Sunshine and Spaniels (11 page)

As they spilled out into a perfect summer evening, Cat hovered on the doorstep. ‘It seems a shame not to come to your own celebration.’

Frankie shook her head. ‘Don’t be silly – you’ve worked harder than anyone. Thanks so much, Cat. I don’t know what I would have done without this. I know it’s not done yet, I know I need a lodger and a new job and…’ She ran her hands over her hair, shrugging slightly. ‘It would be so much worse if I didn’t have this. It’s like a beacon of hope at the top of our pink house – like the light on the lighthouse.’

Cat rubbed her arm. ‘I didn’t do a lot. I shoved an idea at you and you didn’t close the door in my face.’

‘And I’ve thought of what I can do for you in return.’

‘Oh?’

‘Do you play guitar?’

Cat shook her head. ‘Nope. I don’t think I have a musical bone in my body. I did drama at uni and they wouldn’t give me a part in any of the musical productions.’

‘Let me prove you wrong.’

‘I don’t know,’ Cat said. ‘I might be a lost cause.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Owen said, bouncing up to the top step. ‘Did you say you were looking for a job?’

Frankie nodded slowly, narrowing her eyes. ‘Yeah, but—’

‘What kind of thing?’

‘I worked at Spatz, but I didn’t really fit in there. With Henry and the girls, I need to be able to drop everything at a moment’s notice, and they weren’t flexible. I know it’s not ideal, but I can’t compromise for my kids.’

Owen waved her words away. ‘Spatz in town, the restaurant?’

‘Yeah. Why are you being so cryptic?’

‘I’m not, I’m not,’ Owen said, holding his hands up. ‘It’s just we’re short-staffed at the ice-cream parlour, and I don’t know if you fancy—’

‘Yes,’ Frankie rushed, and Cat had to stifle her laugh. ‘Sorry to be blunt, but yeah, that would be great. Even a few hours a week would make a huge difference.’

‘Wow, that was easy.’ Owen grinned and shook Frankie’s hand.

Cat looked at Frankie’s beaming face, then Owen’s endlessly cheerful one, and resisted the urge to jump up and down and cheer. Instead she skipped down the steps and flung her arms around Polly. ‘Owen’s given Frankie a job,’ she whispered.

‘What?’

‘Don’t be jealous, you’re going to be an animal nurse. But it must be hard knowing that Frankie will be working with Owen
and
ice cream.’

They watched as Frankie gave them a final wave. ‘Let’s sort out a date for your first lesson,’ she called, before she closed the door.

‘Lesson?’ Polly frowned. Cat shrugged her question away, and Owen joined them on the road, his cool box now empty, Rummy and Disco chasing each other’s tails on the pavement.

‘So where’s this celebration? If I’m welcome, of course. I have hijacked this party a bit.’ He rubbed the back of his neck, his black curls bouncing.

Cat asked Polly a silent question and her friend gave an almost imperceptible smile. ‘It’s at ours,’ Cat said.

‘And can Rummy come? I mean, you’re a dog walker so I assume so, but—’

‘Oh. No, actually, maybe we need to—’

‘It’s OK,’ Joe said.

‘Seriously?’ Cat hadn’t meant to squeal quite so loudly.

Joe rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t make a big deal of it. Let me see if Shed’s at home, and then…’ He pointed up the road and started walking.

Elsie looped her arm through Cat’s, and Mark fell into step on her other side. ‘I have to head off,’ Mark said. ‘Chips is at home, and I promised Jessica I’d update her on my screenplay, and all the trials and tribulations of London.’

‘Is she back?’ Cat asked lightly, trying to ignore the churning in her stomach. He was choosing Jessica over an evening with her and her friends.

‘She got back last night,’ Mark said. ‘But she’s not getting the Westies from the dog hotel until tomorrow so…’

So they’d have a dog-free night. Just the two of them, in Jessica’s beautiful back garden, on a sultry summer evening…

‘Sure. But if you don’t book somewhere for us to go for dinner then I’m going to have to do it myself.’ She grinned, hoping her insecurity wasn’t showing.

‘I’ll do it,’ he said, and then whispered in her ear, ‘but I do like it when a woman takes charge.’

‘Is that why you’ve been so hopeless at organizing it?’

He laughed and kissed her on the lips, causing her to trip over a loose paving stone and pull Elsie off balance.

‘Good grief,’ the older woman said. ‘This is not something I need to be a part of.’ They’d reached number ten, and while Elsie said goodbye to Owen and Polly, Mark moved Cat aside, kissing her again, his hands tight round her waist.

