complication to a situation that was already complicated enough.
And she needed to keep reminding herself of that…
He was right, the menu was amazing, and she stared at it in despair. ‘There are too many lovely things!’ she wailed, and he chuckled.
‘We can come again,’ he told her, and she felt her heart hitch a little.
Really? That sounded like another date.
‘Will you think I’m throwing my weight around if I make a suggestion?’
She blinked, and then the day caught up with her and she started to laugh. ‘You? Throwing your weight around? Surely not?’
He smiled. ‘Try the fillet steak in pepper sauce. It’s absolutely amazing. Or if that’s too heavy, the sea bream is fabulous.’
‘Whatever. Surprise me.’
He ordered both. ‘You can try them and have the one you fancy,’ he told her. ‘Just remember to save room for the pudding.’
She grinned. ‘Oh, believe me, I will.’
The waiter came and took their order, and Sam propped his elbows on the table and studied her thoughtfully.
‘Tell me about yourself.’
Emelia blinked at him, as if he’d said something really weird. ‘Me?’
‘Well—I wasn’t talking to the waiter,’ he murmured.
She coloured softly. ‘Oh. Well—what do you want to know?’
‘I don’t know. What is there to know?’
She gave a little thoughtful sigh. ‘Not a lot. I’m twenty-seven, nearly twenty-eight, I was born and brought up in Oxford until I was nine, then my father moved to Edinburgh University and we were about to relocate up there when he died, so my mother and I went to Lancashire, where her family are from, and we lived just north of Manchester for six years, then she met Gordon and we moved to Cheshire. I stayed with them until I went to university in Bristol, and I met James in my second year. He was reading maths, I was reading English, and I stayed on and did a fourth-year post-grad teaching certificate and he did a Master’s. We got married at the end of that year, when we were twenty-two, and then two years later we discovered he’d got testicular cancer. And two years after that, he was dead.’
There didn’t seem to be anything he could say that wouldn’t be trite or patronising, so he didn’t say anything. And after a moment she lifted her head and smiled gently at him.
‘So, your turn.’
‘What do you want to know?’
‘Whatever you want to tell me.’
Nothing. Nothing at all that would open him up to her and make him any more vulnerable than he already was, but he found himself doing it anyway.
‘I’m thirty-three, I was born in Esher, in Surrey, and by the time I was twenty-one I’d started my first company and bought another one. I was still at uni—I did an MBA, kept trading on the side and it snowballed from there. Then—’
He broke off.
‘Then?’ she prompted, her voice soft, and he sighed. The next bit wasn’t so nice, and he really didn’t want to go there, so he gave her a severely—severely!—edited version of the truth.
‘Someone cheated me,’ he said bluntly. ‘It left a bad taste in my mouth, and I threw myself into work, and then I ended up in hospital and realised I wasn’t enjoying it any more so I walked away from it. That was when I saw the house. It’s taken the last two and a half years to reach this point in the restoration, but once the local planning people and English Heritage make up their minds about what I can and can’t do with the inside, I’ll be able to finish it off.’
He ground to a halt and shrugged. ‘So, that’s me.’
‘Was it her?’
‘Pardon?’
‘The person who cheated you. Was it the woman you were going to marry? The one who wasn’t having your child?’
Hell. He thought he’d been vague just now, but Emelia was just too good at joining up the dots. He stuck to facts. ‘Yes. But there were two of them—a couple. Professionals. I’m older and wiser now.’
‘And a lot more cynical, I would imagine.’
He just smiled, a bitter
And she needed to keep reminding herself of that…
He was right, the menu was amazing, and she stared at it in despair. ‘There are too many lovely things!’ she wailed, and he chuckled.
‘We can come again,’ he told her, and she felt her heart hitch a little.
Really? That sounded like another date.
‘Will you think I’m throwing my weight around if I make a suggestion?’
She blinked, and then the day caught up with her and she started to laugh. ‘You? Throwing your weight around? Surely not?’
He smiled. ‘Try the fillet steak in pepper sauce. It’s absolutely amazing. Or if that’s too heavy, the sea bream is fabulous.’
‘Whatever. Surprise me.’
He ordered both. ‘You can try them and have the one you fancy,’ he told her. ‘Just remember to save room for the pudding.’
She grinned. ‘Oh, believe me, I will.’
The waiter came and took their order, and Sam propped his elbows on the table and studied her thoughtfully.
‘Tell me about yourself.’
Emelia blinked at him, as if he’d said something really weird. ‘Me?’
‘Well—I wasn’t talking to the waiter,’ he murmured.
She coloured softly. ‘Oh. Well—what do you want to know?’
‘I don’t know. What is there to know?’
She gave a little thoughtful sigh. ‘Not a lot. I’m twenty-seven, nearly twenty-eight, I was born and brought up in Oxford until I was nine, then my father moved to Edinburgh University and we were about to relocate up there when he died, so my mother and I went to Lancashire, where her family are from, and we lived just north of Manchester for six years, then she met Gordon and we moved to Cheshire. I stayed with them until I went to university in Bristol, and I met James in my second year. He was reading maths, I was reading English, and I stayed on and did a fourth-year post-grad teaching certificate and he did a Master’s. We got married at the end of that year, when we were twenty-two, and then two years later we discovered he’d got testicular cancer. And two years after that, he was dead.’
There didn’t seem to be anything he could say that wouldn’t be trite or patronising, so he didn’t say anything. And after a moment she lifted her head and smiled gently at him.
‘So, your turn.’
‘What do you want to know?’
‘Whatever you want to tell me.’
Nothing. Nothing at all that would open him up to her and make him any more vulnerable than he already was, but he found himself doing it anyway.
‘I’m thirty-three, I was born in Esher, in Surrey, and by the time I was twenty-one I’d started my first company and bought another one. I was still at uni—I did an MBA, kept trading on the side and it snowballed from there. Then—’
He broke off.
‘Then?’ she prompted, her voice soft, and he sighed. The next bit wasn’t so nice, and he really didn’t want to go there, so he gave her a severely—severely!—edited version of the truth.
‘Someone cheated me,’ he said bluntly. ‘It left a bad taste in my mouth, and I threw myself into work, and then I ended up in hospital and realised I wasn’t enjoying it any more so I walked away from it. That was when I saw the house. It’s taken the last two and a half years to reach this point in the restoration, but once the local planning people and English Heritage make up their minds about what I can and can’t do with the inside, I’ll be able to finish it off.’
He ground to a halt and shrugged. ‘So, that’s me.’
‘Was it her?’
‘Pardon?’
‘The person who cheated you. Was it the woman you were going to marry? The one who wasn’t having your child?’
Hell. He thought he’d been vague just now, but Emelia was just too good at joining up the dots. He stuck to facts. ‘Yes. But there were two of them—a couple. Professionals. I’m older and wiser now.’
‘And a lot more cynical, I would imagine.’
He just smiled, a bitter
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