Page 36 of Save You (Maxton Hall #2)

Ruby

My heart is hammering in my throat as I open the door. Percy is standing there, and he nods slightly, a smile on his lips.

“How nice to see you again, Ms. Bell.”

“It’s nice to see you too, Percy,” I reply, following him to the car, gripping my silver clutch bag tightly.

James refused to tell me anything about our date all week, so I’ve just had to guess at what to wear.

But Ember’s helped me put together an outfit for all occasions: a simple black dress, shoes with tiny heels, and the little silver bag.

My hair is half up and I’ve glued my fringe down with a ton of hairspray in case we’re spending any time outdoors in the wind.

“We’re meeting Mr. Beaufort there,” Percy explains as he holds the door for me and gives me a hand into the Rolls.

I smile up at him to thank him. To my shock, I see that there are dark rings under Percy’s eyes and his skin is pale and dull.

And he looks miles away, like his thoughts aren’t really present.

“How are things, Percy?” I ask.

“I’m fine, miss, thank you for asking,” he replies mechanically.

Smiling politely, Percy shuts the door behind me and walks around the car.

The screen isn’t up and I watch with a frown as he sits down behind the wheel.

Is it my imagination, or is there considerably more white in his hair since Cordelia Beaufort’s death?

“How long have you been working for the family?” I ask, edging forward slightly on my seat.

“Over twenty-five years now, miss.”

I nod sympathetically. “Wow, that’s a long time.”

“I started driving Mrs. Beaufort when she was in her early twenties.”

“What was she like?”

For a moment, Percy seems to be hunting for the words to describe her.

“Fearless and intrepid. She turned the firm upside down, even before she finished university, which didn’t please her parents.

But it paid off.” I can see in the mirror as his eyes narrow as if he’s smiling.

“She always had a good eye for the trends. She continued working all through her pregnancy, and set so many things in motion. Nothing went out under the company logo without her personal approval. She—” Percy breaks off.

“She was an amazing woman,” he concludes, his voice hoarse.

I feel a wave of compassion. It seems like Mrs. Beaufort meant a lot to Percy. Maybe more than that, if I’m reading the look in his eyes correctly.

“Are you really OK, Percy?” I whisper.

The chauffeur clears his throat. “I’ll get there, miss. I just need a little time.”

“Of course. If I can ever do anything to help…” I have no idea how I could ever help Percy, but just now, offering seems like the right thing to do.

“There is actually one thing you can do for me.” Our eyes meet in the rearview mirror. “Please take good care of James.”

My breath catches and I have to gulp.

“I will,” I say after a short while. “I promise.”

Twenty minutes later, we’ve arrived. As Percy parks the car, I look through the tinted windows to the outside of the restaurant. I know that we were headed in the direction of Pemwick. But I don’t know this area.

Percy opens the door and helps me out. The sun is just setting and bathing the building in front of me in an orangey-red light. The sign is already lit up, and I read The Golden Cuisine in fancy lettering. As Percy holds the restaurant door for me, my heart is suddenly racing.

“Mr. Beaufort is waiting inside. Have a nice evening, Ms. Bell.”

I thank him, then walk inside nervously. The minute I step through the door, I see James waiting for me. A smile spreads over my face. I’m so relieved that I can feel like this with him again.

He’s wearing a black shirt and a blue Beaufort’s suit with broad checks, which fits him like a glove. I can see his tiny monogram on the breast pocket.

James smiles hesitantly back, looking me over the way I just did to him. My throat dries out as his eyes glide down my body.

“You look beautiful,” he whispers.

I get goose bumps. “Thanks. You look stunning too.”

He offers me his arm and leads me further into the restaurant. It’s full, and as I can only see one table free, I assume that that’s ours, but James walks through a side door and leads me up the stairs beyond it.

As we emerge into some kind of upstairs conservatory, I catch my breath.

There’s a tree in the middle of the room with colorful lanterns in its branches.

The ceiling and windows are decked with chains of fairy lights that give a warm glow.

The whole place is magical. And only one of the round tables is set.

James leads me to our table. He’s the perfect gentleman, pulling out my chair for me, and then pushing it in behind my knees as I sit.

