He’d got over the shock of his eighty-year-old grandmother finding companionable love and truly appreciated the benefits to her not living alone as she grew older. He had the feeling the two elderly lovebirds wouldn’t waste much time sorting out their future arrangements.
Lucky them.
Shame he didn’t believe the same could happen to him but with that thought came his resolution to find Kelsie and try to understand where they could possibly go with this—if, indeed, there was anywhere to go.
Kelsie was sick of her own company but trapped in the dilemma of not running into Connor somewhere on the train if she ventured out of her cabin. The last thing she wanted was to look like she was chasing him.
When Wolfgang came to remove her tray she pounced on him and, despite the risk of looking needy, she encouraged his continued presence.
‘So what’s on the agenda for today, Wolfgang?’
He bowed. ‘A delicious brunch will be served in the dining car, madam, at eleven.’
Her stomach groaned. More food. ‘In case I was starving to death by now.’ She nodded and Wolfgang looked slightly confused.
‘I’m sorry. Not enough sleep for me.’ He nodded and looked slightly guilty again so she hurried on. ‘And what time do we arrive in Calais?’
‘Around one o’clock in Calais. The Ville coaches will transfer you to the shuttle terminal at Coquelles. Then through the tunnel to Folkestone where, after a short wait, you will join the Pullman train for the journey to London.’ He smiled at her. ‘There will be a very elegant afternoon tea on that train.’
She grinned back. ‘Of course there will. I will be as big as a house by the time I get off at Victoria. So we lose you at Calais?’
He bowed. ‘Our hostesses will accompany each VIP coach and hand you on to the new Pullman Stewards.’
She’d miss him. Had enjoyed his blue-suited attentiveness and his staid good humour. ‘Thank you for explaining that. I guess I thought we caught this train all through the tunnel to London.’
Horrified that ‘his’ train would go across the Channel, he exclaimed, ‘No! No! It is the Pullman train you will transfer to for the final leg.’
There was something sad in that. She liked her blue wagon lit. ‘I understand. So when we all leave you will go home for Christmas?’
He smiled. ‘Yes. We all go home. It is the last trip of the year. Normally our timetable finishes much earlier but this trip had been rescheduled so it became a special journey.’
Lucky her. ‘I feel very fortunate. So you’re on holidays now?’
He nodded and she wondered vaguely how his hat stayed on with all his nodding and bowing.
Oblivious to her curiosity, he went on, ‘All except those who have other employment. VSOE have many hotels and we can move between them if we wish.’
‘I hope your Christmas is delightful, Wolfgang, though I’m sure I’ll see you before I go. You do a fabulous job of looking after us.’
He bowed, hat still amazingly glued on. ‘Thank you.’ He gestured towards the front of the train. ‘The bar car is open if you wish to change scenery.’
‘Sounds good, but I think I’ll try and get to the boutique again to buy something to remind me of my journey. I didn’t make it yesterday.’ And she doubted Connor would be hanging out in there again today just in case she turned up.
Wolfgang went on his way and Kelsie dug out her purse for a walk through the train. The bar car was filling up and she wondered if she’d manage to find a seat when she came back through again. It was still early and she wondered where Winsome was or if she was still asleep.
The boutique was the last carriage before the engine. Apart from Max, it was deserted.
‘Miss Summers. Welcome.’ So he remembered her when she wasn’t dressed in her pyjamas. She smiled and could picture how unobtrusively helpful he’d been. He didn’t look as though he’d been up all night. Still immaculate, distinguished, his Italian accent rolled velvety and vibrantly and his chocolate-brown eyes were warm with welcome.
‘Max, isn’t it? Dr Black said you’d seen a lot in the last twenty years on the Orient Express. You were very good last night.’
He bowed. No hat to keep on. ‘It is you who were excellent. But I enjoy people and the drama of the journey.’
She thought a breech birth on a train did justify the description. ‘Well, we certainly had drama last night. That’s for sure.’
Max nodded. ‘I believe that is our first baby born on board.’
Kelsie laughed, picturing the scene. ‘Josef looked so cute afterwards when he was dressed in the little conductor suit.’ She looked at the teddy bears, all dressed as Josef had been, and then at the more exotic gifts like cuff links, VSOE diamond bracelets and gorgeous pearl drop sets. ‘I bet you’ve seen some romance here as well.’