Chapter 35 #2
Niall and Ben were chatting amiably and Everley was telling one of the other little girls about the time she’d watched a cat having kittens.
Jade felt her heart rate come down a little from where it had been earlier. So far, so good. Things were working out even better than she’d hoped.
‘Did our wedding day really happen?’ Sarah asked Jade before Jade could raise the subject, and she grinned.
‘I was going to ask you the same thing. When I look back I think it can’t have done.’
‘Angus and Hamish are still talking about it apparently, and their wives both said they’ve never been to such a chaotic but amazing wedding.’
‘It’s nice they thought it was amazing.’
‘It was amazing, wasn’t it.’ Sarah shot her a glance. ‘We’re never going to forget it, are we? Have you heard from the photographer yet?’
‘No but Zoe did say it could be eight weeks. I’ve seen loads of other people’s pics, a lot of dogs. As we expected!’
Sarah laughed. ‘And talking of dogs – that’s next on the itinerary, isn’t it? Shall we get this lot away from the geese before any of them get seriously pecked?’
The kids loved seeing the dogs and wanted to stroke them all.
So Jade got out Bonnie and Clyde and they took them down to the dog field for an extra walk on two flexi leads.
The terriers were in their element with all the fuss, both of them rolling over on their backs on the stubby grass to get their share of tummy rubs.
Niall looked at them wistfully. ‘My mum says we can’t have a dog because of Dad’s allergies. I’d really like a dog.’
‘You can come and help with ours anytime you want,’ Ben offered generously. ‘Can’t he, WSM?’
‘Could I really?’ Niall, who was slightly taller than Ben, looked at Jade for confirmation.
‘If your mum agrees to come with you, then yes.’
‘Cool.’
‘Can I come too?’ asked one of the girls.
Jade suppressed a smile. At this rate she was going to have several more young helpers rocking up at Duck Pond Cottage.
‘The same applies to all of you. Anyone under sixteen has to be accompanied by an adult because of health and safety, that’s the rules.’ She could tell by the amount of eye rolling that they were all familiar with health and safety rules.
She thought back to her own childhood. There must have been health and safety then, but she didn’t remember ever being so aware of it. Despite the fact she’d been brought up in a hotel, which must have been heavily regulated.
Not that she’d ever had a dog. Although she did remember her cat Felix being shooed out of the dining room on several occasions and he’d certainly been barred from the kitchen. Brian had frequently chased him out with a broom. Bloody Brian.
She’d thought about Brian a lot since her conversation with Mr B, and had wondered several times whether she should track him down and try to contact him. He probably held the key to the mystery of why Hector had been so permanently banished from her life.
Jade still wasn’t sure whether she wanted to dig all of that up again. Brian might not even want to talk to her. And even if he did, what would it achieve? She had a lovely dad now and a wonderful grandmother. Maybe she should just leave the past where it was.
‘You look miles away.’ Sarah’s voice interrupted her thoughts. ‘What were you thinking about?’
‘Brian,’ Jade told her. ‘I’m still wondering whether or not to get in touch with him.’
She’d spoken to both Sarah and Finn about this and surprisingly their opinions hadn’t differed that much. Finn had said it was up to her and even Sarah had been reticent to give her an opinion one way or the other.
‘How old do you think he’d be?’ Sarah asked now as they watched the children petting and playing with Bonnie and Clyde in the lunchtime sunshine.
‘I think he was a similar age to Mum so quite old, but not dead. Late fifties.’
‘I suppose if you are ever going to contact him, then sooner would be better than later,’ Sarah said thoughtfully. ‘Then you can put him out of your mind for good. You never liked him much anyway, did you?’
‘No. He was too moody.’
‘Yes, that’s true. I didn’t like him much either. Stroppy sod.’
‘But he could maybe answer some of my questions.’
‘Then go for it.’ Sarah shielded her eyes against the sun. ‘It looks like we’ve got another group heading this way. Shall we put these two dogs back and finish the tour? We’ve still got the cattery and the horses, haven’t we?’
‘Yes. What time did you say we are stopping for lunch?’
‘I’ve said about one to Ben’s teacher. The kids have all got lunch boxes in the minibus. Can we all fit in the picnic area?’
It turned out that they could, and less than an hour later, both children and adults chatted with great enthusiasm about what they’d learned about animals over their sandwiches.
Jade heard the odd phrase that was alarming.
One little boy was adamant that chickens laid four eggs a day. Jade soon put him right on that one, telling him gently that it was actually one every twenty-five hours.
Another little girl had got the idea that geese had sharp teeth and could bite your leg off if you didn’t run away.
Jade reassured her that geese didn’t actually have teeth in the traditional sense, although they could give you a sharp nip. Everyone seemed to have avoided that today, she was relieved to hear.
By the end of the day, Ben and Niall were on the best of terms. Everley and Stella had set off on their trip home with a promise to meet up again soon.
And everyone else agreed that it had been a fantastic experience.
At least two of Ben’s classmates had told Jade they were sure their parents would let them rehome a dog or a cat.
Jade had decided not to get too hopeful about this until she’d spoken to the adults in question but she was pleased nonetheless that the visit had been a huge success.
As she and Finn waved off the school bus, she was also pleased that she’d finally made up her mind what to do about Brian.
She’d decided, in part, to leave it to fate.
Angelo was an unusual name so she planned to do a cursory search on social media.
If he proved easy to track down – as her father had been – then she would take this as encouragement that she should go and speak to him.
But if he was difficult to find she’d take it as fate’s way of telling her not to pursue it any further.