7
After completingthe return drive back into Hamblehurst, Ryan directed Grace towards where he lived on Riverside Road. When she pulled up at the kerb, he saw the way her eyes widened at the sight of his house with its graceful aspect and established gardens.
“This is a beautiful place, Ryan,” she said. “You’re quite the gardener, too, I see.”
“I’d love to take the credit, but I hire someone to come and deal with the garden,” he admitted. “If it were left to me, the whole place would descend into an overgrown wilderness.”
She laughed at his quip, then nodded towards Stanley, who already had his nose pressed up against the passenger window and was eager to get out of the car.
“Are you absolutely sure you’re okay looking after Stanley?” she asked.
“Yes, I think I can probably cope,” he said with a wry smile.
“And are you sure you don’t want me to drive round to my place to pick up the dog food that Olive gave me last night?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Stanley and I will walk to the shops and stock up on his various provisions. I promise you, he won’t starve to death on my watch. Now, don’t you think that instead ofcontinuing to quiz me about whether I’m up to the challenge of looking after a daft dog for a few hours, you ought to get yourself to work?”
“I know, I know, you’re right,” she sighed, waving her hands in the air. “Okay, I’ll shut up and stop fussing.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll come here straight after I finish work at seven to pick Stanley up, by which point I’ll hopefully have a plan in place for how I’ll look after him for the rest of the time he’s with me.”
“Great. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Stanley!” Grace waved as Ryan got out of the car and set the dog down on the pavement. Stanley rushed to sniff at the fence line outside Ryan’s front garden, his tail wagging.
With a quick wave goodbye, Ryan closed the car door and Grace drove off, tooting her horn in farewell as she disappeared down the road.
Stanley hurried over to the kerb in alarm and looked off into the distance at Grace’s car. He let out a whimper before peering up at Ryan with what he swore was a baffled look on his little canine face.
“Grace has gone to work, Stanley,” he explained to the dog. “She’ll be back later to collect you. In the meantime, you’re stuck with me, I’m afraid. But don’t worry, my grandma is staying with me for a few days, so she’ll keep us right.”
Stanley whined again, then glanced back at the road, his expression forlorn.
“You really like her, don’t you, little guy?” Ryan said. “I can understand why.”
He frowned at the admission he’d just made and frowned again when it occurred to him that he was standing out here on the pavement conducting a conversation with a dog.
“Come on, Stanley,” he said and gave the lead a gentle tug. “Let’s go inside and you can meet Grandma Miriam.”
With a final unhappy look along the road in the direction Grace had vanished, Stanley followed him into the house, where Ryan unclipped the dog’s lead from his collar. Stanley’s mood perked up when he got into the hallway and found an entire rack of shoes and boots to sniff at, and perked up even more when Grandma Miriam appeared from the kitchen at the other end.
“Well, who do we have here?” Miriam said, smiling in delight as the scruffy dog hurtled towards her.
“This is Stanley, the little lost dog I told you about,” Ryan said.
“Of course it is,” Miriam replied, leaning down to allow the animal to greet her with excited yips and licks. “I’m guessing that your trip to the vet’s surgery to have the dog scanned for microchip details didn’t end in success?”
Ryan summarised the events of the morning for his grandmother’s benefit. When he explained how they’d fled the boarding kennels in horror, Miriam frowned in dismay.
“I’m sure you did the right thing,” she said. “That place sounds awful. And to think that people arepayingto board their pets there. What on earth must they be thinking?”
In the kitchen, she filled a bowl of water at the sink and set it down on the floor for Stanley. The dog lapped it up, splashing water droplets all over the tiles before dashing off to explore the kitchen and dining area.
“Grandma, I hope you don’t mind me offering to look after the dog today,” Ryan said. “I know we said we’d go and enjoy some lunch at that fancy restaurant you liked the look of just off the high street, but with Stanley here now, that might not be an option. Sorry.”
Miriam waved this off. “We can go out to lunch another day. I’m just glad you jumped in and offered to help out with this furry rascal. It sounds like this new friend of yours, Grace, isquite taken with him, and I’m sure she’s grateful that you’re lending a hand.”
