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wanted her to spend it with him, cooped up in his car. Still
occupied with arranging her jacket, she hurriedly tried to think of
an appropriate reply to his startling offer.
    "Are you allowed to get in
a guest's car?" Allie couldn't tell if he was teasing her, and she
quickly stole a glance upward. "Or is that against inn rules?" He
smiled. She frowned.
    What would be the harm ? Allie surprised herself with the thought. It would only be
for a short time, at any rate. She could handle this, she decided
smugly.
    "That's very kind of you."
She looked up at him. "I will take you up on your
offer."

Chapter XI
    To Connor's surprise, the
drive into the village was going pretty well.
    He really had not expected
her to agree to this, being that she seemed to dislike him most of
the time, and, adding to that, the fact that he was a guest at her
inn. They conversed rather easily, he thought, considering that
they had only known each other for two days.
    He told her about his
family in Maryland - his parents, married for forty-five years and
now retired, an older, married brother with two children, and a
younger sister, engaged to be married in the spring. As he kept an
eye on the winding two-lane road, he noticed that she would nod or
smile, glancing over at him every so often, as if in serious
thought.
    Connor listened intently
as Allie told him about her family. Her father, a pediatrician, she
said, still worked to occupy himself after her mother had died a
couple of years ago. She had an older, married brother, living in
central Virginia, as well, but they were not that close. After she
and Patrick had married, they realized that they both had a mutual
desire to travel and do something out of the ordinary, and they
chose Maine as their destination. Glancing sideways at her, he saw
her face light up for just a moment, at the memory, staring out of
the window as she related their adventure. They barely had any
income at the time, she told him, and, as luck would have it, came
across the old inn, its elderly owners anxious to sell. The two of
them scraped together as much money as they could to buy and
renovate the place. When The Colborne Inn opened its doors, three
months later, it was evident that they would do well. She told him
that soon after they opened the inn, Patrick began going out on
fishing trips with the local fishermen, sometimes staying out to
sea for several days. Allie was silent for a few moments. She
looked at him solemnly, as she added that her husband had died just
months earlier in a horrible boating accident.
    "I'm very sorry you lost
your husband," he responded quietly and sincerely, glancing over at
her. He saw her blink and nod in reply. As he returned to watching
the road ahead, he noticed that she had turned her head and was
gazing out of the side window, lost in her own thoughts.
    There was no more
conversation between them for the rest of the trip. Out of
necessity, Allie pointed out to him the streets to turn onto, as
they neared the village. At one point, as she extended her arm,
Connor noticed that her wrist did not look as bruised today. He
pulled over to the curb, as Allie directed him, in front of the
small grocery store located on the main street of Gerard's
Cliff.
    "Here we are, ma'am."
Connor tried to sound cheerful, as he shut off the engine. He
turned to Allie, who looked back at him with a solemn stare, and
something else... her eyes were veiled now. "Will an hour be enough
time for you to get everything you need?" He acted as though he had
not noticed the change in her.
    "Yes, thank you," she
replied quietly. He understood from her demeanor that their
new-found ease with each other was now a thing of the past.
Memories of her late husband occupied her thoughts now, Connor
realized. He got out of the car, went around to the sidewalk, and
opened the door for her. He held out his hand. She smiled at him,
and clasped his hand as she climbed out of the low sports
car.
    "See you in an hour."