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across the flat, grassy expanse bordered by the forest of pines. Their conversation had left her breathless. Maybe there wouldn’t be any harm in getting to know John Bartholomew better. Maybe those medieval manuscripts were making her too cautious. Why push a terrific man away without good reason?
    But what if she missed him and felt miserable when he went back to England? No, thanks.
    He returned wearing a blue T-shirt, wrinkled white shorts, and hiking boots similar to hers. “Onward, Lady Agnes,” he said, opening the gate arid sweeping a hand toward the pasture.
    As they walked side by side down a path that skirted the woods, he mentioned his stranded Jeep. “If you’ll drop me off at one of the rental-car places in town I’ll take care of it.” He cut his eyes at her mischievously. “Now here’s an offer you can’t refuse. Breakfast in town.Even Wonder Woman must stop occasionally to nibble an egg and some muffins.”
    “Breakfast. Okay.” She’d tell him good-bye afterward, and they’d go separate ways.
    “Eureka! I’ve found the key to her heart!”
    Aggie couldn’t help laughing again. “It takes more than breakfast.”
    “Surely a lucky man or two has unlocked it.”
    Her humor faded. Shrugging, she said, “Well, I was married for a few years.”
    “Hmmm. I would have thought you’d have waited for someone irresistible.”
    “What makes you think I didn’t?”
    He flashed her a smile, but there was an edge to his dark gaze. “You’d still be married, if he were irresistible.”
    “Could be that he was irresistible at first, you know.”
    “No, by definition, ‘irresistible’ doesn’t fade away.”
    She made an amused sound of disgust. “I have my doubts about your definition. It sounds convenient.”
    “But it’s true.”
    “Okay, wise guy, then he wasn’t irresistible. Satisfied?” She bent down as they talked, wrenched a sharp frond off a palmetto plant, and poked him in the arm. “Take that.”
    He sighed. “I don’t joust with ladies. Go ahead, wound me. I suffer gallantly.”
    “Courage, thy name is Bartholomew.” She tossed away the frond and shoved her hands in her shorts pockets. It was too easy to like his laid-back teasing. He was so comfortable with himself that he made her feel comfortable too.
    “What did you do before you came here to live?” he asked, reaching out to take her elbow for a moment when she stumbled on a rock. He performed the little service without looking at her, then let go of her elbow as if such niceties were commonplace.
    Aggie glanced at him anxiously. His gentlemanly attentions were so formal that she ought to make fun of him. Get real, she ought to say. Don’t you know that chivalry is a joke?
    “Thank you,” she said.
    “Hmmm?” He looked at her as if he couldn’t imagine what was worth thanking him for. Aggie smiled at him while a warm sense of pleasure rose in her chest. She shook her head. “You were asking me a question. What I did before I came here. Well, I was married, as I said.”
    “That’s not something you do, that’s something you are. ‘When a match has equal partners, then I fear not.’ Aeschylus. Fifth century.”
    “Greek philosophers ought to watch a little Divorce Court on TV. They wouldn’t be so sure, then.”
    John clucked his tongue. “What a stubborn woman you are!”
    “Okay, so here are the facts. I was married, and I was an actress. I pretended I was happy.”
    “An actress? Really?”
    “No, not really. I was a child actress who grew up and grew out.” She gestured toward her breasts. “And I lost my career. Not that it was a brilliant career, anyway.”
    “Tell me more!”
    She shrugged. “I was a cute baby, a cute kid, a cute tomboy, and a cute teenager. My specialty was playing rebellious little sisters. But then I hit adulthood. Nobody wants a twenty-year-old tomboy with more curves than an hourglass. I never said I was much of an actress, but dammit, I made a great TV