Chapter 22

The guided tour of Galen's home was an interesting insight into the man Lydia was coming to know and love. The final rooms on the ground floor were the comfortable kitchen with a breakfast bar where Galen clearly ate all his meals and a home office that was an almost exact duplicate of his workspace on campus. All in all, the house was a warm comfortable space, masculine but welcoming.

He smiled when she told him that.

"Glad you like it," he responded. "The bedrooms are upstairs. Would you like a drink or something before we head up?"

They ended up opening a bottle of wine to take upstairs with them. Lydia was cautious as she climbed the carpeted steps beside him, holding her sandals and evening bag in one hand and her backpack in the other. Would seeing her here, in his home, change his opinion of her? She didn't want him to decide she would never blend into his life.

He pointed to the first door off the stairway into a room she saw was mostly full of shelves and books with a smal