Chapter 2
2
Less than twenty minutes later, Finn and Jade were sitting in Duck Pond Rescue’s reception, a converted stone outbuilding containing a desk, a landline, coffee-making facilities, a visitor’s chair and a dog basket. The dog basket belonged to Mickey, one of the first dogs Jade had ever rehomed.
She’d once told Finn she’d kept him because she didn’t think anyone else would want him. He was supposed to be a cockerpoo but Finn thought he looked more like a shaggy brown rug on legs. He certainly wasn’t going to win any beauty contests and he was an adept thief, but Jade adored him. She was a massive pushover when it came to the underdog. And underdog was a description that could have been invented for Mickey.
Currently, an oval brass bird cage took up one corner of reception. It was five foot high and three foot wide, and decked out with various perches, although Mr Spock didn’t spend much time in it because Jade said it was too small. The bird cage door was tied back with a reusable cable tie and only closed at nighttime. Apparently, Mr Spock’s previous owner had given the parrot free rein in his spacious house, but when he’d had to downsize to a flat which didn’t allow pets, that was no longer possible and he hadn’t felt able to keep him.
While Finn had got cleaned up, Jade had made a pot of coffee and now they both had a mug on the desk in front of them. Finn explained what had happened as they drank it and Jade listened without interrupting. In fact, there’d been no interruptions at all, Finn thought, which was pretty ironic. Mickey was asleep and even Mr Spock, who was perched up on the top of his cage, hadn’t let out so much as a peep. Typical. He’d have been better off making the call here in the first place.
‘So did you phone Eleanor Smythe back?’ Jade asked.
‘Yeah. I was doing that when you arrived. It went straight to voicemail so I left a message explaining what had happened. I hope I haven’t blown it. I was swearing like a trooper when that bloody hen nicked my headset. The most important agent in London must now think I’m totally bonkers.’
‘You are totally bonkers.’ She smiled at him.
He did not smile back.
‘Sorry. Too soon?’ Her face sobered and she leaned forward and caught his hand. ‘I’m sure you haven’t blown it. Artists are supposed to be eccentric, aren’t they?’
‘Eccentric, maybe. Rude – not so much. I was calling that hen all the names under the sun while my phone was bouncing around the field.’
‘I bet.’ Jade had her hand over her mouth but he could still see the laughter in her eyes.
‘It’s not flaming funny.’
‘Sorry. No. I know how much this means to you.’ She looked so contrite that Finn relented.
‘It is a bit funny, I suppose. Hopefully you’re right and she’ll decide that my bonkersness – if that’s a word – is an asset.’
‘She will. Anyone who’s got the slightest sense of humour would think it was funny. Did you get your headset back?’
‘Yep. Still firmly attached to the phone. I doubt the chook would’ve run so far with it if half the flock hadn’t been chasing her. She’d have stopped somewhere, realised it wasn’t spaghetti and spat it out.’
‘I’m sure you’re right. That rugby tackle was spectacular, by the way. Did you hurt yourself?’
‘It was mostly my pride. Enough of me. How did the rescue mission go? What were you rescuing, anyway? You never did say.’
‘It was a snake in an outdoor swimming pool.’
‘Jade!’ Finn looked at her in alarm. ‘I’d have gone with you if I’d known. It might have been dangerous.’
‘It wasn’t dangerous. It turned out to be a toy. A rubber snake to be precise. It was pretty lifelike.’
‘For pity’s sake! Didn’t they think to check before they called you out?’
‘Apparently, they did. The pool cleaner poked it with a broom and it wriggled. But I imagine it’s quite hard to differentiate between a wriggle and a normal movement when you’re prodding something floating in the middle of a swimming pool.’
‘ You managed it OK.’
Jade clicked her tongue. ‘I’m an expert. Ben used to have a rubber snake when he was younger. It was part of a set of zoo animals Sarah bought him one Christmas. I think she regretted it the minute she did it because the snake was his favourite. He thought it was hilarious to leave it in odd places to scare the living daylights out of her.’
‘I bet he did.’ Finn felt a warmth steal through him at the mention of Ben, his seven-year-old son. Until recently, he hadn’t even known of Ben’s existence. It still felt odd that Jade, who’d known Ben since birth because his mother Sarah was her oldest and best friend, knew more about the details of his childhood than Finn did.
