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I chuckled to myself, taking the rag and can from her. “Make everything shiny, got it.”
We worked like that in the foyer for a little while, before she redirected me into another hallway I hadn’t been down yet. We worked room by room before she finally announced it was time to take a break. After having been on my hands and knees scrubbing baseboards for the last four hours, I was excited for a little fresh air.
“Marie, what do you usually do on your break?” Okay, maybe I didn’t need direction in how to take a break, but I was new here, and if there was a TV in this castle I hadn’t found it yet.
Marie thought to herself, tapping her finger on her chin. “Take walk outside. C’est une belle journée.”
Well I didn’t know what the last part meant, but her suggestion seemed like a good one.
I let myself out somewhere around the middle of the château, not too far from the path that led down to the horse stables. It was a pretty blustery day, and I quickly wished I had a jacket with me.
I walked along the path, figuring that I could at least have a look at the horses if anything else. I had never seen one up close and I was curious. Were they really as big as they looked?
I took in a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air. The mountain air was different, much different than what I was used to. I felt invigorated as I jogged down the steeper part of the path…
But someone jogged along after me…
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Chapter 8
I didn’t realize I was being followed until I rounded the corner of the first horse stables building. I ran faster, my heart strained against my chest. I hadn’t been this panicked in…. Well… A week or so anyway.
I finally risked a glance back, taking in a deep breath as I realized it was Mr. Malveaux.
“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
He frowned. “I apologize, Miss Jackson…er, Miss Kyle. Amira. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
I huffed, trying not to roll my eyes at him. “I kindof feel likes someone’s following me everywhere I go. So if you wouldn’t sneak up on me like this, it would really make me feel better... Know what I mean?”
Okay, maybe I was being a little rude in my inflection with the last remark, but dammit, I was already paranoid enough as it was.
I could’ve sworn I saw his lip quirk up in the corner, but he stood there not saying a word.
I took in a deep breath. “I apologize. I’m not trying to be rude, it’s just that I don’t want to feel crazier in my head than I already am. Did you need something, Mr. Malveaux?”
“Julien, remember? Actually, I was just checking in on you and your first day. Marie said you’d left the house and didn’t come back… I wanted to see how everything was going. I know Marie can be a little demanding at times. She’s pretty good with keeping a tight schedule, if you could imagine that.”
Ha, I thought. I’d be more surprised if she couldn’t keep a good tight schedule.
“Marie is fine. I understand her demeanor. She’s got a whole giant place to keep track of, and I’m sure she likes to have a little bit of a life on her own as well. Or maybe she doesn’t, I’m not really sure about that part yet,” I laughed.
I pulled my arms around myself, trying to guard my skin from the winds that were blowing down the mountains around us.
“Would you like my jacket?” he asked me, already taking it off and offering it.
I smiled, pulling it around my shoulders. “Thank you.”
“Were you coming down to see les chevaux? They are magnificent creatures.”
“The horses? I wanted to see one up close… Is that okay? That’s not like frowned upon or anything is it?”
Julien laughed openly, shaking his head. “No, no—that’s fine. I can show you them if you’d like.”
I hesitated. Part of me wanted to just kind of be on my own at the moment, taking everything in a little bit at a time. The other part of me, maybe even the bigger part, wanted to know more about Julien.
Maybe I was just lonely, but I agreed.
