The largest desk up against the wall held several photos of a large black Labrador. Underneath it, I could see the flashing lights of the router. I reached down and, taking the small device out of my pocket, placed it just behind the router. Mission accomplished.
The desk next to it held a half-eaten sandwich. I needed to move. I walked back toward the main door just as the rear one by the printer opened.
“What are you doing here?” A short lady with a bob and thickset glasses was staring at me.
“I’m so sorry! I’m looking for my daughter; she came running through here.”
“There’s a sign.”
“I know, I know. I’m—”
“Mama!”
We both turned to look. There was Bibi, out in the courtyard. She stood next to Fox, who was gripping the pram, the nappy bag slung over his shoulder.
“There you are!” I smiled at Bibi and turned back to the woman. “I really am so sorry.”
“Yes, so sorry!” Fox called. “We’ve told her, no more hide-and-seek!”
The woman’s shoulders loosened as she looked between us. “Just keep an eye on your children.”
“Of course!” I rushed back toward my family. I took Bibi’s hand as we returned to the authorized area of the grounds.
Bibi looked up at me. “Why did you say I ran off? I didn’t run off.”
“I took a wrong turn and thought it was better to give a little excuse like that rather than getting into trouble.”
“It’s bad to lie,” said Bibi as she chewed her lip.
“Yes, it is. But sometimes a small little lie is okay.”
Fox gave me a look.Shit.Why didn’t kids come with a handbook?
“So, I can lie?” Bibi smiled.
“No,” Fox said, at the same time as I said, “Yes.”
Chapter Fourteen
Fox
To make the most ofthe entrance fee we’d paid, I’d insisted we walk around Balgray’s expansive grounds.
“Shall we go?” It had been ten minutes, and Haze was already bored. Sometimes she was harder to entertain than a toddler.
“Dada, look!” Bibi pointed at a couple of ducks waddling by the lake up ahead.
“We could give it a few more minutes. She’s happy.”
“I need the loo. I’ll meet you by the house.” Haze rushed off before I could respond. She’d once made the mistake of telling me how even a trip to the toilets without a child in tow felt like a taste of freedom. I’d soon realized it didn’t actually take fifteen minutes to put in a tampon, and that it was just an excuse she used to enjoy a locked door and an Instagram scroll.
Reggie thankfully remained zonked out in the stroller while I took a painfully long time to extricate Bibi from her determined pursuit of her duck friends.
We walked on toward the house. Balgray Hall came into view at the end of the path. It was an impressive building.
I came around the corner to see Haze, just at the bottom of the Hall’s sweeping front steps, talking to a tall, attractive man I’d never seen before. She had her back to me, so I couldn’t see her face. A stranger hitting on her? Typical men. Racing up to someone they’d never met and thinking they could—
Haze was laughing. The man touched her shoulder as he stared down at her. They knew each other. Definitely.
