The Grayson Trilogy Page 3

  Chapter 3

  I woke, opening my eyes to the comforting familiarity of my bedroom for the last time as I remembered with a pang of anxiety that the day had finally come when I would be leaving. It was still early but I knew even after the restless night I’d had there’d be no going back to sleep. Getting up I pulled on my dressing gown, pushed my feet into my slippers and went downstairs. Susie was waiting to greet me, her tail wagging, although not with its usual exuberance – it appeared to be too early for her too. I opened the back door to let her out, breathing in the fresh, early morning air.

  Turning back to the kitchen I made Susie’s breakfast, which she tucked into with enthusiasm while I took tea and toast outside. It was a beautifully quiet morning in early May, holding the promise of a glorious day.

  Although presently muted in the early morning light the garden was a riot of colour, the fencing covered in a jungle of climbing roses, honeysuckle and clematis. The wide border below was crowded with plants that vied for attention and were seemingly held together by a sea of forget-me-not blue. Here and there rose a taller spike of promised beauty in the form of a delphinium or foxglove, the full glory of which I realised, a little sadly, I wouldn’t be there to see revealed.

  I couldn’t take the credit for the beauty of this garden; that was all down to the foundation laid by Alex, the work he’d put into it years ago. But now as I looked round I could see it was all overgrown – some plants had disappeared, choked out of existence by their stronger, greedier neighbours, and that was down to me, to my neglect.

  Susie wandered out of the house having finished eating and came to join me, flopping down to lie under the table. She was such a huge part of my life and had brought me so far it was hard to believe she’d only been with me for two years. I could remember the day she’d arrived vividly. That morning I’d received a letter from my solicitor enclosing the Decree Absolute. That was it, my marriage was over, my sense of loss and sadness compounded and my depression deepened.

  In the afternoon Alex had appeared on my doorstep, the first time he’d done so for a while. He carefully placed a large box on the ground beside him and looked up at me with concern as I opened the door – I knew I’d lost weight and was pale from lack of sleep and lack of interest in myself.

  “Did you get the Decree Absolute this morning?”

  In response I nodded, then asked quietly, “How long do I have before I have to move out?”

  His brow creased in confusion as he said gently, “You really haven’t been paying attention, have you? I’ve signed the house over to you; you don’t have to go anywhere.”

  I felt an unexpected but palpable sense of relief at these words which must have shown on my face. He shrugged, adding, “It was your inheritance that allowed us to buy the house in the first place, so it’s only fair.” He indicated to the box with a gesture of his head. “I’ve brought you a present.”

  I lifted one hand up to cover my mouth in mock horror. “Oh, Alex, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise that giving gifts was the correct etiquette for this day, what must you think of me? I didn’t get you anything.”

  He gazed at me, raising one eyebrow to show irritation at my sarcasm though with half a smile on his lips, before saying dryly, “Good to see you haven’t completely lost your sense of humour. Actually, this is something you always wanted when we were together but I didn’t. Now that I no longer apply I was hoping she would help.”

  She? I knelt down to open the box and looking up at me from inside with the largest, brownest eyes imaginable was a scruffy ball of dog. Susie had entered my life and by becoming the focus of it, she saved me.

  As she lay at my feet now, I thought back to those first few days with her. Alex had bought out the pet store and carried everything into the house. I was cuddling Susie when he turned to leave, leaning in to kiss me goodbye, but I shied away. Forgiveness was not in my nature at all, let alone that easily.

  “I hope she helps, Em…Please start to look after yourself,” he’d sounded apologetic, guilty even, being only too aware of what he’d done to me. Then he was gone.

  Susie obviously wasn’t Susie when she arrived but that was the name that sprang to mind when I first saw her and it stuck. She was eight weeks old, a cross-bred terrier and when I’d first lifted her out of the box she’d been warm and soft and had snuffled her nose into my hands. At that time she’d easily fitted into my two hands and while she had obviously got bigger as she matured, she was a small dog, even now. Her coat was a patchwork of colours: underlying white with smudges of black, brown and tan merging into each other over the top. She was short-coated but there was a kink to the hair and I could already see longer hairs starting to tuft out around her face and suspected that she would eventually become a rough-coated dog. I had been proved right and she had matured into what could politely be described as an untidy dog and we suited each other perfectly.

  Susie and I had spent the next few weeks getting to know each other. Making her sleep on her own in the kitchen, without her crying for her mother, was the most challenging test for us, and painful to listen to for a few nights, but she eventually settled down. Her pleasure at seeing me again each morning was uncontained in its exuberance and I felt my heart lift each day at her apparent joy just at being with me. For the first time since Eva there was some meaning back in my life, something to get up for. I now had a friend and I started to get stronger, with Susie pulling me slowly back out of the dark.