Not that Jade had known Finn was Ben’s missing father. Sarah had kept the identity of Ben’s father a secret for the first few years of his life, which hadn’t been difficult because Finn had lived up in Nottingham where he’d been born and where his father, Ray, still lived.
It hadn’t become an issue until Finn had moved back to Arleston and by some quirk of fate Jade had employed him and later the two of them had become more than friends. There had been a short time when Jade had known the truth because she’d guessed it, but Sarah had insisted she keep it secret. That secret had eventually blown up in all their faces and had temporarily ended Jade and Finn’s relationship.
Fortunately, love had won through. Finn had forgiven Jade for her part in the deception and he’d forgiven Sarah too. She’d been young when they’d conceived Ben after a one-night stand at a party. When she’d realised she was pregnant, she’d been terrified that Finn, who she’d never set eyes on before and had never seen again afterwards, would somehow jeopardise her keeping him.
It was all water under the bridge now. Since Finn had discovered he had a son, he’d been making up for lost time. He saw Ben as often as he possibly could.
‘Penny for them.’ Jade’s voice interrupted his thoughts and he was jolted back into the present.
‘I was just thinking about Ben. I’ve got him this weekend. Did I say?’
‘You did.’ Her eyes warmed. ‘Are you going anywhere special? Or will you guys be under my feet all weekend?’
‘I’ve promised him a picnic at Stonehenge on Saturday. That’s if I can drag him away from the animals. I need to take some photos for a painting I’m planning and he said he wants to come. Do you fancy joining us?’
‘On my busiest day of the week – hmmm, that might be tricky. No. I think you two should go and have some father–son bonding time. As you say, he spends enough time here. He thinks it’s hilarious that Mr Spock says rude words. Why, oh why did I take on a parrot that swears?’
‘Because you’re you. The kindest, loveliest person I’ve ever met.’ Finn gathered their empty mugs. ‘I can’t believe it’s so quiet round here. Have you unplugged the phone?’
Jade shook her head. ‘No. Why don’t you go up to town and try ringing that agent again? You’ll be able to get a good signal up there so at least you can explain properly what happened. I’ve got some free-range egg deliveries that need dropping off at the pubs too, if you don’t mind?’ She winced. ‘Although I do get that hen-related tasks might be a bit of a sore point at the moment.’
They both laughed as he nodded and went out into the yard, and he thought how weird it was. The most important phone call of his life had been sabotaged by a flaming hen, but already it didn’t seem the disaster it had felt earlier.
It was while Finn was at the Red Lion, doing his first egg delivery, that he heard the news that the farmer next door to Duck Pond Rescue was thinking of retiring.
Mike, the landlord of the traditional old English pub with its thick cob walls, ancient beams and big old inglenook fireplace, knew everything that was happening in the village, and he leaned forward across the long wooden bar to tell Finn, his face conspiratorial.
‘If you guys are looking to expand, it’s a good opportunity. Does Jade need any more space for her ever-growing menagerie? It’s worth an ask, isn’t it?’
‘I guess it is.’ Finn wondered about Mike’s angle. He rarely did anything without an angle. He found out in the next breath.
‘There’s talk he might sell up for development. There’s space for at least fifty houses on that site. We definitely don’t want another new housing estate on our doorstep. Once they get planning permission for that, there’s no knowing where they’ll build.’
‘Won’t that be good for you? Lots of new customers.’
‘I wouldn’t mind but they don’t put the infrastructure in. It’s hard enough to get a doctor’s appointment round here as it is.’
Finn nodded thoughtfully. There’d been a lot of building in Arleston lately. Two new housing estates had appeared on the other side of the village. A few people had protested but it hadn’t made any difference.
Mike paid Finn for the eggs and put several empty egg boxes on the bar. ‘And I’ve long since given up trying to get a dentist.’
He had a point. Not that Finn wanted to get into a long discussion about the state of the country, which was one of Mike’s favourite subjects.
‘You won’t want a lot of building on your doorstep either,’ Mike added. ‘All those diggers and dust and noise scaring the animals.’
‘I’ll definitely mention it to Jade,’ Finn promised.
As he got back in his car, his mobile buzzed in his pocket. He snatched it out and saw Eleanor Smythe’s number flash up.
He answered immediately. ‘I’m so sorry about earlier,’ he said in his most professional voice. ‘I’m afraid I had an unfortunate interruption.’
