As pet friendly as they come #3
Kendrick didn’t know what annoyed him more: that he was once again the focus of his family’s mockery or that he had actually had a rather unfortunate introduction to his new hometown.
Probably a mix of both. He could only hope that the region’s animal owners wouldn’t make a big deal out of it.
Most of them had known him for years anyway.
But it was a pity, and it rattled him more than it would at other times.
At this point in life, he was quite thin-skinned.
His thoughts drifted back to his ex, Glenna, and his sister Davina, and it was no small effort to redirect his attention to the present.
He didn’t want to go there! Especially not now that he had relocated to Kirkby, primarily to get away from it all.
Officially, of course, his main reason was to provide better local veterinary care, and on a good day, he even believed that line himself!
On other days, like today, or most days really ... not so much. Bloody hell!
Back in Kirkby, he sat on his bench, all alone, not sure what to do with himself.
In the morning, he had checked in with Marlin first thing to hear how the alpaca was doing.
Apparently, Nessie had survived both the alcohol and the collision unscathed, which was great news.
Kendrick didn’t even want to imagine the consequences if the alpaca hadn’t survived the crash.
He should probably pay a visit to Shona Fraser soon and apologise in person.
He had been rather harsh with her yesterday because the whole incident had left him rather shaken.
Still, he was convinced that at its core, his criticism was justified; she should have looked after her pet or, better still, not have taken it to the event in the first place.
“Hello? Anybody home?” he suddenly heard a voice from the garden gate. Before he could get up or respond, a handsome young Newfoundland came dashing at him and greeted him enthusiastically.
A moment later, the dog’s people followed: pub owner Jon Grant and his girlfriend Isla Fraser. “Sorry to drop in unannounced. We’re not interrupting, are we?” Jon asked.
“Not at all. It’s good to see you!” Kendrick laughed as Polly, a dog he’d treated before, tried to dig her snout into his trouser pocket.
“Polly, stop it!” Jon scolded half-heartedly, but Kendrick waved him off.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m always happy to see that my patients like me, even if I might have poked and prodded them in the past. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water? A beer?”
“That’s usually what I say,” Jon replied with a laugh. “And no worries. We just wanted to stop by and see how you’re doing. If you’ve settled in alright or if you need any help.”
“And if you’ve recovered from yesterday’s collision,” Isla added cheekily.
“I’m done with the move,” he replied and then hesitated. “As for everything else ...” He shrugged and sighed.
“You caused quite a stir,” Jon replied good-naturedly. “‘The Camel Killer of Kirkby’ has been my favourite headline so far. I feel you got more coverage on social media than Shona’s distillery.”
Kendrick grimaced. He had deliberately stayed offline today. The blog post Kyleen had shown him earlier was already more than he could take.
“Come on, there’s no such thing as bad publicity,” Jon consoled him. For his part, the bartender seemed to view the incident and all that followed as a joke.
“You can trust him on that,” Isla chimed in. “Jon used to be a successful advertiser before he pivoted into the lower echelons of the hospitality business.”
“Maybe I will be able to laugh about it one day,” sighed Kendrick gloomily. “But that day is not today.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t take long until some other story will have all Kirkby talking, and this little incident will be old news … literally!”
“Aye, now there’s something to look forward to!
” The surprise visit had cheered Kendrick up, and yet he still found himself wondering how long his guests were planning to stick around.
He chided himself for his grumpy attitude.
This was so not him! He could usually laugh easily at himself and any mishaps, and a sense of self-deprecating irony was a must-have coping skill in his family.
At least for the few male members. He rubbed the back of his hand over his three-day stubble. “Sorry, I’m such an eejit.”
“You’re not,” Isla assured him. The mischief was gone and instead she gave him a look of compassion.
Which didn’t make things much better. “We need to apologise. Yesterday must have been hard for you, and our teasing doesn’t help.
