“Have you thought any more about the job opportunity in York that you found out about this morning?” he asked.
“It’s on my mind. I looked into the job specifications in more detail after I went home, and it certainly looks like a wonderful opportunity.”
Ryan looked ahead along the path to where Stanley was darting around and straining at his lead as he attempted to sniff everything in sight.
“Listen,” Ryan said. “This morning, when you told me about the job in York, there’s something I should’ve said that I regret not saying.”
Grace looked up and saw the nervous expression on his face.
“This job sounds like a great opportunity for you, Grace, and I know how much you want to get ahead in your career. I really think you should apply for the job and see what happens.” He blew out a breath before continuing. “But if you apply for the job and you get it and you decide to leave… I want you to know I’ll miss you.”
His words brought Grace the strangest feeling of relief. Knowing he felt this way made all the difference.
“I know we only met a week ago,” Ryan added. “But you mean an awful lot to me already, Grace. Whatever happens, I want you to know that.”
Touched by the tenderness and simplicity of his words, Grace tilted her head and kissed him. When he paused on the pathway to pull her closer, his arms encircling her, she felt bliss in every cell of her body.
They parted when Stanley barrelled back towards them, wondering what the holdup was as he endeavoured to make progress along the pathway. Laughing at the dog’s cheeky antics, they continued their walk hand-in-hand.
“I like you too, Ryan, very much,” Grace said. “These past few days have been the best I’ve had in a long time. It’s been wonderful being with you each day.”
“Even with my grandma tagging along?” he joked.
“If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have gone out on any of these lovely day trips to begin with, and then who knows if anything would’ve happened between us at all?”
“It would’ve happened,” Ryan said, his tone unequivocal as his eyes held hers.
His gaze made her stomach perform silly tumbles over and over, such was his effect whenever he looked at her that way.
“Stanley had already helped us find each other, anyway,” Ryan added, his expression now turning humorous.
“That’s true.” Grace remembered the phone call from the dog warden before she’d left the house—not that it was possible to forget about it. “If it wasn’t for everything that’s happened over the last few days, applying for that job in York would be a no-brainer for me. If I got the job, it would involve a lot of upheaval to move away and sell my house, a house I only bought a year ago, but I would’ve done it in a heartbeat if it meant getting such a huge jump up the career ladder in my industry, especially after being so disappointed about how my promotion prospects have stalled where I’m working at the moment.”
“But now things are different?” Ryan asked, and Grace couldn’t mistake the hopeful note in his voice.
“Yes, now things are different,” Grace said, and squeezed Ryan’s hand. “I didn’t expect to find… this… us…” She gestured to the two of them. “Whatever ‘us’ is. I know it’s early days, and there’s so much we still don’t know about each other but…” Looking up into his eyes, she felt sure about one thing, at least. “I do know that what I feel for you is real, and that it could become so much more.”
“I feel that way about you too, Grace.”
She savoured the lovely moment of shared intimacy.
“And this might sound daft, but things are also different because of Stanley, too,” she said at length. “When I found him on the street a week ago, I just felt sorry for the scruffy stray dog. Now, he’s burrowed my way inside my heart. For the past week, part of me has been hoping his owner would turn up and claim him because if there were people out there who loved him, I wanted him to be returned to where he belonged.”
She waved a hand towards Stanley, who was still scampering along the pathway ahead of them both.
“But it doesn’t look like there is anyone searching for him, after all. I suppose the lack of a microchip and a collar suggested as much right from the start. I hoped that perhaps the dog warden might get a phone call from someone who was looking for him, but that hasn’t happened. The warden phoned this morning and arranged to collect Stanley tomorrow to take him to the animal rescue centre to be rehomed.”
The unhappy tone in her voice had Ryan turning around to study her face, his hand cradling hers closer in comfort.
“How do you feel about that?” Ryan asked.
“Awful,” she admitted. “We’ve all been enjoying so many lovely trips out and about over these past few days thanks to your grandmother, that I lost track of time and didn’t realise that Stanley’s seven days with me were almost over. I don’t want to give him up.”
“So, why don’t you keep him? Tell the warden you want to become his new owner.”
“Ryan, believe me when I say that I am so tempted to do that. But this past week hasn’t been anything like my usual life. I’ve been in holiday mode, hanging around my house, hanging aroundyourhouse, going out for long walks every day. But that’s not how I live day to day. I work long hours at the hotel and often add overtime, too, and none of that would be fair on a dog.”
“There are ways around all of that,” Ryan said. “Lots of people work demanding full-time jobs and still manage to own a pet. There are dog-walking services. You mentioned doggy daycare when you first took Stanley in. Maybe he could go there when you’re at work and make lots of new doggy friends.”
