Chapter 17
17
The Cobb stretched out into the calm waters, not the stormy sea in Jane Austen’s book. Dana climbed the uneven steps to the sloping top. The wind caught her hair, lifting it into the air. Dana turned to face the wind. It smelled of sea and history. Echoes of thousands of sailors bound for far-off places and the women who waited for them. Of course, Jane hadn’t exactly seen or experienced the Lyme Regis sea wall as it stood today, since the last major rebuilding had been a few years after the author’s death. Still, the Cobb dated back to the 1300s, before anyone knew the nearby cliffs contained a wealth of dinosaur fossils, giving the town its popularity today.
This was the last stop of her whirlwind Janeite tour of southern England before returning to spend the night in Bath. The afternoon was perfect for her plan to watch the sea and perhaps record a video to send to her father and friends.
Dana walked along the wide top and looked across the water. It was hard to imagine the area as the bustling seaport it had once been. A few tourists passed her. As she planned, Dana sat on the harbor side edge and pulled up the reading app on her phone. She searched for Persuasion and found the chapter that occurred in Lyme. Reading an imaginary story in the real place that it occurred seemed somehow fitting. And Brit and Simone would be jealous. Too bad she didn’t have the paperback with her because then she could take a selfie of her reading it and send it to them.
“Don’t jump.”
Startled at the voice that filled too many of her daydreams and interrupted her as she was finishing the chapter, Dana looked down. On the walkway was the last person she expected to see. “McKay? What are you doing here?”
He held up his phone. “Walking along the Cobb and taking a video for Jen and Gracie. Persuasion is one of their favorite movies.”
“I thought you were supposed to be flying home by now.”
“I changed my plans to stay an extra day.”
“To film the Cobb?”
“No.” He looked up, his eyes searching hers.
He’d come for her. He didn’t say it, but the truth of the statement was in his eyes. She needed to get to him. The closest stairs were several yards away. Jumping down to him wasn’t such a bad idea, was it? A ten-foot drop to stone. Louisa’s fate in the book flashed through Dana’s mind. Nope! Bad idea.
“Wait. I’m coming down.” She pointed to the closest steps and scooted back from the edge. The steps were narrow and uneven. Dana kept a hand on the wall as she descended. McKay waited at the bottom.
When she reached the second to the last step, he said, “I’ll catch you.”
Dana paused. “I’m not jumping. I reread the scene not ten minutes ago.”
McKay reached up for her waist, his hands closing on either side spreading a warmth through her. “Not much of a jump and I can tell Jen I caught a beautiful woman on the Cobb.”
Leaning forward, she placed her hands on his shoulders and allowed McKay’s strength to lower her the last foot and a half. Her friends would swoon if they’d been watching. McKay didn’t back up or remove his hands when her feet met the ground. Dana searched his face. Was he trying to make this as romantic of a moment as every Jane Austen fan ever thought it should be?
His eyes lowered to her lips and back to meet hers. An invitation and unspoken question. Dana leaned closer, giving permission and acceptance.
McKay lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers. Once, twice, three times. The third time, she responded, pulling him closer. Letting him know she wanted this as much as he did. He’d come to Lyme Regis for her. He broke the kiss and rested his forehead on hers.
“Two trains and a taxi.” Dana’s thought slipped out of her mouth. “What?”
“I was thinking you took two trains and a taxi to find me.”
“Actually, I drove. But I would have taken two trains and a taxi if I had to.”
Laughter bubbled up in Dana. “I can’t believe you’re here.” She reached up and kissed him again.
Nearby, someone giggled.
Dana pulled back and looked around his shoulder. A teenage girl was recording them on her phone. She lowered the phone when she realized Dana was looking at her.
“That is the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen.” The girl’s Texan accent labeled her as a tourist. “Y’all it will go viral.”
McKay turned, keeping one hand on Dana’s waist. “I’m glad you found our kiss romantic. We’d rather have kept it private. Would you please delete that video?”
“But it would get so many views.”
Dana stepped forward. “I know it would. However, there are people in my life who I don’t want to see my first kiss with my new boyfriend on social media before I get home from vacation. And my boss isn’t going to like seeing me in a viral video.”
