by Hannah Ellis
“Oh!” The weekend with Jack seemed a long time ago. After the fun collecting couches, she’d forgotten all about it. “Yeah. Jack was pretty busy so I didn’t really see much of him. It’s hard figuring out how to have a long-distance relationship. I’m sure it’ll be fine when we get used to it.”
“I’m sure it will.”
“I’m going to walk the dogs,” Josie said. “Then I’m going to figure out how to get us some customers. Maybe I should start approaching dog-walkers and offering them flyers with a ten percent discount or something.”
“Stop worrying. Before you know it, the kennels will all be full and you’ll be wishing for the day you only had our dogs to walk.”
“I just feel bad that we haven’t had any bookings yet.”
“I forgot to tell you – Graham asked us to have his two dogs next weekend while he’s away.”
“That’s good.” Her smile faded and she looked at Annette questioningly. “Is this a paid booking or a favour for a friend?”
“A favour,” Annette said. “But it’s good. Like a trial run for you. Except it’s over the weekend so you’ll be at home, won’t you? Never mind.”
“Maybe I can stay,” Josie mused.
“Don’t be silly. I can manage a couple of dogs on my own.”
“Let’s pretend it’s a proper booking anyway and put it in the calendar.”
“I already did,” Annette said.
“Really? I thought I’d have to show you how to use the calendar.”
“I’ve been taking bookings for fifty-odd years. I think I know how to write them in the diary.” They stared at each other for a moment. “Don’t tell me – you’ve got some new-fangled thing you want me to use.”
“The online bookings go straight to the calendar on the computer, so we’ll just have to add phone bookings to that.”
“That doesn’t make sense. What happens when you go home on the weekends and take your laptop with you?”
“I set it up on your computer too,” Josie said. “It’s all linked.”
“We never really used that computer. It’s another thing Max insisted on, but I never saw the point.”
“I’ll show you how to use it,” Josie said. “You’ll soon get the hang of it.”
“Maybe we can just put my diary next to the computer and you can transfer the online bookings into that. Things don’t go wrong when you write them down.”
“That’ll just be confusing,” Josie argued.
“It must be your system that doesn’t work then, because I’ve been writing the bookings in the diary for fifty years and there’s never been any confusion.”
With a deep breath, Josie smiled tightly. It didn’t seem like she was going to win this battle today, and since they didn’t have any proper bookings yet, it didn’t seem worth the headache.
“I’ll write them in the diary until you get the hang of the online calendar.”
Annette looked dubious but set about tidying the breakfast things away and didn’t comment further.
“It rained in the night,” she said, as Josie slipped her shoes on. “Take my wellies. Your feet will end up soaking wet otherwise.”
“I’m fine,” she said brightly, remembering Sam’s comment.
Annette tutted and Josie called for the dogs and set off to walk them. She ambled over the hills for a couple of hours, and when the damp seeped from the grass through her trainers, an image of Sam came to mind again. She still wasn’t about to start wearing wellies.
Back at the house, she wrote a few posts on the social media accounts for the kennels. She really thought they’d start getting bookings immediately and was disappointed by the silence. In the afternoon, she took the dogs out for another walk and was down by the barn when she saw a familiar face at the gate. Amber, the woman with the little boy she’d met when she first arrived. He was fast asleep in the buggy.
“Thought I’d call in for a cuppa while he sleeps.” Amber gave Josie a warm hug. “How are you settling in?”
“Good,” Josie said. “Come and see what I got for the kennels.”
She proudly showed off her reclaimed furniture. Amber was suitably impressed. They had a good giggle when Josie explained how she’d come to get them.
“Sam’s such a good guy,” Amber said, as they wandered back out into the sunshine. “It’s nice that he helped you out.”
“It cheered me up after a crappy weekend anyway.”
“What was wrong with your weekend?”
“Oh, nothing,” Josie said. She had a tendency to talk too much and would generally tell her life story to anyone who asked. But there was something about Amber as well; she was very easy to chat to. “My boyfriend was driving me up the wall, but it’s not really anything new.”
“I didn’t realise you had a boyfriend.” Amber stopped, then opened her mouth to say something a couple of times before she finally spoke. “I thought you liked Sam.”
Josie frowned. “He told you I kissed him?”
She shook her head before she started laughing. “No. He didn’t tell me that!”
“Oh, God!” Josie headed to the house. “It never happened! I’ll make coffee and we’ll pretend I didn’t say anything.”
“Or you could make coffee and then tell me everything,” Amber suggested.
After Annette said a quick hello, she left them alone and they sat out on the patio.
“So what happened with you and Sam?” Amber said, glancing inside to check Annette wasn’t around.
“Not much. I kissed him at Lizzie’s wedding. I’d split up with my boyfriend. Sam and I were dancing together for most of the evening … And then we ended up kissing on the beach. It was just a kiss.” Albeit a kiss she couldn’t think about without her stomach going into a sudden gymnastics routine.
“What happened with your boyfriend then?”
“We decided to give it another go. Sam and I are just friends.”
“That’s a shame,” Amber said. “I thought you and Sam seemed perfect for each other. He didn’t say anything about the kiss, but when he was telling me about you …”
“What?”
