‘I’d forgotten how much fun snow was,’ he said, taking off his wellies and hopping around the puddle they’d left.
‘Fun?’ questioned Lottie, trying to keep her shivering under control by wrapping her arms around herself.
‘Yeah. You don’t get this in Florida. Where is she?’
‘Nana’s wardrobe,’ said Lottie. Joe took the stairs two at a time.
Lottie hung back, leaning in the bedroom doorway, and let Joe deal with the situation.
‘Hey, boy. What’s the problem? Is she sick?’ Joe asked Dave. The little dog’s tail flicked about and then went still. ‘I need you to move just a fraction so I can get a good look at her. Okay?’ Joe held his fingers in front of Dave and he sniffed them. ‘Good boy.’ Joe reached his other hand around the dog to touch the Duchess. Dave watched him closely. ‘See? I’m not going to hurt her.’
Dave licked his outstretched fingers and Joe gave him a scratch round his ears. ‘Lottie, he’s fine. Can you come and take him?’
Lottie wasn’t sure but she’d try. She was toying with the idea of being an artist of some sort, so she’d need all her fingers. She copied Joe and showed Dave her fingers, but she put forward her left hand just in case things turned nasty. She knelt on the floor and tried to encourage the dog to come to her. Dave was distracted enough to move out of the way and let Joe get to work. Lottie gave Dave some fuss and watched in awe as Joe checked the Duchess over and listened through a stethoscope. Then he inserted a thermometer up the cat’s rear end and the cat didn’t object at all.
Lottie feared the worst. Sadness pulled her down. She loved the Duchess. She knew it was silly, but it felt like a final piece of Nana was slipping away from her. What would she tell Bernard and Dayea? They were expecting the cat to move in with them tomorrow. She concentrated on cuddling Dave as they both watched intently.
Joe turned around with a silly grin spread across his face.How can he be smiling?thought Lottie.
‘She’s having kittens,’ he said.
‘So am I!’ said Lottie, before what he actually meant registered. ‘She’s pregnant?’
Joe nodded. ‘I can feel at least two kittens – or it could be one mutant one with lots of legs.’ The humour was lost on Lottie; she was just hugely relieved that the Duchess wasn’t dying. The relief only lasted for a moment before she realised she was going to have more cats to rehome.
‘How long has she been like this?’ he asked.
Lottie shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’
‘I think she’s fine, but we’ll sit with her just to be on the safe side.’ He sat down and Dave went to him. ‘You knew, didn’t you, boy?’
‘You think?’ Lottie didn’t credit Dave with that much intelligence.
‘Definitely. He’s been desperate to get to her ever since he turned up. I bet he could sense what was going on. Animals have senses we can’t begin to understand.’
‘So the whole chasing thing was because he wanted to protect her?’
‘Most likely. You secretly love her, don’t you, boy?’ Joe scratched Dave’s head and the dog’s tongue lolled out of the side of his mouth.
Lottie didn’t like being this close to Joe. ‘Can I get you a coffee?’ She got to her feet.
‘No, I’m fine. Lottie, about earlier—’
She cut him off. ‘I need to update everyone else. Jessie has been really worried.’
He looked sombre. ‘Okay.’ He turned back to the cat as Dave settled down next to him. Lottie knew they needed to talk, but it wouldn’t change anything, so there really was no rush.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Back downstairs, the kitten news was received with joy and more rounds of champagne. But as much as Lottie wanted to stay away from Joe, she couldn’t keep away from the Duchess for too long. She knew the cat was in good hands, but she felt she should be there too as moral support.
‘Emily?’ Lottie beckoned her to the hallway. Emily was standing wrapped in Zach’s arms staring at her engagement ring. She disentangled herself and joined Lottie. ‘Sorry to drag you away, but it’s a bit awkward upstairs with just me and Joe.’
‘You want me to play gooseberry?’ Emily gave a cheeky grin.
Lottie tilted her head to one side. ‘Not exactly. But it might be nice to have someone to stop me from strangling him with his own stethoscope.’
Emily’s grin disappeared. ‘Or I could at least be a witness,’ she suggested. ‘Lead on.’
