The Leap Year Proposal

Chapter Fifteen

Jess

Tuesday 4 February

Jess wrapped her scarf around her and pulled her gloves out of her jacket pockets as she left the house to go pick up the first dog of the day. The sun blinded her as she turned the corner of her street and she almost jogged back to get her sunglasses. No doubt she’d regret not doing so later, but for once she’d actually overslept, so she needed to get a wriggle on. She never overslept, but her mind had been whirring like the propellers of a light aircraft, not giving her any respite.

She was beginning to feel anxious about the big day. It was, after all, only three and a half weeks away. The very thought almost brought her out in a cold sweat.

Self-doubt had plagued her as she catastrophised over all the things that could go wrong, or the negative responses Mark could give. She knew he wouldn’t, but that wasn’t the point. Her insecurities wouldn’t leave her head, so she’d ended up rolling around in bed and fidgeting half the night. As a result, today she was exhausted, and one glance in the mirror had told her she looked every bit as awful as she felt. Not what she needed to see when she had a busy day ahead.

Time to pick up Betsy Boo. She loved the three-year-old Bichon Frise. She was so cute. Even as a dog lover, she could appreciate Betsy Boo had a perfect teddy bear appeal. Jess didn’t want to just walk her, she wanted to take her home and snuggle with her on her lap whilst watching TV. The one downside to living with Mark was their home was a strictly dog-free zone. He could just about cope with her walking dogs, but with his allergies he couldn’t have them in the house.

Betsy Boo’s owner was already out at work, so she greeted her little friend, clipped her lead on and then headed over to get Teddy. Betsy Boo and Teddy adored each other, and for that reason, and because Betsy Boo’s owner had told her so when Teddy’s owner was looking for a dog walker but Jess’ schedule was full, she had relaxed her rule of only walking one dog at a time. And the owners were right– the dogs were in love. They doted on each other, followed each other around religiously when Jess took them somewhere they could go off lead. And since Teddy was a Cockapoo, he was small enough that she could handle both dogs easily.

Her phone rang just as she was about to pick up Teddy. It was Bella’s owner. Bella was the russet-coloured cocker spaniel she walked. She was due to pick her up in an hour and a half, but her owner was phoning her now. She hoped nothing was wrong with Bella.

‘Hi, Jerry.’

‘Hi, Jess. Listen, I’m really sorry to ask, but could you pick Bella up early? I’ve got to go to the airport in half an hour, and I’ve had to give the tiler who’s doing my bathroom this week the spare key, and he’s gone to the warehouse to get more tiles and I don’t know when he’ll be back.’

That was quite a bit of info to digest. Jess paused. Teddy’s owner was eyeing her oddly through the window, so she smiled at her and waved in acknowledgement.

She didn’t like letting anyone down and Jerry was lovely, and didn’t usually take advantage. Clearly, she was in a jam.

Jess decided to throw caution to the wind for once and said, ‘Sure, give me fifteen minutes.’ Jerry’s house was only half a mile away. She’d collect Teddy and then pick Bella up before taking them all over to the private field she sometimes used rather than walking them all in the park. Two she could manage, three not so much.

She rang the bell and two minutes later, Teddy was on the lead, walking obediently alongside his beloved. Even though these two were easy to manage, there was always the unexpected to account for, like a dog appearing from nowhere or a loud noise, like a motorcycle racing past, which could spook them. They were so little, after all, especially Betsy Boo.

When she arrived at Jerry’s, she was already standing in the doorway with Bella on the lead, ready to go. She really is in a hurry.

‘Off somewhere nice?’ Jess asked.

‘Sorry?’ Jerry asked, distractedly.

‘The airport,’ she said, as she took Bella’s lead, carefully, so as not to entangle it with the other two she was holding.

‘Oh, no, I’m picking my dad up. Listen, I’ve got to run, but Rich will be here when you bring Bella back, OK? I’ll pay you extra for the inconvenience.’ She eyed Betsy Boo and Teddy. ‘I hadn’t realised you’d already have two dogs with you. Are you sure you can manage the three of them together?’

‘Yeah, it’ll be fine. This pair are lovebirds, so don’t care about anything or anyone else except each other. I’m going to take them to the private field, let them have a run around, rather than the park.’

‘Oh, Bella will love that, won’t you, darling?’ She patted Bella on the head, then checked her watch. ‘Sorry, I really need to go.’

‘No problem. I’ve got it all in hand.’

‘Thanks, Jess. You’re a star.’

Jess smiled and said, ‘Right, guys, let’s go.’

She crunched along the frost-covered pavement, Betsy Boo and Teddy on her left, walking adorably in step with each other, and on her right, the jumpier and more excitable Bella, who was clearly enjoying being let loose after being indoors all night.

They passed a few people Jess knew by sight: an elderly man whom she met each day as he returned from buying a newspaper, a couple of high school kids going for the bus and two friends power-walking round the neighbourhood.

It was so handy having the field nearby. Well, they all called it the field, it was a large square patch of grass the size of a football field, but with no goals, and it was overgrown, but as it was hemmed in on all sides, and had a gate, it was the perfect place to let the dogs off lead so they could burn off some of their pent-up energy, without worrying about them running off.

‘Hi there,’ she greeted the postman as he passed without incident. The dogs were really on their best behaviour today. No jumping up from Bella, nor barking. What was going on? She must have been at obedience classes again.

She approached the field, her thoughts drifting to the rest of the day ahead as she ran through her mental checklist for the afternoon’s classes.

