Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It was Monday early morning. Grandpa and I were in the kitchen having a cup of tea after devouring my sausage, cheese, and egg muffins.
He was dressed for the day, whereas I still had my Christmas pyjamas on – red ones adorned with brown reindeer. I’d seen them in the supermarket the day before Grandpa arrived.
Layla and Zac were still upstairs, and Humphrey was snoozing in his basket by my feet.
Before coming down for breakfast I’d read a second chapter of Olivia’s pink notebook, titled: Happy Pennies .
She’d written down a huge list of what she called her Happy Pennies. It made me smile as it included things like ordering coffee from the sexy barista at the café – even though his coffee-making skills were questionable; buying herself flowers; going swimming to see the hot lifeguard wink at her from his chair; eating chips with curry sauce; dancing to Harry Styles in the kitchen; and going to her local writers group where she would have a giggle with the flirty thriller writer.
So many of Olivia’s happy pennies featured lusting after attractive men. Olivia claimed that she had made a determined effort to fill her day-to-day life with as many happy pennies as she could. This was what prompted me to go downstairs in my reindeer pyjamas. They made me feel happy.
There was a loud knock at the front door which made us both jump. ‘Who the hell is that?’ I gasped, checking the time on my phone. ‘It’s just started getting light outside.’
‘The police?’ Grandpa said, stroking his white stubble-clad chin. ‘I would love to be interrogated; it’s been a life dream of mine for years.’
I cast him a worried look and padded into the hall to begin the arduous process of opening the old front door. It was so heavy that I had to grab the handle and lean back.
After a lot of huffing and puffing, I got it open and stared at the person on the doorstep. It was little Rosie’s dad. The patronising man from Saturday who had made a smart-ass comment about me using Humphrey’s dog lead. He wasn’t wearing a hat this time, and he had thick dark brown hair. His green eyes surveyed my tousled new shorter hair and my reindeer pyjamas.
I found myself distracted by his broad shoulders, his stubble and his large hands. My cheeks warmed. ‘Can I help you?’ I said in a sugary voice.
He opened his mouth and I yelped. Something furry darted through my legs and shot up the drive. ‘Humphrey!’ I shouted.
The man glanced behind him at Humphrey who was now a brown speck up the driveway and turned back to me. ‘Still not got control of that dog, I see.’ He arched an eyebrow.
I glared at him. ‘Look what you made me do.’
He shifted his weight from one boot to another and cleared his throat. ‘I’m the builder.’
‘Builder?’
‘Yes, I’m working on Mr Baxter’s new kitchen. That’s my van over there.’ He pointed to a blue van parked at the side of the house.
‘Oh… right,’ I mumbled. ‘You’re the builder.’
He nodded. ‘I need the side gates opening so I can get around the back. Mr Baxter assured me there would be someone here.’
‘Side gates? What do I need to do?’
‘Open them… perhaps?’
My cheeks had become red hot. With a flick of my hair, I turned on my heel, grabbed my boots from inside the hall, shoved my feet into them, pulled on my coat and stormed past him.’
‘What are you doing?’ He asked.
‘Opening the gates for you,’ I snapped.
He arched his eyebrow a second time. ‘They’re electric. You press a button… inside the house.’
To my relief, Layla appeared in the doorway, with Zac on her hip. ‘Rachel, I’ll show you.’
Without looking at him I stormed back into the house and followed Layla. ‘That man is so rude,’ I snapped.
Layla turned to me and grinned. ‘Your face is as red as your pyjamas. I can see he’s pressed all your buttons.’
Once the gates had been opened, I stomped upstairs to get a shower, wash my hair, and put some clothes on so that I could go find Humphrey.
Grandpa joined me in the search for Humphrey. It felt like the film Groundhog Day; however this time the snow had melted away. ‘I bet he’s gone back to that builder’s cottage,’ I said as we crawled along the gravel drive.
We drove back and forth past the three little cottages peering out to see whether we could see Humphrey again but there was no sign. Once in the village, I parked up and we searched up and down the high street. There was no sign of him. The third shop was a bakery with a small café out the back. ‘Do you fancy a cuppa, Grandpa?’
He nodded and we stepped inside. Grandpa went to sit down, and I approached the counter. The young man behind the counter grinned at me. ‘Hello, what can I get you?’
