“Whyever not?”
“Baxter likes them. I’m not quite sure why. Maybe it’s the swinging, but there’s every chance he’ll try to look up your skirt.”
“Like owner, like dog.”
Matthew shot me a wolfish grin as he opened his car door. “Exactly. Have fun and try not to get into trouble.”
“Me? Never.” I rolled my eyes, ignoring his laugh as he got into his car and started the engine. There was a whine from behind me, and when I turned, I saw Baxter’s sorrowful, brown eyes looking up at me. “Oh, he’ll be back soon,” I said, scratching the top of his head. “Out of the way of the door, look. Baxter, move it, you great lump.”
Baxter backed up, staying close to me, and I carefully pushed the door closed.
Then I stopped and looked around the enormous entryway that seemed to spider off into hallways that led to even more hallways and endless doors and rooms. I could live here for fifty years and never fully grasp the enormity of Menai Castle.
I took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. Baxter bumped into my leg, and I reached down to smooth the top of his head.
This was it.
This was home now.
I supposed it was time to make the most of it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
EVA
It was so quiet here.
It was a strange kind of quiet—not the kind that was eerie and still, that left you looking over your shoulder a thousand times a minute, but the kind of quiet that came with nature. It was the rustling of leaves in trees as a gentle breeze swept through, and the singing of birds as the same wind caught their feathers. It was the snuffling of dogs through the overgrowth on the floor and the gentle lapping of the Menai Strait against the rocky shore in front of my feet.
It was the kind of quiet that in the end, wasn’t really quiet at all, yet you felt nothing but peace.
Lucy, the springer spaniel, finished her snuffling about and lay down next to me, resting her head on my shin. I lifted my sketchbook and peered over the top, smiling at her. She really was the sweetest old thing, and while Baxter and Jack were younger, full of life, and happy to run up and down from the water with seemingly endless amounts of energy, she was done.
I laid my sketchbook back down on my legs and returned my attention to the view in front of me. The Menai Strait had several small islands along it, even some with houses. That seemed like a bit of a flood risk to me, and I wasn’t even sure how accessible they were, but at least they didn’t have neighbours.
It was a fair trade-off, if you asked me.
Either way, it was truly beautiful here. If anything good was to come of my sham of a marriage, I had a feeling it would be moments like this, where I could come to relax and draw or paint the scenes around me.
It might really be worth it after all.
If only for the inspiration for my art.
I continued sketching until all three dogs were using various parts of my lower legs as their pillows and contributing to me losing the feeling in my feet. Clearly, even the boys were tired now, so I used my phone to snap a picture I could work from later on.
I packed everything up and slipped my backpack on. “Come on,” I said to the dogs, who were still lying down. “Let’s go. Come on.” I patted my thigh and made sure to keep all three leashes tightly in my hand.
Begrudgingly, they all got up to follow me, and we took a slow walk back through the woods. Christopher had been right when he’d brought me out here to show me the dirt track. It was a well-worn path, covered in nature’s litter of pine needles and leaves, broken toadstools and acorn shells.
I was a little sad when I reached the end and the crunching of the woodland turned to gravel. It was almost as if I was leaving a little slice of heaven behind, but it was a little slice I’d very much like to stay in.
Unfortunately, real life beckoned.
Real life was terribly overrated.
I pushed open the door and let the dogs into the mudroom. They would stay in here until they’d dried off, so I made sure to refill their water bowls and toss some kibble into the food ones.
“Now, Baxter, leave their food alone, you hear me?” I warned him, wiggling my finger. “I saw you stealing Lucy’s dinner last night.”
He looked up at me with soulful eyes and turned his attention to his water and started lapping it up.
Yeah. He knew what I meant.
I set my trainers on the shoe rack and tucked my bag against my body. I wanted to finish my sketch today, but I still didn’t really know my way around this place.