A cat shot out of the open gate of a nearby house, pursued by a Lurcher. The lead on her right pulled taut as Bella, excitedly, clearly thinking this was a game, tried to break free.

‘Bella, no!’ Jess reprimanded her, but Bella wasn’t letting up, and as she tried to calm Bella down and stop her from pulling, Teddy started playing up, yipping and tugging on his lead, which agitated Betsy Boo, who whined and tried to run round in a circle, confined though she was by her lead.

As Jess tried to stop Bella from pulling, and sort out the other two errant dogs, she vaguely registered something in her peripheral vision.

‘Look out, I can’t stop!’

Jess looked up in horror to see a boy of about ten hurtling towards them on a skateboard. A second later, he crashed into her, knocking her flying, and the wind out of her, as she scrambled to hold on to the three leads, and ensure the dogs were all right.

Oof! That hurt. Ow, ow, bloody ow! She’d landed on the frosty path on her coccyx and boy it was letting her know. She’d also scraped her hands as she fell.

‘Are you OK?’ she asked the boy, reflexively.

‘I think so,’ he said. ‘Sorry.’

She shook her head. ‘It’s all right.’ She was still holding three leads, so apart from being shaken and a bit bruised, there was no harm done.

‘I’m sorry about your dog,’ the boy said.

Oh my God, is one of the dogs hurt?

Then she realised that although she was holding three leads, only two had dogs attached to them. Bella’s lead had snapped or come undone somehow and she had made her bid for freedom.

‘Oh no, I’ve got to go. Sure you’re not hurt?’

The boy nodded.

She began to jog with the other two dogs beside her. They might be a little traumatised, but she’d sort that later. She had to find Bella.

As she ran, she called her name, occasionally stopping to ask people if they’d seen a red cocker spaniel.

She was almost in tears when she rounded a corner, glancing back to check she hadn’t missed Bella go down a side street, and ran straight into a solid mass. Oh God, what now? She’d been so upset she hadn’t even seen anyone coming.

‘Jess?’

She looked up. ‘Nathan!’

He smiled. ‘I thought it was you.’ He frowned. ‘You all right? You look upset.’

‘I’ve lost one of my dogs. A red cocker spaniel. I don’t suppose you’ve passed her, have you?’

Nathan shook his head. ‘No, but c’mon. I’ll help you look.’

Jess gave a sigh of relief. She could have hugged him. ‘You will? Oh, thank you, Nathan. Hopefully, between us we can find the little monster. She might be with a Lurcher, as one shot after a cat and that’s what got Bella agitated in the first place.’

‘Ah, the old dog-chasing-a-cat scenario.’ He grinned. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll find her. Best if we split up, though. Where have you checked already?’

Jess quickly filled him in and Nathan thought for a second then said, ‘OK, so we still have Larch, Poplar and Maple to cover, as well as Indigo Drive. Why don’t you take Larch and Poplar and I’ll take Maple and Indigo. They’re slightly further away, and unlike you, I don’t have two little dogs slowing me down.’

‘Perfect, thanks, Nathan. Will we meet back here in fifteen minutes?’

‘Sounds good. See you.’ He jogged off in the other direction as Jess resumed her search.

Ten minutes later she was beginning to panic. There was still no sign of Bella and Betsy Boo seemed very distressed. Teddy, fortunately, was plodding along placidly.

How was she going to tell Jerry she’d lost her dog? She’d give it until she met Nathan and then if he hadn’t found her, she’d post on the community Facebook group asking if anyone had seen her.

Five minutes later, crestfallen, she returned to the spot where she’d left Nathan. He hadn’t returned yet. She took the time to reassure Teddy and Betsy Boo and to check they didn’t have any injuries from the skateboard incident, and once she’d ascertained they were fine, she tapped out a message on Facebook ready to hit send when Nathan inevitably told her he hadn’t been able to find her.

An excited bark from behind her almost made her drop her phone. Bella!

‘Bella!’ She leant down and cuddled the mischievous dog, receiving multiple licks for her efforts. Jess straightened up and looked into Nathan’s smiling face. ‘You’re a lifesaver. Where did you find her?’

Nathan grinned. ‘You were right. She’d gone after the Lurcher, who was in the park, under a tree, barking like a maniac at the cat, who had understandably sought refuge up there. Last I checked, Lurchers can’t climb trees.’

‘Thank God.’ Her heart sank at the thought of how many streets Bella had crossed to get there.

‘I was thinking, as I’m at a loose end this morning, why don’t I walk these guys back with you and then we can go for a coffee or something?’

‘Aw, thanks, Nathan, that’s kind of you, but I actually have a few other dogs to walk later, too.’

‘So you’re like the dog whisperer or something?’ he joked.

She smiled. ‘Not exactly, but it’s a job I get a great deal of enjoyment out of.’

‘Job? You mean you’re a dog walker?’

She bristled slightly, unsure if his tone was condescending or not. ‘Yes, I have my own dog-walking business, Pawsitive Pooches.’

He smiled. ‘Alliteration, I like it.’ He paused. ‘So, woman of many talents, do you have any more space on your dog-walking schedule?’

Jess scrunched her eyebrows, wondering why he was asking. ‘A little, one or two slots maybe.’

Nathan remained silent for a moment then seemed to come to a decision. ‘Tell you what, let’s take these guys back, and you can tell me all about your dog-walking business. You may be the answer to my problem.’