Page 104 of Once upon a Summer Night

“This. Us. I really like you, Ellie. I think you’re funny, and beautiful, and just about the smartest woman I’ve ever known. But you’re holding a part of yourself back, and I’m beginning to wonder if you’ll ever fully let me in.”

Flabbergasted, Ellie knocked her biscuit off the table. She quickly retrieved it, her mind racing to form words that would tell him otherwise.

She knew the moment Reginald realized she couldn’t refute his words. His face fell, and a sad smile graced his mouth.

And Ellie realized that was how it would always be.

She swallowed with difficulty, then met his gaze as bravely as she could. “I’m sorry, Reginald. The truth is that I’m not holding a part of myself back; it’s more that I’ve given a piece of myself away, and I might never get it back.”

He pressed his lips together and gave a quick nod, then let out a breath. “I appreciate your honesty and your grace about it, Eleanor. But please forgive me if I leave now. I thought wehad a connection…something real. I can see now it was one-sided.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He chuckled, though it was tinged with sadness and self-deprecation. “Don’t be. Lord knows I deserve it. I’ve been a cad to more women than I care to remember. In fact, this might be just desserts.”

“Don’t say that,” she implored, reaching across the table to lay her hand on his wrist. “Don’t. Whatever you did before, you’re a decent man now. I only wish I could reciprocate your feelings.”

He closed his eyes, then lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. “Whoever holds your heart is one lucky bastard.”

She smiled sadly at him, and he walked out of the tea shop.

He didn’t look back.

Ellie glancedat her ringing phone, noted the Celtic Connections number, and promptly declined the call.

She had no interest in hearing about her next potential match.

She didn’t blame Candice, her new matchmaker, for trying so hard. All Candice knew was that she and Reginald hadn’t worked out, and that Colin had “some personal matters to attend to, and would be unable to continue on as your matchmaker for the near future.”

Personal matters,Ellie scoffed inwardly.Absolutely, let’s call avoiding the woman who threw herself at you “personal matters.”

“Was that your new matchmaker? Such a shame you and Mr. Montgomery didn’t work out.” Winnie accepted a cup from Alan with a nod of thanks. “Answer her calls, Eleanor. Let the woman do her job. She wants to see you happy, just as we all do. Mr. Montgomery—”

“You can use his first name, Winnie.”

If Winnie detected the note of anger in Ellie's voice, she didn’t acknowledge it. “Of course Icould, but Reginald is so forward. Mr. Montgomery is more polite, especially as I have never met the man.”

Ellie shrugged. “Our culture has evolved enough for such a thing to be acceptable, you know.”

Winnie lifted her chin. “Evolution is overrated. Alan, is evolution overrated?”

“If you say so,” he intoned.

Ellie stuck her tongue out at him, and he gave her a mischievous grin back before leaving the room. She and Alan had always been thick as thieves; growing up, Alan snuck Ellie treats on the nights she was sent to bed without dinner, and they’d shared many late-night cups of milk over the years. He was a sweet man who loved both her and Winnie like family.

Ellie had long ago accepted her aunt’s eccentric demand that Alan be a traditional butler, and how Alan played the role simply to please her.

His devotion was nothing short of admirable.

Ellie often wondered if it was devotion, or something deeper. When Winnie wasn’t looking, and Alan thought no one was looking, his face said it all. Ellie had never known what it was before, but now, having experienced it firsthand, she recognized it immediately.

Love.

“Now, as I was saying, you may have to kiss a few frogs—”

“Let’s not discuss it,” Ellie interrupted Winnie.

“Oh, no, let’s. We never discussed how badly Andrew broke your heart, and that destroyed your world for the better part of a decade.”

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