Which reminds me, the reason we stopped by is we wanted to ask you if you like to sing. ”
“If I like to sing?” he repeated, slightly taken aback by the change of topic.
“Aye, we have a choir rehearsal every Monday, and it’s a lot of fun. Also a good way to meet more members of the community.”
“Makes sense but …” Public singing? Not in this life!
He loved music and dancing, but the sounds his vocal cords produced when he tried to sing ...
“My sisters used to say my singing voice should be considered a weapon of mass destruction and banned by the Geneva Convention. So I’ll have to pass on the choir. ”
Jon laughed out loud. “Welcome to the club! Isla has been trying in vain to get me to join for weeks. For some reason, she believes that everybody can sing.”
“Oh, I can sing. It’s just that nobody wants to hear it.” Kendrick grinned.
“Men!” muttered Isla and rolled her eyes. “Okay then, let’s move on to plan B. If you don’t want to join the choir, how about having dinner? We could go out, maybe find a place with outdoor seating.”
“Or we could have a barbecue right here,” Kendrick suggested to his own surprise. “I went shopping earlier and bought far too much for one person.”
Isla and Jon exchanged a quick look that seemed to hold an entire conversation.
Kendrick was both fascinated and a little put off by this show of intimacy some couples had.
Of course, he and Glenna had shared it too, and it hadn’t protected them from the biggest misunderstanding of their lives.
He also knew this silent form of communication from his sisters, and he got on almost wordlessly with his twin in particular.
But what would these two decide telepathically?
He was expecting a polite no when Isla let out a cheerful “We’d love to!” and promptly started pulling jars and containers out of her rucksack. “It’s a good thing we picked blueberries, mushrooms and herbs on the way over. We can put them to use right away.”
Kendrick stared at her, too stunned to respond. Had they expected to have dinner at his place?
“I know what it must look like,” Jon explained, “but Isla takes her expedition kit on literally every single walk. She simply can’t not collect food. It’s usually delicious too,” he added, receiving a nudge in the ribs from his girlfriend.
“In that case ...” Kendrick smiled weakly and got up.
By the time Isla, Jon and Polly left around ten o’clock, Kendrick was feeling a good deal better.
They had enjoyed a pleasant evening and a fantastic meal.
He hadn’t known just how good grilled steaks and charcoaled potatoes could be.
Isla hadn’t even got close to the grill but had made a salad, sprinkled fried mushrooms on top and whipped up a delicious dressing with the wild herbs.
Still, most likely it wasn’t the delicious food that had improved his mood as much as the company.
They’d had a good time chatting about Kirkby and whatever else came to mind.
Jon had shared about his early days. It was hard to believe that he had only arrived in March!
He seemed completely at home and felt a part of the village community.
Kendrick enjoyed hearing more about Jon’s background too.
He hadn’t realised that the cheerful pub owner had only recently gone through a really bad period with burn-out and a break-up.
So he wasn’t that different from Kendrick himself, who had briefly been tempted to tell Jon and Isla why he had really moved up from Inverness.
Then again, he just couldn’t bring himself to tell his new neighbours about Glenna and Davina.
He knew the whole situation wasn’t his fault, or anyone’s fault, really.
But he suspected the story would lead to an outpouring of pity he simply could not take.
Being deserving of pity meant you were weak, and weakness was the last thing he was willing to admit to himself at the moment.
That might not be the healthiest attitude, and he suspected his secret would catch up with him eventually and hit him all the harder for it.
But for the time being, he just wanted to feel normal.
So he had given them his usual spiel: that the area was underserved and needed a vet close by and had only briefly mentioned how glad he was to be out from under the matriarchy that had ruled his life.
Jon and Isla had taken his explanation at face value and seemed genuinely pleased that he was now a full-time Kirkby resident.
Maybe it was wishful thinking, but for the first time in several weeks, Kendrick had felt comfortable in his own skin tonight.
He had a beautiful new home and there were people who might become his friends. Life wasn’t too bad after all.