“If they haven’t already, I don’t think they will.”
Crisis averted. We could let Jenny know she needed to keep an eye on things, but it seemed we were going to be okay.
Just as I started the engine, the tall fireman came rushing up to our car. “Your dog was lost where, exactly?”
Haze leaned forward. “Just around here somewhere. We’re going to keep driving. We can’t lose her—she’s everything to us.” She clasped a hand to her chest.
“I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I think your dog has been found.”
Sausage was safely tucked up at home with her favorite bone.
“Wow!” That was all I could say. “You’ve found a lost black French bulldog cross? Really?”
“It’s a small black female dog, no collar. The individual who found her wasn’t sure what breed it was. But they’re bringing her here, as it’s on their way to the shelter.”
I checked my watch. “We actually need—”
“Great!” Haze tapped my shoulder. “Would be amazing if it really is her. We’ve been so worried.”
“Just hold tight. She’ll be here soon.” He gave us a smile and crossed his fingers, then walked back to his colleagues.
“We’re going to be late for Bibi!” I looked at Haze.
“We said we’d lost our beloved dog. It would look pretty suspicious if we didn’t bother hanging around to see if it was her.”
She was right. We were cutting it fine, but we had to protect our cover story.
Ten minutes later, there was no sign of the rescued dog.
Twenty minutes later, I told the fireman that our neighbor had called to say they thought they’d found our dog. Happy days! The fireman said we should still wait to check, as wasn’t this where we’d lost the dog? And if she didn’t have a collar, how could our neighbor be sure?
Haze had tried frantically searching her photo gallery for a picture of Sausage not wearing her collar so we could assure him she’d been correctly located.
Thirty-two minutes later, a car arrived with an overexcitedblack female dog in the back. Adorable, lost, but—surprise, surprise—not our dog. We thanked all the assembled people for their assistance and finally left.
For the first ten minutes of driving, we still had hope we could make it to Bibi’s recital. We’d be okay. Missing-the-beginning-but-creeping-in-at-the-back-type okay.
That was right up until we pulled to a halt behind a truck and a man in a hi-vis vest standing in the road, telling us it was closed and there were diversions in place.
We looked at each other.
We weren’t going to make it.
Chapter Seventeen
Haze
We were total failures. Wehad missed Bibi’s big moment. Protecting our family meant protecting our secret life. We knew we’d had no choice. But it didn’t make the sting any less painful.
Fox had tried to give us both a pep talk.There will be plenty more big moments. Life can disappoint us sometimes. She knows we love her. We will make it up to her.But his heart wasn’t really in it.
We were parked up outside the ballet school. The recital had ended three minutes ago. We were bracing ourselves for having to do the walk of shame, for going inside and facing her.
It hit me like a wave. I imagined her tearstained face. Thought of her looking out and not seeing us. It crushed me. It didn’t matter what excuse we had. It wasn’t good enough.
It was different for me when I was growing up. I’d never had any expectations of seeing someone there for me, in the crowd. But Bibi had gotten used to it. We turned up to everything we could. A wave and a smile and a happy nod from her. We showed up. Right up until we hadn’t.
We walked inside the reception, Fox holding the car seat with a sleeping Reggie inside. Kids and their smiling parents were leaving the main hall. We pushed past those streaming out to look for Bibi.
