She accepted his change of subject, even though she was dying to talk about all of this more.

“I have one in my pocket, but I’m not cold enough for it right now.”

That was definitely a lie. But she knew what hats did to her hair, and she was too vain to let this attractive man see her hair all over the place.

He looked delicious in his hat, though, especially when he smiled at her like that. She was very glad he’d put it on at the door of Sycamore Cottage.

After ten more minutes of walking and talking about many things that did not involve the British monarchy, they arrived at the Sandringham stables, aka—she held back a giggle—the Royal Stud.

“Wow.” They stopped outside the stables, and she took in just how big they were. From what she could tell from the outside, they were probably the size of a few city blocks at home.

“Wait until you see the inside,” Malcolm said.

They walked in the open door, and she stopped again to look around. The smell hit her all at once: animals and leather and hay, and yes, manure.

A man in knee-high boots walked toward them, and Malcolm let go of her arm as he reached out to shake his hand.

“Vivian, this is Tim. He’s the stable manager here and has been for years. Tim, this is Ms. Vivian Forest. This is all new to her.”

Tim shook Malcolm’s hand and turned to her. He had a ruddy, wrinkled face, salt-and-pepper hair, and wore a huge smile.

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Forest, and welcome to the Sandringham stables. Ever ridden a horse?”

She laughed and shook her head.

“Oh definitely not. I’ve probably only ever been this close to a horse on a handful of occasions.”

He chuckled.

“Well, this is going to be a treat for you, now, isn’t it? Let’s go introduce you to Polly.”

Tim strode away without another word. Vivian glanced up at Malcolm. Now she was nervous about this whole excursion again. But he gave her a reassuring smile and tucked her arm in his once more. They followed Tim toward the other end of the . . . Was it one stable they were in? Were there multiple stables? Or was every small room that a horse was in called a stable? She didn’t know the answers to any of those questions. She should have asked Malcolm to clarify the terminology before they arrived.

They came out near a fenced-in area and followed Tim into another big building that housed horses; whether that was stables or a stable, she had no idea.

“Good afternoon, girl,” Tim said to a warm brown horse right near the entrance. “Aren’t you looking lovely today? Are you ready for some visitors?”

Vivian and Malcolm hovered behind him. The horses were so beautiful—sleek, shiny, and she loved seeing their tails twitch back and forth, and their warm, glossy manes.

They were also big.

Very big. Taller than both Malcolm and Tim big. And so strong. These weren’t animals to play with or coo over; these were animals that could kill you. She would honestly be very happy to hide behind Malcolm for the rest of her time in these stables and just look at the horses without being too close to them—or, God forbid, having to touch them.

“Now, we’re going to slip inside,” Tim said.

“Inside? Inside there? With the horse, too?”

Tim and Malcolm both laughed. She hadn’t been joking. Could they not see how big these horses were?

“Yes, we’re going to go inside her stall. Don’t worry, she’s very gentle and she loves people. This is why I thought we should start with Polly.”

Tim unhooked the door to the stall and walked inside first. Malcolm held out his arm for her to precede him. Oh God.

She was here, wasn’t she? What was she going to do, chicken out of doing this? She took a deep breath and followed Tim inside the horse’s stall.

“Do you have a dog, Vivian?” Tim asked her.

She shook her head. She felt Malcolm’s comforting presence behind her.

“I used to. Ashby. She was a great dog. I’ve been thinking about getting another, but it just hasn’t been the right time.”

Tim nodded.

“Ashby will make this easier. Just think of Polly as a great big version of Ashby, or other dogs you’ve loved. She likes people to pet her, and feed her treats, and give her walks, and tell her she’s a good girl, just like a great dog.”

Vivian felt her shoulders relax at that description.

“Okay. Okay, that makes sense,” she said.

“Good.” Tim reached over and handed her something, and she took it automatically, without looking to see what it was. She opened up her hand and found a sugar cube.

“Do horses really like these?” she asked. They always had in the books Vivian used to read to Maddie when she was little, but she’d thought that could just be a thing in books.

“Close your hand, walk a little closer to her head, and slowly lift your hand up to her. You’ll see how much she likes it.”

Vivian turned and looked up at Malcolm. She didn’t know if he could see the panic in her eyes. She also didn’t know if she wanted him to see it or not.

Either way, he stuck close to her as she took a few steps to the left and then raised her hand toward Polly. For a few seconds, nothing happened, but then the horse bent her head down and nuzzled Vivian’s fist. She laughed and opened her hand, and Polly licked the sugar cube right out of her palm.

“Oh wow!” Vivian said. Polly bent her head back down and nuzzled Vivian’s hand again. “Sorry, sweetie, there’s no more in here.”

“Isn’t she great?” Tim said.

Vivian smiled up at Polly, and she swore the horse smiled back down at her.

“What a sweetheart.”

She turned to Tim.

“Where are the sugar cubes? Can I have another one for her, please?”

Tim pulled a cube out of one of his many pockets and slipped it in her hand.

“There are more where those came from. I was thinking, since it’s such a nice day today, that we could take her out into the field and give her a little exercise?”

Vivian smiled. Only a British person would describe today’s weather, which was in the high thirties at the maximum, as “such a nice day.” But she supposed the sun was out.

“Sure, that sounds great,” she said.

Vivian and Malcolm stepped out of the stall so Tim could lead Polly out. Malcolm put his hand on Vivian’s shoulder and smiled down at her.

“How are you enjoying your first experience with horses?” he asked.

He’d been worried for a while when they first came into the stables; as soon as they saw the horses, Vivian’s whole body had tensed up. When they’d walked into Polly’s stable, he’d been really afraid she would turn around and go right back out again. But nothing had been as bad as that panicked look she’d given him when Tim had handed her the sugar for the horse. Malcolm had been about five seconds from leaping to her rescue when she’d finally reached her hand up to Polly.

“I’m glad we came,” she said. “At first I was . . . concerned, about, you know, being this close to enormous animals who could kill any one of us. But I do have to admit, Polly is very ingratiating.”

He laughed. He’d been so relieved when he heard Vivian’s infectious laugh bubble out when Polly had licked her hand.