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‘Bring it on!’ Valentina reached into her bag and brought out her laptop.

* * *

Valentina left a couple of hours later, having set up some clever system on Frankie’s computer involving Excel spreadsheets and complex-looking formulas. After half an hour of getting completely bamboozled and setting something incorrectly which resulted in the same dog’s name appearing in every cell of every column, Frankie poured herself a large gin and tonic and abandoned technology for good old A4 pad, pen and highlighters.

Still a work in progress, it would take a few more walks to firm up matches but she could already see a couple of potential connections; Lily’s wolfhound, Aragorn and Gary’s Weimaraner, Hendrix being the strongest. Both dogs now only had eyes for each other on the walks.

‘I think we might have a match here, Gilbers, don’t you?’ Hearing his name, Gilbert came over, expectantly snuffling Frankie’s hand in case she had a treat to give him.

Frankie turned over the page and at the top of a fresh piece of paper she wrote, Matches and underlined it. Below, in the margin, she wrote the number one and beside it Lily and Gary, then added a few more names underneath.

All she had to do now was plan how to take the budding romances to the next stage.

CHAPTER 20

FRANKIE

Valentina and Frankie ambled down North Street together on Saturday afternoon, stopping to look in the sparkly festive window display of the gift shop.

‘Ooh, those are gorgeous, Mum would love them.’ Valentina pointed to a beautiful pair of dangly enamel earrings. ‘Oh, and those little soft toy rabbits are adorable! I could get one for bubba.’

‘Want to go in?’

‘Maybe later. I’ve got so much time now, it’s lovely.’ Valentina grinned and Frankie couldn’t help but think it was true that women had an inner glow when pregnant. Her sister looked beautiful, decked out in her stripey poncho and woollen hat with the flaps over her ears.

They carried on walking along the street as Valentina said, ‘I’m trying to persuade Rocco to get a proper tree with bright baubles and not some designery minimalist thing that looks more like a twig.’

‘Good luck with that!’

‘And I’ve offered to help Mum and Nonno with Christmas dinner and I might even attempt some baking.’

‘Lovely. Just make sure you don’t overdo it,’ Frankie said. She wasn’t only concerned over her sister’s health; Valentina wasn’t known for her culinary expertise.

‘What else have you got planned for Christmas?’ Valentina asked as they stopped outside the delicatessen.

‘I’ll be handing out Christmas gifts at Cedar Lodge.’ Frankie loved her annual jaunt where she dressed Storm and Gilbert up in cute doggy Christmas accessories to “play Santa” with the residents. ‘I’m helping out in the trattoria for a couple of days too, and I need to organise more get-togethers for the Canine Cupids Christmas Club.’

‘How’s that going?’

‘Really well! I organised a scavenger hunt for this morning.’ Twelve dogs and their owners had all met up at Frankie’s barn where she put them into three teams of couples she had high hopes for. The dogs were all delighted to see each other and the owners, although not as well acquainted as their pooches, had an air of anticipation about them.

‘And?’

‘Gary and Lily are getting on very well. As are another couple, Ricky and Ffion, that’s Freddie the Boston terrier and Sally the Springer Spaniel’s owners.’

‘That’s brilliant. You know, for those who haven’t got any kind of match yet, you could take the same approach as we did with the dogs,’ Valentina said. ‘Throw everyone in together, see who sniffs whose bottom, as it were! I guarantee you’ll get some hook-ups. Lots of booze and some well-placed mistletoe and you can’t go wrong. Unless one of the owners is on heat!’ Valentina added and laughed. ‘Speaking of hook-ups, how’s it going with Ben?’

Frankie rolled her eyes. ‘Smooth, sis, very smooth. In all honesty, I have no idea. He seems keen when we’re together. He’s easy to chat to, funny, nice… good-looking.’

Valentina studied Frankie’s face. ‘But?’

‘Colin and Helen are back from their honeymoon on Monday and although Ben’s staying on a few extra days as his flat isn’t ready, he’ll have to go back to London at some point. And I can’t help but wonder if there’s any point investing time into something that has such a close expiry date?’

‘Wow, likening romance to an open carton of milk.’

‘Also, there’s not much contact between us.’ It wasn’t that Frankie wanted to be hounded twenty-four seven, but a little pursuit would be nice.

‘Are you messaging him?’