Chapter 15 #2
I laugh, but as the door closes behind me, my smile falls, and my earlier despondency returns. I desperately want to do something and add value somewhere. To contribute and be useful. As soon as the opportunity arises, I’m talking to Tobias.
The heavy entrance door to Oakleigh opens without a squeak, and we step out into the crisp air.
The snow has stopped, and there are glimpses of blue sky in between fluffy white clouds.
We make our way past the stables, stopping to stroke a couple of the horses in their stalls.
A groom hands Isla a carrot and shows her how to flatten her palm and hold it up to the horse.
Isla squeals and giggles as the horse’s lips snaffle the treat.
I thank him, and Isla sticks up her thumb—her way of thanking him, too.
She’s enjoying herself so much that I lose track of time. It’s only when my stomach rumbles and I check my watch that I realize we’ve been out for almost two hours.
“Isla, time to go.”
I’m unsure whether she ignores me or can’t hear me, but she keeps running, disappearing over the crest of a hill. I break into a jog to catch up to her.
“Isla, wait for Mummy.” As I reach the peak, a dwelling comes into view, warm, buttery lights shining from the downstairs windows. Isla’s already halfway down the other side, with Daisy’s little legs scampering beside her. “Isla, wait!”
At my harsh tone, she skids to a halt, loses her balance, and faceplants in the snow.
She drops Daisy’s lead, and the little dog carries on running.
I rush to Isla, scooping her up. “Oh, pumpkin, are you all right?” I brush the snow off her face, checking for cuts or bruises.
Thankfully, there are none. I put her down, then look around for Daisy. She’s nowhere in sight.
“Daisy!” I yell. “Daisy, come here girl!”
Nothing.
Vicky’s going to kill me, and I can’t blame her. Daisy’s as much a child to her as Isla is to me, and I’ve lost her. I’ve lost her.
“Daisy!”
I turn a full three hundred and sixty degrees. I can’t see her. Shit. It doesn’t help that she’s white, and there’s snow everywhere. What will I tell Vicky? I thought I’d actually made a friend today. The shortest friendship in history if I don’t find her beloved dog.
“Daisy, where are you?”
“Rebecca.”
I spin around. Alice is at the bottom of the hill in front of the house, waving one arm, with Daisy tucked underneath the other. Relief floods through me. “Oh, thank God.” I grasp Isla’s hand, and we trudge down the hill toward Alice. “You’re a lifesaver.”
“I saw Isla take a tumble from the kitchen window and Daisy take off. She knows me, so I called her, and she came. Goodness, you’re both freezing. Why don’t you come in and have a cup of tea and some cake? I’ve got a fire going.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to disturb you.”
“Disturb me? My dear, you’d be doing me a favor. It gets lonely out here all by myself.”
Of course. Her husband George is in what amounts to a cell beneath Oakleigh.
Whatever I do, I mustn’t ask her about him.
I’d hate her to think Tobias had gossiped and I was here mining for details.
Whatever crimes her husband committed, she’s a complete innocent who doesn’t deserve to suffer.
She seems like such a lovely lady, too, who’s being kind to me.
Two bouts of kindness in the space of a few hours. I’m not sure what to do with that.
“Then, we’d love to. I hadn’t realized we’d been out so long.”
“We’ll get you warm and fed, then I’ll drive you back to the main house. It’s not far by car.”
I’m about to refuse when it starts snowing again. Decision made. “That would be lovely.”
She leads us inside the house. I take off Isla’s coat and boots, then mine, leaving the coats over the banister and the boots by the front door. Daisy’s snuggled up by the fire when we enter the living room.
I narrow my eyes at her. “Bad girl, running off like that.”
She stands, turns in a circle the way dogs do, then lies back down, unbothered by my scolding. Isla drops to her knees and begins stroking Daisy’s fur.
“I’ll make the tea,” Alice says. “You two get warm and comfortable.”
I rub my hands together, warming them over the fire.
It’s a nice place, cozy, and far smaller than Oakleigh.
I can’t help but wonder if George lived out here because he knew what he’d done to Tobias’s mother and was lying low.
He must’ve had a right to live at the main house.
Although what do I know about the dynamics of wealthy families?
Alice returns with a tray loaded with tea and cakes, plus a juice box for Isla. She sets it on the table and pours me a mug. “Get that down you. It’ll warm you right up. Here you go, Isla. Which cake would you like? I have chocolate, raspberry, or lemon cupcakes.”
