Chapter 1

1

Picking up her watch from the bedside table, Megan checked the time before turning back to the mirror and dabbing another layer of concealer under her eyes. She had forty minutes to get to Wagging Tails Dogs' Home if she was going to arrive on time. Forty minutes to finish her make-up, brush her hair and get the bus to West Par before running up the road to where the dogs' home was located.

And at this rate, she would be running. Literally. She'd missed the bus she'd planned to take thanks to the battery on her mobile dying because the charger Lyle had let her take was the dodgy one from the kitchen drawer. She wriggled the cable in the charging port and sighed. Nope, it still wasn't working, and she didn't have time to go and buy a charger now. She'd just have to hope she didn't miss the call she was expecting from her solicitor.

Still, she'd get her car back from the garage tomorrow. It was just bad timing that she'd booked the MOT for the same day as the volunteer induction morning.

Turning back to the mirror, she pulled the hairbrush through her hair, tugging at the knots. What had happened to her? A couple of months ago, she'd never have had knots, she'd never be trying and failing to cover the bags under her eyes. Her hair would have been trimmed and styled, her eye bags covered with the tiniest dab of expensive concealer.

Megan looked beyond the reflection of the poorly hidden telltale signs of tiredness towards the room behind her, staring back at her from the mirror; the double bed, two bedside tables holding two identical lamps and nothing else. How had she got here? From living in a large detached five-bedroomed house to this? Living out of a bed and breakfast in Trestow, Cornwall?

Squeezing her eyes tight, she pushed all thoughts of her old life out of her mind. When she opened them again, she plastered a fake smile on her face. She could do this. She could. She had to. She had to make amends. However small and insignificant they might be, she had to try.

With the smile still in place, she grabbed her handbag and room key before heading out, letting the heavy fire door click shut behind her.

Megan took a step forward before pausing again. Of all the ideas she'd had, this was the worst. What had she been thinking? That she, Megan Trussel, could try to make up for all the upset and upheaval her ex, Lyle, had put the staff, volunteers and dogs at Wagging Tails through? What could she do apart from muck out a few kennels or walk a dog or two?

Plus, she was completely inexperienced. She didn't own a dog. She never had. The only time she'd really had anything to do with one was when their neighbour had asked her to pop in and let their dog out after being called to a family emergency. After that, they'd asked her to walk the soppy spaniel a handful of times when they'd been out all day but that was it, she hadn't even had one as a child. What use would she be? What if the dogs picked up on her inexperience? Or what if she just wasn't a dog person?

She kicked at a stone on the floor, watching it skid across the lane towards the hedgerow on the other side. They probably wouldn't trust her to walk any dogs, anyway. And she wouldn't blame them. She wouldn't trust someone whose spouse had attempted to force them out and bulldoze down the dogs' home.

‘Megan?' a voice called from behind her.

Turning, Megan smiled as Sally, the dog trainer and girlfriend of Lyle's ex-business partner, walked towards her, a small Jack Russel at her feet.

‘Hi.'

‘It is you!' Sally told the dog to sit and grinned at Megan. ‘What are you doing here? I thought you were living up north still?'

‘No, me and Lyle split a few months ago. Just after all this business, actually.' Megan waved her hand, indicating the dogs' home at the end of the lane.

‘Ah, yes, Andy mentioned that. What are you doing down here, though? It's a long way from your home.'

Megan nodded. Home. Now that was a word she hadn't used for a while. And what did ‘home' even mean? She'd certainly never felt very much at home in the big, bland house she'd shared with Lyle. In fact, she hadn't felt particularly at home with him for a few years now, full stop.

She shrugged. ‘I don't really know, to be honest. I stupidly thought I might volunteer here for a while. Try to make up for everything.'

‘Oh.' Sally looked at her, the surprise in her eyes unmistakable.

‘You don't think it's a good idea, do you?' Megan looked down at the small Jack Russell sitting by Sally's feet.

‘No, I didn't mean it's not a good idea. I'm just surprised, that's all. You don't have to make up for Lyle's actions.'

