Free The Angels' Share by Maya Hess Page A

wondered how Dominic had known about the scarves and scissors in Ethan Kinrade’s bedroom.

3
    Elizabeth opened the door and her momentarily blank expression told me that either she wasn’t keen on my presence for dinner or Lewis had forgotten to tell her about the invitation.
    ‘Oh. Yes,’ she said slowly. I didn’t detect an outright lie in an attempt to cover lack of knowledge but I didn’t notice much friendliness either. ‘Come in out of the cold.’
    Old Bridge Cottage exuded warmth and the tang of herbs and log fires, distinctly noticeable in the air even while I was walking through the drizzle from the beach hut. The lure of relaxing by a fire was almost as good as my torch in guiding me through the dark, and the thought of tucking into Lewis’s catch kept me going on the tricky path up from the shore.
    ‘I’m Ailey,’ I said, hoping it might animate the woman because strangely she was standing quite still, staring at me intently. ‘From the beach cottage.’ I held out my hand, which she eventually took, returning a delicate, barely-there handshake.
    ‘Elizabeth,’ she said, exhaling at last and giving me a sweet smile. ‘But you can call me Liz.’
    On seeing the woman at close range, my mind was flooded with my voyeuristic antics of the previous night. My cheeks reddened and, rather than detecting embarrassment, I hoped she would blame the chill night air for my sudden flush.
    ‘Ailey, you made it!’ Thankfully, Lewis emerged from the low kitchen doorway drying his hands on a tea towel. ‘Liz, take Ailey’s coat while I fetch her some mulled wine. She must be chilled to the bone.’
    Indeed I was. Any remnants of heat from my earlier encounter with Dominic had sadly dissipated into the Manx winter. Following my unplanned encounter with Creg-ny-Varn’s gardener, I had taken a shower and made myself a hot drink. Dominic didn’t seem to mind and Ethan Kinrade wasn’t there to care. Besides, after several hours in the place, the Manor had already begun to wrap its arms around my heart. As much as I loved my life in Spain, Creg-ny-Varn had always been my home.
    ‘Sit by the fire and get this inside you.’ Lewis planted me in a fireside chair and handed me a glass of warm wine that was scented with nutmeg, cloves and orange. ‘I hope the walk from Niarbyl wasn’t too difficult in the rain and dark.’ He stood with Liz, the pair looking down at me, as if I was a stray pet that had returned home. ‘It’s a long walk. Dangerous, too,’ Lewis continued.
    ‘It’s not far as the crow flies though, is it, Ailey?’ Liz’s earlier meagre smile blossomed into a full-blown grin, lighting up her small, pale face. It was unspoken but the understanding between us was palpable and I think they were still enjoying the feeling of having been watched during their lovemaking. Personally, I was squirming with embarrassment.
    ‘I’ll have to get used to the walk, I suppose.’ I wanted to change the subject but Lewis insisted on talking about the cottage.
    ‘It’s a bit cut off, for a young girl living on her own.’ He placed his arm around Liz’s small waist and pulled her towards him. I looked away, not wanting them to think I was studying another of their displays of affection.
    ‘I like being alone,’ I said, which was mostly true although I had relished my earlier liaison with Dominic. I’d barely had a second to ponder my encounter at Creg-ny-Varn, having afterwards walked a further couple of miles to a shop in order to stock the cottage with provisions. Then I’d cleared out the back room and tried to make the whole place more homely. The result was pleasing and I’d even collected some shells from the beach to decorate the window sills and lit a fire for comfort for when I returned from dinner with Lewis and Elizabeth.
    ‘Did you catch anything?’ I asked. The warm wine drizzled pleasantly down my throat and my skin was beginning to tingle from the flames. Lewis looked at Elizabeth fondly