‘A puppy?’ Bridie squealed in delight.
‘Would you like to meet him?’
‘Would I ever?’ Bridie bounced out of her chair. It had been a rule in their household – no pets unless they were in hutches and just needed feeding and their straw changing. Nothing that really needed a lot of taking care of, like training and walks. Even a cat had been vetoed. Not that any of them had wanted a cat. They had wanted a dog. But their working parents just hadn’t had the time, no matter how much they had pleaded for a puppy. Their practical-minded mum had always just said no even though their dad had tried to talk her round.
She suspected her mum had never wanted a dog. Now, it sounded as though she’d had no choice.
‘I told your mum,’ said Bridie’s dad as she followed him through the kitchen to the conservatory, ‘that it just wouldn’t be right to give him back after all the trouble they’d gone to.’ There was a large dog crate with bedding, toys and a water and feeding bowl.
‘He’s had all his injections so he can go out now, round the village or even for a little ride in the car – when he wakes up, of course.’
Bridie sat down on the wooden floor, crossed her legs and leaned forward. The crate door was ajar, the puppy sleeping. She looked up at her dad. ‘Oh, my god, he is adorable.’
‘Yep.’
‘What sort is he?’
‘A chocolate Lab.’
‘A chocolate Lab,’ Bridie repeated as she reached in and gently stroked Barney’s head. She was greeted by a wide yawn and two brown eyes looking at her. ‘He’s a boy – right?’
‘Yes – meet Barney.’
Barney thumped his tail, stood up and jumped into Bridie’s lap, paws clawing on her jumper, giving her doggy kisses.
‘Yes, I’m just as excited to meet you,’ said Bridie to the excitable pup. She glanced at her dad. ‘What’s Barney doing locked away in here?’
‘It’s his quiet spot for sleeping.’
‘Dad, your whole house is quiet. It’s just the two of you.’
‘Mum prefers he’s not under our feet or begging at the table when we’re eating.’
‘House rules,’ said Bridie knowingly, imagining there was a whole new set of house rules now Barney was on the scene.
Which reminded her … she still had questions about the pup. ‘I don’t understand. This is the most unusual retirement present ever. It must have been such a surprise.’
Her dad turned around and shut the conservatory door. ‘Actually, it wasn’t all that surprising.’
‘Huh?’
‘So, a few weeks before I retired, I go out with the guys in the office for lunch and we’re talking about what we want in retirement, you know if we had one wish. Some of them said a yacht, round-the-world cruise, an allotment – that sort of thing. But I blurted out that I wanted a dog – a Labrador, to be precise. That I’d always wanted one. Preferably a chocolate one.’
Bridie laughed. ‘What if you’d said a yacht or a round-the-word cruise or an allotment?’
‘Ah, I bet I would have got a toy yacht or cruise ship, or a spade.’
‘They didn’t get you a toy dog, though.’
‘Nope. I tell you, I couldn’t have been more surprised when I opened the large box in the office, and there he was.’
‘Did you cry like you see those children on YouTube videos?’
‘Oh, yes, I blubbered good and proper.’
‘Did Mum cry when you brought him home?’
‘Not tears of joy, I’m afraid.’
