Practically Perfect (8 page)

‘Just a splash of milk, if you’ve got it.’

Anna moved back to the kettle, the mugs and the instant coffee.

‘Did you go through all the paperwork? Does the Trust know where she came from? That she’s not stolen?’

Anna poured boiling water into the mugs. ‘That was all organised for me.’

She carried a mug of coffee over to him and put it down so it was within reach. She planned to lure Caroline away from this man, for, however much Caroline loved him, he was not having her! Anna was in a custody battle, and she was going to win. She pulled out Caroline’s collar, which she had stuffed into her pocket, and put it on. It was a badge of ownership.

Rob Hunter raised the coffee mug. ‘Cheers!’ he said.

Anna went back to where she’d left her own mug and took a much-needed sip.

Rob Hunter sighed. ‘Well, you’re obviously very fond of her but letting her get away from you in the market
could
have had fatal consequences. You’ll have to be much more careful in future. Taking a dog you don’t know very well into such a crowded situation—’

‘Oh, do be quiet! I know she slipped her collar, but that won’t happen again now I know about it! And she was fine with all those people.’

He looked at her, apparently doubtful. ‘I’d better have a proper look round and see if it is possible for you to keep her.’

Anna became defensive again. ‘Absolutely not! This is my home!’

He sighed again. ‘I realise that this has come as a shock to you – and to me if it’s any consolation – but the Trust should never have let you have a dog on a permanent basis without giving you a home check. I might as well do it now, while I’m here.’ He almost smiled. ‘It would save you having to have me here again.’

Anna almost smiled back. ‘In which case, help yourself.’

After all, she reasoned, righteous indignation could only sustain you so long, and as most of the house was visible from where he was, and Caroline couldn’t get up the ladder, making the upstairs irrelevant, there seemed no point in flinging herself across the boarded-up windows.

He strode to the back of the house. Had he been anyone else in the world, Anna would have explained how she hoped to have double doors out to the garden, but she said nothing.

‘Is there a garden out there?’ he asked, turning to look at her.

‘Yes. It’s not very big, but there’s a common not far away where we go for exercise.’

‘Is the garden secure? They can jump quite high, although not as high as lurchers, thank goodness.’

Anna opened the back door so he could see into the small, square space that would one day be a charming, secluded courtyard garden. The fence round it was higher than Anna could look over without getting out the ladder.

‘That seems secure enough. And you’ve been clearing up the mess. Very important to keep their living conditions clean.’

‘Who’d have thought it?’ Anna murmured. He had put his officious hat on again.

‘And how is Caroline with other animals?’ Rob Hunter went on, ignoring Anna’s sarcasm. He had taken over Caroline’s ears again. Anna gave up her custody battle, but only temporarily.

‘She’s hopeless with cats, but she doesn’t chase small dogs. I haven’t let her off the lead, though. Chloe told me that lots of greyhounds can never be let off the lead unless they’re in an enclosed field.’ Anna felt it was important to show she had some knowledge of the dog-adoption business.

‘Well, that’s sensible. Now, her collar. It is very smart and I see you’ve got lots of contact telephone numbers on her medal, but as you’ve discovered, she only has to turn round and she’s out of it.’

Anna sighed. There was nothing she could say in her defence.

‘This collar is fine for inside use, but when you’re out you need a slip collar as well.’

‘OK. I’ll get one.’

‘And does she suffer from separation anxiety?’

‘What?’ This man really was the limit.

‘Does she destroy the place when you leave her?’

‘No. I haven’t ever left her for very long, but she’s fine when I go to town for a couple of hours or so.’ She didn’t
tell
him that she’d bought her an electric blanket to sleep on. He would think this totally overindulgent.

‘And although you might not like the idea, an indoor kennel is a very good idea. It makes a den, a place of safety for them.’ He looked around. ‘You put something over the end so it’s like a tent, and apart from anything else, it keeps them free from draughts.’

‘I don’t like the idea,’ she said stubbornly.

‘I thought you wouldn’t, although they are good, really.’ Seeing he wasn’t getting anywhere he went on, ‘What are you feeding her?’