As he takes his seat opposite me, I glance out of the windows. The view is breathtaking. Now, you can still see the countryside around Pemwick, but I’m sure that the rolling green hills will be swathed in darkness within half an hour.

A waiter appears from nowhere and sets a jug of water on the table, then hands us our menus. I flick through, constantly glancing up at James. Am I this nervous because this is my first official date with any boy—or because it’s James sitting opposite me, smiling at me over his glass?

I smile back at him. “It’s beautiful here.”

“It really is. Mum sometimes brought Lydia and me to eat here. I have nice memories of this place,” he replies.

James’s words make me flush warm with affection for him. I love the fact that he wants to share somewhere so special with me, especially as I know how difficult his family relationships are for him.

“Thank you for inviting me here.”

I reach over the table for his hand and stroke it gently. James’s expression darkens.

“I wanted to show you that spending time with me isn’t just misery. It can be more.”

“James…” I begin, but the waiter comes back to our table just then, to take our orders.

I choose gnocchi with goat cheese, and James opts for a stuffed chicken leg.

After that, we’re alone again and I’m longing to pick up our conversation from earlier.

Sometimes I wish I was a genius at small talk, like Ember.

No matter how difficult the situation, she finds a way to break the ice.

“I’ve set up a Goodreads account, by the way,” James says, out of the blue.

I prick up my ears. “Really?”

He nods. “I want to tackle the list. The…one we made in Oxford.” He coughs, and I can virtually see the memory of that night flickering in his eyes. “The books thing seemed like a good starting place.”

“I love that!” I blurt. “So, what’s on your reading list, then?”

The corners of James’s lips twitch suspiciously. Then he pulls out his phone and opens the app. He taps on it a few times, then looks up again.

“OK, so, I read Death Note ,” he says.

“I saw that,” I say. “And what did you think?”

“It was great. But there was only one thing that really bothered me,” he adds seriously.

“I think I can guess,” I reply.

“It was just…I couldn’t believe it. I almost didn’t read the rest of the series.” James shrugs. “But you were right about what you said.”

I look inquiringly at him.

“About it being an important part of a rounded education to read it.”

I gasp. “You remember that?”

He tilts his head. “Of course I remember it. I remember everything, Ruby.”

I gulp hard. “Me too,” I say quietly.

There’s something in James’s turquoise eyes that I haven’t seen for such a long time, and I’m suddenly seized by a longing that’s so sudden and so strong that I have to clear my throat and reach for my glass of water.

“Show me your list,” I croak.

James blinks a few times, like he needs a minute to get himself together.

Then he pushes his phone over the table toward me.

I scan through the list of what he’s read, and I’m surprised by how much there is already—a few mangas, and a whole bunch of classic children’s and YA books, like the Percy Jackson series, and books by John Green and Stephen Chbosky.

“Wow, you’ve read all these already?” I ask in surprise.

He hunches one shoulder awkwardly. “Mostly at night, when I couldn’t sleep. Or at break time at school. I’ve been looking for things to take my mind off it all, and books are pretty good at that. And now I’ve kind of gotten used to reading before bed.”

“It’s a great new habit.” I keep scrolling through his account. “Can I put a couple of things on your Want to Read ?”

“Knock yourself out. I’m following some book bloggers now too, and I sometimes check out the stuff they recommend.”

I laugh and shake my head. James and his blogs. He really ought to have a chat with Ember sometime, I think, gradually adding to his list.

“You’re unstoppable,” James says after a while, amused.

“You said to knock myself out.”

James laughs. When the meal arrives, I realize to my surprise that we’ve been here more than an hour already, chatting, and there hasn’t been a single awkward moment, and we’ve never been desperately trying to think about what to say next.

It’s been ages since we’ve been able to talk this freely. Maybe we never have.

Our time in the conservatory is lovely, and over way too soon. James says he wants to make a good impression on my parents by dropping me back before midnight, which I reluctantly accept. If it had been up to me, we would have sat there under the lanterns, chatting away forever.

Before I put my jacket on, I walk over to the wall of windows. It’s dark now, but the view is still amazing. There are no clouds and I can see so many stars in the sky.

I’ve never had such a magical evening, and I want to remember it forever. So I pull out my phone and take a photo. But I have to admit that you can’t really see anything in it.