. “Would you mind if we borrow your story for the beginning of a play?”
Unsure how to answer, he gave a sideways glance to Cece, who gave a discreet shrug and mouthed,I guess.
“I don’t have a problem with it on the condition that I get front row tickets when it’s produced.”
“Young man, you’ll have backstage tickets,” Kate declared. “How about you, dear? Do you have any thoughts on the matter?”
“If our meeting sparks your creativity, then you must run with it,” Cece told them graciously. “However, I have the same condition as James. I want tickets to this play once it’s playing.”
“Perfect. I must think of a name.” Edwin scrawled on his notepad again.
Kate patted his hand. “Now Eddie, we are on vacation. Let’s enjoy our outing with these two young people. Simply being around them makes me feel twenty years younger.”
James took a bite of his sandwich, an herbed chicken salad on a flaky croissant. “How many countries have you traveled to throughout your years acting together?”
“Sixty-three at last count. I love to travel, but I do so love when we come home to England. These days, we don’t stay there long. Our youngest daughter recently moved to Spain, and we go to see her and our grandchildren often.”
“That’s very sweet.” Cece ate a bite of her sandwich.
He noticed she chewed very slowly and promptly took a large swig of tea before wrapping up her nearly full sandwich. Did she not like it? She’d be hungry if she didn’t eat. When she hadn’t revisited her sandwich after several minutes, he offered his fruit to her. “I don’t care for grapes,” he said, knowing she’d decline if she knew he was only being polite so she wouldn’t be hungry.
“You could pick them out.”
“I could, but they are sliced, and the juice gets on the other fruits.”
“If you insist. I never took you as the finnicky type.” Humor lit her eyes. “Scratch that. Actually, I did, and you’re proving me right.”
He gave her a playful nudge. “Didn’t you mention your distaste for olives at dinner last night? I’ll remember how you called me finnicky next time you decline food that an olive has touched.”
Her eyes darted to her wrapped sandwich, ever so briefly.
Aha. He’d been right. She hadn’t enjoyed the sandwich because it had a very mild olive taste to it. So mild he hadn’t picked up on it until his comment followed by her glance. Hereyes appeared like that of a deer caught in headlights. She knew she’d been caught. He could have teased her, but he wouldn’t make her uncomfortable.
Thad called their group to attention. “We have an hour drive ahead of us. If we’re to return on time, we need to begin loading the shuttle in thirty minutes. Please begin packing up your trash and dispose of it in the proper receptacle. I will come around and collect the thermoses and blankets. For those being dropped off in Finlovia Square at the end of today’s tour, please check any bags with me that you’d like taken back to Ellington Castle. If anyone wants to take more pictures, now is the time.”
Cece gathered all the trash from their small group and ran it to the nearby trash bin.
James stood up, then assisted Kate and Edwin to their feet. “Would you like me to take a picture of both of you in front of the ruins?”
“That would be wonderful,” Kate exclaimed. “Thank you.”
Once Thad retrieved the items belonging to Ellington Castle, Jame led Cece, Edwin, and Kate to the ruins. Only a small part of the massive medieval castle was accessible to tourists. The majority had been cordoned off for safety and preservation reasons. They’d explored when they first arrived, so they went straight to taking pictures.
Edwin and Kate made funny faces at each other in the first picture. They attempted seriousness for their second, but their attempts ended with peals of laughter. After five more shots, James landed agoodone, though in truth, he preferred the snaps of their faces contorted from laughter. Their personalities shone bright in each picture, along with their love for one another.
He returned Edwin’s camera to him.
Kate held out her hand. “Give me your phone. I’ll take a picture of you and Cece.”
