Page 43 of A Change of Heart

“Of course I don’t hate you.”

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

“I’ve been avoiding everyone,” he told her. “It was nothing personal.”

“I’m sorry anyway. I’ve been feeling pretty bad about the whole thing.”

“It was me who got my heart broken.” He managed a smile. “How come you were feeling bad?”

“Because I pushed you into saying something to Seren. I should never have involved myself.”

“I think I knew you’d encourage me to do something about it. I’d been wanting to tell her for a while. I needed someone to give me a nudge. And to be fair, it was Trystan who convinced me to say something in the end, so you really needn’t feel bad.”

She arched an eyebrow. “It would’ve been nice if you’d told me that a week ago.”

“Excuse me for being too busy nursing my broken heart to worry about how you’ve been doing!” He laughed and the release felt good.

Her eyes widened dramatically. “I didn’t mean to sound so self-centred. It’s just that you’ve been so nice to me, so I hated the thought of falling out with you. I was honestly concerned about you too.”

“I was winding you up.” He gave her arm an affectionate tap. “We’re all good, I promise.”

A family with two kids approached and Kit opened a door for them to board before continuing along the train to open all the doors.

Keira smiled brightly as she followed him. “I have a surprise for you.”

“What is it?” he asked dubiously.

“I’ve been swotting up,” she told him at the back of the train. “So I can do everything now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can drive the train and give the tour. I can collect the money too and welcome the passengers. It can be like a job interview today. You can observe me and then decide if you want me to work for you.”

“Today? Like now?”

“Yes.”

“Um … okay… if you’re sure you want to?”

“Yes.” She nodded firmly. “I’m all prepared.” Pulling a sheaf of paper from her back pocket, she unfolded it and scanned the pages. “Oh god. There’s a lot of information. My mind’s going to go blank.”

“You don’t have to take the tour today,” Kit said, wavering over the thought of having someone working for him on a regular basis.

“I can do it.” Keira took a breath and shoved the papers back into her pocket before she swung around to greet the customers, who were arriving in a steady trickle.

Hanging back and letting Keira take the reins wasn’t easy. Once they set off it took a few minutes of speaking into the microphone before her nerves faded. Even then it was difficult for Kit to quell the urge to jump in and add information that she’d missed. At one point he reached to take the headset from her, but she slapped his hand away and switched off the PA system as she shot him a frosty glare.

“You said I don’t have to give the tour exactly as you do,” she reminded him. “If I’m going to work for you, you won’t always be here to jump in. Can you just let me do it?”

“Sorry,” he whispered sheepishly. She was doing a great job anyway, so there was really no need to intervene. It was only habit. Sinking lower in his seat, he let Keira get on with it.

By the time they arrived back at the promenade and the passengers had dispersed, she looked as though she might burst with excitement.

“How did I do?” She bounced on the balls of her feet as she waited for a response.

“Great.”

“Really?”