Page 74 of Loving London

“Just me?”

“I just need you.” I hold her gaze with mine.

The sides of her lips quirk up into a smile. “And I just need you.”

“Ready?” I ask.

“Ready,” London answers.

We open the car doors and get in.

We set the GPS to take us out of London, southwest, toward the Lulworth area of Dorset, where my grandparents’ cottage is—or at least used to be.

I’m focusing on driving on the opposite side of the road. “It’s weird, driving over here.”

“It is.” London chuckles, looking up from her phone. “Every time I look out the window, I have a momentary freak-out, thinking we’re on the wrong side.” She returns her attention to her phone. “So, I’m reading about this Lulworth area, and it sounds pretty cool. There’s this gorgeous cove, and according to this map, I think that’s where your grandparents’ cottage is. There’s also this big stone archway that extends into the water; it’s called the Durdle Door. It looks awesome.” She chuckles. “Durdle Door,” she says again quickly. “That sounds like Dumbledore.”

“What’s Dumbledore?” I ask with a quirked eyebrow.

“Wow, we’ve got to catch you up, my love.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see London shaking her head.

“Dumbledore is only the greatest wizard of all time.”

“What are you talking about?” I laugh.

“You know, Harry Potter, Dumbledore,” she responds with a hint of mirth in her voice.

“I’ve never watched Harry Potter,” I reply.

“Well, when I lived with Kate, I started sharing all my favorite TV shows with her, so she made me read all of her favorite books. I mean, it’s not like shemademe. I wanted to. So, I read the seven Harry Potter books, and then one weekend, we did a marathon of the eight movies. It was so awesome. You have to read those books,” London says in awe.

“Eight movies?”

“They made the last book into two movies.”

I nod. “I see.”

“Oh, they have a castle in the Lulworth area, too!” London exclaims excitedly.

“You know, I think I remember my dad telling me a story about that castle. He always made England seem so magical.”

“It kind of is, if you think about it. So much history. I wish we had castles.”

“Our country’s just a baby compared to the countries in Europe,” I say as I accidentally drive around a roundabout twice, not able to figure out which road to get off on.

London laughs. “That one.” She points toward the correct exit.

“I knew that.” I give her a wink.

“I don’t know why we didn’t think of it when we were at your grandparents’ old flat, but we should have knocked on the neighbors’ doors. Some of their neighbors might have remembered them.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Well, depending on what we find here, we can always go back and do that.”

In three hours’ time, we’re driving down the coast of Lulworth, and then I’m pulling into the drive of the cottage.

“Oh my gosh, this is it?” London asks, pressing her hand against her chest, her fingers splayed out.

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