The Light Over London(75)

There was something about this man, good-looking yet bashful, considerate as he was enthusiastic. She liked him in more than a friendly, neighborly kind of way.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea. I’m glad you thought of it.” She was also glad, she thought as they stepped into the lift, that she’d thrown a black dress into her bag.

They stood in comfortable silence, the spark of energy that had been flowing between them all day quieter but still there. She was, for the first time in her life, on holiday with a man who wasn’t Simon. It wasn’t a romantic holiday, but she’d decided somewhere around Taunton that it counted. She wanted it to.

“This is me,” she said, holding up her key slip to show him the 413 scribbled on it.

“And this is me,” he said, pointing at 415.

“I think I’m going to take a bath,” she said, realizing that even though they’d spent all day together she didn’t want to leave him.

“I have some thesis proposals to read through,” he said.

“This is taking you away from your work. I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “This is giving me some much-needed adventure. Shall I pick you up at your room just before half past seven?”

“I’d like that very much,” she said.

Liam looked as though he was about to say something else when his phone rang. He smiled apologetically and glanced at the screen. “I’d better take this.”

“I’ll see you in a bit,” she said.

The room was lovely—no great surprise, given what she’d seen downstairs. She dropped her purse and overnight bag in the center of the king-size bed and went to the window. The hotel had been built on top of a cliff, offering sweeping views out to the Celtic Sea. A sailboat heeled hard to one side in the wind, and if she shifted her gaze to the right, she could see a sandy little cove, about which several people walked.

A glance at the clock told her she had about two hours until dinner. Plenty of time to wash away the grimy feeling of too many hours in a car. But first, she fished her phone out of her purse and called Nicole.

Her best friend picked up on the fourth ring. “If you’re not snogging the professor by now, I’m hanging up.”

“I’m not,” she said.

“Hanging up,” trilled Nicole.

Cara laughed. “Stop it.”

“Fine, but the fact that we’re even having this conversation tells me that it isn’t out of the realm of possibility.”

Cara sucked in a breath. “It’s not.”

“I’m so happy I could scream,” said Nicole.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“What changed? Did he woo you on your cross-country drive with trivia?”

“No, but the conversation was good. He likes ABBA, by the way,” she said, pulling a face.

“I will never understand your hatred of ABBA,” said Nicole, not needing to see Cara to know her feelings on the subject. “?‘Waterloo’ is a fantastic song. So is ‘Fernando.’?”

“You and Liam have no taste.”

“You’re just jealous,” said Nicole. “Now, what’s bothering you enough for you to pick up the phone and call me?”

“I don’t know. I just had the unsettling realization that I feel more like myself around him than I do around anyone else,” she said.

“Hey,” said Nicole.

“Except you.”

“Thank you.”

“Is that crazy?” Cara asked. “I hardly know him.”

“Of course it isn’t crazy. You’re a different person than you were before you met Simon. You’re a different person than you were when you were married to Simon. What I’m most concerned about is that you’re comfortable and happy, and it sounds like you are. And, for the record, you do know Liam. You two have spent more nerdy time together over this diary than I thought possible. And he’s met Iris.”

“Who likes him.”

“And, as we know, Iris is never wrong,” said Nicole.

“Don’t tell her that. We’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Do you know what I think you should do?” asked Nicole.

“Tell me.”

“Don’t listen to what any of the rest of us have to say. Trust your instincts. They took a battering in the divorce, but you know yourself now in a way you never did before. These last couple years have been good for you, but it’s time to move past all of this.”

“Thanks, love,” said Cara quietly.

“If you do decide to snog the professor, call me and give me all the details,” said Nicole.

Cara rolled her eyes. “Now I’m the one hanging up.”

Nicole started to shout something down the phone, but Cara was already ending the call. She threw her phone on the bed. She’d finish the diary that afternoon, but first she would sink into a bath and indulge in the anticipation of a dinner date with Liam.

25 September 1941

I said goodbye to Paul this morning. He tried to talk me into staying in bed, but I told him that would be desertion.

The truth is, I was still feeling unsettled after some of the things he said yesterday. But then, while I was bathing before we left the flat, he ran out and persuaded one of the cabmen’s huts to give us a bit of weak tea and rolls. When I came out, he had it all set up on the table and sat me down to apologize.