Chapter 29
Saskia left an hour later, her face pale.
She hadn’t been able to resist giving Marmaduke a final little stroke on the way out.
The elderly cat was already settled into a lovely cosy cage in the corner of the room with a bowl full of food, a soft blanket and as many cuddly toys as Felicity could find hanging about the place.
He had tucked into his food with gusto, which was always an excellent sign.
‘He’s a sweetheart,’ said Andrea, as they sat and ate their lunch.
‘You told her, didn’t you?’ mumbled Felicity, her mouth full of salt-and-vinegar twists.
‘About this place? I had to. We might not be here to take her waifs and strays soon.’
‘That sounds like you’ve given up already.’
Andrea reached over and grabbed a handful of Felicity’s crisps. ‘Not at all. But it’s pretty hopeless, you’ve got to admit it. Anyway, since when were you Little Miss Optimism? Actually, don’t answer that. I know precisely when.’
‘And what’s that supposed to mean, exactly?’
‘It started the day you met Penguin Man.’ Andrea took another bite of her sandwich and grinned.
‘You weren’t even there. How do you know?’
‘Fine, that week, then. You suddenly started seeing sunshine and rainbows everywhere.’
A shiver of pleasure ran down Felicity’s spine. ‘And what’s wrong with that, exactly?’
‘Nothing at all. I’m very happy you’re happy. But I did enjoy Cynical Felicity a great deal.’
‘She’s not gone anywhere, I promise,’ said Felicity. ‘Just wait for Bex’s wedding.’
‘Ah, yes, the wedding from hell. I’m looking forward to it in a strange way.’
‘You must be the only person on the planet then.’
‘Will your dad be there? Asking for a friend.’
Felicity rolled her eyes. ‘No, I don’t think so. I haven’t asked.’
‘Maybe he can be my plus one,’ said Andrea, her ice-blue eyes lighting up.
‘If not, you can always take Saskia. I think she likes you.’
‘Of course she does,’ said Andrea, with a wink. ‘She’s not made of wood, is she? She don’t cry splinters.’
‘What are you on about?’
‘She’s only human, is what I’m saying.’
‘Right. Sure, whatever. Anyway, stay away from my father, you hussy.’
‘That ship has rather sailed, I’m afraid, dear Miss Brooks.’
‘Yuck,’ said Felicity, sitting lower in her chair and scowling.
‘See, there’s the grumpy Felicity I love.’
‘If you keep banging my father you’re going to see a lot more of her, I assure you,’ muttered Felicity.
‘Who’s banging someone?’ said Charlie, sticking his head round the door with a cheeky grin.
‘Never you mind,’ said Felicity and Andrea in unison.
‘Shame,’ said Charlie and ducked out of sight to dodge the biscuit Felicity threw at his head. He really was incorrigible.
That night, James and Felicity lay side by side in bed, staring at the ceiling.
‘How much does she owe?’ said James.
‘Close to one hundred thousand apparently,’ said Felicity. ‘She said it was teeny tiny, the little liar.’
‘One hundred thousand. In thirty days?’
‘Twenty-eight days now.’
James scratched at his stubble. ‘We need to hold some kind of a fundraiser. And not just any old fundraiser. It needs to be something really exciting and dramatic so people get behind it.’
Felicity sat up in excitement. ‘Yes. That’s a super idea. What about a car wash? You covered in soap suds, me with a sponge, I could get down with that.’
James laughed. ‘Ooh, that is pretty tempting…’ Then he shook his head. ‘You need a lot of helpers otherwise it takes forever and you’ll only make ￡4.50.’
‘￡4.50 in the hand is worth…’
‘￡5.00 in the glove?’ finished James, with a grin.
‘I don’t think that’s how it goes.’
‘Still, the principle’s there. It would be a start.’
‘But you said we’d need a lot of volunteers.’
‘You would. Good luck with that.’
‘What about a sponsored something? You could run the London Marathon or sit in a bath of baked beans?’
‘Oh, thank you very much.’ James laughed again, this time grabbing her and tickling her stomach.
‘Stop that.’ Felicity cackled. ‘You know I hate being tickled.’
‘That’s what makes it so fun.’
‘I think you in those short shorts would be just the ticket,’ said Felicity, still giggling.
‘Oh you do, do you? Well, think of something else. My running days are long gone.’
‘Wait,’ said Felicity. His hands were still on her. ‘Wait. I’ve got it.’
James finally stopped tickling her and raised his eyebrows.
‘How about an open day at the centre? We could get a load of food vans on the car park and get Saskia along to talk about the RSPCA and introduce people to the animals. It would be really cool.’
James nodded, his blond hair even more ruffled than usual now. ‘I like that. And what? You charge entry or something?’
‘Yes, and maybe we have a raffle or a prize draw or something?’
‘That’s a bloomin’ good idea.’
‘I know, right? And then we get… we get a celebrity to come and open the place or sign autographs or something? That would get people along.’
‘Do you know any celebrities?’
Felicity’s shoulders sagged. ‘Not exactly. But we can find one, right?’
‘Exactly. You can always ask Tristan. He’s a theatre director. He must know some famous types.’
Felicity rolled her eyes. ‘He couldn’t even give me our father’s number. He’ll never get his act together in time to help us.’
‘Well, we’ll have a think. Someone must know someone.’
‘Let’s do it. An open day would be super. Love that, Mr Penguin Man,’ said Felicity, kissing his cheek.
‘Hey, it was your idea, Crazy Cat Lady. You are a bloody genius.’
‘I aim to please.’
‘Out of the question,’ said Andrea the next day when Felicity cornered her in the office to tell her the plan.
‘Oh, but seriously, it’ll work! I know it will work. We never show this place off,’ Felicity wheedled, waving a hand around.
Andrea scoffed. ‘That’s because it’s a total dump that hasn’t been properly deep cleaned in about ten years.’
Felicity screwed up her face. Then mimed rolling her sleeves up.
‘Well, what better than an open day to give us just such an excuse. Come on, please let us? It’ll be brilliant and we might make some money.
We can get a load of kids to come pet the animals and, ooh, and we could invite the local press and get them to do a story, you know, save our local animal rescue centre-type thing.
Come on, Andrea. What do we have to lose? ’
‘I can think of a few things. Our reputation. Our minds?’
‘Oh, don’t be so silly,’ said Felicity, waltzing out of the room before Andrea could say no again. Then after a moment she stuck her head back through the office door. ‘Don’t happen to know any celebrities, do you?’
Andrea was sitting at her desk, head in her hands. She didn’t look up. ‘Nope.’
‘Ah well, never mind, I’m sure we’ll think of someone,’ said Felicity.
‘Animals, children and celebrities. What could possibly go wrong?’ muttered Andrea.
She had a point.