“I don’t know. He just seemed quite taken with you. Somehow I presumed it would be mutual.”
Josie forced herself not to dwell on the comment. “We’re definitely just friends.” She paused, wondering if she and Jack really could survive the long distance. “I told Jack we’d give things another try. Although, I think long-distance will be hard. The drive back to Oxford is long when I just go for a weekend.” She’d already been toying with the idea of going back every fortnight instead of every week.
The thing that was really niggling her regarding her relationship with Jack was that instead of absence making the heart grow fonder, she had the feeling that for them it was more a case of out of sight, out of mind. Making an effort for their relationship really shouldn’t be so much work, should it? They should want to see each other. And shouldn’t they be on the phone every day? She could go days without even thinking of him, and she was sure it was the same for him.
“I’m sure it will work if you really want it to,” Amber said positively. “And the drive will probably seem shorter once you’ve done it a few times.”
“Maybe.” Josie was unconvinced. Part of her thought that when they broke up last time, they should have stayed that way. She pushed the thoughts aside.
Kieron’s eyes flickered open and he immediately demanded to be taken out of the buggy. He spent a few minutes groggily cuddled up to Amber before he caught sight of the dogs. Tilly and Charlie lay sprawled under the patio table and barely moved when Kieron reached down to pat them. Macy darted around him, wanting to play, and Kieron happily toddled around the garden with her.
It was half an hour later when Amber made a move to leave.
“If you’re ever around on the weekend, give me a shout. I’m usually in the pub on Friday evenings with my friend, Tara. You should come with us.”
“I might be here this
weekend,” Josie said. Even though they only had the neighbour’s dogs staying, Josie felt she should stay around and help Annette.
“Great.” Amber reached for her phone and they swapped numbers. “You should definitely come out with us.”
Chapter 15
On Wednesday morning, Josie took a call for a last-minute booking: two Bernese Mountain dogs to stay for the weekend. That cemented her decision to stay around. She was excited about her first customers.
Max came to collect Tilly on Thursday morning. Annette had gone off to do some shopping and Josie was sitting on the patio enjoying the sunshine. Tilly bounded over to him as soon as he got out of the car, and he made a big fuss of her before Josie got any attention.
She stood to greet him. “We weren’t expecting you until later.”
“I thought I’d come early and get some jobs done while I’m here.” He kissed her cheek and then his gaze roamed over the flagstones on the patio. “I was going to jet-wash the patio but it looks like someone beat me to it.”
“I did it yesterday,” Josie said happily.
He glanced over towards the gate. “And you cut the rhododendrons back?”
“We’ve got our first customers arriving tomorrow so I wanted to make sure everything looked perfect. I jet-washed the sign at the front gate too. And I painted the gate and stable doors when I got here.”
“All the jobs I’ve been meaning to get to. Do the dogs need a walk?”
“No.” She sat down again. “All done.”
“Did you leave me anything to do?”
She shrugged. “I wouldn’t say no to a coffee!”
“Is Annette around?”
“Gone shopping,” Josie called as he disappeared into the kitchen.
He returned a few minutes later with coffee for them both.
“Are you okay?” Josie asked when he stared blankly into the distance.
“Yeah.” He stretched his tanned legs out and leaned back in his seat. “It’s weird being here and having nothing to do. I don’t really know the last time I just sat and enjoyed the view.”
“It must’ve been hard when Wendy was ill.” Josie had heard from Lizzie how torn Max had been, trying to juggle a new job and be around for Annette and Wendy too.
“I always seemed to be running around the place. There was always something that needed to be done. I didn’t mind,” he added quickly.
“Of course not.” They sat in silence for a few minutes. “So how was the honeymoon?”
“Great.” His face relaxed. “Really great.”
He pulled out his phone and showed her a photo of him and Lizzie on a pristine beach. “Swipe through,” he said, handing her the phone.
“It looks amazing.” She flicked through pictures of the wonderful scenery and the two of them looking so happy. “Is Lizzie okay?”
“Yeah. She was going to come today but she’s struggling with the jet lag.”
“I’ll catch up with her soon.”
“Why don’t you come over on Saturday? Sam was talking about driving over. You could come together. We can have a barbecue.”
“Okay.” It sounded lovely. Josie always enjoyed her visits to Hope Cove. That’s why she felt so excited by the idea, she assured herself. Not the thought of spending time with Sam. Or maybe it was a bit of both.
Annette arrived home half an hour later, and Max stayed to catch up with her for a while before packing Tilly into the car and heading back to Hope Cove.
***
It was lunchtime on Friday when their first customers arrived. Josie had been waiting for them, full of nervous excitement.
“They’re here!” She stood on the patio and waved as the car crawled up the driveway. Charlie and Macy were inside, out of the way.
“Hi!” Josie greeted the couple warmly as they stepped out of the car. Sarah and Ben Jones were middle-aged and both smiled warmly as they greeted Josie.
“I’m so happy you could take them,” Sarah said. “We’re going to Rome for the weekend. I found a last-minute deal that was too good to pass up but our usual kennels were full. My neighbour had seen one of your flyers in the local pet shop.”
