Page 100 of The Moon Sister
Then I read Maia’s email.
Dear Tiggy,
I’ve been thinking about our conversation a lot since we spoke and I’m worried about you and our weird ‘stalker’. Even though the job sounds amazing, please think carefully.
I hummed and hahed about whether to send you the attached, but I think you should see it before you decide. It’s from a year ago but . . .
Don’t hate me!
Hope to see you in the summer,
Speak soon,
Maia xx
I scrolled down and opened the attachment. And there in front of me was a picture of the man currently waiting for me in the Great Room. He had his arm slung around my sister Electra’s shoulder, and the caption read:
‘Zed Eszu and Electra enjoy each other’s company at a gallery opening in Manhattan. Seen out and about in the city occasionally in the past eighteen months, one wonders whether they are officially an item or whether they’ll keep us guessing.’
‘That confirms it,’ I muttered, as I clicked ‘print’, then folded the sheet and stuck it in the back pocket of my jeans.
Gathering myself together for a second, I took a deep breath and headed for the Great Room.
‘Tiggy.’ Zed rose and walked towards me from his chair by the fire – the heat in the room was stifling. ‘I feel I have not had you to myself for a long time. It is almost as though you have been avoiding me,’ he added as he kissed me on both cheeks.
‘Not at all, Zed. Everything’s just been very busy.’
‘With the sighting of the white stag, you mean?’
‘I . . . it’s only hearsay, Zed.’
‘Come along, Tiggy, we all know you have seen him, that Cal took photographs of him, which have somehow made their way into the media’s hands. If I was Charlie Kinnaird, I would be singing to the treetops about it. It is a sure-fire way to put the Kinnaird estate on the tourist map. What is he waiting for?’
‘Charlie would never do that, Zed, because we must do everything we can toprotectthe stag, and letting hundreds of people onto the estate is hardly the way to do that. Not to mention the threat of poachers. The stag’s so rare, he’s almost mythical. Please remember that my profession – and my remit here – is all about wildlife conservation.’
‘Of course, and wouldn’t it be incredible if we could get a shot of you and the stag for the launch of our charity? Forget the giraffe,’ Zed chuckled, ‘they are two a penny, as they say here in the UK. Next time you go out to see the stag, can I come with you and bring a camera? I believe he has been spotted in the birch copse. I saw the old Range Rover parked there yesterday when I took a ride out in my own to try to spot him.’
‘Zed, we have to talk,’ I said firmly, horrified that Zed seemed to know where Pegasus was.
‘Of course. You will want to know the details of your package. I have my eye on a loft in Chelsea that I think would suit you when you are in Manhattan, and not saving lions in Africa. Now, I have some champagne on ice’ – he indicated it, nestled in a silver ice bucket on the drinks cabinet. ‘Shall I open it?’
I stared at him in disbelief. He was obviously convinced I was going to take the job.
‘No, Zed, because—’
‘You have concerns,’ he said without missing a beat. ‘So I have prepared a file for you that sets out your job specification and, of course, your salary. Here.’ He offered me a folder.
‘Thank you for going to so much trouble, but I’m afraid I can’t take the job, and nothing can change my mind.’
Zed frowned at me. ‘Can I ask you why?’
‘Because . . .’ The many answers I’d prepared flew out of my head as his gaze didn’t waver. ‘I like it here.’
‘Come now, Tiggy, I am sure you can do better than that.’
I saw the glint of steel surface in Zed’s eyes.
‘I really am a country girl at heart and this feels like home.’