‘I see.’ There was a long pause. ‘I did wonder…?’
Deciding honesty was the best and simplest policy, Finn explained what had happened and, to his surprise, Eleanor burst out laughing.
‘I must admit I was shocked at your outburst, but as we’ve never met, I’d assumed it wasn’t aimed at me. So let’s get down to business. How about you come into my Salisbury office for a proper meeting? I’m there in a couple of weeks. Would the third of July suit you?’
‘Yes, that’s perfect. Thank you.’ Finn felt a huge surge of relief. So he hadn’t put her off. She still wanted to meet him. There was a God.
* * *
At Duck Pond Rescue, Jade had just rescued a hapless mouse from Diesel, a big black cat she’d kept because, like Mickey, he’d been one of her first rehomes. Diesel, who had free rein at the smallholding, was a skilled hunter. He had endless patience and would wait for hours for a fieldmouse to venture into open ground where he could outrun it.
Fortunately, this one had been alive when Jade had intervened. Many of them weren’t. Diesel often deposited the bits he hadn’t eaten in reception.
Dawn Layton, who’d once been a volunteer but who Jade now paid for thirty hours a week, grinned as she scooped up a protesting Diesel in her arms.
‘I’ll lock him in the cattery while you liberate the mouse,’ she suggested, her eyes narrowing speculatively. ‘Otherwise he’ll have it back here in five minutes, minus its head.’
‘Thanks,’ Jade said gratefully as Dawn disappeared down the yard, her blonde bob swinging around her shoulders.
Dawn, who was sensible, middle aged and kind, was one of the few people Jade trusted totally with her animals. Dawn had owned dozens of animals across the years, was a shrewd judge of character, and was as passionate about animal welfare as Jade was. She helped out with home checks, was always happy to keep an eye on things if Jade had to go out and did a lot more hours than Jade paid her to do.
Jade felt warmed as she nipped across the unmade road with an interested Mickey at her heels to the duck pond opposite the house that had given both the lane and the cottage its name. It was people like Dawn that helped to make the rescue a success. She released the mouse near the weeping willow into the green tangle of undergrowth that edged the pond and watched it scurry away to safety.
She hoped Finn had managed to get in touch with the agent. He might have made light of it in the end but she knew how important it was to him.
She WhatsApped him.
How did it go?
Finn may not have much confidence about his work, but he was very talented and he’d dreamed of a chance like this all his life. It was a mark of his strength of character, Jade mused, that he hadn’t been crosser about the hen mugging.
Finn messaged her back almost immediately with a thumbs up emoji and the words:
All good. Tell you later.
Jade breathed a sigh of relief.
Their romance had got off to a tricky start, partly because of the secret of Ben, but they both had trust issues because of their backgrounds too. Finn’s mother had left when he was six years old, never to be seen again. His father had brought him up singlehandedly. Ray had been brilliant, Finn had told Jade, but taking on the role of both Mum and Dad was an impossible job.
Jade knew this only too well. Her own father had left when she was tiny and she’d been brought up by a succession of nannies while her mother, Elizabeth, focused on her hotel empire. Their relationship had always been fractured. Elizabeth hadn’t been maternal and Jade had always felt she mattered less than the hotels which had been her mother’s pride and joy. When Elizabeth had died from a stroke three years ago, leaving everything to her only daughter, Jade had sold the hotels and ploughed the money into buying the smallholding that had become Duck Pond Rescue.
She felt guilty that she hadn’t followed in her hotelier mother’s footsteps, but she’d always preferred animals to people. She’d once trained to be a vet in Bristol, but had come back home when her mother had first been taken ill and had never completed her studies.
Having a relationship hadn’t been part of her plans and it had taken Jade a while to trust Finn, just as it had for him to trust her, but now they were together it felt wonderful. Knowing someone had your back was amazing. It was one of the reasons Jade hadn’t gone in all guns blazing when she’d seen Finn in hot pursuit of a hen. She’d known there would be a good explanation.
It was a great feeling knowing there was another human on the planet who you could trust with your life. Finn had asked her to marry him the previous year and she’d said yes. They’d bought an engagement ring, a tiny beautiful diamond that Jade wore proudly, but they hadn’t yet set a date. Just knowing they would marry one day was enough. They hadn’t promised each other anything as big as forever. They’d just promised they would never again keep secrets from each other.