‘Can we just get to there?’ Florrie pointed to a small woodland copse on the horizon.
‘Nope, not today, kid. It’s bedtime in fifteen minutes.’ Sophie glanced at Gemma. ‘Not that she knows what bedtime actually means.’
‘Is she still not sleeping?’
‘I don’t think that kid will ever learn to go to sleep on time.’ Sophie sighed and shook her head. ‘Never mind. At least she’ll be the most knowledgeable pupil in school when it comes to wildlife.’
Gemma laughed. ‘You’re still relying on David Attenborough documentaries to lull her to sleep?’
‘I sure am,’ Sophie grimaced. ‘Believe me, over the five years of her life, I have tried absolutely everything. I’ve followed every self-soothing gimmick, read all the books and gained nothing but a few days of no sleep for myself. David Attenborough just has one of those calm voices and his documentaries are interesting enough to keep her focused at bedtime but calming enough to lull her to sleep. Plus, I enjoy watching them too.’
Gemma watched as Florrie picked up a stick from the ground and held it out in front of Alfie as she walked back towards them, using the stick to keep him following. She needn’t have, though. As Alfie was a rescue and Hannah hadn’t known anything about his past, she’d been worried about how he’d behave around children, especially due to him being temperamental towards adults, but both he and Florrie had become firm friends from the moment they’d met. He’d have followed her anywhere. ‘From what I’ve heard about parenthood, you do whatever works for you and your child.’
‘Exactly. Lewis blames me for her not sleeping, but maybe if he’d actually shown an interest when we’d been together and helped, things might not have come to this.’ Sophie rubbed at her temples. ‘Not that it affects him anymore as he very rarely actually keeps to a visit.’
‘Aw, Soph. Things will get better.’ Gemma frowned. She couldn’t imagine having to raise a child alone, and Florrie was such a credit to her friend.
‘Oh, I’m not complaining. I have a lot more help with my parents and brother being around the corner than a lot of other single mums.’ Sophie grinned and linked arms again. ‘Plus, I have you, Lucy and Hannah here.’
‘It’s lovely having Hannah back, isn’t it?’ Now Hannah had decided to give up life on the road in her camper and set up home in the cottage she’d inherited from her grandad, their friendship group was finally back together.
‘It sure is.’ As Florrie caught them up, Sophie turned back the way they’d come, and they began walking again. ‘And I’m so happy Hannah and my brother are together.’
‘It’s lovely, isn’t it?’ Gemma grinned. Hannah and Sophie’s brother, Josh, suited each other perfectly.
Once they’d reached the stile back out onto the path leading into Nettleford-on-the-Wold, they went their separate ways, Sophie to battle the bedtime chaos and Gemma to find a tub of Ben & Jerry’s she was certain she had hidden in the freezer for emergencies.
Chapter Six
‘Not again, Alfie.’ Pulling the pillow from the other side of the bed, Gemma held it over her face, squishing the sides over her ears. This must have been the fifth time little Alfie had begun to bark. Pulling it off her face again, Gemma rolled over and glanced at her alarm clock, the red, flickering digits telling her it was 3.36am. Great.
Sitting up, she patted the duvet. ‘Come on, Alfie, please? I’ve got thirty children to teach in the morning and, at this rate, I’m not going to be able to ingest enough coffee to get me through to breaktime, let alone the end of the day.’
Pausing in his barking, Alfie turned and looked at her, his beady little eyes narrowing as if he was trying to tell her he was only doing his job and protecting her, and this was the thanks he was getting.
Maybe she should just give up, get up and get on with some planning or something. It might be better than being dragged from her sleep every fifteen minutes. Throwing the duvet off, she patted the sheet next to her. ‘Come on, Alfie. I let you out for a toilet break the last time you woke me up, so I know it’s not that.’
Reluctantly, Alfie sauntered towards the bed, jumped up, and, after walking around in a billion circles cat-style, finally settled next to her.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Gemma flopped back against the pillow and stroked Alfie’s head. ‘What’s wrong? You’re not used to me, is that it? Or my home? Or are you missing Hannah and Josh?’
Alfie began to snore, his small body rattling with the sound.
‘That’s it, you go straight back to sleep, just as though you’ve not been barking twenty billion times tonight. I, on the other hand, know I won’t find it that easy and will probably be staring at the ceiling for the next two hours.’ Gemma pulled the duvet back over her and created a little cove for the small dog. She couldn’t be cross with him. She had no idea what his past was before Hannah had given him a home after he’d been rescued by the dogs’ home down in Cornwall. Wagging Tails Dogs’ Home, if she remembered Hannah telling her correctly.
And since then, he’d been stuck to Hannah’s side. Hannah had been living out of her camper van at the time and working on the road too, so he’d always had her beside him. Even now Hannah had moved back into the home she’d inherited from her grandad here in Nettleford-on-the-Wold, she’d continued working from home, so it was a real adjustment for him to suddenly come here, be left alone whilst she was at work, albeit a couple of visits from the local dog walker, as well as settle into a new home with strange sounds.
Looking down at him, Gemma fussed him behind the ears. She’d set up a little camera for during the day to keep an eye on him and see if having the dog walker visit twice a day was enough, and all he’d done was sleep, so, in truth, he was doing really well, and hopefully it wouldn’t take him long to settle at night, too.
She glanced across at the clock again - 4am - and closed her eyes. Sleep couldn’t be far away.
Blinking into the darkness, Gemma listened. Alfie was still sleeping beside her, nestled beneath the duvet, but something had woken her.
There it was again. The repetitive banging, as though someone was rapping their knuckles against the front door. She looked across at the clock. It was only just gone five in the morning. She must be hearing things, surely? Besides, Alfie hadn’t woken up, and he would have done if he’d heard.
Nope, there it was again. Louder this time, more incessant. Someone was definitely at the door. Slipping out from beneath the duvet, careful not to disturb the small dog beside her, she slipped out of bed, wincing at the cold floorboards against the soles of her feet. She should really get another rug for this side of the bed but being as she normally slept on the other side, she’d never felt the need.
‘Okay, okay, I’m coming.’ She muttered as she pulled her dressing gown on. Whoever it was obviously thought they owned the damn neighbourhood, they were that oblivious to worrying about waking the whole street. She closed the bedroom door, so if Alfie did decide to wake up and do his job of protecting her, he wouldn’t just fly out and bite whoever was on the other side of the front door. Even if they did deserve at least a little puncture wound for waking her at this time.
