Allie brought her a glass of bright green liquid.
“Peppermint cordial?”
Allie nodded. “Drink it. You look like you need it.”
Dawn nodded and accepted the tall glass. Ice cubes clinked against the side as she raised it to her lips and took a sip.
“That’s so good, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now are you going to tell me what’s worrying you?” Allie took a seat on the sofa.
Dawn placed her glass on the coffee table in front of them and watched as a bead of condensation trickled down the side.
“I don’t know what to do, Allie.”
“About what? Is it Rick? Are you two doing okay now?”
Dawn met Allie’s bright blue eyes and a lump lodged in her throat. She shook her head.
“No, it’s not about us.”
Although, if she had the time to talk about it, she would tell Allie that, yes, there were some problems with Rick. Things had improved slightly for a while but over the past week – possibly even longer – for some reason, they seemed to have deteriorated again. But perhaps it was just her. She was, after all, pregnant and exhausted, and it was possible that her imagination was finding issues where in fact there were none.
Perhaps…
“Not really. Things are fine with Rick. I mean… well… they’re…” She bit her lip. She didn’t have time to air her marital woes right now. “There’s something more pressing to deal with.” She patted her black tote bag with the white writing #babyonboard. Her sister, Camilla, had bought it for her when she’d been pregnant with Laura and Dawn had kept it ever since, using it as a makeshift handbag when the lining of her old one was too sticky with old sweet wrappers and snotty tissues from the children. Rick had bought her new bags for birthdays and Christmases, but they were always designer labels and far too nice to fill with dummies, nappies, wet wipes and all the bits and bobs she’d acquired over the years as a mum of two.
Allie nodded. “And…” She raised her eyebrows.
Dawn opened the bag and stuck her hand inside. She pulled out a small parcel and laid it on her lap.
“You’ve brought me a gift?” Allie smiled.
“Not exactly.”
“Then what is it?”
Dawn passed the parcel to her friend. Allie touched the pink tissue paper then peeled away the Sellotape that held the wrapping together.
“Oh my god! What on earth is that?” Allie grimaced.
“It’s Wallace.”
“Wallace?”
“Our guinea pig. He’s dead.”
“I can see that. If he wasn’t, I’d be asking you why you’ve turned him into a bizarre pass-the-parcel.”
The door to the café opened and Allie quickly covered her lap with her apron.
“Good afternoon, ladies.”
It was Chris, Allie’s boyfriend. He came over to their table, pecked Allie on the lips, then sat down on the reclaimed wooden chair opposite them.
“Hi Dawn.”
“Hi, Chris.”
“You okay there, Allie?” he asked.
“What?” Allie frowned, so Chris gestured at her lap where her apron bulged over Wallace.
“Oh… no.” Allie’s cheeks flushed. “Dawn brought something to show me.”
In spite of the current circumstances, Dawn had to admit that Allie looked really well. Successful author Chris Monroe had returned to the village of Heatherlea that summer for his mother’s funeral and decided to stay. His main reason being because he was head-over-heels in love with café owner Allie Jones. Dawn was delighted to see her friend so happy. She’d known Allie for a long time but only become good friends with her in recent years after getting to know her in the café. Allie had been widowed six years ago when her husband was killed in a car accident. But she’d proved to be a strong, resilient woman and had used the life insurance money to set up The Cosy Cottage Café, which was now a very successful business in the pretty Surrey village.
“Something nice?” Chris asked.
“Oh no! Not at all.”
Sweat prickled on Dawn’s forehead.
“I see. Shall I leave you two alone for a bit?” Chris made to get up but Allie shook her head.
“No, Chris, it’s okay. Dawn’s guinea pig died and she brought it to show me. Dawn, you need to get it out of here. If anyone sees it… I mean him… I’ll have health and safety inspectors all over me.” Allie moved her apron then handed the parcel to Dawn.
“Yes, of course.”
“How did he die?” Chris asked.
“I don’t know.” Dawn’s lip wobbled.
Allie slid an arm around her and squeezed. “Come on, love, it’ll be all right.”
“But the children will be devastated. And my father-in-law will be too. I’m sure that Rick’s parents already think I don’t do a good enough job as a wife and mother and this will just be something else I’ve failed at.”
“I’m sure that’s not true, Dawn, especially not where Paul’s concerned. Although I know Fenella can be… challenging at times.”
Dawn nodded, thinking of how her mother-in-law made her feel.
“Is this the guinea pig with an Instagram page? As in Wallace and Lulu’s Adventures?” Chris pulled a face.
“Shhhh!” Dawn and Allie shook their heads at him.
“Oh dear… and Allie’s right; you can’t have a dead animal in here.” He glanced around at the customers enjoying their afternoon tea and cakes.
“I know. That’s what I just said to her.”
“What am I going to do?” Dawn stared at the bundle wrapped in pink tissue paper. “Poor Wallace.”
“I have an idea,” Allie said as she stood up and beckoned to Chris. “Put him back in your bag for now and let’s see what we can do.”
Dawn slipped Wallace gently into her tote, then leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes. She was so, so tired. If she could just have a short nap, then she was sure she’d feel better and everything would fall into place.
