Chapter 24

On Monday morning, Josie sat on a bright orange beanbag in the children’s corner of the Reading Room, telling Tara and Amber all about her weekend. There was a lot to fill them in on since she’d seen them on Friday. They happily indulged her in all her talk of Sam and reassured her that he’d be back before she knew it.

She was thankful to have the two of them as friends; they brought balance to her quiet days with Annette. They met another couple of times that week, and it was always relaxed and fun. She also had a trip out to Hope Cove for an afternoon on the beach with Lizzie. It was good to be close enough to call in on her sister without it being a major event.

The week didn’t drag quite as much as she expected, and she spoke to Sam on the phone a couple of times.

It was Friday when she really missed him. The evening in the Bluebell Inn wasn’t the same without him around. Josie spent a lot of time glancing around looking for him. It was automatic. Every time she looked up, she expected him to be there, grinning at her across the room. It was earlier than usual when she slipped away from the pub.

When Amber had told her to ask Andy for a lift home, she’d waved the suggestion away, insisting on walking. It was such a short distance, it seemed silly to trouble someone for a lift. Except it seemed longer than usual that evening, and everything was so creepy in the dark.

When her phone rang, she pulled it from her pocket and grinned when she saw Sam’s name on the display.

“Hi,” she said, excited by the call.

“Hi,” he said quickly. “Sorry. I know you’ll be in the pub, but I just had a really quick question …”

“It’s fine.” She hugged the phone closer to her ear, as though that made her somehow closer to him. “I already left the pub. I’m just walking home.”

“Boring night, was it?”

“It was okay,” she said. “What did you want to ask me?”

“Oh, yeah! Small breed of dog … nine letters … Any ideas? Fourth letter’s an ‘h’. I’m stumped.”

She blurted out a laugh. “Sam, are you doing a crossword?”

“Are you going to tease me now? You don’t know the answer either, do you? As someone who works at a dog kennels I’d have thought––”

“Chihuahua!” she said, grinning widely.

An owl screeched nearby and chills ran down the back of her neck. Her smile slipped and she quickened her pace. What was it about the sound of wildlife in the dark? It always freaked her out.

“Are you still under the street lights?” Sam asked casually.

“No. I just left them.”

“Almost home then,” he said. “Put me on speaker and turn the torch on your phone on …”

She did as he said, pressing the buttons carefully so she didn’t accidentally cut him off.

“That’s better,” she said, as the light from her phone illuminated the road in front of her.

“Thank goodness you always carry a torch with you,” Sam said cheekily.

“I wouldn’t leave the house without one! Anyway, where exactly are you? What kind of place has less going on than Averton on a Friday night? I can’t believe you’re stuck in doing crosswords!”

“I decided I’d just have a quiet night in. And I’m not really doing a crossword. I was just testing your knowledge. You passed the test!”

She laughed. “And how’s the job going?”

“It’s pretty good. I wave my magic wand and a house appears from nothing. You’d be impressed!”

“I’m very impressed,” she said.

“And how are things there?” Sam asked. “Lost any dogs recently?”

“No!”

“You’re doing well.”

“I am actually. We’ve been a bit busier this week. It’s tiring.”

“I know. When I was younger I spent my summers working for Wendy and Annette. It’s hard work.”

“I can’t imagine how it is when the kennels are full.”

“You’ll find out, no doubt. Then you’ll be wishing you didn’t plaster the entire area in flyers and posters.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. Somehow she’d reached the gate at Oakbrook. She’d barely noticed the last part of the walk. “I just wanted to drum up business,” she said.

“I think you managed it.”

“I suppose I did.” She thought of the bookings that had been coming in over the past week. It was a relief that all her advertising was paying off.

At the kitchen door she took the phone off speaker and moved it back to her ear. Macy and Charlie came to greet her, and she stroked them affectionately before ushering them back to their beds.

“You’ve gone quiet?” Sam said.

“Have I?” she said in a loud whisper. She didn’t want to wake Annette.

“Are you home already?”

She lowered herself into a chair at the kitchen table. “Yeah.”

“And you’ve brought me inside?!”

“Yes.” She beamed into the phone. “Is that a problem?”

“Not at all,” he said lightly, before launching into another anecdote about the project he was working on in Brighton. It was so lovely chatting to him, and she stayed in the kitchen whispering into the phone for almost an hour before she finally said goodnight.

***

The next week followed in much the same way as the previous. They had eight dogs staying in the kennels so her days were busy trekking over the countryside and trying her hand at obedience training. Unfortunately, the dogs still ran rings around her, and the obedience training seemed to make the dogs naughtier rather than obedient.

She was amused and suspicious on Friday night when she stepped out of the Bluebell Inn and her phone rang immediately.

“How did you do that?”

“What?” Sam asked innocently.

“I just left the pub,” she said. “I literally just stepped outside.”

“Good timing then.”

“Is it?” she asked, glancing behind her into the pub window. Did he have a spy? “Because you did the same thing last week. It seems like more than good timing.”

“Great timing?” he suggested. “Perfect timing?”

She laughed and set off through the village.

“How was the pub?”

“Hmm.” Her mouth twitched into a half-smile. “There was a bit of an incident.”

“Have I missed some excitement?”

“We were playing darts …”

“You were playing darts?” he asked, his surprise evident.

“Yeah. The tall guy with the flat cap asked me to join his team.”

“Martin? He’s replacing me already?”

“Yes,” she said, amused.

“Can you even play darts?”

“He was teaching me. And it was going well.” She paused and smiled at the memory. “What’s the name of the short guy with the curly hair?”

“Dean?”

“Yeah. So it was my turn, and Dean was standing just to the side …”

“Oh my God. Does this story involve paramedics? Tell me Dean survived the evening?”

“Yes!” she said, laughing lightly. “But the dart somehow hit the edge of the board and bounced off. It flew sideways and smacked Dean on the head.”

“Ouch.”

“It didn’t stab him or anything!”

“Hmm. Did anyone tease you about this?”

“Everyone! Martin marched me away from the dartboard and sat me back with Amber and Tara. He said I’m banned from going anywhere near it! And then he loudly announced that if anyone ever sees me with a dart in my hand they should tackle me to the ground! Stop laughing! It was really embarrassing.”

“At least I still have my spot on the darts team.”

“You definitely do!” Josie sighed, wishing he was beside her instead of on the other end of the phone. “Are you coming home anytime soon?”

“Looks like it’ll be next weekend.”

“Try and make it for the pub on Friday night. It’s weird without you there.”

“I guess I won’t make it back until Sunday.”

She beamed into the phone. Sunday was okay too. Just knowing he’d be back soon was good enough. “I can’t wait.”