Chapter 57
Mollie gave Bella her usual warm welcome when Bella arrived for her shift on Friday morning. ‘I’ve already given the rescue cats their breakfast,’ she said as Bella hung her raincoat on the peg behind the front desk, ‘so if you could give me a hand with the boarders, that would be great.’
‘Will do.’ Bella pulled her damp hair back from her face and into a messy ponytail.
The long spell of dry weather that had lasted most of the summer had broken with the thunderstorm on Monday, and the Somerset ‘mizzle’, a combination of mist and drizzle, had gently but pervasively coated her on her way to work, reminding her that at some point she’d need to replace her jacket, which was barely waterproof these days.
This week had been lonely in the cottage; the absence of Monty was painfully obvious, and everything felt different without him.
The only solace she’d found was in practising her set for the gig tomorrow.
Thankfully, the muscle memory in her fingers had meant she could play the acoustic versions of most of the tracks, so she’d quietly worked on them in the afternoons between jobs.
The guys working on removing the insulation foam from the roof timbers had given her several rounds of spontaneous applause when she’d been practising.
This had been a welcome boost to her confidence, and made up for the noise and disruption of having them hacking and scraping away in the attic.
Now all that was left was to do the sound check with Jason that afternoon, but she felt reasonably confident there wouldn’t be any issues.
Beginning to hum the song she’d recently written under her breath, she spooned out the bowls for the paying residents and slipped them into each enclosure, ensuring that she gave a cuddle and some fuss to each of the cats who wanted one.
The handsome Russian Blue, Siri, bumped up against her hand in appreciation before burying his nose in his bowl.
Siri was their newest resident, here for a week, and seemed to have taken to the place well.
It wasn’t always the case, no matter how welcome Mollie and her staff tried to make them.
‘How’s it all going, love?’ Mollie’s voice drifted from a couple of pens down.
‘Siri’s doing great,’ Bella replied. ‘How’s Clarence?’
‘Not so great.’ Bella heard Mollie sigh.
‘He doesn’t like being away from home.’ There was a light metallic clang as Mollie retreated from Clarence’s enclosure and came back out to the hallway.
‘I’ve often thought we should offer a pet-sitting service as well as boarding, but with the rescue side of the centre, it always seemed a step too far.
As a consequence, we’re unlikely to get repeat business from cats like Clarence. ’
‘How would that work?’ Bella looked through the window of Clarence’s pen. It took her a moment to locate him, but then she spotted the short-haired black-and-white cat, curled into the smallest of balls right at the back of the sleeping area.
‘Well, I always thought it would be nice to give our customers the option of having someone to stay in their home, to keep their pets company. The trouble is, most people have commitments of their own, and it would be difficult to get someone who’d be prepared to be quite that flexible.
’ Mollie’s keen eyes searched Bella’s own for a beat.
‘But it would certainly suit someone who didn’t like to stay in one place for too long. ’
Bella laughed. ‘And how would this someone travel to the different houses, without a car?’
‘I’m sure there’s a van kicking around here that someone could borrow.’ Mollie’s eyes twinkled. ‘Or I could be prevailed upon to offer a lift or two.’
‘And all the while I’m supposedly cat sitting, who’s going to help you out here?’
‘Well, you could still do your shifts when you weren’t cat sitting, of course,’ Mollie replied. ‘And if you had the van at your disposal, you could get to and fro quite easily.’
Bella reached out and hugged Mollie. ‘I know what you’re trying to do, Fairy Godmother,’ she said softly. ‘And I appreciate it, but my housing issue isn’t yours to solve. Besides, it would take time to set up a pet-sitting service. You can hardly conjure me a client out of thin air.’
‘It’s funny you should say that.’ They began to walk back to reception.
‘You know Evie Brown came in a couple of days ago? She’s recently taken on two adorable rescue kittens from the Taunton branch of the Cats Protection League.
They’re about nine months old, and she was intending to see if she could board them, but unfortunately we’re fully booked – it was quite short notice, you see.
She needs to get up to Yorkshire to see her parents next week, as her dad’s going in for a heart bypass.
I said we couldn’t help this time, but then I got to thinking: what if we could? ’
‘What makes you think she’d trust me in her house?’ Bella picked up her coffee mug from the desk to take through and refill in the kitchen. ‘Don’t you need police checks and insurance for that?’
‘You’re insured under the cattery’s licence,’ Mollie replied, ‘and I’m delighted to be a referee, if you need one. You did your First Aid training last year, didn’t you? And I’m sure if you were willing, a DBS check could be obtained, though, from what I can find out, it’s not essential.’
‘But what if Evie doesn’t want me?’
‘Then I’m sure there’ll be plenty of other people who will,’ Mollie said firmly. ‘I know you’re lukewarm at best about moving back in with your friend, Marieke, but this way, you wouldn’t have to be there all the time. What do you say?’
Bella was torn between wanting to thank Mollie and give her a bollocking for trying to interfere.
In the end, she opted for a thank you. At least it would give her an escape route from Marieke and Gerard’s love nest, and when Noah and his brothers finally sold Jack’s place, she’d have somewhere else to go.
‘All right,’ she said. ‘You’re on. What percentage are you going to take for the referrals?’
Mollie raised an eyebrow. ‘I hadn’t thought. What do you think is reasonable?’
In the end, they settled on a 10 per cent commission, which made Bella feel better about letting Mollie sort out her job and her living arrangements. She left Purrfect Paws that afternoon feeling a little more optimistic about her future.