  Her influence made me want to work on building myself up, mentally as well as physically, wanting to be comfortable with being completely independent again – something I’d prided myself on as I’d grown up. When I looked back I realised I must have been a real headache for my foster parents: determined to do my own thing, and always challenging, which was perhaps why none of them had put up with me for too long. But the years with Alex had softened me, and had got me used to having someone around to rely on. As it was, all my marriage had taught me was that you couldn’t depend on anyone, and as I toughened up I became hardened in my resolve that I’d never let anyone near enough to hurt me this badly again. Susie was all I needed. I knew she would never let me down and I had no intention of ever letting anyone else into my life again that could.

  The sun’s rays were starting to find their way into the garden and as I’d finished breakfast I went back in to clear up the kitchen. Then having a shower I washed my hair which was thick and dark brown; left to grow it would curl in soft waves. As it was, it had recently been cut into a sort of pixie cut, although still with a bit of a fringe sweeping across my forehead. I wasn’t really sure if I liked it or not. Time would tell on that one, I thought, but at least it was practical. I was too pale – even my eyes were washed out from their once-vibrant blue. As I glanced in the mirror they also looked tired, I noted, and I put on a bit of mascara to liven them up. That was about as far as my make-up routine ever went anyway.

  I dressed in my habitual jeans and tee shirt, pulled on my plimsolls and took Susie for a quick walk through the village, ending up at the church. I passed through the gates and went to sit on the bench next to Eva’s grave. I couldn’t leave the village without saying goodbye and although I carried the memory of her within, I’d always found great comfort being in the churchyard where she lay. I hadn’t been so far from this place before and didn’t want her to feel abandoned; I wanted to let her know I would be back.

  Susie and I returned to the house to finish packing. My employer, Barney, had been kind when I’d handed in my notice though I suspected he was secretly relieved I was going as he’d be able to employ someone who would be a little more focused on his business. I’d finished work a couple of weeks before which had given me enough time to have already cleared the house of most of my things, putting them in storage. I’d cried myself into a state of exhaustion as I’d dismantled Eva’s room, untouched since she died, putting aside a box of her things to take with me. Her favourite cuddly rabbit had been buried with her so
I chose a teddy she’d slept with, her favourite bedtime stories, some pictures she’d drawn for me, and a few other bits and pieces.

  There was not much left to take besides Eva’s box, only my clothes, photos, books, a few other personal items, Susie’s things and a box of provisions from the kitchen. I’d arranged to rent the house out and needed to drop the key into the letting agent on my way. I loaded everything into my ancient car, which while rusting in places and a rather unpleasant brown colour, I adored nonetheless, and then went to take one last look round the house. As I headed back towards the front door I stopped, opening the door to the cupboard under the stairs. Memories flooded back as I looked at the markings on the back of it and tears pricked my eyes. There were several pen marks on the lower half of the door ending about halfway up and next to the top one was written ‘Eva, age 6’. As I looked up there was another one with ‘Mum’ written next to it and about two inches above that was the last one for ‘Dad’. I fixed a piece of paper to the door using Blu-tack on which I’d written ‘Please do not paint over this’ and closed it quietly.

  I was pleased I’d decided to rent the house out rather than sell it as I knew if things didn’t work out I’d have somewhere to run to. This home had been my refuge but I knew it was time to leave and as I walked out the front door, pulling it closed behind me, I took my first step down a path I’d travelled along a thousand times before, only this time for it to be leading me in a different direction.

  Chapter 4

  My apprehension had grown on the journey though I tried to reassure myself with reminders of how welcoming I’d found the estate when I was interviewed. After announcing myself on the intercom, a disembodied voice, which I thought was Forster’s, welcomed me.

  “Good afternoon, Grayson, please proceed.” The imposing wrought-iron gates were already opening and I drove forward. Whereas before to reach the Manor I’d gone straight on, my instructions to reach the stables were to turn left as I entered the estate. The road followed the wall for a short way, then gradually veered away from it and I found, as I travelled along, each side of the road became more and more densely populated with trees until I was driving through quite thick woodland. I’d left the bright sunlight behind me and now the light was subdued and dappled down through the tree canopy. I drove further, the road undulating and twisting with the natural curves in the ground until eventually the trees thinned a little to the right-hand side and I spotted a small stone cottage.

  I liked what I saw. Set a little way back from the road behind a small strip of grass, the thinning of the trees afforded the cottage enough light to enable roses to grow up the front, and this area was bordered by a black metal railing fence, broken by a gate which led to a dark green front door, although I’d been told to enter the property through the back.

  There was a window to each side of the door and above these two more which were unusually shaped as half circles and were buried into the roof line. The tiles were an array of colours provided by the mosses and lichens that grew there and were topped off by a chimney. The overall impression was comforting and I proceeded past the cottage and turned into the drive, passing through a pair of five-barred wooden gates that stood open. Continuing round to the back of the cottage, I found the area I’d driven into was a large flat expanse of compacted ground. There was a black pickup parked there but I couldn’t see anyone else. Letting Susie out, knowing she wouldn’t wander far from me, I looked around.