‘A complete food, as recommended by the Trust.’

‘And she likes it?’

‘Most of the time. Sometimes she doesn’t seem hungry.’

‘And what do you do about that?’

Anna shrugged. She considered herself good at second-guessing – she could always get top marks in multiple-choice quizzes to test your personality. But this time she had no idea what the right answer was. She fell back on the truth. ‘I chuck it out for the birds. I assume she’ll eat all her food next time.’

He nodded in reluctant approval. ‘Most women tempt them with other food, tinned dog food that will give them the runs.’ He paused for the full horror of this to sink in. ‘Another alternative is raw tripe. It’s cheap, very nutritious, and excellent for their teeth. But it does smell rather.’

However keen Anna was to avoid being classed with ‘most women’, she didn’t think she wanted to feed Caroline on raw tripe. ‘She’s perfectly happy with the dried stuff.’

‘Can I see where you feed her?’

Anna led him to where the two buckets held the two washing-up bowls up off the ground. One was full of
water
; the other was empty. Now she no longer felt he was accusing her of dog abuse, she felt less defensive.

‘Good. That’s fine,’ he said.

‘I do realise it’s important to feed the dogs off the ground and everything.’

‘So that’s all right then,’ he said and suddenly Anna was exhausted by the entire inquisition.

‘Look, Mr …’

‘Hunter, Rob Hunter, but you can call me Rob.’

Anna ignored this friendly invitation. ‘Mr Hunter, I do appreciate that if you’re from the Greyhound Trust you have to make sure that the dogs are rehomed properly. But if you’re satisfied that Caroline is being looked after properly, could you please go? I’ve got lots to do, and I’m sure there’s some other innocent dog-owner you could be harassing.’

‘I am satisfied that you’re looking after Caroline properly, but I should warn you that she’ll find a nearly spiral staircase very difficult. She may never be able to get upstairs.’

‘I’m not planning to have a nearly spiral staircase,’ Anna said firmly.

He frowned. ‘Aren’t you? Isn’t that what the rest of the row have?’

‘Maybe,’ Anna said a bit less firmly.

‘Then you should have the same.’

‘Mr Hunter, what sort of staircase I have is absolutely nothing to do with you! I plan for Caroline to sleep on my bed, so I will have a staircase that’s easy for her to manage!’ This wasn’t remotely true, but she knew it would annoy him. ‘Now, will you please leave!’

He raised a sceptical eyebrow and let himself out of the front door.

* * *

Busy or not, Anna had to abandon Caroline for a few moments and storm round to Chloe’s in order to rail about Rob Hunter’s awfulness. If Chloe hadn’t come back from wherever she had been, she would die of frustration. Fortunately for her blood pressure, Chloe was unpacking shopping and opening tins of baked beans. Although, as the boys were all home, Anna had to limit her language rather.

‘Bastard!’ she mouthed at Chloe, who seemed a bit taken aback. ‘Not you,’ she said aloud. ‘That pooey man who came to check on Caroline.’

‘Anna said pooey,’ said Tom.

‘Sorry,’ said Anna, ‘but he was! He asked all sorts of dreadfully impertinent questions.’

‘But that’s his job!’ Chloe pointed out rashly. ‘When did he come? And what did you say his name was?’

‘Rob … Barbour? Harvester? I can’t remember although he’s only just gone.’

‘His name wasn’t Hunter, was it?’ Chloe became thoughtful.

‘That’s it! I knew it was something to do with wellington boots. But, honestly, he was so objectionable.’ Although, Anna privately acknowledged, it was the fact that he was right that was most enraging her. Chloe found a saucepan and tipped in the beans, letting Anna rave on. ‘I suppose we did meet in rather difficult circumstances but he was dreadfully … arrogant, although I don’t suppose that’s quite what I mean.’

‘That can make men more attractive. Like Mr Darcy.’ The beans got a cursory stir.

‘He was just – I don’t know – overbearing,’ said Anna determinedly, although as she thought briefly about the man who’d filled all her romantic consciousness for the last three years, she acknowledged that he was a bit arrogant too.