Then she’d know what she needed to do…
“Dawn?”
She floated through the warm water, weightless and completely relaxed. It was so nice to be light and free and…
“Dawn, wake up!”
“What?” She shot up through the water to the surface where bubbles popped.
“Dawn, it’s three o’clock. Don’t you need to get the children from school?”
Allie was leaning over her, with a hand on her arm, and Dawn realised where she was: on the sofa, in the café. She must have fallen asleep.
She rubbed her eyes. “How long was I out?”
“About forty minutes.”
“Wow! Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Do you want me to go and pick Laura and James up?”
“Oh… they won’t let you.”
“Why not?”
“They’ve really clamped down on who’s allowed to collect the children and I had to list two authorised people, so I could only include me and Rick. My Mum couldn’t even be on the list unless I add her as an alternative, and for that I needed to ask special permission from the head teacher.”
“Things have really changed since Mandy and Jordan were at school.” Allie frowned. “But it’s probably a good thing. Shall I come with you, though?”
“No, you have the café to run, and it’s Friday, so you’ll probably have a teatime rush.”
“Chris will help out.”
“Where’s Jordan today?”
“He’s gone to London to spend the weekend with Mandy. She got them theatre tickets and a dinner reservation at a swanky restaurant. Max has gone too.”
“How lovely.” It would be really nice to get away for the weekend, to enjoy a show and a meal that wasn’t interrupted by a child refusing to eat their vegetables or by the other one needing a poo.
“Well as long as you’re sure you’ll be okay. Anyway, I think I’ve sorted something out regarding… Wallace.”
“Oh!”
It all came flooding back then. Poor Wallace. She reached out for her bag and realised it wasn’t on the sofa next to her, so she leaned over and spotted it under the coffee table. She pulled it towards her then reached inside but couldn’t find the small parcel.
“He’s gone!”
“What?” Allie’s eyes widened. “How can he be gone?”
Dawn emptied the bag over the seat next to her: tissues, Tampax – that she currently had no need of – two lip balms, half a biscuit, her purse and an old dummy covered in fluff. But no parcel wrapped in pink tissue paper. No Wallace…
She peered under the table again.
But there was no sign of him.
“What am I going to do?”
Dawn watched as Allie tucked her blonde hair behind her ears and looked around the café. There were two customers sitting at the table by the log burner – they hadn’t been there when Dawn had arrived – and the table by the other window was now empty, so the elderly women who’d been there earlier had obviously left. But they wouldn’t have taken Wallace. Why would they?
“Oh no!” Allie smacked her forehead.
“Oh no?”
“I bet this has something to do with Luna.”
“But she moved to Chris’s with you, didn’t she?” Allie had moved in with her boyfriend recently, taking her two cats Luna and Ebony with her.
“Yes… but she keeps finding her way back here. You know I don’t let the cats into the café but Luna has followed Chris back a few times and she did sneak in earlier when the door was open. What if she—”
“Luna has stolen Wallace?” Dawn’s heart pounded against her ribs. “What will she do with him?”
Allie grimaced. “She has a strong prey drive. She even toyed with a dead frog that she found on the road once. It was completely flat. I wrestled it off her and threw it over the back fence, a bit like a Frisbee, but she went and found it. Four times. So in the end I stuffed it in the bin.”
“But this is Wallace!”
“I know. I’m so sorry. However, Chris has popped out to see a man about a guinea pig, so you go and pick the children up and I’ll meet you back at yours. And don’t say a word about Wallace passing away to Laura and James. As far as they know, he’s still alive and well.”
Dawn nodded. “Thank you.”
“Don’t be daft. What’re friends for?”
She put her belongings back in her bag, even the fluff covered dummy, then finished her drink and got up. Allie was right; she needed to head over to the school. She hated being late for the children and rarely ever was. The thought of them waiting for her as others went home with their parents and grandparents was too much to bear.
But as she stepped out into the sunshine, her heart jumped, as a piece of pink tissue paper rolled past her on the café lawn like tumbleweed in the Wild West.
Taunting her.
Reminding her that tiny Wallace was missing.
And that the weekend she’d been looking forward to, was not going to work out quite the way she’d planned.
2
Dawn ushered the children towards home, glad that the school run was over until Monday. It was only a short walk to the village primary school but she was finding it tiring, especially in the heat. The heat that seemed incongruous when the remaining leaves still clinging to the trees were the rich reds, golds and browns of autumn.
“Mummy, can I have an ice cream, please?” Laura’s big smile revealed her pearly white teeth.
“I’m sure we can find something in the freezer,” Dawn replied, mentally scanning her last shop to check if she had bought some ice creams.
“Me too?” James asked. “Please?”
“Of course.”
Right now, Dawn felt so guilty she probably would have consented to two ice creams apiece. Anything to divert them from discovering Wallace’s demise.
As they turned onto the driveway, she was relieved to see Allie waiting by the front door.
“Auntie Allie!” Laura flew at her, wrapping her arms around her middle.
“Hello, Laura. Had a good day?”
“Yes! I wrote a story and I’m going to read it on a YouTube channel and make lots and lots of money.”
