Pushing her luggage through the door of the inn, Annie May Rogers called out to her Nanna, letting her know she had arrived. Clomping up the stairs she wondered what her summer in Derbyshire was going to produce. After a long flight over the Atlantic from America, a stop in Germany, and one more flight that finally landed her in Manchester; Annie May was exhausted. The train trip and cab ride to the inn didn’t help ease any of her exhaustion either, though it was wonderful to see her homeland again.

Annie grew up in America, but her parents were English. They’d moved her and her brothers to America when she was a baby and though there had been week-long trips, she’d never really stayed longer than a week at a time. She had come over for the summer to take a break after completing her university degree in information technology and wanted a break from computers and homework before looking for a job and settling down back in America. She wanted pubs, friends, laughter, and some time with her Nanna. She knew her grandmother would be busy serving behind the bar, so she took herself up the stairs and found a room that was empty.

Looking out of her bedroom window, she knew she was at least going to enjoy the scenery, as usual. The rolling hills outside were beautiful enough that even the clumsiest of photographers couldn’t help but get a breath-taking picture of them. Yes, this was going to be one special summer, she thought.

Changing out of her travel clothes she put on a flowing sapphire skirt and peach coloured blouse. The colours complimented her curly light red hair and blue eyes, and she was satisfied with how she looked as she walked away from the mirror. As satisfied as she could be anyway. At one inch below six feet she was tall, and not in the slim Barbie kind of way. But she had a nice bosom, a well-shaped bottom, and though her feet were large, the skirt she wore hid that part. She wasn’t going to win any beauty contests, she thought, but she wasn’t going to scare the children away, at least.

Walking back down the stairs, she heard a male voice telling her grandmother about the problems he was having at his business. His computer network didn’t work, and the only person in the village qualified to fix the problem couldn’t come to his office for another two weeks. She slowed as she walked in, dreading what she knew was about to happen.

“Don’t do it, Nanna, don’t do it,” she whispered quietly to herself as she walked in. Before she could get a word out, Nanna did it!

“Oh, Annie May, you’ve come down, good, come here and give me a hug. I’m ever so pleased you’ve come! It’s going to be great having you all summer! Oh, here, I want you to meet this young man. I think he can do with some of your knowledge, duck.” Ruby Rogers pulled Annie May to her own large frame, enveloping the girl in sweet maternal love. Annie May cuddled her grandmother, loving the security she felt when she was in her Nanna’s arms. Ruby was a large lady with white hair down to her waist. A no-nonsense but loving woman, she was one of Annie May’s most favourite people in the world. Nanna pushed Annie away, looking her granddaughter up and down.

“You are filling out nicely Annie May. Here now, this is Daniel Chamberlain. He operates a local non-profit that helps troubled teens. He’s having some problems with his interwebs or something. I was just about to suggest you could help him out with that. What do you think?” Ruby had a totally innocent look on her face, but Annie May could see from the gleam in her eye that she knew what she was doing. She squinted at her grandmother but laughed as she turned to the fellow.

Annie May was hoping she could get out of it, when she quickly changed her mind. The man had to be a poet; he had the dark curly hair, the kind of amazingly dreamy hazel eyes that made women swoon, and a mouth meant for whispering the poems he’d written into his lady-love’s ear. Be still my heart, she thought as she placed her left hand over her heart.

“Hi, I’m Annie May Rogers,” she said as she held out her hand, her voice suddenly becoming a soft, smoky sound.

“Enchanted,” he replied, taking her hand to brush a kiss across her knuckles.

Oh yes, a poet and a Romeo, I’d best keep my eye on this one then, she thought. Still, her heart did flutter at having her hand kissed instead of receiving the expected handshake, and she couldn’t take her eyes off of him. She was also certain she had the world’s goofiest smile on her face as she just watched him in silence. He’d never give her the time of day if he didn’t need his network repaired, she figured. He was the kind meant for little blonde housewives with delicate feet and tiny waists, she thought.

Daniel had an endearingly crooked smile on his face as he took in the sight of her. She was glad she’d decided to change her clothes before coming down, now. At least she wasn’t grubby and her hair had been brushed. He was very tall himself, and seemed to appreciate the sight of a woman he didn’t have to look down to. His smile deepened into a grin, and he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He must be pulling my leg, she thought to herself.

Nanna seemed to have noticed something was going on because she pulled Annie May to her side, and smiled at her, giving Annie May a wink. Oh this wasn’t going to be easy to get out of. She did want to get to know the handsome man a little better though, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, spending some time with him?

“Would you like a drink, Annie May?” Her grandmother asked.

“Just a spritzer Nanna, nothing too strong, please. I’m such a lightweight in that department that even that little bit of alcohol may have me sleeping before long. That was one long flight,” Annie May replied, sitting by the man. “What seems to be the problem with your network then?” She looked back at Daniel, tilting her head to the side.

