Bridie smiled. She had a feeling that her dad would not have got his retirement wish if he hadn’t been given the puppy by his colleagues.
‘So, you want to walk him?’
Bridie was about to jump at the chance. Then she thought of the neighbours. Unfortunately, Barney would be the perfect excuse for them to pop out and have a friendly chat.
‘How about a play in the garden, then? I get it. It’s quite a responsibility. You’ve never walked a dog before.’
‘I’ve never played with one before either.’
‘Here, take this.’ Her dad handed her a ball.
Bridie looked at the ball and the puppy. ‘I feel like my wish just came true.’
‘You always wanted a puppy.’
‘Yeah, since I was little. Who would have thought …’ she looked at Barney.
‘Every cloud has a silver lining – eh? You coming home.’
Bridie frowned.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘Now I’m not going to want to leave.’
He laughed. ‘Well, if you don’t go far this time, then you can visit every day, like Kate’s kids and husband.’
‘And Kate?’
‘At the weekend.’
Bridie tried to keep her expression neutral, all the while thinking, that’s just great. She was going to see her sister every weekend, there at their parents’ house.
‘And then all I have to do is get Jeremy to move out of London too, and then the whole family will be in Suffolk.’
‘Is that what you want?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘But I thought you wanted a retirement, just the two of you.’
‘Yes, it’s true, but I’m going to miss the buzz of the office and seeing Kate every morning on the train.’ He lowered his voice, glancing at the door. ‘I’m worried,’ he confided.
Bridie didn’t understand. Or maybe she did. Dad had worked in London for years, decades. He’d hated it, apparently. But this, just being in Suffolk with Mum, was going to be a huge change for him. She empathised. She was stuck there, albeit in a very lovely, homely cottage with two people she loved, and a puppy, but it wasn’t for the rest of her life.
‘Dad, you’ll find other hobbies, interests. Perhaps there’s something you could do together, you and Mum.’
‘Yes, there is. But she’ll never agree to it.’
‘Why – what is it?’
‘I never told you this, but years ago, your mum and I, we first met in a—’
‘Rufus! What’s taking you so long?’
The door opened at that moment.
Bridie looked at her dad. Didn’t everyone know the story of how their parents first met? It had been at a local village dance. Or had it? Why did she get the feeling that it was not what he had been about to say?
