Page 58 of A Scottish Country Escape

As we crouched there, I could feel earthy dampness seeping into the knees of my jeans, but I didn’t care. I was in one of my favourite places with Dexter.

Whoa! Stop, Elle! You’re doing it again.

I gave myself a mental telling off and focused on the deer. She paused and angled her head over her shoulder. Following a few feet behind was a fawn, twitching and lolloping.

‘There are more of them around here,’ I assured Dexter, as he continued to appreciate them. ‘Plus, there are foxes, badgers, and grey squirrels.’

As if on cue, a woodpecker interrupted me by hammering on a tree trunk somewhere nearby. The sound throbbed like a heartbeat.

The deer and her baby turned their velvet heads to the sound, before taking flight into the woods again. We watched them disappear in a flick of twig-like legs.

I could feel him looking at me as we huddled there.

Dexter sank down onto his bottom, appearing not to consider or care what effect the damp, dirty earth would have on his expensive jeans. His voice was laced with enchantment. ‘This is a very special place. I can see why you love it so much.’ He fired out his long legs and drank in the canopy of trees. ‘This makes frivolous parties with people you barely know pale into insignificance.’

I gave him a small smile.

‘All the vacuous hangers-on and the insincerity.’ He flashed me a look. ‘It’s nice to get away from all of that for a bit.’ Dexter’s appreciative gaze trailed over the woodland. ‘It would be even more inspiring if I could write!’

I lowered myself onto my bottom beside him and stretched my legs out. ‘I’ve got a good feeling that we’ll find Linda Carlucci and all this will be over before you know it.’

‘You think?’

‘I know.’

He tipped his dark head back, staring upwards at the patches of evening sky.

I twisted myself round more to look at him. ‘Dexter, it seems to me that both of us are fighting for something that means a lot to us. You want your writing ability back and I want to save this place.’

Dexter’s loaded gaze locked with mine. ‘So does that mean you believe it’s a curse?’

I felt as if I were melting as he looked at me. ‘Let’s say I’m more open-minded about it than I was.’

‘And the things that mean a lot to us,’ he said, flicking me a look from under his lashes. ‘How are we going to put them right?’

I pushed myself upright, reminding myself of the emotional harm I could find myself in if I allowed my growing feelings for Dexter to spill over. ‘We work together.’

I dashed some earth from the front of my jeans and then threw a couple of leaves at him, which made him smile. ‘And we don’t give up.’

Dexter’s eyes never left my face. ‘I like the sound of that.’

Chapter Thirty-Six

Dexter and I spent more time strolling through the abundance of long grass that was tipped with wild flowers, catching tantalising glimpses of the wildlife.

Maybe it was the ability to escape from the misery of his writing drought for a while or perhaps it was the calming trickle of the streams. Whatever it was, Dexter was the most relaxed I had ever seen him.

As we meandered back out of the reserve and down the country lanes towards the high street and Dexter’s car, he stopped. He seemed oblivious to the grass stains smeared across his designer footwear.

The sky was growing a deeper shade of tangerine and puffs of dark cloud were masking the last trickles of light.

‘I want to help, Elle. To save the reserve. In any way I can. Even more so now I’ve seen for myself how spectacular it is.’

I nodded, my heart leaping. His T-shirt was now off-white and his black hair was ruffled, the local countryside spread out behind him like a patchwork cloak of emerald greens and earthy browns. He looked like a rugged hero who’d just stepped out of a historical romance.

I battled to keep my attention in check. ‘That would be wonderful. Thank you.’

We set off side by side again, down the sloping lane towards the town. It glinted through the trees, all angular tiled roofs and sparkling windows with the church spire twisting up into the burnt-orange evening.