  Across the yard I could see there were six brick-built stables in an L shape. In front of them was a large area of concrete and this was all enclosed with a post-and-rail fence. The roof overhung the front of the stables giving them some protection from the weather. The whole stable block area looked shabby: paint peeling, weeds growing anywhere they could get a hold. Plenty to keep me busy for a while. At the end of the row of stables were three more doors, which for the moment would have to await further investigation, as I turned my attention back to the cottage.

  The rear was similar to the front, except that at the gated entrance end of it I could see what appeared to be the double doors of a garage. I picked up the first of my boxes from the car and made my way up the path through the garden, which was neat and tidy with what looked like an apple tree growing up out of the middle of the lawn. On the other side of the path were a small table and a couple of chairs and newly planted hanging baskets hung each side of the back door.

  This, painted in the same green as the one at the front, was of a stable door design and had a cat flap fitted. The key, one of a small bunch, was in the lock of the door as I had been told it would be, and I freed a hand to reach up and open it.

  I walked into a cream-painted area that I would call the boot room, purely because that was where I’d be putting mine, which was functionally equipped for all laundry needs. There were quarry tiles on the floor which flowed through to the kitchen where I put the box I was carrying down on the corner of the old pine table in the centre of the room. This had piles of things on it already which I ignored in favour of exploring the rest of the cottage first.

  The kitchen had a comfortably cosy feel to it and appeared to have everything a kitchen should, even extending to a range which was inset under an alcove; the areas of wall not covered by anything else were painted a warm, rich red. The cupboard doors were cream and black ceramic worktops ran round three of the walls with cream tiling above them. The fourth wall, through which a staircase exited, bordered the passageway from the boot room to the sitting room, which I went into next to find a wood-burning stove buried in a fireplace with two large, squashy, dark-red settees settled around it. A door led off to the left and through this was a smaller room set up to use as an office, a laptop and printer on a wooden desk which was pushed up against the opposite wall.

  Going back through to the kitchen I ran up the stairs. Directly ahead of me at the top was a doorway leading to the main bedroom containing a beautiful black ironwork bed made up with a thick white duvet and plump pillows. To each side was a bedside cabinet in dark wood and on each of these sat a dark-red side lamp. An armchair that matched the settees downstairs was in the corner and the only other piece of furniture in the room was a set of drawers. A door in the corner led to a built-in cupboard giving some wardrobe space. Another opened onto a shower room. Other doors off the landing revealed a second smaller bedroom and a bathroom.

  The floors were laid throughout with dark-green carpets and each window dressed with curtains that complemented the cream-painted rooms. The whole cottage was simple and beautiful and someone had obviously worked hard to make it so. From the lingering smell of fresh paint in the air it looked to have been freshly decorated, and as it appeared as if everything in it was new, it seemed to me that the cottage had not just been spruced up after its last occupants – I didn’t believe anyone had lived here for a long time and in fact a full refurbishment had been carried out because of my arrival. That made sense when I thought about it – the stables hadn’t been in use for some time, years probably, so there likely hadn’t been any use for the cottage until now.

  Having explored, I went back to the kitchen and thought I’d better have a look through the things that had been left on the table. I moved the box I’d brought in to one side and sat down. There was a printed-out sheet addressed to me which I read through.

  Dear Grayson

  Welcome to the stables. I trust you will find everything to your liking, but please let me know if you have any questions or need any help with anything. I have organised a few things to help you settle in and get you started in your new role, as follows:–

  1. There’s a black pickup in the yard. This is for your use and you will find the keys on the table. Your car can be stored for safekeeping in the garage. All costs for the running of the pickup are covered and you can fill it with diesel at the farm. Turn right out of the yard and keep following the road round the estate. You will reach one fork in the road – keep to the left-hand road to get to the farm, the ri
ght-hand road takes you to the Manor.

  2. You will see a small box with two buttons on it next to the keys. This will open and close the front gates and should be kept in the pickup.

  3. For your information, your cottage will be cleaned every Wednesday morning. The cleaners have their own keys so you do not need to leave the door open.

  4. The gardeners will call to cut the grass periodically and will generally maintain the gardens within their usual schedule.

  5. There is also, on the table, a new phone for your use. This has already been loaded with everyone on the estate’s contact details should you need them. I have also taken the liberty of adding all the local suppliers that we use, as well as the vets and farriers. Feel free to use this as your personal phone and add any numbers you wish to. Note there is one app already downloaded. This is an emergency call button. Please carry this phone with you – and keep it charged. If you ever get into difficulty, use it and we will come and find you.

  6. While on the subject of safety, there is a panic button in the kitchen of the cottage by the back door in case there is any sort of situation at the yard that needs our assistance.

  7. You will need to use the local country store and saddlery and, as agreed with Cavendish, there is a card here for you to use to spend there on credit. There is also another general credit card for other purchases.

  8. I have attached directions to get you to each of the local suppliers, including those mentioned above.