Page 54 of Wild About You

‘Goodness,’ I said.

Somehow, despite everything, Tally had finally managed to arrange for the conservator to come when she was ‘at the optician’. I messaged her.Apparently Hugo has magic wee and has improved the cabinet. She read it immediately, but didn’t reply.

A message popped up from Fi.All good!

Her twelve-week scan. I sent three party popper emojis, a thumbs-up and a love emoticon, then turned back.

‘Sorry about that. How long do you think it might take to clean it?’

As he ummed and aahed his way through his calculations, I opened a new email on my phone from Emma, the archivist. She’d attached a scan of an old planting plan forBelheddonbrae, dated to before Jamie was born. One glance showed me it had the kind of detail I was looking for. I felt a thrill at the idea of tweaking the plan so that it was more meaningful for him.

The conservator and I had negotiated his hours on site, and I was making him a cup of tea with three sugars, when Fi danced in through the door.

I left the kettle and hugged her, then added a mug to the conservator’s to make her one of the herbal teas she was insisting on having in place of her usual strong coffees.

‘Thanks love,’ she said. ‘Although frankly I could do with some caffeine. I guess I won’t though.’

‘Ah, the parental burden of sacrifice,’ I said, and she kissed me on the cheek. She looked dazzling: her hair and skin were transformed, and she was lit up with a bright, happy energy. There was no hint of morning sickness or tiredness.

‘I don’t mean to complain,’ I said, as I tipped sugar into the conservator’s tea, ‘but we do seem to be doing most of Tally’s work between us these days. She seems completely obsessed with working on recaptioning all of the paintings.’

‘Yes,’ Fi said. ‘I think Lucinda’s been on her back to do new things. I had to do the insurance check this month and take over the redesign of the guidebook.’ She saw my widened eyes. ‘I know, I know. I even took work home last week.’

‘And I’ve been supervising conservators all over the place and raising purchase orders,’ I said. ‘I need to get back out on the estate before I lose my mind at Tally.’

My phone vibrated. It was Callum.Suggest you come up to Claybeck asap.

I was much better at driving off-road now, but that didn’t stop me from grinding the gears as I took off from the gravelled area near the kitchen garden. Mica gave me a doubtful wave as I passed, and I managed to smile and wave back.

I began to enjoy the solitude as Stonemore retreated, and the track wound its way through the estate, edged by deep, lush grasses and bracken, the hills both brooding and vast but also vivid with summer colours: yellow and purple along with dark, dense greens and browns. I drove past a small area that had been replanted, glancing at the baby trees (okay, saplings, but I liked calling them that in my head).

It wasn’t long before I saw Callum’s Land Rover, parked at a short distance from the river. He got out and waved.

‘Is everything okay?’ I said.

‘Yes, don’t worry – just follow me,’ he said. We climbed a rocky stepped path, then made our way quietly through the copse that led to the riverbank. Then he stopped and pointed.

I’d seen some of the dams the beavers had been building, but this was different. Situated in the midst of water stilled by their dam-building, was a dense mass of tangled branches, vegetation and mud. A smooth mound of, well,messto the untrained eye – silhouetted against the cool, dancing light on the water.

I clutched his arm.

It was more than a beaver lodge. It was a beaverpalace.

‘Think they’ve settled in?’ he said softly, and his face broke into the biggest smile imaginable.

My own smile answered his. I was so happy in that moment – every worry evaporated, pushed out by the sheer gloriousness of it. It was spine-tingling, and it was the kind of moment when, if we were going to do it, we should have wanted to kiss each other. Instead we just looked at each other, our faces bright with happiness, and absolutely no chemistry at all sparkling between us. And there was something about the look we exchanged that noted all of that, and declared that it was no problem at all.

‘This is a good day,’ I whispered, and as he nodded, I took my phone out and quietly took a picture of the lodge.

‘I bet we get kits next year,’ he murmured to me, and tears of happiness pricked behind my eyelids.

We left the pond and went back to our vehicles. Leaning against the bonnet of his Land Rover, both exhilarated, we took in the view: the hills and fields rolling away from us, divided into irregular shapes by walls and hedgerows; the perfect line of cloud at the horizon, and the intense brilliant blue of the sky. He nudged me. ‘Are things alright between us?’ he said. He kept his eyes on the horizon.

‘They are,’ I said. ‘They absolutely are.’

‘That’s good,’ he said. ‘Because I think you might turn out to be one of the best friends I’ve ever had.’

‘Oh, stop it!’ I said, and gave him a shove as he laughed.

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