The girl frowned. “Fine, I won’t post it.”
Dana didn’t believe her.
From the twitch in McKay’s eye, neither did he.
“May I watch you delete it?”
The girl stepped back.
“I have an idea.” Dana smiled at the girl. “Download the video to my phone and then delete it. If this turns into a forever relationship, we will send you an invitation, complete with an airline ticket, to see us. I’ll give you the video back before the wedding and you can stitch it with a kiss you record of us then. And then you can post it with our permission. A guaranteed viral vid for you.”
The girl bit her lip. “How do I know you will keep your end of the deal?”
“They same way I know you didn’t quickly upload it to the cloud and plan to post it tomorrow. Trust.”
The girl eyed them suspiciously. “You might not know if I do.”
Dana held out her phone for the girl to see. “Do you recognize this phone?”
The girl’s eyes widened. “Where did you get that? It isn’t supposed to be out for two more weeks.”
“I work with Mr. Ogilvie. I test some of his products. One of the things he will be testing is software that will find images on the web, even in videos. If you post a video of me. I will know in minutes.” Dana paused, letting the idea sink in. Colin hadn’t invented any such software yet, to her knowledge. She would suggest it the moment she got back to Chicago.
“Ok, I’ll drop it to you.”
Dana held her phone close to the girl’s. The drop only took a few seconds. And then they watched as she deleted the video from her phone.
Dana sent her back her contact information. “I don’t like making assumptions, but I guess you are under 18. I want you to talk to your parents before you contact me. Okay?”
“How did you know I’m not eighteen?”
Dana smiled. “Because I was once a teenager, too.”
The teen turned to McKay. “I hope you don’t break up. She is kinda cool and you let her jump off the Cobb without hitting her head, so she should like you for a while if you don’t mess it up. Most guys do, you know?”
Dana bit her tongue to keep from laughing. The girl wasn’t wrong, but she wasn’t right either.
“I’ll do my best.”
A couple in their late forties dressed in jeans and t-shirts rushed up. “There you are. We told you not to wander off. Were you bugging these nice people?”
Dana extended her hand. “Dana Knight. We just had a friendly visit. I hope you don’t mind. I made a deal with your daughter and if she keeps her end, she might be invited visit us, with you as a chaperone, of course.”
“Izzy, you didn’t record this nice couple, did you? We’ve told you not to record strangers.” Izzy’s mother put a hand on her shoulder.
“But Mom, it was so romantic. I just had to.”
The girl’s father addressed McKay. “I’m so sorry y’all. We’ve talked to my daughter about this. I promise she won’t post it.”
“She already told me she wouldn’t,” said Dana.
“Sorry.” Izzy waved as her mother marched her back down the Cobb.
McKay took Dana’s hand and turned toward the end of the seawall. “Why did you make that deal with her? Are you already planning on a wedding?”
“No one ever starts a relationship hoping it will end in shambles. I don’t know where this will go. But if it goes somewhere, we have a cool video.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then I have something to watch and edit things into while I am eating a gallon of chocolate ice cream.”
“Do I get a copy?”
“Maybe.” Dana pulled him closer to the seawall and checked for tourists with cameras before raising her face for another kiss.
The first drops of rain speckled the rounded rocks on the beach. McKay threaded his fingers with Dana’s and pulled her closer. “Looks like we are about to be soaked.”
“Where did those clouds come from?” Dana hurried beside him. Both looked at their feet. Most of the rocks were about the size of his fist. It would be easy to misstep, and Dana didn’t have her crutches anymore. They hurried toward a line of beach huts where a cement walkway would make their dash for shelter less perilous.
A few steps later, Dana slowed and dropped McKay’s hand. She smiled up into the sky. “Why run if we’re already soaked?”
She blinked and pushed back her hair.
McKay reached for her. “Isn’t this where the couple falling in love kisses in the movies?”
She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Sometimes.”
“Why in the rain?”
“It makes good footage?”
McKay brushed a kiss across her lips. She tasted like the sea, wild and unexpected. Unique like the ring in his pocket. It called to him like a mysterious ring of fantasy origin, beckoning him to take it out and put it on her finger, to declare this the first step to the future. Too soon screamed his brain.
