Page 30 of The Devil’s Lair

A handsome older guy with graying hair and crinkles around his eyes gets to his feet. “You must be Rebecca. And this pretty little girl is Isla, I presume. I’m Charles. Welcome to Oakleigh.”

I’m relieved he doesn’t hold out a hand for me to shake. I’d feel obliged, but it makes me uncomfortable to touch strangers.

“Thank you, sir. You have a beautiful home.”

“Please, call me Charles. Sir makes me feel a hundred years old.” He chuckles. “Although these days, my knees think they are that old. Allow me to introduce my family.”

Charles reels off names that I try to lock into my memory. At the raft of warm smiles, the nerves in my stomach lessen. Tobias was right: they’re just people.

“Come and sit down.” Victoria pats a spare seat next to her. “Isla, I’ve got someone I know you’re dying to meet.” She reaches over the side of the sofa, then reappears with a ball of fluff cradled in her hands. “This is Daisy. Do you want to stroke her?”

Isla nods, then looks up at me, trepidation in her eyes.

“Go on, pumpkin. I’m right here.” I walk her to the couch, then pick her up and put her next to Victoria.

I sit down, too. Isla grasps my hand again, and I squeeze in reassurance. The moment Daisy licks Isla’s hand, she’s a goner. Less than ten seconds later, the little pup is curled up on Isla’s lap, and my daughter is stroking her, a look of wonder and adoration on her face.

“You just lost your dog,” one of the brothers pipes up.

“Oh, no,” I say, horrified. “I wouldn’t allow that.”

“Relax,” Tobias says. “Nicholas is teasing. He just happens to be spectacularly bad at it.”

Nicholas rolls his eyes. “You’re an idiot.”

“We can share her,” Victoria says. “Would you like that, Isla?”

Isla nods vigorously.

“Then, it’s settled. Would you like to take her for a walk after breakfast with your mummy?” She fires a look at me. “If your mum says it’s okay.”

More nodding. More broad grins. More blooming like a flower kept in darkness suddenly seeing the sunlight for the very first time. These people are strangers, yet Isla is smiling more than I’ve seen her smile in months.

Are they magicians?

More likely they’re good people. Kids have a sixth sense, knowing bad from good. The kindness this family is showing us is humbling. I’m not sure what to do or say that could ever convey just how much this means to me.

“Let’s eat,” Charles says. “Busy day ahead.”

Thirty minutes later, I bundle Isla into a coat and hat, and push mittens onto her tiny hands. It’s a typical January day, with biting winds and a smattering of snow on the ground. I don’t want her to get cold. As we approach the bottom of the stairs, where Vicky—which she insisted I call her—waits with Daisy. What I’m not expecting is for Tobias to be standing right next to her dressed in a coat and scarf, wearing a broad smile.

“Mind if I tag along?”

“Are you sure? You must have tons on your plate.”

“I delegated.” He takes Daisy’s lead from Vicky, and I swear they share a look before she waves and disappears. “Do you want to hold Daisy, Isla?”

Isla’s face lights up like fireworks on Bonfire Night. She takes Daisy’s lead, holding on tightly, and the determination and responsibility on her little face reaches into my chest and compresses my heart.

“Shall we go?” Tobias asks.

He leads us behind the house, where horses in rolling fields graze on hay, and an impressive stable block bustles with activity. Tobias chats the entire way, filling silences I don’t know how to. He includes Isla in everything, pointing out the horses’ names and what kinds they are. The things I know about horses could fit on a postage stamp, and in truth, they scare me, but Isla is transfixed, absorbing every word Tobias says with wide-eyed amazement. As we leave the stables behind and head over the fields, Isla runs ahead with Daisy, skipping out of sheer joy.

“Isla, don’t go too far.”

“She’s fine. Oakleigh is incredibly secure, I promise.”

I glance up at him, shielding my eyes from the winter sun. “You really are filthy rich, aren’t you?”