Page 27 of Lost in Love
Chapter 7
Anna checked her watch. It had barely changed from when she’d checked it moments before. Katherine was still late for her tour.
Although she hadn’t seen her for over a week, she knew she’d been in to see her dad as he’d spoken of little else after, but she was always gone before Anna returned home. She had wondered if Katherine was avoiding her. In the end, Anna texted her to say her new tour was ready, and to her surprise, Katherine replied within minutes.
Thoughts of that night at Katherine’s house hadn’t left her mind. She ran over and over it, wondering what she had done or said that had upset Katherine. She could only think that maybe she had overdone the flirting; she certainly hadn’t believed Katherine was experiencing a sudden headache.
One thing Anna had come to realise was that Katherine knew so much about her life, yet she knew nothing beyond the fact she was the local doctor who’d moved into the biggest house in the village. She enjoyed cooking, spy fiction, and had a cat called Virginia. It read like a contestant introduction on a game show.
She’d learnt very little more from spending an evening at her house. She wanted to ask more questions, yet something prevented her, and she trusted her instinct not to push it. Katherine chose not to share, and although intrigued about her past, and how she could afford such a big house as a part-time doctor, Anna knew she would have to wait for Katherine to reveal parts of her life as she felt able to.
Anna checked her watch again, unsure if she was annoyed Katherine was late, worried that something might have prevented her from coming, or if she was just impatient to see her again. She couldn’t blame her for keeping a distance, especially if she was trying to deal with her own issues.
The site was a little eerie with no one there; the rest of the staff had already left. Anna felt it would be better to test the tour out when the site was closed but part of her also couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have Katherine to herself.
Rather than follow the old tour route that led guests around the site in a loop and straight back to the visitor centre, where they would inevitably leave, Anna had decided to weave them through the site and then leave them at the far end, allowing them to wander back in their own time. After Margaret’s comments about the length of time guests were staying, she felt this would help keep people on-site longer. With changes planned for the visitor centre, guests would now have to go back through it and past the gift shop and cafe before leaving. All she needed now was someone to try it out on before unleashing it on the public.
She heard the crunching of the gravel underfoot before she saw her. A flush of warmth spread through her body, a mixture of relief and possibly lust as she came into sight.
“Sorry! Surgery was running a bit late, and then Gloria insisted on me checking one of her moles.” Katherine popped down two cups on the picnic bench. “I’m parched.”
Anna released a silent breath of relief.
“Decaf, right?” Katherine smirked as she moved one cup towards Anna.
Anna grinned. “Right, thanks. And thanks for coming.”
She wasn’t sure whether she should mention their previous parting; it seemed it should be up to Katherine to mention if she wanted to. Katherine sipped at her drink; assuming she wasn’t eager to unburden herself, Anna decided to begin. “Okay, this run-through is not for timing, just content, so if something doesn’t feel right, speak up.”
Katherine nodded her understanding.
“And be honest,” Anna added.
“That I can do,” Katherine replied.
Anna checked her watch; a rough idea of timing wouldn’t go amiss.
Before long, the tour was going better than Anna had hoped. Katherine was laughing, taking part when required, and pulling all the right faces. Anna couldn’t be more pleased, especially with the amount of work she had put into it.
When they reached the end, Katherine had no negative comments to make. “It was superb, the right amounts of everything.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, I have no lingering questions. It was clear and concise.”
“Okay, one last thing to run by you. How do you feel about dressing up?”
Katherine coughed into her hand. “Dressing up?”
“Yes, like nuns?”
“Oh, I see. It would feel strange having you dressed as a nun giving that tour. You would be expecting it from the first-person point of view, and then that would feel out of place with a seventh-century nun talking about the abbey during the war.”
Anna pinched her lips together. “I’m not sure we could do outfit changes mid-tour. One to ponder maybe. You’ll notice the tour ends up here now rather than by the entrance.”
“Perfect. I can wander back at leisure and take another look at anything that particularly interested me.”
“Yes! Shall we?”
