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“It is,” Winnie said with a wistful smile. “Now that Matthew and I don’t hate each other, it’s amazing.”

“You hated each other?” Maisie asked with a laugh.

“Oh my gosh, I was public enemy number one,” Winnie said. “And he was the bane of my existence.”

“I never would have guessed.”

“Most people wouldn’t,” Winnie continued, smiling and waving at Matthew across the way before facing Maisie again. “He just won me over in that knight costume of his. He still is winning me over, to be honest. A few weeks ago, he showed up in his armor to take me out on a date. He couldn’t even sit down at the table at the restaurant we ate out at.” They shared a laugh before she continued. “But I swear, when he’s wearing that armor, he could get me to do anything he asked. I’m secretly hoping he proposes to me in it.”

Maisie’s brow raised. “Oh, so you guys are really close, then.”

Winnie nodded happily. “I mean, we’ve never officially talked about marriage, but we both know that’s what this will lead to eventually.” A frown marred her brow, then. “Although, there’s just one thing stopping me. It’s kinda a dealbreaker, actually. If I marry him, I’ll be Winnie Wintour. I mean, that sounds terrible. The double “W”? Ick.”

Maisie laughed. “Aw, no, that’s adorable.”

“Like Maisie O’Meara?” Winnie said next, looking at Maisie out of the corner of her eye.

Maisie’s stomach jostled. She’d already thought that very thing. What woman with a crush hadn’t put her first name with the boy’s last name?

But she couldn’t even dwell on it for a second. Once again, she couldn’t risk Finn getting into trouble. “We’ve known each other for five days,” she said with a little shake of her head. “Anyway, it’s against the rules for the two of us to date. And there’s the small fact that I live in Boston, and he lives here.”

Winnie merely shrugged. “There’s always a way to make it happen if the two of you wanted to.”

Maisie hesitated. She didn’t want to divulge too much, but then, just as she knew she could trust Finn, she also knew she could trust Winnie. “Here’s the thing, though,” she began in a softer tone, “even if I would want to pursue a relationship after the tour’s over, I don’t know Finn well enough to know if that’s what he’d want.”

The final person entered the bathroom as Winnie leaned toward Maisie with a lowered tone. “I won’t pry or push anything because that’s always really annoying, not to mention awkward. But I will say, Matthew told me tonight that he’s never seen Finn like a girl more than he likes you. Even I’ve seen some of the texts Finn has sent, and…” She paused, shaking her head. “I won’t betray his trust or anything, but I don’t think you need to question if Finn likes you enough to pursue something with you.”

The knowing look in Winnie’s eyes and the information she shared was enough to send Maisie’s hope into full throttle. She and Finn couldn’t date. Not while they were on the tour. But what if…what if after the tour, they could carry on with something?

After using the restroom and returning to the boys, the six of them played for another half hour before Cedric gathered up the darts.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” he said, “but we should probably turn in now. We’ve all got an early mornin’.”

Maisie was disappointed to see the evening coming to an end, but honestly, after walking all day long—and standing all evening—she couldn’t deny that sleep sounded more than appealing.

“Yeah, I’m getting pretty sleepy myself,” she agreed.

“You really should meet up with me gran,” Finn teased. “You could knit your doilies with her, then, and take your naps at the same time.”

She put on her raincoat and pulled out her hair with a shake of her head.

“It’s a wonder she still wants to hang out with you, Finn,” Matthew joked.

“What?” Finn asked. “Maisie loves me teasin’.”

She didn’t respond, and he made an obvious motion with his head to have her support his words.

“Oh, right,” she said, flatly. “Yeah, I love his teasing so much.”

The group laughed, and she thrilled again. “It was so nice to meet you all,” she continued, looking around the five of them. “Thanks for letting me hang out with you and being so welcoming.”

They all expressed their delight in meeting her, too, then she turned to Finn.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you Monday,” she said, her gaze lingering, as if her eyes themselves wanted to remember each of his features for fear of forgetting them in two days.

But Finn stopped her before she could leave. “Are you walkin’ back to the hotel?”

“I was planning on it. My dad told me I had to call him to make sure I got back safely.”