Nell’s eyes are shining. ‘Better and better! There’s a lot of love in St Aidan for our emergency service workers.’
Sophie’s muttering in my ear. ‘Especially ones who are “built” and could work as Matt Damon’s body double. Have you seen Plum? We need to get out of here before she melts into a puddle at his feet or starts licking his face.’
Clemmie’s taking a lead on this. ‘First things first. Rye, how about you put Shadow down, and let Floss get hold of him.’
Whatever Sophie says about Plum, I can’t get out of here soon enough either. I’d intended to keep as far away from Kit as possible, not become inadvertently indebted to him and his bestie, while looking like an irresponsible dog owner to boot. I step forward and take a firm hold of Shadow’s lead. ‘Thank you so much for your help, gentlemen, we can take this from here.’
Then I step back, and as Rye puts Shadow back on the ground, in the split second before he launches himself at me, I notice the sand and sea-water stains all down Rye’s front.
‘Here, let me brush you down.’ Plum steps forward, hands outstretched.
But before she makes contact Sophie comes in sideways and shoves her out of the way. ‘I’m sure Rye can manage that on his own, Plum.’
I’m in a full body hug with Shadow, but even his paws on my shoulders can’t stop me dying inside for the mess I’ve caused. ‘Obviously I’ll pay for the cleaning.’
Nell joins in. ‘Go to Iron Maidens and ask for Jenny; she’ll speed it through for you.’
I’m doing some shoving of my own, to move everyone on. ‘Give me a shout about the bill. We’ll let you get on with your day.’ I turn to the gang and murmur the words guaranteed to get them going. ‘How about elevenses back at mine?’ And the next moment we’re back out on the sand, racing back to The Hideaway.
Milla falls into step beside Shadow and me as we kick our way past the seaweed piles. ‘Did you sense a vibe back there, Aunty Florence?’
I smile. She’s so perceptive. ‘Plum’s very picky with her men, but those muscles under that uniform definitely wokesomethingup back there.’
Milla laughs. ‘Not Plum. I meant you and Kit. They were high-voltage sparks if ever I saw them!’
‘Sparks? High voltage?’
Whatever I said about Milla’s emotional maturity, scrub that. She’s got this entirely wrong.
7
The Hideaway, St Aidan
Dogs and bones
Saturday
‘Mum, canwehave a dog?’
Apart from Plum, who’s gone off to open the gallery, half an hour later we’re all crowded onto The Hideaway’s front veranda, dipping into ice cream served in cups, which seemed a small price to pay to hurry us away from the hotel. But when Sophie hears Milla’s question her spoon stops short of her mouth.
Being Sophie, she collects herself in two seconds flat. ‘That’s a lovely thought, sweetie. But we don’t have the room.’
Milla tosses her head. ‘We all know that’s bollocks! I can see the castle from here, it’s big enough to house a Husky pack.’
Milla’s always been encouraged to be forthright and express her opinions, but there’s an edge to her voice here that’s new. When I think of the teenage rebels Sophie and I were, I realise it was bound to happen.
Sophie’s eyes snap open wide. ‘Can youpleasewatch your language in front of the babies! We simply don’t havespace in our lifefor a dog.’
Sophie’s never had much empathy with animals. As kids I was the one with the rabbits running round the kitchen while she was the one complaining about the poop on the bottom of her ballet shoes, so I sympathise with Milla.
‘Why not share Shadow with me, Mills? We’re always up for company on walks.’
‘Thank you, Floss.’ Sophie gives a relieved eye-roll. ‘So now that’s sorted, are the guys next door besties or a couple? And did anyone else notice Plum?’
The small matter of Kit’s super-attractive fiancée – now possibly wife – Violetta, whose name crashed back into my head at three this morning, could be the decider. But I’m not about to throw that into the public domain now.
Milla grins at me. ‘I’d love to help with Shadow.’ Her smile widens. ‘And Kit might be prissy with his shirts, but judging from his reactions earlier, he’s definitely into girls.’
