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She buried her face into his chest. “No, it won’t. This is what they do. They hound you until you want to crawl into bed and never come out again. They’re awful .”

“They are,” he agreed, a fury rising in him when he thought back to the insulting, personal questions hurled at her. “I cannot believe someone would ask such things, much less multiple someones. A fake pregnancy? Truly?” He made a sound of disgust.

She looked up at him then, her eyes bright with tears, and whispered, “I didn’t fake it, I swear.”

His eyes widened, and he pulled back a little to look at her face. “What?”

Her chin quivered. “I didn’t fake it. I truly was pregnant. But by that time, Andrew tired of me.”

Colin felt sucker-punched. The thought of a young Ellie, pregnant and alone, nearly brought him to his knees, even though he was already sitting. “What happened?”

“It was too much for me to handle. He threatened to make my life hell if I went through with the pregnancy, that he would take the baby away from me if I had it. ”

Colin gently laid her head against his shoulder and fought to control the emotions rising in his chest. Without censure, he gently asked, “Did you terminate the pregnancy?”

“No. I miscarried,” she replied woodenly.

His heart physically ached for her. He tucked her in closer and kissed the top of her head. “I’m so sorry. Those words are not enough for what you went through, but they’re all I have.” He pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. “I see now why you were hesitant to go through this.”

She remained silent, but she didn’t pull away from him. And they rode the twenty minutes to the office like that.

Ellie sat on top of her suitcase and triumphantly zipped it closed. Colin and she were traveling to Ireland that afternoon, again by Aidan MacWilliam’s private jet. Idly, she wondered how much money they paid their pilot to fly across an ocean at a moment’s notice.

She hopped off the suitcase and immediately wiped out, landing hard on her backside.

“Ow, ow, ow.” She stood up slowly, rubbing her tailbone, and hobbled back over to the exceedingly comfortable bed she’d slept in for the past week.

She looked around at the pale blue walls, the crisp white bedding, the beautiful local artwork from Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.

She ran her fingers over the decor—dried coral and starfish, a brass spyglass, even an old compass.

It was homey and cozy, and she didn’t want to leave.

Which is silly, as my home is in London, with my gorgeous bookshop and little flat.

Yesterday, Colin was able to get them into the Celtic Connections office with minimal fuss, though as she predicted, the paparazzi followed them.

They waited for over an hour before Colin arranged for five identical vehicles— black SUVs with blacked-out windows —to leave the premises at the same time, going five separate ways.

She and Colin weren’t in any of them; instead, they snuck out a side door into a nondescript minivan with New Hampshire plates.

No one appeared to follow them, but Colin took no chances.

He directed the driver to take them out of the city, heading north.

When he was certain they weren’t being followed, the driver turned around and headed back to Colin’s house, where they rushed inside and had been since.

She wandered to the window that overlooked the street and watched the people for a moment.

Two women were walking a large brown dog on the sidewalk, chatting with each other and smiling.

A little old man waved to them, and they crossed the road to talk with him; the dog patiently lay down as though this were something it was used to doing.

The cell phone rang loudly, startling Ellie. Though Emma had called twice to check in and ensure she was okay, the phone remained largely silent, just as Ellie preferred. She answered it with a smile on the second ring.

“Hello, Winnie!”

“Eleanor, I miss you so. Are you enjoying yourself over there?”

“Mostly. Boston is a lovely city.”

Winnie hmmphed. “Except for the reporters who found you yesterday. What a nightmare. But I am reassured that Mr. O’Rourke’s provided ample protection for you, as the press cannot figure out where you disappeared to.

Clever man. Anyway, I’ve asked Mrs. MacWilliam about the dates they’ve set up for you, and she won’t give me any information, citing privacy concerns! Can you imagine!?”

Ellie smiled at her outrage. “Winnie, you asked a favor of me, and I granted it, didn’t I?”

Silence. Then, suspiciously, “You did.”

“I’m asking you a favor now. Please back off. Let me do this my way. ”

He was so sweet to her in the car yesterday.

But when they entered his office, he became all business; the woman he spoke of before, Candice, met them at the door and the building’s security didn’t allow the cameras to follow them, for which Ellie was relieved.

But Colin made it crystal clear to Candice that his priority was to ensure that Celtic Connections suffered no damage from the spectacle back at the tea room.

