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They loaded her camera equipment in his car, and he drove to the manor house. She had to get her mind on photographing animals and off seeing a dead man in the ocean.

As Robert helped her with her camera equipment, Edeen came out with her two fox terriers, Jinx and Rogue. “I thought we could take the pictures in the garden since the flowers are all blooming right now,” Edeen said.

“Unless you need me for anything else, I’m off to the clinic,” Robert said.

“Go. We’ve got this.” Maisie really wanted to know what Gus had died from. But she was soon having a ball with the terriers, Edeen holding up a treat for them so they would look up and focus. They were doing so well sitting and behaving for photos. Some dogs wouldn’t look at the camera. Some wouldn’t sit still or would lie down and go to sleep. Edeen’s dogs were being really good.

“Okay, I’m getting Ruby now, and we can take some of the three of them together,” Edeen said.

Before long, a large male Irish wolfhound came running down the hill from the castle, and Edeen laughed. “You know who that is, don’t you?”

“Conan and Ruby’s daddy.”

“Yeah, Hercules has made a home with us here too. He loves the other dogs.”

Maisie had Hercules sit next to Ruby, the two fox terriers serving as bookends. Perfect. Once she was done taking pictures of them, she took a photo of Edeen’s Scottish fold cat sitting on the windowsill, then her two Highland calves out in their corral. “Do you want pictures of anyone else?”

Edeen shook her head, rubbing her belly. “Just the babies when they come.”

“I should do a maternity shoot with you and Lachlan too,” Maisie said.

“Yes, that would be grand. I’ll talk to Lachlan about it so we can make some time for it.” Edeen ushered all the pets back into the house, even Hercules.

“I’m off to take some photos of Colleen’s animals. Then I’ll take pictures of Mittens afterward.”

“I’ll drive you up there. We have a great walk path and gate through the ancient stonewall dike, but since you have all that camera equipment, it’s better if we drive.” Edeen got her car out of the garage, and they loaded Maisie’s equipment into it, taking Hercules with them, and then drove up to the castle.

When they parked, they let Hercules out, and Lachlanmet up with the ladies. “Here, let me help you with your equipment. What were you doing at our house, Hercules?” The dog wagged his tail vigorously. Lachlan gave Edeen a kiss and hug first, then rubbed her back.

“Hmm, that feels good. We’re going to do a maternity shoot in a couple of months, so we’ll have to schedule you some time off from work,” Edeen said to Lachlan.

He smiled. “Sure thing.”

Maisie thought they were such a cute couple.

Lachlan led both of them into the kennels so Maisie could take pictures of all the Irish wolfhounds. She even took some photos of Conan while she was there and loved how well behaved he was for it. “I still want to do the transitional training with Conan, but it will have to wait until after the open house because of doing all these photo shoots. They’re a priority.”

“Certainly. Transitional training isn’t usually started until the fourth week, and we’re nearly at the end of week three, so there’s no problem at all with waiting. He’s doing so well that you can do it whenever you’re ready. Also, who do you want to stay with you and Anne?” Lachlan asked. “Colleen told me you were going to get back with her on it, but she’s taking a much-needed nap.”

“Oh, just tell her that we’ll let her decide.” Maisie snapped some shots of their two Scottish fold cats with folded ears—Rapscallion, a blue, and Tinker, a white—as they roamed into the kennel.

Lachlan laughed. “We’ll have to have a lottery then.”

Edeen chuckled. “That’s for sure.”

“What about a maternity shoot for Colleen and Grant?” Maisie asked.

“I’m sure she would love it. She’s so close to giving birth that it does need to be done quickly though,” Lachlan said.

They went to the horse stables, and Lachlan brought out a couple of horses for her to photograph. After that, they walked into the field to capture some shots of their Highland cows and Scottish blackface sheep. Maisie was so glad she was getting this done as she’d planned. Setting goals and deadlines for herself was important, especially reaching them in time.

Once they were done, Lachlan texted someone and said to Maisie, “We’ll be sending someone in half an hour to the inn. I take it Iverson is still there with Anne.”

“He is. And Robert’s doing the autopsy at the clinic,” Maisie said.

“Good. Colleen said she would love to do a maternity shoot in the gardens right now since you’ve got the camera equipment here and you’re done with the animals, if you have time. After her nap, she felt rejuvenated.”

“Absolutely.”