‘So what were the difficult circumstances?’

‘I went to the market this morning.’

‘Oh, it’s great, isn’t it? We went really early, which is the best time really, before it gets busy, then did the supermarket shop. So what happened?’ Without looking at what she was doing, Chloe extracted two slices of bread and put them in the toaster.

‘A car backfired and Caroline slipped her lead.’

‘What! That’s terrible!’ At last the horror of the situation penetrated Chloe’s maternal bubble. ‘You mean you took Caroline to the market?’

‘Well, yes. Is that a bad thing?’

‘Not necessarily, but you haven’t had her very long, she might not have liked all those people.’

‘She was fine with all the people,’ said Anna, feeling betrayed. ‘It was the car backfiring. And you bought her the collar!’

‘What was wrong with the collar? It’s beautiful and it had her telephone numbers on the medal.’

‘Yes but they can slip out of them really easily! As I have just found out!’

‘Oh, Anna, I am sorry.’ Chloe was horrified. ‘I had no idea. Sit down. Let me make you a cup of coffee. Or I think there might be a beer in the fridge somewhere.’

‘I’d better get on.’

‘Go on, sit down and have a beer.’ Not taking no for an answer, Chloe produced a cold can from the fridge and a glass. ‘At the risk of seeming unsympathetic and changing the subject’ – Chloe smiled – ‘I’ve got some good news!’

‘Oh? What?’

‘Mike’s coming home. Next Thursday. And so I’ve arranged that dinner party I promised you. Just some local friends.’ An expression Anna couldn’t interpret crossed her face – it was mischievous, almost. ‘On Friday.’

Anna was so touched and quite glad to think about something other than the horror of Caroline and Rob Hunter that she didn’t comment on the expression. It was such a sweet thought and she was looking forward to meeting Mike. ‘But will you want to go to all that trouble when Mike’s just got back? Won’t you want to be just family?’

‘God no, and as for all that trouble, people will bring things, different courses.’ Chloe paused. ‘No need to look so stricken. I only ask people to do that if they’ve got kitchens.’

Chapter Five

CHLOE’S DINNER PARTY
shone temptingly at Anna all through the hectic week that ran up to it. She was determined, for that evening, to throw off her Girl-with-drill image and be pretty and feminine. She would arrange to have a bath at Chloe’s the night before, as there would be too much pressure on the bathroom for her to have it on the night. She would get it right!

But before she could panic at the state of her nails she had a lot to do. First thing on Monday morning she bought Caroline a very beautiful slip-collar-and-lead-combined in bright blue. As it was made of soft rope, it didn’t look as if it would hurt Caroline if she pulled at it, and everyone agreed it enhanced her already lovely appearance. She and Chloe’s boys took it for a test-run to the park in the evening, while Chloe made supper.

‘She likes it,’ announced Bruno.

‘She couldn’t tell us if she didn’t,’ said Tom, precociously.

‘I think we’d be able to guess,’ said Anna, keeping the peace.

She had had a good week with the house, too. Chloe had recommended a good electrician and on Wednesday, he came round to check the wiring.

When she opened the door to him, he was so young and fit that Anna suspected Chloe of matchmaking. Chloe was very like Laura in some ways, and this was just the sort of thing Laura might have done.

‘Hi, I’m Colin, the sparky,’ said this vision in ripped jeans and tight T-shirt. ‘My dad sent me.’

‘Your dad?’

He nodded. ‘You spoke to him on the phone but he had a job to finish over at Miserden so he asked me to come instead. We work together,’ he added, possibly noticing Anna’s misgivings. ‘I’m qualified.’

Anna opened the door wider. ‘I’m so sorry. I was just expecting an older man. Chloe – she lives next door – said she knew this wonderful electrician and …’ She faltered. She had been going to say that Chloe would have mentioned it if the wonderful electrician had also been gorgeous. Now she felt rather embarrassed. ‘I don’t know, I just thought he was …’

‘I’ve only joined up with Dad quite recently,’ said Colin reassuringly. ‘Now, shall I have a look at what’s needed?’