Chapter Five #2
“I’m sorry,” I say eventually. “You’ve come here for peace and relaxation, and I’m all doom and gloom.”
She rolls her eyes. “Don’t be daft. It’s good to talk about these things. It’s like opening an attic and letting in the light.”
“That’s an interesting way of putting it, but yeah, it does feel like that.”
“Do you still feel that way?” she asks.
I look into her turquoise eyes, and I shake my head. “No.”
Her lips curve up, just a little.
“Can I have an ice cream?” Max stands before us, and he laughs as Ghost shakes himself, scattering us all with water droplets.
“Why don’t we all go to Scoops and get one?” Isla suggests. I agree, and so we take the plates inside, she locks the door, and the three of us walk the short distance along the beach to Scoops by the Sea, the small coffee and ice-cream shop.
They have a large variety of ice cream flavors in tubs, and we each choose a couple for a two-scoop cup and eat them as we wander slowly back.
Max is chatting away to Ghost, and I exchange a smile with Isla. “Poor Ghost,” she teases. “Max is going to give him a headache.”
“Not at all. It’s so great to see him interacting with someone.” The German Shepherd doesn’t seem bothered at all when Max sinks a hand into his fur, and he’s quite happy to finish off Max’s ice cream when the boy offers it to him.
“Can I help you with the dishes?” I ask as we approach the bach.
“Nah,” she says, “I’ll do them later, don’t worry.”
“Well… I suppose I should be getting back.”
She hesitates. “There’s still half a bottle of wine left, if you’d like another glass.”
“Are you sure?”
“I want you to stay.”
It’s nice that I don’t have to try to work out what she’s thinking. I like that.
“Okay.” I feel a swell of pleasure, and sit back in the chair while she goes inside to fetch the wine.
In the end, I stay for another couple of hours.
We sit on the deck, watching the sun sink slowly toward the horizon, and let our conversation meander through all kinds of topics.
We discover a mutual adoration of curry and chili, and a shared love of rom-com movies, which leads to us listing our top ten and arguing over the top three.
We talk about Jack, and I tell her a few tales of things we got up to, like the time we all went fishing in a tinny, or small open boat, and Jack leaned over to get another beer out of the chilly bin, tipping the boat, and Ghost and I both fell in.
We keep it light, exchanging memories, and I’m glad to be able to make her laugh.
Max plays on the beach with Ghost, showing him how to make a sandcastle, and then he comes and sits with us for a while and plays with a box of dinosaurs, letting them climb all over the dog, who lies there patiently with a Triceratops on his head and an Allosaurus stomping down his back.
It’s only as it starts to grow dark that Isla tells Max it’s time for a shower and bed. “I’ll get going,” I say, and she nods.
“We’ll see you tomorrow?” she asks.
“I normally start walking up around 8:15 if you want to walk with me.”
As soon as I say it, I kick myself, thinking that now she’s going to have to invent an excuse to get out of it, but she brightens and says, “Yes, that will be nice.”
“Okay. ’Bye, Max.”
“’Bye.” He gives Ghost a last hug and waves to me, then takes his dinosaurs into the bach, and I see him disappear into the bedroom with them.
I look at Isla. I’m standing on the beach, and she’s on the steps to the deck, so our faces are level with each other.
She undid her bun earlier, letting the tresses unfurl around her shoulders.
The sun is setting behind her, and her hair is the color of copper, the ends bright red, as if they’ve been superheated.
“Goodnight,” I say softly.
“’Night.” She rests a hand on my shoulder, and then she leans forward and presses her lips to my cheek. “I hope you sleep well.” She lowers her hand and smiles.
“Thanks, you too.” I turn, Ghost at my heels.
My lips curve up as I walk away, along the beach.
*
The next day, Isla and Max are waiting at the end of the beach when I leave my B&B and head across the road.
“Good morning.” I smile as Max rushes up to give Ghost a hug, and the dog licks his face.