Isla points at the chocolate one. Alice peels off the paper wrapper and hands it to her.
“Careful with the crumbs, Isla.”
“She’s okay. A few crumbs never hurt anyone.” Alice sits on a chair nearest the fire while I take the couch, wrapping my hands around the mug to warm them.
“Thank you for grabbing Daisy. I don’t know what I’d have done if I’d lost her. Vicky would never have forgiven me.”
“Of course she would. You’re family. That’s what families do. Besides, we’d have found her eventually. The estate is huge, but we have staff everywhere, and the perimeter is well guarded. She wouldn’t have made it far before someone picked her up.”
“Even so, she’s my responsibility. I’d still have felt awful.”
“All’s well that ends well.” Alice adds two spoonfuls of sugar to her tea and stirs. “Besides, it’s given us a chance to get to know one another.” She puts down the spoon and picks up her mug. “Tell me about yourself.”
“There’s not much to tell, honestly.”
“I’m sure that isn’t true. Tobias wouldn’t have picked you for his wife if you weren’t an utter delight.”
Does she not know how we met? Is it her understanding that we’re somehow in love? If it is, I can’t allow her to continue thinking along those lines.
“Tobias is a lovely man with a kind heart, but we’re not… in love. It’s a marriage of convenience.”
Alice throws her head back and laughs. “My dear, every single De Vil marriage is one of convenience. They’re all arranged in one way or another.” She grows wistful. “Except for me and George.”
By mentioning him, she’s opened the door to a question or two and helped divert attention away from me. I hate talking about myself. “Where did you meet?”
Alice’s eyes light up. “In Japan. I was over there working for an international bank, and we were out to dinner one evening when George bumped into me. Literally.” She chuckles.
“I was on my way to the ladies’ room when he came around the corner at a clip and almost knocked me off my feet.
He apologized, insisted on buying me a drink, and the rest is history. ”
I’m mulling over a reply when Alice speaks again.
“Whatever Tobias has told you, George isn’t a bad man, you know. Just… misguided.”
A man who rapes his brother’s wife is a very bad man. I don’t say that, though. It’s not Alice’s fault she fell in love with a monster, and I like her. She’s motherly. My own mother could learn a thing or two from a woman like her.
“We love who we love,” I say quietly, thinking of Marcus. Although, now I’m away from his violent control, I’m beginning to wonder if I ever truly loved him. Was it because he seemed so worldly wise? Sophisticated. Everything I wasn’t. At eighteen, can we truly know our own minds?
“Yes, we do.” Alice picks up the tray of cupcakes and holds it toward me. “I made them myself. They’re delicious.”
Although I’m not hungry, I take a lemon one. Isla’s finished hers and has got chocolate smudges up her cheek. I set my cake on the table, then dig a pack of tissues out of my pocket. After I’ve cleaned her up, I settle back on the couch and take a bite of cake. Flavor explodes on my tongue.
“Goodness, Alice, these are delicious. You should open a bakery.”
“Oh no. I love to bake. Not enough to make a business of it, but I like to keep busy, that’s all. Takes my mind off everything.”
A surge of empathy for this sad woman rushes to the surface. I lean forward and briefly squeeze her hand. “It can’t be easy for you.”
She gives me a watery smile. “No, it isn’t. But I’m lucky in lots of ways. Charles could’ve tossed me off the property, yet he didn’t. He’s taken pains to reassure me I’m family and always will be.”
Yet more evidence of how the De Vils rally around those they care about. Whatever George has done, it isn’t Alice’s fault.
She steers the conversation away from George, and I get the impression talking about him is both painful and a comfort. Something she loves to do, but only in short bursts. We finish our tea, and I devour the cake.
“We should go,” I say, standing. “Vicky will probably be wondering where we are.”
“I’ll get my coat and car keys.”
It takes ten minutes to drive to the front of Oakleigh—a lot faster than I’d have managed on foot. As I reach for the door handle, Alice puts her hand on my forearm.
“Would you visit me again? I’d love the company. Maybe next time, Isla could help me bake.”
“She’d love that. Of course, we’ll visit.”
As I enter Oakleigh, my steps are light. I feel as though I made two friends today: Vicky and Alice. Maybe, just maybe, this could become the home I’ve always craved after all.