Page 76 of Mysteries, Menace, and Mates

Hashtag took hold of her hand. “Delighted to meet you, Eve. I’m Donal Phillips.”

Roadkill took her other hand. “And I’m Hiroshi Ogawa.”

Eve smiled. “I love your names.” She pulled her hands free and looped her arms around their necks. “Now kiss me.”

“Bossy woman,” Roadkill murmured as he leaned in.

“What he said,” Hashtag added before all their lips met in a sweet kiss.

You know you wouldn’t have me any other way.

Their chuckles were all the answer Eve required.

“Now I’ll show you the rest,” she said when they parted.

Hashtag blinked. “Wait—there’s more? And what happened to hightailing it back to Leighton Hall to see Richard?”

She rolled her eyes. “I think we’ve got time for a quick tour. There are lots of outbuildings, and if you go out the front door and follow the driveway to the left, you’ll come to a walled part of the estate. It used to be the stables, and there’s a huge grassy area with stone buildings along two sides. It hasn’t been used for that purpose for years, of course.” She smiled. “If you’d both thought the Hall too grand to live in, I was going to suggest that we convert the stables into something cozy for us.”

“I wouldn’t say it’stoogrand,” Roadkill mused. “But we’d rattle around like peas in a pod, it’s so big. Maybe we could live in one wing?”

“Can I see the gardens?” Hashtag asked.

Eve smiled and took his hand. She led them out of the Hall through a side door, and his first thought was that the front of the Hall was far prettier than the rear. A low gray stone wall followed the curve of the semicircular flower beds, urns sitting atop the wall at regular intervals. The beds were laid out in the shape of a flower, its petals open, containing a mix of yellow-leaved shrubs and purple lavender.

Roadkill inclined his head toward the wall. “I can hear the river.”

Eve sighed. “This was always my favorite place when I was a little girl. I loved that I could hear the running water from my bedroom whenever I came to visit Grandfather.” She smirked. “Which was probably why I had to run to the bathroom a lot.”

Hashtag put his arms around her. “You feel better about the place now, don’t you?”

She gave him a warm smile. “Yeah, I do. And I think that’s down to you two.”

They’d helped her see the Hall with fresh eyes.

“Sonowhow about we drive back to Leighton Hall and give Richard the good news?” Roadkill suggested.

“Sounds good to me.”

“Can we stop off on the way there?” Hashtag inquired.

“Sure. Is there someplace particular you want to go?” When he didn’t reply right away, Eve gave him a quizzical glance. “Hey, we can go anywhere you like.”

Hashtag bit his lip. “Can we go to Tesco’s?”

It was Eve’s turn to blink. “Of course, but why?”

He shrugged. “I wanted to see what an English supermarket is like, that’s all.”

Roadkill snorted. “And the rest. I know whatyou’reafter.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said with a huff.

“Yeah, right.” Roadkill grinned at Eve. “You might as well know this now. He’s a chocoholic, and he hasn’t had a fix for days.”

Eve let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God I’m not the only one.” She linked arms with them. “Come on. Let’s go shopping.”

As they walked along the lane to the parking lot, Eve felt happier than she’d been in a long time.

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