Too soon the kisses ended as Dana pulled back with a shiver. “I need to dry off before I catch the bus.”
“You’re not staying in London?”
“Not tonight. I’m taking the train in the morning.” Dana shrugged. “Since there are no scheduled service disruptions, I should get there in plenty of time for my late afternoon flight.”
The rain slowed and stopped. The sun came out. Minutes later, people flooded out of the buildings.
“What airline?” He asked.
“Legacy. And you?”
“Same, but I have the early flight. Too bad we aren’t on the same one.”
“Can you change?”
McKay shook his head, dislodging a drop from his hair, which ran down his cheek. “I already did. I couldn’t get my ticket to change to the afternoon one even though it had more empty seats unless I paid to upgrade.”
“Do you really want to be on my flight?”
“Unless we are sitting together, I don’t see a point.”
“If we could sit together?” She tapped something into her phone.
“Only a magician could pull that off.”
“Open your phone and show me your ticket?” McKay did as she asked, knowing it was pointless.
Dana took a photo of his screen and added it to a text message she started. “There. Now we wait.”
They turned up the street leading away from the harbor, passing shops and cafés. “Hungry?”
“A little, but my bus will be here in fifteen minutes.”
“I can drive you to Bath.”
“Where are you staying?”
“Over there.” He pointed to an inn he’d found.
“I can’t ask you to drive all the way to Bath and back tonight.”
His phone rang. McKay looked at the screen, which read “Legacy Air” before answering.
“Hi, this is Britania Johnson from Legacy Airlines. I understand you want to change your booking to coincide with one for Dana Knight?”
This had to be a joke. “Yes, but airlines don’t do that.”
“Usually not. But Dana is special and I can put you both on the afternoon flight in side-by-side seats in our premium class. Is that acceptable?”
McKay looked to Dana, who was texting on her own phone. “Yes?”
“Perfect. I just need some information to confirm the reservation change.”
McKay gave her his frequent flier number and birth date and answered a few more questions.
“You are all set, Mr. Worth. Your LegacyAir app should reflect the new booking. Can you please confirm?”
McKay swiped up to his app. “Yes, the flight change and new seat is there. Thank you.”
“Have a wonderful flight.”
He thought he heard the woman laugh. He turned to Dana, who was smiling ear to ear. “What just happened?”
“I arranged for a nine-hour date in the friendly skies.”
“How?”
“I know someone. And now you have to wake up at dark o’clock to make that drive.”
“I could check out of my hotel here in Lyme and stay in Bath.” Who cared if he had to pay for the night in both places.
Dana looked at her hands, and an uncomfortable silence sprung up between them.
He recognized his mistake. “In my own room. I wasn’t suggesting—” He knew he was blushing and tried to calm his embarrassment. “I know I moved fast with the kiss since we haven’t even had a real date.”
Relief filled her face. “You could, but won’t you lose money?”
“Says the woman who got me an upgrade on an international flight.”
“Extra leg room equals a hotel room?”
“Not my point. I could check out. Drive up to Bath. I’ll even stay at a different hotel if you wish. Then we can drive into London in the morning together.”
“I could get another Sally Lunn bun.”
“A what?”
“Hard to explain, but believe me, you’ll understand. The restaurant opens at 10:00 for walk-ins. Or we could go over to the Pump room. Brit says they have absolutely the best blackberry and hibiscus tea ever.”
“Brit? As in Britania, the person who just called me?”
“The one and only.”
“So we now have a breakfast date, and an airplane date. If we stop and get fish and chips tonight, we will have three dates in one weekend.”
“Or one very long one.”
“Come on, let’s go to Bath. I hope I can find a tourist shop open. My sister will have my head if I don’t bring her back something Jane Austen.”
“You can always bring back a twenty-pound note since her face is on it. But I am sure you can find something. I believe the shops open at ten too, so if we plan our morning wisely…” She pulled out her phone.
“You can plan in the car. Let’s get me checked out and we can find dinner along the way.” This was crazy. Spontaneous. Jen and Mom would not believe this. At least his flight time hadn’t changed, so he wouldn’t have to explain until he got home. If all went well he would give her the ring before they landed at O’Hare. Yes, that would be a much better time.