Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Maisie waited with Winnie for their turn to use the bathroom, a few girls standing in line ahead of the single room.
“Are you having a good time?” Winnie asked with a friendly smile.
“For sure,” Maisie responded. “Much better than spending the night alone in my hotel.”
“I’m so glad you chose to stay,” Winnie said as they shifted forward and another woman left the restroom. “I love hanging out with those boys, but for the longest time, it was just the four of them. Now it’s the four of them and me. Sometimes, I feel like a total tagalong. Not that they make me feel that way, of course.”
Maisie could understand perfectly. “It must be hard not to feel like an imposter when they’re so close. You don’t hear of many groups of guys staying friends for so long.”
“Yeah, they really are lucky.”
Laughter sounded across the bar, and they both looked to see Finn and Matthew nudging each other near the dartboard, clearly fighting over something one or the other of them had done.
Maisie and Winnie both smiled .
“How did you and Matthew meet?” Maisie asked, motioning toward the men.
“Oh,” Winnie said, blowing out a breath. They shifted forward once more in the line. “That would probably take, like, a four-hundred-page book or something to explain.” She laughed at her own joke. “I was hired as a consultant by his dad to help get their estate more profitable. But through a series of unexpected events, I’ve now started working with Matthew to run his Renaissance festival. He’s one of the knights who jousts.”
“Wow, that sounds great.”
“It is,” Winnie said with a wistful smile. “Now that Matthew and I don’t hate each other, it’s amazing.”
“You hated each other?” Maisie asked with a laugh.
“Oh my gosh, I was public enemy number one,” Winnie said. “And he was the bane of my existence.”
“I never would have guessed.”
“Most people wouldn’t,” Winnie continued, smiling and waving at Matthew across the way before facing Maisie again. “He just won me over in that knight costume of his. He still is winning me over, to be honest. A few weeks ago, he showed up in his armor to take me out on a date. He couldn’t even sit down at the table at the restaurant we ate out at.” They shared a laugh before she continued. “But I swear, when he’s wearing that armor, he could get me to do anything he asked. I’m secretly hoping he proposes to me in it.”
Maisie’s brow raised. “Oh, so you guys are really close, then.”
Winnie nodded happily. “I mean, we’ve never officially talked about marriage, but we both know that’s what this will lead to eventually.” A frown marred her brow, then. “Although, there’s just one thing stopping me. It’s kinda a dealbreaker, actually. If I marry him, I’ll be Winnie Wintour. I mean, that sounds terrible. The double “W”? Ick.”
Maisie laughed. “Aw, no, that’s adorable.”
“Like Maisie O’Meara?” Winnie said next, looking at Maisie out of the corner of her eye .
Maisie’s stomach jostled. She’d already thought that very thing. What woman with a crush hadn’t put her first name with the boy’s last name?
But she couldn’t even dwell on it for a second. Once again, she couldn’t risk Finn getting into trouble. “We’ve known each other for five days,” she said with a little shake of her head. “Anyway, it’s against the rules for the two of us to date. And there’s the small fact that I live in Boston, and he lives here.”
Winnie merely shrugged. “There’s always a way to make it happen if the two of you wanted to.”
Maisie hesitated. She didn’t want to divulge too much, but then, just as she knew she could trust Finn, she also knew she could trust Winnie. “Here’s the thing, though,” she began in a softer tone, “even if I would want to pursue a relationship after the tour’s over, I don’t know Finn well enough to know if that’s what he’d want.”
The final person entered the bathroom as Winnie leaned toward Maisie with a lowered tone. “I won’t pry or push anything because that’s always really annoying, not to mention awkward. But I will say, Matthew told me tonight that he’s never seen Finn like a girl more than he likes you. Even I’ve seen some of the texts Finn has sent, and…” She paused, shaking her head. “I won’t betray his trust or anything, but I don’t think you need to question if Finn likes you enough to pursue something with you.”
The knowing look in Winnie’s eyes and the information she shared was enough to send Maisie’s hope into full throttle. She and Finn couldn’t date. Not while they were on the tour. But what if…what if after the tour, they could carry on with something?
After using the restroom and returning to the boys, the six of them played for another half hour before Cedric gathered up the darts.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” he said, “but we should probably turn in now. We’ve all got an early mornin’.”
Maisie was disappointed to see the evening coming to an end, but honestly, after walking all day long—and standing all evening—she couldn’t deny that sleep sounded more than appealing.
“Yeah, I’m getting pretty sleepy myself,” she agreed.
“You really should meet up with me gran,” Finn teased. “You could knit your doilies with her, then, and take your naps at the same time.”
She put on her raincoat and pulled out her hair with a shake of her head.
“It’s a wonder she still wants to hang out with you, Finn,” Matthew joked.
“What?” Finn asked. “Maisie loves me teasin’.”
She didn’t respond, and he made an obvious motion with his head to have her support his words.
“Oh, right,” she said, flatly. “Yeah, I love his teasing so much.”
The group laughed, and she thrilled again. “It was so nice to meet you all,” she continued, looking around the five of them. “Thanks for letting me hang out with you and being so welcoming.”
They all expressed their delight in meeting her, too, then she turned to Finn.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you Monday,” she said, her gaze lingering, as if her eyes themselves wanted to remember each of his features for fear of forgetting them in two days.
But Finn stopped her before she could leave. “Are you walkin’ back to the hotel?”
“I was planning on it. My dad told me I had to call him to make sure I got back safely.”
“Naw, let me walk you back.”
A swarm of butterflies took off in her chest. “Oh, I don’t want to make you stay up any later,” she said, motioning toward his friends.
“They can wait,” he said. “Can’t you all?”
They all nodded, no jokes abounding then, as if they wanted Finn to walk her home.
“Okay, great,” she said .
After another wave goodbye to Finn’s friends, wondering if she’d ever see any of them again, Maisie followed Finn through the still-teeming crowds at the pub. As soon as they reached the door, however, Finn paused.
“Boys a dear, I forgot me jacket,” he said, looking over his shoulder.
“I’ll wait here,” she said.
He nodded, then promptly disappeared into the crowds once again.
Maisie stood off to the side of the doorway, shifting instead to an empty table covered in half-filled glasses with lipstick marks and lingering condensation on the sides.
She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to her dad.
Maisie
Just wanted to let you know I’m leaving the pub. The tour guide is walking me back to the hotel. Don’t worry, he’s super trustworthy. I’ll text you when I’m back. Love you!
Dad
Thanks for letting me know. Show him the moves I taught you if he tries anything.
Maisie smiled, shaking her head in amusement before tucking her phone away.
“You’re the girl who sang with Finn, aren’t you?”
Maisie whirled around to the sound of a woman’s voice behind her, and the smile on her lips froze as she faced Fiadh, the woman from the ice cream truck, standing in front of her, an empty tray in her hand and a rag thrown over her shoulder.
She was the last person Maisie had expected—or wanted—to see.