Colourful bunting flickered in the breeze. Dogs barked, children giggled, the sea whispered in the background, and Seagull Bay had gathered together in exactly the way he had fallen in love with.
This was why he had stayed after the lorry destroyed his old life.
This.
These people.
This ridiculous, beautiful, dog-loving town.
He felt someone step beside him before he saw him.
Rowan.
‘You did this,’ Rowan said quietly.
Marcus shook his head. ‘Wedid this. You, me and the residents.’
Rowan looked across the beach, his gaze moving from the main ring to the quiet zone, from Tammy’s stall to Jack’s safety stand, from Old Po’s signs to Reverend Townsend’s little blessing tent.
‘You let them help,’ he said.
Marcus glanced at him. ‘That sounded suspiciously like praise.’
‘It was.’
‘Say it again. I wasn’t emotionally prepared.’
Rowan’s mouth curved, and for one perfect second, Marcus forgot about everything except the fact that Rowan was smiling at him in the middle of the beach, in front of half of Seagull Bay, as if he did not mind being seen.
Then Mrs Calloway’s voice cut through the air.
‘Marcus! Marcus, dear!’
Marcus turned.
Mrs Calloway was hurrying towards him with Beau trotting beside her, looking freshly groomed, impossibly fluffy and wearing a blue bow tie that matched Rowan’s borrowed shirt far too closely for Marcus’s comfort.
‘There you are,’ Mrs Calloway said breathlessly. ‘I wanted you to see him before his category. Isn’t he magnificent?’
Marcus looked down at Beau, who gave him a polite blink.
‘He looks very handsome, Mrs Calloway.’
‘Handsome?’ She pressed a hand to her chest. ‘He looks regal. I have spent all morning preparing him. We are entering Most Pampered Pooch, Best Groomed, and Most Likely to Be Mistaken for Royalty.’
Marcus glanced at Rowan.
Rowan looked as though he was using every ounce of discipline he possessed not to react.
‘Is that last one a real category?’ Marcus asked.
‘It should be,’ Mrs Calloway said firmly. ‘I’ve just bought a new lead from one of the stalls so he can look his best.’ She took the new lead out of a bag, and bent down to exchange it with his old one.
Beau sniffed the sand, apparently less concerned with royalty than with whatever Tammy had dropped near the water bowls.
A burst of applause erupted from the main ring as the Best Smile winner was announced. Several dogs barked in response, and somewhere nearby, a child squealed with laughter as a spaniel shook sand over her shoes.
Beau startled.