‘I’m sorry I can’t come back,’ he murmured. ‘Next time.’

‘Jessica’s not the only one who wants to hear about your film, you know. I
am
interested, even if I’m not a part of the celebrity inner circle.’ As soon as she said it she realized she sounded petty, but Mark grabbed her hand, squeezed it and kissed the side of her mouth.

‘I’ll book somewhere
really
special, and I’ll tell you all about it.’

‘I’ll go grey waiting!’ she called after him, and heard him laugh as he strolled up Primrose Terrace.

‘I’m pooped too,’ Elsie said, ‘so we’re going in.’

Cat bent to say goodbye to Disco and Chalky, pressing her nose against their sun-warmed fur.

‘Are you OK?’ Elsie asked.

Cat heard the weight in her friend’s tone, and wasn’t sure she could look at her. She nodded.

‘Don’t let him string you along, Cat. I know he’s tempting, with his good looks, his glamorous job and his charm, but remember when you first met him, you were worried he’d break Jessica’s heart. Give yourself that same level of care and attention. I’ll always be here, and you’ve got Polly and Joe too, if anything goes wrong. But best not to let your heart get broken in the first place. That sounds terribly risk-averse, but…some people are worth it, and some are just passing ships.’

‘I know,’ Cat said, ‘and I’m not taking it too seriously. We’re just seeing where things go at the moment.’

‘Well, make sure that place
isn’t
down the garden path.’

‘I’d pretty much be happy with anywhere beyond our front doorsteps, to be honest.’

‘Tush. Now – go and celebrate. You’ve earned it after all that hard work.’

Cat leaned against the door frame and peered into the living room. She could hear Polly and Owen chatting in the kitchen, and Joe was pouring crisps into a bowl on the coffee table. Rummy was at his feet, his square face angled up expectantly.

‘These aren’t for you,’ Joe said, sitting down and rubbing the dog’s ears. ‘And don’t get any ideas about laps, because if my cat catches you, you’ll be done for. Not
Cat
Cat, short brown hair, great smile – not her. She’s not mine, and she’d take you to her room if she could – no, that sounds wrong.’ He frowned and rubbed his eyes.

Cat was transfixed, watching him talk to the dog as if he owned him. She didn’t want to interrupt, and she wanted him to say again that she had a great smile, simply so she could believe he’d actually spoken the words.

‘I’m talking about my cat Shed,’ Joe continued. ‘Ginger, grumpy, not the most affable pet, not cute like the
other
Cat. I only got Shed because—’

‘Is white OK? It’s been in the fridge.’ Owen and Polly brought the bottle and four glasses into the room, and Joe sat back, his hand dangling over the edge of the sofa. Rummy settled at his feet, and Polly gave her brother a quick smile and ruffled his hair. ‘All right?’ she asked.

Joe nodded, and Cat’s confusion grew. She remembered Polly’s words at the picnic, that it wasn’t as simple as Joe just disliking dogs.

‘Where’s Cat?’ Owen asked.

‘Probably gone to shower and change,’ Polly said. ‘She was particularly grubby.’

Cat glanced down, saw that her vest top and shorts were smeared with grime, and that her fingers were black, and thought she should probably meet her friend’s expectations. She tiptoed silently up the stairs and spent too long in the shower.

In a blue fifties-style dress with black polka dots, and with her short hair still damp, Cat felt like a new person. She was also famished. The living room was empty and the windows were wide open, letting in fresh air and the smell of grilling meat.

‘Oh God,’ she said, ‘do we need to track down that barbecue?’

‘That’s a good idea,’ Joe called from the kitchen. ‘Why don’t you start with our back garden?’

Cat gawped. ‘We have a barbecue? How has it taken this long for us to use it? It’s not been a wet summer.’ Cat slipped past Joe and stood on the back doorstep. A silver gas barbecue was open, sausages and chicken kebabs smouldering on top. Rummy lay close by, raising his head roughly every five seconds to sniff the air, much as Cat was doing.

‘Because I’ve been too busy revising and Joe’s essentially lazy, and couldn’t be bothered to dig it out of the shed.’ Polly and Owen were sitting at the patio table, their heads close together.

‘I have now though, haven’t I?’ Joe handed Cat a glass of wine. He was wielding a pair of tongs and Cat thought he looked incredibly sexy, but probably only because she was so hungry.

Cat turned to admire the barbecue instead of Joe, and took a long swig of wine. ‘This is better than all the treasure in Frankie’s loft. It’s perfect, thank you.’ Contentment washed over her like a wave. She felt she belonged here, in this tiny courtyard with her best friend, and with Joe and Owen – who she was confident she’d have the opportunity to get to know better.