“That’s perfect,” Josie said. “We’ve just reopened after a little break. I’m so glad you found us.”
“It’s gorgeous here.” Sarah looked around, smiling at the view.
“They can be a bit boisterous.” Ben opened the car boot to get the dogs out. He took a firm hold of the leads as they jumped out excitedly.
“Oh, they’re gorgeous,” Josie said. They were huge dogs with wonderfully big droopy eyes.
Ben passed the leads to Josie and she cooed and fussed over them as though they were children. Very quickly, they rushed around her and she moved to avoid getting caught in the leads as they went in opposite directions.
She made a strange whimpering noise and tried not to panic as the leads tightened around her legs. If she fell over, she’d die of embarrassment. Sarah tried to help untangle her, but they just got into more of a mess.
Annette had been hanging back until that point. She took hold of the dogs by the collars, unclipping their leads and telling Josie to step out of the tangled mess she’d created.
Holding out a finger, Annette let go of the dogs and told them to sit, her voice taking on a strange tone as though she were suddenly possessed. Amazingly, the dogs did as they were told, and Josie watched in shock as Annette told them to stay. They did exactly what she said.
“That’s amazing,” Ben said. “I’ve tried to train them so many times. They don’t listen to us.”
“It takes some practice.” Annette picked up the leads and clipped them back onto the collars. “We’ll show you where they’ll be staying.”
Josie felt utterly useless as they walked towards the barn. She was used to Charlie and Macy, and it hadn’t occurred to her that she could make a fool of herself so quickly. She’d looked utterly incompetent and hoped that Annette wouldn’t be annoyed with her. She listened intently as Annette chatted with the couple and gently put them at ease about leaving their dogs with them. It was amazing to see her so confident and professional.
When they walked back up to the house, leaving the dogs safely locked in their kennel, everyone chatted easily, and Josie made small talk with Sarah about her weekend away.
Josie turned to Annette when they stood waving the couple away. “I’m sorry. That was so embarrassing.”
“Don’t be silly,” Annette said. “It’s your first day on the job. You’ll get used to handling the dogs.”
“I hope so. I thought I was going to fall on my bum!”
“Me too.” Annette chuckled. “Perhaps when you walk them, you should take them out one at a time. Just while we’re quiet, and until you get a bit more confident.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me. What do I need to do? Should I take them for a walk now? Or feed them?”
“No.” Annette looked thoroughly amused. “Let’s go inside and have a cuppa. We can go through the routine.”
Annette patiently explained everything to Josie over the course of the afternoon. They walked the dogs together, and Annette showed Josie a few tips for keeping the dogs under control. She had a sing-song voice that she used for the dogs, and somehow they did exactly as they were told. When Josie tried it, it didn’t work quite so well. In fact, the dogs kept jumping up at her, and they were so powerful, they almost knocked her off her feet a few times.
“Why don’t they listen to me?” Josie complained as they stood outside the barn with the dogs. She’d spent ten minutes trying to get them to sit, but it was like they were completely deaf to her instructions.
“It takes time, that’s all. You’ll get the hang of things. Let’s get them back inside. Graham should be here soon with Pixie and Skittle.”
“Those are very weird names for dogs!” Josie said.
Annette nodded. “I know. But you’ll no doubt hear far worse soon enough. You have to learn to bite your tongue.”
“Great,” Josie said. “Another new skill to learn!”
When Graham arrived half an hour later, Josie was relieved to see that Pixie and Skittle were far smaller dogs than their other guests. They seemed much more docile, and Josie was sure she could handle them. Graham had a quick chat with Annette and then promptly left them to it.
Late in the afternoon, Annette took Josie out to the barn to explain the feeding routine.
“I’ll get used to this smell eventually, won’t I?” she asked Annette as she scraped the dog food from the tins. It was an effort not to gag.
“What smell?” Annette asked.
“This!” Josie mushed the food in the bowl.
“You’ll get used to it. I don’t even smell it any more.”
Josie turned her nose up and decided Annette’s sense of smell must have just given up and died at some point. She almost wished hers would do the same.
“I might go up to the pub later,” Josie said, trying to distract herself from the stench. “If you don’t need me.”
“That’s a good idea,” Annette said. “Why don’t you give Sam a call? He’d go with you.”
“Amber said she’d be there so I thought I might join her. She said she always meets her friend there on Friday nights.”
“Tara?” Annette said. “Yes, you’ll get on well with those two. Tara can be a bit wild. You’ll have fun, I’m sure.”
Chapter 16
It was a funny feeling, walking into the pub on her own. In Oxford or London, she wouldn’t think twice about going into a bar alone. Village pubs were different. Everyone turned to look when she walked in. She plastered on a smile and scanned the room for Amber. She’d messaged to make sure she’d definitely be there, but she couldn’t see her. Feeling self-conscious, she headed for the bar.
“Hello!” a familiar voice said. It was Sam, sitting on a stool at the bar. She was relieved to see someone she knew. “Annette let you out to play, did she?”
“She did,” Josie said with a grin.
“I’ll get you a drink. What you having?”
“No. I’ll get you one. I owe you for helping me with the couches.”