They discussed the network problem for a while, then moved on to what time she should come in the next day to work on it. She enjoyed listening to him talk, how expressive his face was, and that he, like her, talked with his hands. He politely declined anything to eat when Annie May’s Nan offered it, but she ordered vegetarian lasagne before going back to her conversation.

“I guess I’ll see you in the morning then? Oh, how do I get to your office?” She asked as she finished her spritzer.

“It’s just down the road there; you’ll see it once you get into the main part of the village. There’s a big sign in the window with the name of the place so you should be able to find it straight away. I’ll leave you to your food, and I hope you spend an enjoyable evening with your Nan. She’s a wonderful woman and has helped me often with things we needed at the office. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.” He reached out, touching her hand briefly before walking away with a smile. A Casanova then, but a sensible one, she thought. Very good.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Daniel, good night.” She gave him a smile as he left, looking forward to her meal, a bath, and a night of sleep.

“That Daniel’s fancying you, I do believe, Annie May. And if I’m not mistaken, you’ve taken a fancy to him as well.” Nan said as she placed Annie May’s food in front of her. “Now you eat this and get to bed; I have a feeling you need some sleep but will be up bright and early,” the older lady said as she drifted back to the bar to fill a customer’s glass.

Annie May looked down at her food, hiding a smile as she did. Yes, I probably will be up early, she thought. That Daniel sure has a beautiful smile.

The next morning she walked down the village, feeling a chill in the air despite the season. She took some snaps with her mobile to send to her friends back home, loving the architecture of the old stone crofts. She quickly found Daniel’s office and walked in through the door, smiling as she heard a chime.

“Is that you Annie May? I’m back here, in the office on the right.” She heard Daniel call from somewhere in the back of the building. Wandering back she saw several rooms, and walls filled with pamphlets, posters telling teens how to be positive and get ahead of the game, and leaflets everywhere. She finally found Daniel and stopped, looking at him with a smile on her face.

His curly hair was sticking up all over his head, making her fingers itch to smooth it down, and a look of desperate confusion marred his features. What is he doing, sitting there staring at a computer screen? She wondered.

“What has you looking so put out this morning then, Daniel?” Annie May asked him walking into the room to sit in the chair he indicated to, beside him. Looking at the screen she saw he had the software open for the network but no connection showed.

“I thought I’d give it one more go, try one more time to see if I could resolve the problem on my own. It is a bit lowering to have someone come in and repair it for me. But I’m glad you’re here because I can’t make heads nor tail of any of it.” A sheepish smile spread across his face as he spoke and she noticed that his smile was just as adorable as it had been the night before.

“Let me have a look. Hopefully it’ll be something simple, it usually is with these things.” She zoned out for a bit, clicking through tabs, checking lines, making sure cables were plugged in. A cup of tea appeared at her elbow at some point, with packets of sugar and cream, and she drank it without even realizing it as she tracked the problem down to a cable that had been put into the wrong port. Clicking back through the tabs she saw the network was operating properly now, and closed out of the software, finally coming back to reality.

“You’re good at what you do, Annie May!” Daniel said, pleased that she’d sorted the problem so quickly.

“Oh dear, I zoned out and drank tea, didn’t I? I never drink that stuff; it makes me so hyper!” She could feel it starting already and reminded herself not to talk too fast. Looking at Daniel, she searched for something else to say.

“I’ll have to remember that. So you’re all done then?” He asked.

“Um, yeah, so the network should work now, without any problems. If you have any more issues with it just give me a ring at Nan’s. I haven’t sorted a mobile out here yet, but I plan to this week.” Oh that sounded so desperate and leading, she thought. Please call me! Trying not to roll her eyes at herself, she went to gather her handbag and jacket but Daniel stopped her. As if he’d be interested in seeing her again now she’d sorted his problem out, she berated herself.

“What do I owe you for the work you’ve done?” He asked.

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” she replied. “Take it as my donation to your organisation.”

“Well, at least let me buy you lunch. If you’ll agree, I’ll admit my ulterior motive.” He said with a look that stated, “Aren’t you intrigued, hm?”

What’s he playing at, she wondered, but curiosity got the better of her, and she agreed.

“Alright, but you have to tell me what the ulterior motive is first, or I won’t go.” She replied with a ‘so there’ look of her own. She all but stuck her tongue out at him. It’s just the tea, it’s only the tea making you hyper and too flirty, she thought, trying to rein herself in. Stop acting like a twit now!

“It’s nothing terrible really, I’d just like to get to know you a little better, that’s all.” A hopeful look spread across his face as he spoke, making her heart twist a little.

“Oh, well.” She stuttered to a halt, stunned at his words. She’d never expected him to truly be interested in her! Her heart gave a leap, though, and she knew she wanted to spend more time with him. “Well, yes, I think I’d like that myself, Daniel.”