She’d helped Frankie out – she was sure they would find someone for the room – and she had enough dogs to walk to keep her afloat, but with room for more. Mark
was
going to take her out to dinner, and if he didn’t then she’d take him. At that moment, she felt as though there wasn’t much she’d want to change.

‘Earth to Cat,’ Joe said. ‘You OK? You’re miles away.’

‘I’m OK,’ she nodded. ‘I’m more than OK. I’m…’ She tried to think of a way to put all her thoughts into a single sentence, and found she couldn’t. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. She felt him go still. Maybe her earlier, irrational thought hadn’t been so irrational after all. ‘I’ve been wanting to do that all day,’ she said before she could stop herself.

‘Why?’ he asked quietly.

She looked up at him. ‘Because you’ve helped me so much. Renting out the attic was your idea really, so was the Pooches’ Picnic, and you’ve put up with me. With my ideas and my interruptions and my…my dogs. You’ve been a good friend, Joe.’

He inhaled and smiled down at her. ‘Yeah, well, you’re not so bad most of the time. You’ve certainly made things less boring.’

Cat laughed. ‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’

‘It’s the only one you’re going to get. The sausages are about to burn.’ He tapped her on the shoulder and she released him, thinking that he’d been much more complimentary when he thought she wasn’t listening.

‘Is Rummy allowed sausages?’ Joe asked.

Owen frowned and looked at Rummy. The dog came to stand in front of his owner. ‘Go on then,’ he said. ‘Just one, though. I don’t want to spoil his diet.’

‘Says the man who runs an ice-cream parlour,’ Polly laughed.

‘Ice cream brings sunshine into everyone’s life.’ Owen raised his hands up to the sky.

‘I agree,’ Cat said, lifting her glass. A loud screech broke through the evening quiet and Shed raced along the back wall, jumped into the courtyard and, without even stopping to smell the grilling meat, disappeared inside the house.

‘What was that about?’ Owen asked.

‘Oh, he’s just doing catty things,’ Joe said, waving his hand.

Cat closed her eyes. She couldn’t keep putting it off. ‘About that,’ she said. ‘I think Shed might have been terrorizing one of the local dogs.’ She held her breath, waiting for his earlier warmth to drain out of him. She wasn’t sure she could cope with his disapproval right now, not on such a perfect evening.

‘What are you talking about?’ His expression was more curious than annoyed, and Cat ran inside and returned with her one bit of evidence – the Eiffel Tower charm.

It was after midnight when they finally peeled their bums off the plastic seats and went inside. The dusk and the temperature had fallen so gradually that they’d barely noticed until the outdoor light had dimmed and finally sparked out, swallowing them in darkness.

‘Bedtime, then?’ Polly stood and stretched.

‘If the night wills it, then it must be so.’ Owen intoned, his voice low and dramatic. ‘Besides, it’s way past Rummy’s bedtime.’

‘Not yours, though?’ Polly asked.

Cat fumbled for the glasses on the table, and Joe put his hand on her arm. ‘Leave them out here until tomorrow. They won’t come to any harm overnight.’

‘What about Shed?’

‘He can see better than we can in the dark. He’ll avoid them.’

‘You sure you don’t mind, about Paris?’

‘Of course I mind,’ he said, pausing at the back door to let her in first. ‘I mind that my cat’s been beating up some poor little dog. But do I mind that you told me? No. I’m glad you did.’

‘I know there are things we can do to stop him going in Captain’s garden.’

‘Tiger poo, or something,’ Owen said. ‘My mum used to hate the cats doing their business in her veggie plot, so to stop the small cat poo she got large cat poo from the garden centre. They’re scared of it, I think.’

‘I’ll check it out. Thanks, Owen. It’s been lovely to meet you properly. I’m glad you could come tonight.’

‘Me too, and I’ll – uh…’ He turned to Polly and held his arms out in a comical but, Cat thought, nervous gesture. ‘I’ll see you soon?’

Polly grinned and kissed him on the cheek. They were about the same height, only Owen’s curls making him seem taller, and Cat thought that their babies would have blindingly blue eyes, like something out of a sci-fi film.

‘Yes, you will.’ Polly walked him to the door.

Cat put her hand on Joe’s chest, stopping him. ‘Give them a moment.’

Joe rolled his eyes. ‘Isn’t it bedtime?’

‘Let them say goodnight.’

He nodded. He looked tired, his eyes crinkled at the edges. ‘Cat?’

‘Yes?’ She swallowed.