“I see…” Allie raised her eyebrows and Dawn discretely shook her head.
“It’s all about Lulu and Wallace and their adventures at the zoo and I’m going to post photos on Instagram to encourage people to view it.”
“Lovely. Well I’d really like it if you’d read it to me in person too.”
“Yes, come and have ice cream and I will read it to you right now.” Laura tugged at Allie’s hand.
“Hold on!” Dawn unlocked the door then stood back. “You two need to get changed out of your uniforms. Make sure you put them in the washing basket and put on the shorts and t-shirts that I’ve laid out on your beds.”
Laura nodded.
“Laura, no fancy dress this afternoon. It’s too hot.”
“But Mummy…”
Dawn shook her head.
“Oh all right then. Come on, James.”
Laura took James by the hand and led him into the house.
“Did you manage to find a… uh… a replacement?” Dawn asked Allie.
“I did. Well, Chris did. I hid it round the side behind the recycling bins so the children wouldn’t see it.”
“Brilliant. If we can just get it out to the back garden then they might never have to know.” Her stomach rolled. “I hate to deceive them but they love those animals and I just don’t think I can face seeing them upset right now.”
“Of course not.”
Five minutes later, Dawn and Allie were standing in the back garden gazing at the rabbit run.
“He looks right at home.” Allie smiled. “They’ll never guess.”
“I hope not. Come on, I’ll get you a drink.”
Dawn didn’t like to say anything, after Allie and Chris had gone to so much trouble to help, but although the guinea pig was white with brown paws, ears and nose, it was about twice the size of Wallace. Perhaps the children wouldn’t notice, and if they did, she could say that he’d put on weight. Although there was something else about him that was different too, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Back inside, she opened the freezer and located two ice creams then she handed them to Laura and James when they entered the kitchen, thankfully wearing the clothes she’d put out for them.
“Thank you!” they chorused.
“Why don’t you go and eat your ice creams in the garden?” Dawn asked.
They ran outside so Dawn stood still and listened, wondering if they’d spot the difference in their guinea pig. There were no immediate cries of shock or horror, so she released the breath she’d been holding.
“Shall we sit out in the shade?”
She poured two glasses of lemonade.
“Yes, lovely. I can’t stay long though as Chris is covering for me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Allie, I wasn’t thinking. You head back now, go on.”
Allie shook her head. “He’ll be fine for half an hour. I’ll keep you company for a bit.”
“Thank you.”
They sat on the wooden chairs on the decking just outside the French doors, and watched as Laura and James giggled together as they ate, sitting side by side on the root bench that Dawn had bought Rick for his last birthday. She’d looked online for weeks to find the perfect one. He’d hinted enough times when they’d visited garden centres and she’d finally found one that she thought he’d like. Her heart clenched. They’d been happy then hadn’t they? And that was only in the spring. Before they’d got pregnant again. Before Dawn’s hopes of returning to teaching had been replaced with thoughts of impending motherhood and how she’d manage with three children instead of two. Before Wallace had departed…
“Mummy!”
Laura was staring at the rabbit run.
Dawn pulled a face at Allie.
“Yes, love.”
�
�What’s happened to Wallace?”
“Uh… why?”
“He’s HUGE.”
“Is he?”
Dawn turned to Allie again and her friend pretended to stuff food into her mouth then waddled from side to side.
“Yes, Mummy, he’s so fat.” James was next to his sister now, peering at their pet.
“Well… he has been eating a lot recently.”
“But he wasn’t that big yesterday.”
Laura turned her intelligent gaze on her mother and a small frown furrowed her brow, then she put her hands on her hips. Dawn had to fight the urge to tell her not to get sticky hands on her clean clothes.
“No?” She asked her daughter.
“Perhaps he grew overnight.” Allie shrugged, as if guinea pigs doubled in size all the time.
“Hmmm.” Laura tapped a finger on her chin and Dawn held her breath. Her daughter was very bright and it was something that usually made Dawn’s heart swell with pride, but right now, she’d have been delighted if Laura had just accepted what she was told as the truth. “Perhaps.”
Dawn glanced at Allie who winked in return.
For now, it seemed that Wallace’s replacement had been accepted, although for how long, she had no idea.
And she couldn’t help wondering, and worrying, about what had happened to Wallace the first.
Dawn kissed James’s forehead then padded out of his room, making sure that she left the door ajar. She went into Laura’s room and found her daughter staring out of the window that overlooked the back garden.
“Laura? What’s wrong?”
“I’m just checking that Wallace and Lulu are okay.”
“Of course they are. We tucked them in after you had dinner.”
Laura shook her head. “Lulu won’t have much room now because Wallace is so fat.”
“They’ll be fine, angel. Don’t worry now.”
Laura allowed herself to be led to her bed.
“Why didn’t you want to listen to the story with James tonight?”
Laura shrugged.
“I thought you liked the Big Book of Fairy-Tales.”
“I like it when Daddy reads to us.”
“I know you do and I like that too.”
A Year at The Cosy Cottage Café_A heart-warming feel-good read about life, love, loss, friendship and second chances Page 12