Eleven
‘You are having me on,’ Jenny said, three hours later, when she phoned to ask Lara about her day.
‘I swear to you. Every word I’ve told you is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,’ Lara assured her.
‘I don’t know what to say. Especially about Tom having one of your mum’s paintings. That’s unbelievable. And as for you saving the man’s life. All I can say is wow! I see why you think this is all meant to be. That it’s all some grand plan that Fate has designed for you. And that your dad did encourage you to place that bid on the cottage. I don’t believe in Fate, as you know, but even I’m inclined to agree with you. The one bit I don’t understand though, is the bit about the cat.’
‘Nicodemus?’
‘Yes. Let me see if I’ve got this right. A stray cat is in your kitchen and you don’t know how it got in. It sleeps on your bed, smashes the mug I bought you, eats your chicken, and sleeps on your bed again, and you decide it’s adopted you, so you give it some weird name – which is from the Bible, by the way – and on top of that, despite having saved your neighbour’s life andsitting with him all afternoon in the hospital, you go out in the pouring rain to get this cat some special food, and then, when you get home to your gleamingly clean cottage, you find this cat has not only done a pee, but also a poo on your squeaky-clean kitchen floor, and left a trail of muddy paw prints to prove it was him. And – let me finish. To add insult to injury, having fed this cat with this special cat food you’ve driven through storm and tempest to buy, you find this cat has since thrown up on your new, formerly white, duvet cover. Oh, and also left a trail of muddy paw prints on it just in case you had any doubt as to whether it was this cat or not who had left you all these precious gifts. Have I missed anything?’
Lara sighed. ‘No. Although I wouldn’t put it like that.’
‘I know you wouldn’t, because you’re a lovely person. But I must ask. You’re still letting this cat stay, right?’
‘Of course I am. And I got the cat food from the shop at the petrol station when I stopped to fill up my car, so I didn’t need to go out of my way to get that. It’s not his fault he did any of those things. He couldn’t get out to do his business because it was blowing a gale and pouring with rain. But he did try and that’s why his paws were muddy. And he was probably scared by all the hoovering and cleaning and everything else going on today. Plus, I wasn’t here. The cat food might be too rich for him, especially if he’s been eating God knows what for weeks, or months, or even years. I’ll get him a different brand tomorrow. Tom says there’s a pet shop in the village, so I’ll ask them for advice. I’ll get a cat tray and cat litter, and a cat bed. All these things are solvable, Jen. I should’ve got them tonight, but the petrol station didn’t have them and I didn’t want to go on a hunt for somewhere that did, so I’m not quite such a lovely person.’
‘You are. They’re solvable by asking the pet shop to find another home for him. They might know where he came from. But why do I get the feeling that you won’t do that?’
‘I will ask if they know if anyone has lost a cat. Because if someone is out there looking for him then of course I want him to be in a home with people who love him. But if no one knows him, then yes, I’m going to keep him.’
‘And bring him back to Woking?’
Lara hesitated. She wasn’t sure it was wise to mention to her friend yet that she was wondering whether to stay in Bluewater Bay for longer than she had originally planned. Better to avoid the question.
‘Once he’s a member of my family, he will go where I go.’
‘I hope he knows he’s one of the luckiest cats on this planet. And in other news. You did eventually receive a text from the man with no name, while you were on your not so epic search for cat food, but all it said was, ‘Tom’s fine.’ Not, ‘Thank you so much for everything you did. How will we ever repay your kindness?’ And you texted back, ‘Thank you for letting me know. Please give my love to Tom.’ That’s right, isn’t it?’
‘Yes. I’ll admit I was expecting a thank you, but Tom thanked me. I don’t need thanks, anyway. I only did what anyone else would have done.’
‘I don’t agree with that. But anyway. What an eventful time you’re having. Still no regrets?’
‘None. Except I wish I’d ordered a washing machine. I’ll have to ask Ula and Greg where I can take the duvet cover to have it washed. I did bring two other sets of covers with me, so it’s not a major issue.’
‘You amaze me, Lara.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you’re you, no matter what.’
‘Thank you. I think. I’m going to love and leave you now because we’ve been on the phone for almost an hour and it’s been a bit of a day and I’m exhausted. This sea air really tires me out.’
‘The sea air tires you out? Yes. That’s it. Blame the sea air.’ Jenny laughed. ‘Sleep tight. Pleasant dreams.’
‘Same to you.’
Lara rang off and made her way into the hall. She had found a cardboard box earlier and she had scrunched up some toilet roll that she had torn into strips and piled up inside the box in the hope Nicodemus might use it as a cat tray, and then she had placed it in the hall between the front door and the kitchen. She was delighted to see that it had worked a treat.
‘Good boy, Nicodemus,’ she said aloud, even though he was probably upstairs on her bed, fast asleep. She hoped he hadn’t thrown up on the clean duvet cover.
The doorbell made her jump.
Who could that be? Had Greg or Ula come back to see how Tom was? She hadn’t heard a car. Who else would be ringing her doorbell at this hour? She glanced at her watch. It was nine-thirty so not exactly late, but even so. Granny Grey had always said that it was bad manners to call on anyone after nine in the evening.
Gingerly, she tiptoed to the door, and then called out, ‘Hello?’ And laughed at the foolishness of her actions.
‘Hello!’ The voice was male but it wasn’t Greg.
