As they galloped back down the aisle, he could pinpoint the exact moment when she loosened up and the fluidity returned to her muscles. Suddenly her feet matched his step for step.
‘You’re mad,’ she laughed up at him breathlessly, her face lively and alight, as they danced back down the aisle, skirting Colin conducting away like a ringmaster.
‘You’re welcome.’ He smiled broadly back at her, relieved that her haunted, mortified expression had been banished.
Feeling oddly protective of her, he brought her back to the front of the church just as the final notes of the song died away.With a final flourish Devon held up one arm to give her a twirl before bowing to her with a wink. A rueful smile touched her face as she dipped her head.
The chorus began to clap and she turned to them and with a regal tilt to her head dropped into a deep graceful curtsy, holding out the baggy legs of her onesie as if it were a glamorous ball gown.
Chapter Fourteen
She carried on sketching, outlining a new, rather sumptuous hat for Cuthbert. It was possibly the most flamboyant hat he’d ever worn, but he, the most debonair of the brothers, deserved it. Very Cavalier. In fact, she might give him a Charles the First wig and buckles on his shoes. She inked in a purple plume for good measure and sat back to admire her work.
‘Looking good, Cuthbert, my young man.’ She nodded, so caught up she almost expected him to nod back. ‘Quite the dude.’ Which of course he would agree with and doff his hat with a courtly bow. She drew another quick rough sketch of Cuthbert sweeping his hat off, the plume dusting the floor. Just so she wouldn’t lose it.
She ended up doing several different versions and before she knew it, another hour had elapsed.
Over the last three days, she’d taken to having her morning cup of coffee in Magda’s secret garden when she let Tess out for her morning wee and although she felt a bit silly stroking the flowers and inhaling the scents, she couldn’t seem to help herself. She’d got into a really good daily routine and her deadline worried her less and she even had ideas for a new book with three alien characters who’d happened on an English village.
Englebert with his mouse angel wings and decidedly skewiff halo had come to life. He wore an endearingly dopey expression rather reminiscent of a certain vicar. Ella bit back a smile. Hopefully no one, least of all anyone in the congregation, would ever spot the likeness, with the exception perhaps of the sharp-eyed Devon, who since his rescue act in the church had been popping into her thoughts rather too frequently.
Tess appeared, the lead in her mouth. Ella rolled her eyes, laughing in spite of herself. The dog was a pain but kind of cute with it.
‘Is it that time already?’ She checked the time on her phone. ‘How do you do that? Bets will be here any minute.’
Following the flower arranging, Bets had taken to calling for them for a morning walk before the vets’ surgery opened. Ella looked out of the window. Yes, she could get used to the walking, especially when the weather was like this. Bets had shown her a couple of different walks.
At the sharp knock of the door, Tess raced in circles almost tripping over her own legs and then went charging down the stairs, the metal link on the collarthump, thumping down on every wooden step.
Ella ran down the stairs, trying to dodge the thoroughly over-excited dog to reach the front door.
‘Won’t be a mo.’ She opened the door, Tess’s tail beating a happy tattoo against her leg.
‘No problem,’ said a gruff voice.
‘Oh, I thought you were Bets.’
‘I decided it was high time I walked my own dog for a change. But Bets said you’d be expecting her, she said I had to call in.’
‘Right.’ That told her, then.
‘Are you coming or not?’ His face didn’t look particularly inviting. What had happened to the man who’d been so charming the other night? He had cross written all over him. Was it because Bets had probably forced his hand, insisting that he called in? She seemed incapable of believing that people actually liked being on their own.
She wasn’t sure wanted to go for a walk with this Devon. An impromptu dance was one thing, but what on earth would shehave in common with a man who, if the James Herriot books she read as a teenager were correct, spent half his life with his arm up the backside of various farm animals?
With rabid excitement, Tess’s body squirmed as she tried to rub up against both their legs, her tail slicing the air with the finesse of a rolling pin.
Ella’s mouth pursed as she looked down at the dog wriggling with ridiculous over the top excitement. She could hardly say no. The poor dog had been cooped up all morning.
‘I’ll just grab a jacket and some shoes. Is it cold outside?’
Devon wrinkled his face as if giving the question serious thought. ‘It’s bright but the wind’s a bit chilly. You’ll need to wrap up warm.’ He paused and she fixed his face with a warning glare, which of course he ignored. ‘A onesie won’t cut it today.’
‘Haha! Very funny.’
‘I thought so.’ It was a relief to see the disarming smile replace the furrowed lines on either side of his mouth.
She tied on her trainers, grabbed her jacket and followed him out of the door and down the path.