‘One tea and a flat white please.’ I surveyed the rows of freshly baked loaves of bread and crusty rolls to the right of him. ‘Your bread smells fantastic. Can I buy one of your sourdough loaves?’
He smiled. ‘Thanks. I can’t take credit for the bread as that’s all my wife’s handiwork. I’m the barista of this fine establishment. Are you visiting? I know most of the regulars, but I haven’t seen you in here.’
‘Grandpa and I are dog sitting over Christmas for my sister. Her dog escaped this morning and we’re out looking for him.’
The man smiled and began making my coffee on the silver machine behind him. ‘Leave me your dog’s details and I will watch out for him.’ He reached over and grabbed a brown paper bag and a pen. ‘Write your name and a contact number plus a description of your sister’s dog.’
I scribbled down my details and a description of Humphrey. ‘Her dog has a reputation for escaping so this could be a regular occurrence.’
‘Who is your sister?’
‘Maddie Baxter.’
He cast me an odd look. ‘You’re Maddie Baxter’s sister?’
‘Yes, why?’
With a shrug, he went back to his coffee machine. Once he’d made my coffee, he took out a black circular tray and placed the loaf on it, along with Grandpa’s teapot. ‘You’re new to Harp Brook?’
I nodded. ‘Yes. Maddie and her husband have gone away for Christmas. This bakery café of yours is fabulous. I think Grandpa and I will enjoy coming here. We’re looking for things to do so if you have any ideas…’
The man presented me with the card machine. I tapped my card. ‘Word of advice,’ he said, ‘stay away from the landlady in the pub down the hill. It’s called The Harp Brook Inn , and she’s called Vanessa.’
‘Why?’
He shrugged. ‘She’s not a fan of your sister’s husband and she’s not one to hide her feelings.’ Leaning against the counter he placed my coffee on the tray, plus a milk jug and an empty cup and saucer for Grandpa.
‘Oh, I see.’
‘You and your grandfather look like nice people. Vanessa is one to avoid.’
With a smile, I took hold of the tray. ‘I’m Rachel by the way.’
He gave me a cheerful smile. ‘Darren. Nice to meet you, Rachel. My wife, Abi, is out the back sorting out more bread.’ A woman poked her head from around the loaves and waved. ‘Hi, I’m Abi.’
Darren gestured towards his wife. ‘What you can’t see is that my beautiful wife is pregnant. Baby is due in January.’
‘Congratulations,’ I said. ‘Is it your first?’
Abi laughed. ‘I wish. It will be our third child.’
‘The more the merrier,’ joked Darren.
I smiled before taking the tray over to where Grandpa was sitting. After unloading the tray, I told Grandpa what the guy behind the counter had told me.
‘Well, we’ll have to go meet this Vanessa,’ chuckled Grandpa. ‘I came here for an adventure and a tussle with an angry landlady sounds like fun.’
‘Grandpa, you’re a bad influence.’ I laughed. ‘I wonder why she hates Frank?’
‘He probably complained about her pub or the food she serves,’ Grandpa said, pouring out his tea.
I nodded. ‘You’re probably right. So… what are we going to do about Humphrey?’
Grandpa shrugged. ‘Don’t worry about it. He’ll turn up.’
‘I can’t just leave it. I think when I get back to the house, I will make some missing dog posters with my mobile number on them and pin them around the town.’
Darren came to our table carrying a mobile phone. ‘Abi has had an idea about your runaway dog. Why don’t we stick a photo of the dog and your contact details on Harp Brook’s town Facebook page.’
‘That would be great.’ I took out my phone and scrolled through my photos. ‘Ah, here’s one of Humphrey. He’s been microchipped so if he’s handed to a vet, they will be able to see who he belongs to.’
I showed it to Darren, and he grinned at Humphrey looking angelic. After sending Darren the photo, my name, and my contact number he put a post on the town’s Facebook site and sent me a link.
After our drinks, we thanked Darren and Abi and left the café. We did one more scan of the high street before getting back in my car.
‘I used to love driving my car,’ Grandpa said, as I turned into the Manor House drive entrance. ‘Your mother made me sell it a few years ago as, according to her, I was too old to be driving.’
