“Alex tells me you’ve written a novel.” Cecelia effectively changed the topic.
“Oh... yes. In my spare time. While Paige was working on her school papers, I wrote a story.”
The Scot looked as though he enjoyed watching her squirm.
Spencer smiled at her. She felt her face warm slightly at his gaze. She was so glad he’d come along. Perhaps he would fly with her back to the States. And probably make some crack about her dauntless knight in shining armor. Well, what would he think when the engagement was announced? That’d show him.
Before breakfast was finished, Paige wanted her father to bring the wagon up to the manor and asked Mrs. Gillespie to get some quilts. She wanted to be outdoors.
Mr. Dunnegin and Mr. Gillespie went for the wagon while Mrs. Gillespie gathered old blankets.
“Edwina, would you take a walk with me?” Spencer held out his hand, and she took it. From the sound of things, they would be paired up. She gathered her shoes at the front door and walked with Spencer.
“There is a really pretty place I’d like to show you.” She pulled him ahead. They walked in silence for a long time, the beauty before their eyes taking precedence.
“You’re looking good, Winnie,” Spencer whispered, rubbing his thumb across the top of her hand.
“You don’t look so bad yourself.” She mussed his hair. “I like the spiky do. Did Cecelia do the cut?”
“Yeah, she insisted.” He shrugged almost shyly.
“She’s good at everything she does,” Edwina said happily.
“Not everything.”
Edwina glanced sideways. Was this conversation turning serious?
“Cecelia is predictable. You’ve changed, though. You’re not the same woman.” He sounded so serious.
Edwina laughed lightly. She didn’t want to hurt Spencer’s feelings. “Why? I’m not different.”
“Yes, you are, Winnie. You’re happier. Your practical nature is still there, but you’ve become...,” he stopped to think, “freer.”
“I was always free, Spencer. I just didn’t know it.” She smiled.
“Well, it looks good on you.” He kissed her cheek.
“Thank you. Now enough of this serious talk. Tell me about your restaurant. I couldn’t believe you named it Winnie.” She laughed. “Why in the world would you want to do that?”
Spencer couldn’t believe his ears. How could she not have noticed he cared for her? He had kissed her twice before she left. Apparently she hadn’t noticed. Now it was too late. He had lost her to her Scottish knight. He had seen the way the Scot looked at her, but Winnie was naively indifferent to it all because she never thought anyone would love her.
“Cecelia says she wants to buy another building.”
“Oh Spencer, how wonderful! Can you believe how far you’ve come, just since I left? It hasn’t even been a year. I’m so proud of you,” she gushed and picked up their pace. “There’s a beautiful spot I want to show you. You can see for miles.”
“Father, can we go down the lane?” Paige asked from her perch in the wagon he pulled behind him. “Can I get another bike?”
“Whoa, lass, one question at a time.” He looked at her, then answered, “Yes to both.”
“I was scared you wouldn’t let me get another bike,” she said happily. “Now I don’t have to be scared anymore.”
“Right, but no more chasing hats in the wind—or anything else for that matter. You always look both ways and never cross without looking twice.”
“I know Miss Blair told me already. I forgot,” she admitted.
“Yes, I know, and see what happened to my wee lass?” He did not want to make it too big of an issue. Life was short, so recently proven to him in more than one way.
Paige chattered happily, her little girl voice mixing with the winds.
He saw movement from the corner of his eye. Edwina... with Spencer standing on a knoll. A piece of him wanted to go, but his better judgment forbade it. Things would turn out as they should. He would not hurry nor push.
Still his eyes did not leave the two as they walked... hand-in-hand... he could see now. Was it possible Edwina had feelings for Spencer? He had written her letters. He noticed them in the post.
Perhaps he had assumed too much. Edwina did not play with emotions. That he knew. She had plenty of opportunities to grab the position as his wife, yet never once posed as anything other than what she was. And he liked what she was. He had read enough in her face and by her comments, not to mention the novel, that she thought Cecelia was more suited to him.
He’d not thought from Edwina’s viewpoint. He and Cecelia had been together in Chicago and South Carolina... had worked with the same attorneys. He could see how she might derive from those things that they had become a couple.
That meant... she might have feelings for Spencer. And they were out together alone, holding hands. Maybe he had been foolish in not declaring his own intentions. Twice he’d hinted at them, but they had been apart so much, he was not sure she would accept any forward attempts to reveal his heart.
Warring with his thoughts, he headed back down the lane toward the manor. There was no way he was going to lose this woman.