Chapter 20
Bridie’s suitcase bumped unevenly over the cobblestones as she crossed the little square of Cobblers Yard, Barney tugging excitedly at his lead. The Labrador puppy was all paws and enthusiasm, weaving around her ankles as if he sensed the place was his new home.
She wasn’t entirely sure herself. She knew only that she couldn’t stay at her parents’ house another night. She had made the decision in a rush – an impulsive, breathless I can’t do this anymore – and once it had rooted, she knew she couldn’t unthink it.
The art and craft shop sat in the corner of the yard, its windows warm with soft lamplight despite the overcast morning.
Little handmade pieces – pottery bowls, glass animals, knitted scarves along with canvas, paints and brushes – glowed on the shelves.
Bridie wondered, not for the first time, how she’d gone from a London stage to this quiet corner of Suffolk in the space of a weekend.
She took a deep breath and lifted her hand to knock on the shop door.
Before she made contact, it flew open. Hannah stood framed in the doorway, her blonde bob in a little ponytail and her apron dusted with clay.
‘I’ve been expecting you.’ She looked down at her apron.
‘I’ve been trying something new before the shop opened this morning – some small handmade pottery the children might want to paint.
I’ve done vases, animals, a tealight lamp.
I thought it would be quite easy, but I’ve had the clay everywhere, I’m afraid. ’
‘I’ll help you clear up,’ Bridie offered enthusiastically, surprised at how she was feeling – so glad to be back in the yard.
Hannah’s eyes drifted from the suitcase to the wriggling puppy at her feet, then back up to Bridie’s face. ‘It’s … a puppy.’
Bridie pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, cheeks warming. ‘I know that I didn’t mention a puppy.’
Hannah blinked. ‘Or that you’d be moving in today. I thought you didn’t want the flat.’
Bridie was still standing outside the shop. She’d noticed Hannah hadn’t exactly invited her in. I shouldn’t have brought Barney, or my suitcase with me this morning.
‘I changed my mind.’ Bridie swallowed.
‘Is everything all right?’ Hannah asked gently, opening the shop door wide and helping her with her suitcase as she stepped inside the shop. Barney trotted in happily, nose pointed to the floor.
Bridie hesitated. ‘My parents … it’s not working out.
I can’t stay there.’ It wasn’t her parents’ fault; it was hers, for landing her problems on them.
Last night, hearing them all arguing … Kate was right: it was her fault.
‘Hannah, I know it’s last-minute, and I shouldn’t assume, but—’ Her stomach tightened.
‘If the flat’s still available, I’d like to take it.
And I know I should have mentioned this earlier, and please don’t feel pressured, but I, well, as you can see, I have a dog. ’
Hannah looked down at Barney, who sat obediently – for all of two seconds – before rolling over to show her his belly.
Bridie braced herself for a polite refusal.
Instead, Hannah wiped her hands down her apron, crouched down and scratched Barney behind the ears. ‘He’s a Lab, isn’t he?’
‘Yes, a chocolate one.’
‘I’ve got a Labrador myself,’ she said quietly. ‘He’s not a puppy anymore, but when he was his age, he ate half my kitchen.’
Bridie exhaled, a shaky, hopeful breath.
Hannah smiled. ‘Of course Barney can stay. He is such a cutie, how could I refuse?’
Bridie’s relief washed through her so fast she had to blink away sudden tears. ‘Thank you. Really.’
‘Not at all,’ Hannah said, closing the shop door behind her, and walking over to the door behind which was a flight of stairs to the flat. ‘I just wish you’d given me a bit of notice.’
‘I’m so sorry.’
‘What for? Oh, you thought I might change my mind.’
‘Yes, I really did. Especially as I brought a … friend.’
‘No, it’s not that. I would have liked to give the flat a proper spring clean and leave you some fresh flowers – Lili always pops in some fresh flowers when she’s around.
You’ll meet her at some point, but she runs a landscaping business as well, so she’s not always working in her flower shop in the yard. ’
‘Oh, you needn’t go to all that trouble, really, Hannah. I just hope Barney behaves himself and doesn’t make a mess in the flat.’
Hannah smiled. ‘He’s a puppy. He’s bound to make a mess.’ She added quickly, ‘But you needn’t worry about that. I think,’ Hannah said, staring at the puppy, ‘that in light of everything you’ve lost – your fiancé, your home, your career – you could use a bit of unconditional love.’
Bridie smiled. It was so true. ‘He was a present. Not for me. He was given to my dad by some colleagues at work as a retirement present. My dad always wanted a dog, but Mum … well she’s put her foot down.
She never wanted pets and said they are going to be too busy doing stuff to accommodate a dog. ’
‘Well, I think it’s worked out for the best. You need him more.’
Bridie hadn’t been thinking about her needs when she took the puppy, only that she didn’t want to see him be without a home.
She knew her dad didn’t want him to be rehomed with strangers.
This was by far the better option, as long as she could make it work.
At the back of her mind was the thought that Barney wasn’t going to be a puppy forever; he was going to grow into a large dog.
She would just have to cross that bridge when she came to it.
She knew what her plan was – to convince her mum to have Barney back.
Looking at Barney, she could already envisage a big problem with the plan – she’d already grown very attached to him. How could she hand him back? Then a horrible thought occurred to her – I might have to when I return to London.
Bridie didn’t want to think about that. She looked at Hannah.
‘They were talking about sending him to a rescue centre to be rehomed. I think it’s my fault, really.’
‘How come?’ Hannah asked.
‘I let him upstairs on my bed. I didn’t tell my dad, but then my mum discovered him upstairs, I have a feeling that she was sitting on the fence up until then over whether to keep him, but I bet that made up her mind he had to go.
I just couldn’t imagine it – giving him up.
So, I said I’d take him this morning, without thinking.
That’s why I didn’t mention it when I was here yesterday.
I’ve ended up with a pet I was totally not expecting. ’
‘Bridie, it is absolutely fine. And believe me, I know all about getting a pet you were not expecting.’
‘Really? It happened to you?’
‘Oh, yes. I’d promised my daughter, Maisie, that when we moved out of the flat, I’d get her a pet. Now, despite the fact that in Maisie’s mind pet equalled dog, I was thinking a hamster or a rabbit.’
Bridie smiled. ‘So, how did you end up with a Labrador puppy?’
‘Maisie’s grandmother told me she’d bought Maisie a moving-in present.’
‘You had no idea she’d bought her a puppy?’
‘None whatsoever. Honestly, you should have seen my face when she turned up at the small cottage I’d rented with a puppy and all his paraphernalia.’
Bridie nodded. ‘You mean the crate, and dog bowls, and food, toys, blankets.’
Hannah laughed. ‘Yep. I see you speak from experience.’
‘Yeah – all that stuff is in the back of my car.’
‘Come on then,’ Hannah said. ‘Let’s go get his things and then get you both settled upstairs in your new home together.’