“Morning.” Isla is wearing a pink tee and denim shorts. Her hair is back in its bun, and she has a pink flower clip on one side. “Sleep well?” she asks.
“Very well, thanks.” It’s unusual for me. Usually I sleep fitfully, waking often from bad dreams, but last night I closed my eyes when I went to bed and opened them at seven a.m., and I don’t remember dreaming at all.
“I’m glad,” she says. As we start walking up the hill, she continues, “I’m so pleased you weren’t angry with me for not telling you immediately that Jack was my brother.”
“Not at all. I understand. And I like having that connection with him. It’s been nice to talk about him with someone else who knew him.”
“Yes, that’s how I feel.”
We stop as we reach the Hemsworth farmhouse, and lean on the fence. “Archer and I are going to take a look around it today,” I say. “He sent me a text to say he’s made an appointment with the real estate agent.”
“As a possible location for his center?”
“Yeah. He’s a bit dubious because it needs a lot of work, but I’ve got a sixth sense that it’ll be perfect.”
“It’s a great location. Not far from the Ark.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
We study the old farmhouse for a moment, then exchange a smile and continue on.
Isla takes out her phone and checks it. “Text from Stefan. He says both the vet nurses who were off sick yesterday are back, so it should be a less stressful day.”
“Oh well that’s good. He’ll probably get you helping out in the Hotel.”
“Yeah, I enjoyed that yesterday.”
Chatting away, we reach the Ark and part ways, agreeing to catch up at lunch. Isla goes off to the clinic, and Max comes with me to check on the dogs in the Forever Home.
Jude’s just finishing up his report for his night shift in the office. Leaving him to it, I take Max into the barn.
We start at one end, making sure the dogs have water and giving them their breakfast.
“Careful,” I say as I let a Rottweiler out of her cage. I hold her collar as Max approaches her. The kid’s good with dogs, but the last thing I would want is for Max to be hurt by one who’s been mistreated. “Offer her your hand, and if she growls, move back, okay?”
He nods and holds out his hand, dropping to his knees in front of her. The dog sniffs him, then licks his hand, and she’s quite happy when he strokes her head. He definitely has a gift.
“Why is she here?” he asks.
“The owners ditched her on the side of a road. A couple of holidaymakers in a camper van hit her when she ran out at them. They managed to get her into the van and brought her to the Ark. She wasn’t badly hurt, luckily.”
“She’s quite fat,” Max says, running his hand down her side.
“She’s going to have pups soon. It’s probably why her owners abandoned her.”
“Why wouldn’t they want the puppies?”
“They might have felt they couldn’t cope with them.”
“Why didn’t they try to find someone else to look after her?”
“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “I never understand why people abandon animals, but it happens a lot.”
He strokes her head, and she nuzzles his palm. “Will you be able to find her another home soon?”
“Yes. The Ark has an app. We put the dogs on it, and people who want a rescue dog can go on there and put forward an application. We check them out and make sure they’ve never been reported for hurting other animals.
Then they come and look at the dog, and if they look like a good match, they can take it home. ”
“And she’s on the app?”
“Yep. Jude took some photos of her yesterday and posted them, and we’ve already had two applications, so I’m sure as soon as she’s had her pups, she’ll go to her new home.”
“What about her puppies?”
“We’ll find them homes too.”
He scratches her ear. “Jude was grumpy this morning.”
“Yeah. He often is.”
“Why?”
“Maybe because he’s on night shift.”
“I don’t like him much,” Max says.
“Well I’m grumpy all the time, so I guess you don’t like me much either.”
He snorts. “You’re not the same.” He lifts his turquoise gaze—so like his mother’s—to me and gives me an impish look. “Mum said you have a nice bum.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “She did not say that.”
“She did! She said you looked good in your tight shorts.”
I clear my throat. “Right, enough of that. Time to take the dogs out for a run.”
My lips curve up, though, as we start unlocking the cages and letting out the dogs. Out of the mouths of babes…