‘Well, you’re not missing much, Grandpa.’
There was no sign of Humphrey back at the house. Anxiety crawled over me. Even though I grumbled a lot about Humphrey I didn’t want him to come to any harm. Maddie and the family would never forgive me if something happened to him.
The kitchen was filled with the sounds of drills, hammers, wood being sawed and men laughing, all drifting out from behind the construction sheet. I needed something to do so I pressed my face near to the sheet. ‘Does anyone want a tea or a coffee back there?’
In a few seconds, the sounds of heavy boots got closer to the sheet. It was flicked back, and a young guy with blond spikey hair grinned at me. ‘We thought you’d never ask.’ Behind him, I could see the new kitchen. It was a huge space with giant windows on either side. In the ceiling, there were a myriad of wooden rafters.
The smart-ass builder whom I spoke to earlier glanced at me and I scowled at him, ‘Two mugs of tea please,’ said the blond guy. ‘My name’s Tom and my boss who, I have been told you’ve already met, is Ben.’
‘Hello, Tom and… Ben. I’m Rachel and I better get to work making your teas.’
After sorting out mugs of tea for the builders I created some ‘Missing Dog’ posters and printed them out in Frank’s ground floor office. Layla was off to a cleaning job in town, and promised to pin them up.
As time passed there was still no sign of Humphrey. I left my phone out on the kitchen table and at one point tried to telepathically communicate with Humphrey. This didn’t work. I decided to lose myself in making Grandpa and me my legendary steak and caramelised onion stacked sandwiches for lunch.
They were one of Olivia’s favourite lunches and they were one of my happy pennies.
On weekends we’d still be on the sofa in our PJs at lunchtime. Our Saturday and Sunday mornings always went at a glacial pace. We used to watch something on Netflix, idly swiping through photos of men on her dating apps, social media stalking someone we both knew, brainstorming her next novel or making pointless online clothing purchases. I’d decide to make us some lunch and she’d persuade me to make steak and caramelised onion sandwiches.
Once, as we sat on the sofa savouring every bite, she said, ‘Rachel, you are wasting your time with a career in project management and also the world is missing out on your wonderful cooking.’
‘Being a project manager is a proper job,’ I replied. ‘Keeps my mother happy.’
Olivia shook her head. ‘Do what makes you happy.’
‘What? Making life better one sandwich at a time?’ I said as a joke.
With a nod she said, ‘Exactly that.’
Her words echoed in my head as I caramelised the onions and savoured the sizzling sound and the sweet aroma they put into the air. Closing my eyes for a few seconds I remembered how Olivia would stand by me while I was cooking the sandwiches. She’d laugh and admit to drooling. I would giggle as she grabbed a sheet of kitchen roll to catch her slobber.
Once they were cooked, I placed the sandwiches on plates and called Grandpa. As I took them over to the kitchen table, I was sure I could smell a hint of vanilla.
His eyes grew wide and a huge smile stretched from ear to ear. ‘You’re spoiling me, Rachel.’
‘I’ve made sure the steak is at that melt-in-your mouth stage and I have cut it up small so don’t worry about your dentures.’
Watching him devouring his sandwich filled me with happiness.
After, he seemed preoccupied and quiet. ‘Are you okay, Grandpa?’
‘The Senior Christmas Tea Dance is on this afternoon at the church hall. His face lit up. ‘Dancing makes me happy. I haven’t done it in years.’
I thought back to Olivia’s notebook. If this was one of Grandpa’s happy pennies, then I had to help him. A worrying thought bloomed at the front of my mind as I recalled Aunty Karen’s list and how she said he wasn’t to do anything strenuous. Grandpa was eighty years old and even though he claimed he could still walk fast; he was slow, plus his bones creaked a lot. The most he was going to do at the Senior Tea Dance was sit on the sidelines and watch the dancing couples. ‘Let’s do it.’
‘I haven’t brought my smart suit. Karen made me take it out of my bag as she said I wouldn’t need anything like that. She didn’t see me sneaking in my fancy shoes, though.’
Leaning back in my chair I studied Grandpa. He was the same height as Frank and roughly the same build. If my brother-in-law did not have security cameras in the master bedroom, this plan of mine might work. ‘I have an idea. Come with me.’