It wasn’t much later, after Colin, Emma, Candice, and Ellie got off a video chat, that Candice told them Reginald asked for a date with Ellie.

Colin’s expression didn’t change, but his fist tightened around the pen he held. He’d merely looked at Ellie blandly, as though he hadn’t kissed her head or shared a wonderful day with her, and agreed it would be a wonderful match, indeed.

“He can be a forever kind of guy ,” Colin said, and though there was no inflection to his tone, Ellie caught his message loud and clear.

She rubbed her forehead wearily. I have to either find a way to get over Colin quickly, or convince him he should choose me over his company.

She wouldn’t ask him to make that choice. He told her flat-out he wasn’t forever material. And she believed she was worth forever.

As those thoughts had kept her up most of the night before, Ellie shoved them to the back of her mind and continued, “No interference, Winnie.”

“As long as you promise me you’ll give someone a chance, I won’t bother you again about it. And by someone, I mean more than one date, Eleanor. You’ll have your pick of the best, you understand.”

If Ellie had learned anything while listening to Colin on his work calls, it was that Celtic Connections certainly did recruit some amazing candidates for its clients.

The lengths they went to for background checks, interviews, personality tests, even polygraphs, allayed any concerns she’d thought she had.

Pick of the best seemed a little far-fetched, though.

“You realize that I am not exactly a shining diamond? I know you think so because I’m your niece, but you know I’m not the prettiest woman in the world.

I don’t even look British—and I don’t think looking American qualifies me as exotic, no matter how many times you try to convince me otherwise,” she said, swiftly cutting her off.

“I’m just another boring bookworm who hasn’t any idea as to what’s in fashion. I’m quite plain.”

“Someday, someone will show you your worth, Eleanor Rose. And when he does, all these negative thoughts will disappear. I won’t pester you about your gentlemen callers, but promise me that you will try more than one date, with more than one man.”

“You are insane,” Ellie informed her, though she said it with a small smile.

“Promise me, darling, or I’ll continue to bother you and Mrs. MacWilliam.”

“Fine, I promise to try.”

“That’s a dear. Boston is so…interesting. I’ve only been once and I remember not being able to understand its residents. Good night!”

Winnie disconnected the call, leaving Ellie laughing at the silent phone in her hand. Personally, she enjoyed the Boston accent, though Colin didn’t really possess one.

“What’s so funny?”

Speak of the devil.

The kind, charming, so-handsome-it-hurt-to-look-at-him, untouchable devil.

She gestured to the phone. “My aunt. She has a wicked sense of humor. ”

“Hmm. Perhaps someday I’ll see it. I heard something fall.”

Ellie blinked rapidly. “Oh. That was my suitcase.”

He glanced at it on the bed, then snickered. “Liar. Did you trip on the rug or walk into the door?”

“Fell off the suitcase,” she admitted. “I’m all right.”

He guffawed. “Good God, Ellie. Never change. When you’re ready, come on downstairs and we’ll head to my parents’ house.” He grabbed her suitcase and gave her a small salute before heading back downstairs, chuckling to himself.

Ellie absently rubbed her tailbone and realized with a start that she wasn’t embarrassed. In fact, she had a rather strange feeling in her chest, and it took her a moment to realize what it was.

Acceptance.

Sure, she was clumsy. And maybe a bit shy around new people. And maybe even a little reserved around those she did know.

And perhaps that was all okay.

“Let’s go, Ellie! And try not to trip down the stairs. I really want pancakes, and hospital food is terrible!” Colin hollered up to her.

She smiled.

Yeah. It was okay.

“So you’re heading back tonight?”

Colin poured a disgusting amount of maple syrup over a tall stack of pancakes and bacon. “Yep.”

James O’Rourke, Colin’s elder brother, sat at their mother’s table, eyeing the plate of food in front of Colin. “That’s a heart attack on a plate, you know.”

“Good thing there’s a doctor in the house,” Colin replied around a mouthful of food. He nodded towards Ellie. “Help yourself, there’s always more where that came from.”

“It’s true, I always have extras warming in the oven,” Evelyn confirmed to Ellie. She asked James, “How was California, dear?”

“Hot,” James replied, buttering his toast. His cell phone rang, but he silenced it without looking at the caller. “Very brown. The drought is really something out there.”

“How’s Hail…okay, I guess I’m not supposed to ask about your wife?” Colin asked, confused, as his mother made frantic shakes of her head and slicing motions at her throat.