Dylan looked surprised, as if he hadn’t expected this response from her at all and hadn’t thought about how to handle it.
“Deal,” he said hesitantly, and Cassie knew with a surge of relief that she’d made the right call.
*
The path down to the sea was a few hundred yards away, in a place where the cliff face was less sheer. Cassie had worried that it might be dangerous, but although it was steep and stony, the winding trail was not risky to negotiate.
Once she and Dylan were at the bottom, they walked single file along the exposed section of narrow, stony beach.
“When the tide’s in, this is completely covered,” Dylan called to her. “The sea breaks onto the cliffs, basically.”
It was freezing cold down here and the spray from the waves was shocking but exhilarating. Cassie guessed that on a windy day, you’d be drenched just walking alongside the sea.
“There you are.”
The pink trainer was lying on a rock and Dylan picked his way between the sharp boulders to collect it. He handed it to Cassie and they hurried back, scrunching over the pebbled beach and scrambling up the path again.
Cassie realized the good weather was passing by, and she was glad they’d managed to get the shoe when they had. The afternoon was clouding over and the wind was starting up again, icy and strong and blowing from the north.
When she checked on Madison, she found she was in her bedroom, doing a puzzle on a tray. Dylan headed into the dining room with a book and sprawled down onto the bean bag in the corner.
Cassie stuffed both the shoes with newspaper and set them near the radiator in the laundry to dry.
Only then did she allow herself to return to the kitchen, and she made sure to keep her thoughts on a tight rein. When she wasn’t focusing on the food, she listened out for any sounds that meant Dylan or Madison might need her.
When she heard the click of the front door opening, her heart leaped, despite the stern talking-to she’d given herself. It was only two thirty in the afternoon. She hoped everything was all right, and that Ryan hadn’t had a crisis at his work. She rushed out of the kitchen to say hello.
As she reached the hallway, Cassie stopped, staring in astonishment.
A young woman with pale pink hair had come in and was locking the door behind her.
She turned, saw Cassie, did a double take, and regarded her with the same surprise.
“Who’re you?” she asked.
CHAPTER TEN
Cassie stared at the pink-haired woman with suspicion.
“I’m helping out here,” she said, this time remembering to be careful about how she worded her role. “I arrived on the weekend. But who are you?”
The woman had just let herself in. She obviously had a key. Surely Ryan would have mentioned that to her?
She looked to be a couple of years younger than Cassie, and was very pretty, wearing faded, low-rise jeans that showed off her hourglass figure. With her fair skin and local accent she was clearly from the area.
“My name’s Harriet. I work for Maids of Devon, and I clean here two afternoons a week. Usually Mondays and Fridays, unless the Monday is a bank holiday.”
“Oh,” Cassie said.
She was still distrustful, wondering if she should call Ryan to make sure, when Dylan shouted from the dining room, “Hi, Harriet!”
“Hey, Dylan,” Harriet called back.
She removed her lilac jacket, hung it on the coat stand, and took a smock out of her backpack.
“Anything special needs doing today?” she asked.
Her tone wasn’t friendly.
“What do you usually do?” Cassie felt at a loss.
With a shake of her candy floss hair, Harriet replied. “Usually put on a load of washing, get it in the dryer, fold it. Change the bedding weekly in all rooms—today’s bedding day. Clean the bathrooms and the kitchen weekly, usually on Friday. Vacuum the house, dust, tidy, and then do any other jobs that need doing, but not ironing. If you don’t have anything else today, I generally start in the rooms.”
She headed purposefully for Ryan’s room.
Cassie still felt totally confused. She wanted to follow Harriet into the bedroom and question her further but thought it would be rude. She had to accept that Ryan had just forgotten to tell her. After all, he’d left so early this morning he’d been gone before she was out of bed.
Even so, when she’d arrived on Saturday, Ryan had told her he’d cleaned especially for her. He hadn’t mentioned that a housekeeper had been in the day before and done it all.
Feeling flustered by the alternative version of events that now existed, Cassie returned to the kitchen and finished preparing supper. She’d seasoned and spiced the pumpkin she’d bought yesterday, which was now ready to roast. She had cooked and mashed some potatoes, and made onion gravy to accompany the chicken pies she’d found in the freezer.
Harriet sashayed into the kitchen carrying a laundry basket piled high with bedding and towels.
She headed through the back door to the laundry room and in a minute, the washing machine started up.
Then she returned to the kitchen.
“I see you’ve been busy,” she said, looking at the results of Cassie’s efforts.
“I thought I’d help out today,” Cassie said.
“You were hired as a cook, or to help with the kids?”
“I’m mostly helping with the kids.”
Rattled, Cassie wondered whether Ryan had omitted to tell her about other staff, and a cook might make an appearance at the front door tomorrow.
Harriet left the kitchen again, returning with the empty wine bottle and the glasses that they’d left out on the balcony the previous night. She stared at the two glasses for a moment before packing them in the dishwasher and then glanced back at Cassie.
“So you’re from the States, right?”
“Yes.”
“You been here long?”
“In the country, about three weeks. I started this job on the weekend.”
“How’d you hear about it? This isn’t where most people go. Usually it’s London.”
“My friend au paired
