Page 82 of Play On

My heart melts. He looks like a little kid who has just been given the best present ever.

I dip my toast into the egg and take a bite, and after I finish, I start speaking again. “Luke is brilliant with his birds. You’re going to have a great experience, Noah.”

“This is going to be brilliant, Violet. Thank you for arranging it.” He pauses for a moment, then clears his throat. “It’s the first time in a long time someone has gifted me something special.”

My heart catches at his words. I’m sure it’s true. He’s been estranged from his family since he was sixteen. Noah has spent most of his time playing football and has kept up walls around himself to keep people from hurting him—even if he doesn’t realise it. There was nobody close enough to him to want to do something special for him.

Yet there was something about me that made him let down his guard and invite me into his world.

He sees something in me that nobody else has,I think.Something special. Something that makes me worth him taking the risk.

This realisation hits me in the heart. Today is going to be special for both of us.

Maybe, just maybe, this could be the start of a future I never envisioned happening.

And I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Chapter Twenty

Rex

I stand next to Noah as I listen to the tour guide share the history of the library to our audience. He is still, his arms folded across his chest, his gaze riveted to Molly, who describes in vivid detail some of the spectacular features of the room. We’re standing behind the velvet rope—we never let tourists enter a room that has lots of antiques and furniture on display—and I can’t help but wonder what Noah is thinking.

After we finished breakfast, we arrived back at the estate and introduced Mila to Petey and Hazel. They all hit it off famously, and the dogs are happily lounging in the private portion of the house. I knew the next tour was leaving before lunch, at ten-thirty, so I caught up with our tour guide beforehand and told her we’d be tagging along, but not to out me as Lady Violet to the guests so we’d have some privacy.

Now we are working our way through the rooms that are open to the public, and Molly has just finished her presentation about our family library. “Does anyone have any questions?” she asks.

To my surprise, Noah’s hand shoots up.

Molly also looks surprised, as he is with me, and she knows I can most likely answer any question he might have.

“Yes?” she asks, looking quizzically at him. “The young man in the back.”

“Can you tell me more about the painting of the woman with the red hair?”

My breath catches in my throat.

He’s zeroed in on the portrait because the woman looks like me.

Noah has no idea of the book in that painting and what I discovered about it, and I can’t wait to share that piece of information with him as soon as we are alone.

“Oh yes, excellent question,” Molly says, walking over to the portrait and standing in front of it. “This is Lady Lily Banfield, painted in 1834, prior to her marriage to Lord George Winsbrook, who later became the Earl Brook. In this portrait, you will also see the Cupid fountain, which is still a beautiful feature of the Wintersmith Hall gardens today.”

“Thank you,” Noah says.

“You’re welcome. Are there any other questions?”

A couple more are asked—one about a piece of furniture and the other about whether the current family still uses this room today.

Molly looks at me with a twinkle in her eye on the last one. “Yes, the Banfields do use some of the rooms you see on the tour. This one is often used by the family for reading and working when the house is closed for the day.”

“I’d love to have a room like this to read in,” one woman says wistfully.

“Can you imagine all the people who have read in this room through the years?” another person says. “Read those exact same books, too. Crazy.”

Once again I’m reminded of the special legacy I’ve been lucky enough to be born into.

“All right, let’s move on,” Molly says. She gives me a smile and leads the group down the hall.

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