“You want to go to England?”
“I do now. Why not? It makes perfect sense. God knows I have nointerest in sunny destinations. I’m an art major, and you’veincluded galleries and museums, perfect for a Goth like me. Ofcourse, if I don’t make it to half of them, I’ll be quite happy.I’m afraid I’m not as ambitious as you apparently are. Besides,dreary old England is the perfect place to inspire the songwriterin me.”
“When would you go?” she asked, holding her breath.
“Next week, of course.”
“But… I mean, who would you go with? Won’t it be difficult toarrange at the last minute?”
“Difficult? Not with this plan of yours to go by. Besides, I’mgoing alone. And I’m actually rather keen. So no need to persuademyself. As far as I’m concerned, I’m already on the plane. So, whatdo you say? Do we have a deal?”
“I-I don’t know. I worked rather hard on that.” Suddenly, shewas struck with an idea. Actually, more of a knee jerk reaction.“What if… what if I went with you?”
“Um… no, not possible. Thank you just the same. This isn’t thatkind of trip.” He quirked a suggestive eyebrow. Well, now where did that come from? Was she actuallyproposing…
“No, of course, that’s not what I was implying. Please, Ihardly know you. I only meant as your own personal tour guide sinceI know my itinerary so well. In return, I’d have your company. Yousee, my main reason for hesitating in going is that I didn’t haveanyone to go with. And, well, being female, I’m reluctant to travelon my own.” As pathetic as that sounded, at least, she hoped toappeal to the gentleman in him. She would rather he believe thather wanting to go with him was purely for reasons of personalsafety. He didn’t have to know the real reason, her cripplinganxiety.
Crispin couldonly frown. His inherent protective nature winced at the very realand honest admission on her part. Looking in her clear blue-greyeyes, her blatant vulnerability called to him. Yet… this was notsomething he wanted to deal with. His whole purpose in going was tobe on his own, to distance himself from people, not attach himselfto another. As it was, he was already feeling a little too much forthis particular young lady. The last thing he wanted was toexchange one clingy female for another only to have them rip hisheart out in the end. He already had that with Becky. He’d foughthis affections for her from the beginning only to be steamrolled byher loveable quirkiness. Trouble was, he knew he had issues keepinghis perspective when it came to relationships. Therefore, he neededto nip this in the bud.
“Listen, as much as I would love to help, I cannot be yourescort.” He paused and gave his head a shake. He needed to focus.Odd sensations were starting to take root and he didn’t like it onebit. “So, do we have a deal or not? The bracelet for theitinerary?” When she hesitated, Crispin frowned. He already feltlike a bastard in the truest sense of the word, he didn’t need theadded guilt. “Never mind, keep it. I’ll just book my own trip. Ithink I can work from memory. As for the bracelet, perhaps the bestplace for it is at the bottom of the lake. Maybe I’ll head overthere now and toss it in.”
“No! You can’t!” Gwen’s mind raced with what to do. Shesuddenly wanted more than anything to make this trip happen. Andthe last thing she wanted was for her beloved bracelet to end up atthe bottom of Lake Ontario. “Here, take it! Please, don’t toss thebracelet.”
“Wonderful decision.” He slid the trinket towards her. Inreturn, she reluctantly slid over her notes. “Tell you what, I’llgo on my own this time and when I get back I’ll let you know if Iwould add or subtract anything from this plan.”
“Okay, sounds fair, I guess,” she said, watching him gather upher beloved itinerary. The whole time, her mind worked. This couldnot happen this way, she kept repeating to herself. She would notlet it happen.
Looking quiteproud of himself, Crispin finished his coffee and stood up. “Now,where to go from here? I suppose I could get on the internet andtry and book a flight.”
“No! I mean, why would you do that? Listen, I have a betteridea. A busy guy like you doesn’t need to have to worry about thosetypes of details.”
“Oh? What would you suggest?”
“Uh… my friend. I have a friend. She’s a travel agent. Sheworks across the street right there.” She pointed eagerly. “Justtell her Gwen sent you and she’ll look after the whole thing.She’ll even give you a discount. Stacy is her name.”
“Hmm… wonderful idea. Stacy, you say?” Crispin glanced acrossthe street at the travel agency. “Thanks for the tip, Gwen. Oh, andenjoy the bracelet.” Tucking the notes under his arm, he took thetrinket from her trembling hands and fastened it to her rightwrist. “There, as it should be. It belongs with you.”
With a wink ofan eye, he turned and made his way out of the café. Gwen waitedwith her heart in her throat as he took his leave. She watched himcross the street and reach for the travel agency door beforegrappling for her cell phone.
“Stacy, it’s Gwen. I have a huge favour to ask ofyou!”
Chapter 3
One weeklater
That had beenharder than Crispin imagined. Granted, it was a stupid, selfishthing to do. He should never have tried to sneak away withoutsaying a proper goodbye. He couldn’t fight back the tiny smile,though, at the thought of Becky’s reaction. She had caught him inthe driveway as he was loading his suitcase into the car. She hadliterally grabbed onto him and had refused to let him go until hehad sufficiently reassured her of his return. Even then, she wasn’tquite convinced. Such a little dormouse, he loved the silly littletwit. But then that was the whole point of him needing to get
