Chapter 8

Josie arrived at Oakbrook Farm on Sunday afternoon and gave a quick knock at the door. She presumed it wasn’t the sort of place where you had to wait to be invited in and opened the door herself.

“I’m here!”

“So you are!” Sam’s eyes crinkled in amusement. He was making coffee, and a young woman stood beside him while a little boy held on to his leg. Josie was only expecting to find Annette, and the scene confused her.

“Sorry.” Her smile faded to fixed and unnatural. She was glad that the dogs were jumping around her and she distracted herself stroking them in turn. “Where’s Annette?”

“Upstairs,” Sam said. “Checking your room’s perfect!”

“Hi!” Josie said to the redheaded woman.

“Sorry,” Sam said. “This is Amber.”

“I’ve just been hearing about you,” Amber said, smiling brightly.

“All good I hope?” Josie’s brain was busy trying to figure things out. Who was the woman? Did Sam have a wife and kid that no one had mentioned? Surely not or they’d have been at the wedding – and he wouldn’t have kissed Josie.

“Definitely all good,” she said. “Do you want a coffee?”

“Yes, please. Who’s this then?” she asked, smiling at the kid. Sam picked the little boy up and Josie walked over and tickled his cheek.

“This is my godson,” Sam said. “Kieron.”

“Sam and I went to school together,” Amber explained. “I live at the other side of Averton. Kieron and I often call up here in the afternoons. I like to get him out for a walk and he usually falls asleep in his buggy. Wasn’t interested today, though. Hopefully he’ll sleep on the way home.”

Sam threw him up in the air, making him giggle. “I’ll take him outside for a run around. That’ll wear him out.”

Amber nodded her approval. “Thanks, Sam.”

The dogs followed Sam outside and the room fell silent.

“My husband’s away this week,” Amber said, passing Josie a coffee and taking a seat at the table. “So I feel like a single parent. Sam takes pity on me and helps with Kieron.”

“That’s good.” Josie picked up her coffee, feeling slightly uncomfortable. There was something about the way Amber looked at her that made her wonder what had been said about her. She wasn’t sure she was going to like living in a village. What if Sam wasn’t exaggerating when he said they were all a bunch of gossips?

“It’s great that you’re helping Annette out,” Amber said. “We’ve all been a bit worried about her since Wendy died. Opening up the kennels again will be good for her.” She stopped talking at the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

“There you are.” Annette grinned at Josie. “And I see you’ve met Amber. How was the drive?”

“Long! But fine.”

“We’re a bit out of the way here,” Amber said. “It sounds like it’s going to be a change for you, living out in the countryside?”

Josie blew on her coffee and took a sip. “Annette has promised to let me get back to civilisation from time to time. I’ll be needing a fix of traffic and pollution… crowds… those sorts of things.”

“We really are lacking in those aspects,” Amber said lightly. “Though there’s a chance you’ll get stuck behind a tractor on our little country roads once in a while. Not quite the same as queuing traffic but not far off.”

“That’s something to look forward to then.” Josie smiled. “Seriously, though, I don’t know what to expect. I’ve always lived in cities. I visit Lizzie and Max in Hope Cove now and again, and that’s always good fun, but it’s only ever a short visit.”

“You’re going to love it,” Annette said. “I bet you’ll enjoy being part of a community.”

“I won’t have to get involved in things, will I? Fundraisers and committees and stuff? I’m not quite sure what I’m getting myself into!”

“Not yet,” Amber said. “First, everyone will want to meet you, check you’re a suitable addition to Averton. Then there’ll be a swearing in ceremony before you’re forced to join committees.”

“Stop teasing,” Annette said. “You’ll scare her away before she’s even unpacked.” 

“Speaking of unpacking,” Josie said. “I’m going to unload the car.”

“I can help,” Amber said.

“Thanks. I haven’t actually got much. Only one suitcase.”

“I’ll get off then, leave you to settle in. It was lovely to meet you.” She gave Josie a hug, which took her by surprise. After being unsure at first, Josie thought she’d probably get on well with Amber. It would be nice to have a woman close to her age around the place.

Outside, Sam was kicking a ball to Kieron, who toddled around unsteadily. The dogs wandered freely and didn’t seem at all bothered when Kieron pulled their tails or patted them roughly on the back. Macy bounced around Josie’s feet, watching as she pulled her suitcase out of the boot.

“I’ll help,” Sam said, once he’d said goodbye to Amber and Kieron.

“This is all I’ve got,” she said. “I travel light.”

He flashed his cheeky grin. “So you can make a quick exit if you need to?”

Josie tried to ignore the way her stomach went all fluttery. She brushed aside thoughts of dancing with him, of kissing him. “I can’t actually believe I’m doing this,” she said. “Moving here and working in a kennels. Especially since I don’t actually know anything about dogs.”

“I’m sure you’ll be great.”

She wished he’d stop smiling; it made her feel funny. And for some reason, her mind just wanted to rewind to the evening on the beach at Hope Cove.

“I hope so,” she said, looking quickly away from him and heading inside. She wondered how much he was going to be around. Was he there every day? She hoped not. Her brain seemed to go all foggy around him. 

She was glad he only came inside for a few minutes and then left. It was unnerving, the way she felt so self-conscious around him. The looks he gave her were teasing and lingering and made her heart race in a way which would be exciting if she was single. She wasn’t, though; she’d agreed to give things another go with Jack.

She tried calling him as she unpacked her clothes into the large chest of drawers in her new bedroom. The flowery wallpaper wasn’t really to her taste, but the room was light and airy and Josie had never been too concerned by interior design. When Jack didn’t answer she left a message saying she’d arrived safely and would talk to him soon.

It didn’t take her long to unpack, and then she went down and ate dinner with Annette in the kitchen.

“I’ve been doing some research,” Josie said, when they sat in the living room later that evening. “Into boarding kennels. I’ve been looking what other places are doing and I’ve got some great ideas. I thought I could start by revamping your website and updating all your social media accounts. We’ll need to decide what services we’re going to offer. I don’t know what you were offering before but—”

Annette chuckled. “Slow down! I don’t even know what all those words mean. What are you talking about social media for? That’s the tweeting thing?”

Josie shook her head. “Twitter? Yes. But there’s also Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat…”

“We did have a Facebook page,” Annette said. “Max set it up. He said we needed it. I’m not really sure what it was for, though.”

“People have different preferences when it comes to social media so we need to be available to interact on all of them.”

“You’ve lost me.” Annette stared at her blankly. “Who will we be interacting with? And why?”

“Customers,” Josie said slowly.

“It’s a boarding kennels. People bring their dogs, we look after them, then they pick them up again.”

“I know that! But there’s so much more you can offer. I can upload videos and photos so people can check in and see how the dogs are doing. They could even FaceTime with them if they wanted.”

“You’ve lost me again.”

“Video call…”

“With the dogs?”

“Yes!”

Annette started chuckling.

“Okay,” Josie said, amused. “Maybe we’ll build up to that stuff. I’ll start with your website.”

“Yes, I think we’ve got one of those.”

Josie stared at her for a moment then slapped a hand to her forehead and dropped back dramatically onto the couch.

Reaching over, Annette patted her knee affectionately. “We might have a few generational differences.”

“A few? How can you run a business and not know anything about your own website?”

“I have a telephone,” Annette said proudly. “People call and book their dogs in. Then they bring them and we look after them until they pick them up again.”

“Tell me it’s a mobile at least?”

Annette shook her head. “It doesn’t have a cord, though, and it works out on the patio too.”

With her hands over her face, Josie whimpered a fake cry. “I guess I’m going to be busy.”