‘Dave,’ said Lottie and Zach together.
‘That scruffy mutt has eaten it!’ Zach started marching up and down the hallway running his hands roughly through his hair.
‘We don’t know for sure. It might just be on the floor. But if he has … Then the bright side is you should get it back sometime tomorrow.’ Zach gave her a look that didn’t need any words.
Lottie popped back into the drawing room and whilst tidying up bits of paper around the tree had a thorough check to see if the ring was on the floor. It was nowhere to be seen. She returned to Zach, who was pacing in the hallway.
‘Nope. I can’t find it,’ she said.
‘Bloody Dave has eaten it.’
‘Maybe Joe could X-ray Dave, then we’d know for sure?’
‘Oh what, with his portable X-ray machine he brought with him?’
Lottie was nodding until Zach’s sarcasm registered. ‘Hmm, good point. But he’s a vet. He might have some other ideas for removing an engagement ring from a dog?’
‘This is such a mess.’ Zach shook his head and Lottiefelt sorry that his romantic plans had gone awry. He slumped against the wall, nudging a photograph of a long forgotten relative. Lottie made the picture level and leant against the wall next to him.
‘It’s still lovely that you want to marry Emily.’
Zach was staring at his feet. ‘You like her, don’t you, Lot?’
‘Yeah. I mean I don’t know her that well, since she’s not been able to visit because we’ve all been so ill for such a long time.’ If Lottie had worn glasses she’d have been looking at him over the top of them.
Zach’s head snapped up. ‘I was hoping you’d not noticed that. I just wanted to be sure before I introduced her. No point in scaring her off early.’
‘She seems like a lovely person, and she’s thoughtful towards Jessie too. And if she’s not scared off by our weird family then I’d say she’s a keeper.’
‘Thanks, that means a lot.’ Zach gave her a friendly nudge.
They went silent for a bit and contemplated the situation. At the same time their eyes looked skywards as the floorboards creaked above them. They looked at each other and nodded – they’d had the same idea.
They took the stairs two at a time. ‘Rhys?’ Lottie rapped her knuckles on the box room door.
There was no immediate response so Zach joined in. ‘Rhys!’
The door opened a fraction and Rhys’s face appeared with one earphone lifted, a question mark of an expression on his face.
‘Do you think we could borrow the metal detector, just for a mo?’ asked Lottie.
Rhys’s eyebrows showed his surprise. ‘We’ll only be a few minutes. We’ll look after it. Promise,’ added Zach.
Rhys shrugged, disappeared for a few moments and reappeared. ‘I think these dolls are reproducing. There weren’t this many last year.’ He opened the door and Zach recoiled at the sight of the fixed expressions staring back from every surface.
‘Blimey, it’s the Botox queue at Pins and Needles,’ said Zach with a chuckle.
‘Sorry about the dolls.’ Lottie bit her lip. ‘Detector?’
Rhys thrust the detector through the door. ‘According to the instructions it emits a high …’
‘Thanks,’ said Zach as Lottie grabbed the device and they both went thundering back downstairs.
Lottie slipped into the drawing room and tapped Joe on the shoulder. When he looked up she pointed at the dog and beckoned him into the hallway.
‘What’s up?’ asked Joe as he joined them, clutching a wriggly Dave.
She gave Joe a rushed summary of the situation, explaining that Dave had likely eaten Emily’s present – but not that it was an engagement ring. The fewer people who knew, the better.