‘I know.' Megan nodded. And she did know. As soon as she and Sally's partner, Andy, had discovered Lyle's intention for the dogs' home, they'd worked together to expose him and bring a halt to his plans. But still, she should have realised what he'd been up to before. If she had, she could have saved a lot of stress and heartache. She did need to make up for that, for her own naivety.

Sally looked from Megan towards the gate leading into Wagging Tails and back again. ‘Come on, you'd better get in before Flora starts giving her talk. And I need to get this little one up to the top paddock to help practise some socialising with Susan and one of the other pups we have.'

Should she go through with this? She'd come this far. She'd been staying in the bed and breakfast in Trestow for five weeks now, waiting for the perfect opportunity to show herself at Wagging Tails, waiting to gain enough confidence to return to the place that had cost her her relationship.

No, that wasn't true. Her marriage had been over way before then. She and Lyle had been living separate lives for the past few years. What he'd done, or attempted to do, to Wagging Tails had merely been the last straw, had been the catalyst for her to act, to no longer make excuses for him, to no longer imagine a time when things would be better between them.

Yes, discovering what he'd had planned for Wagging Tails had given her the kick to walk away, but it certainly hadn't been the reason she and Lyle were over. No, that was down to him.

‘Ready?' Sally held out her arm, ready to link arms.

Megan nodded. ‘As ready as I'll ever be.'

‘Great.' Sally glanced down at the dog by her heels. ‘Come on, Rex, let's go and meet the new volunteers.'

‘Do you think there'll be a lot of people?'

Megan looked down at the sign hanging on the gate as they walked through. The words ‘New Volunteers Welcome Day!' were emblazoned in bright yellow on a background of green.

‘I'm not sure. I think Flora said she was expecting about ten, but if they all show up…' Sally shrugged.

‘That's a good number, then.' Megan paused as Sally closed the gate behind them.

‘Yes, it is. Of course, not everyone will become regular volunteers. Last time Flora put on a volunteer day, we had maybe fifteen people turn up, but only six are still volunteering on a regular basis.'

‘Really? How come?'

‘People always have good intentions, but I guess life just gets in the way sometimes.' Sally glanced across at Megan. ‘Six is still a lot of volunteers to gain from one of these drives, though, which is why Flora asked Darryl to advertise it in the Trestow Telegraph again.'

As they crossed the courtyard, Megan could see a cluster of people making their way from the small car park towards the door into the reception area. Good, at least she hadn't missed the beginning of the induction through her dithering.

‘Go on, you'll be fine.' Sally touched Megan's forearm and nodded towards the door.

‘Thanks.'

Letting a flicker of a smile catch the corners of her lips, Megan began to walk towards the door, pausing to watch Sally head towards the paddocks. She was here now, she might as well go in. Reaching the door, Megan slipped in behind someone else, muttering her thanks and quietly closing the door behind her.

She looked around. The small reception area was crammed full of people, presumably all prospective volunteers like herself.

‘Again, for those just arriving, thank you all so much for coming.' Megan recognised Flora's voice. ‘It's so lovely to see so many of you wanting to give up time from your busy lives to come and help us out. We're currently at full capacity and so all the help we can get will be very much appreciated.'

Megan pulled her mobile from her back pocket ready to switch it to silent only to see the blank screen and remember the battery had run out.

‘Do you want to come in front of me so you can see better?' The man in front of her turned around and stepped slightly to the side, indicating the small space in front of him.

Automatically shaking her head, Megan smiled. ‘No thanks.' The last thing she wanted was to draw attention to herself. Even though Sally had said she thought this was a good idea, she still didn't know how Flora would react, whether she'd be happy to see her or whether she'd ask her to leave. No, she was more than comfortable standing at the back behind the other volunteers. The last thing she wanted was to be called out in front of a group of strangers.

The man nodded and turned back around, concentrating on Flora's talk.

‘…and so, without any further ado, I'll give you a tour of Wagging Tails before we come back inside to discuss the boring bits. We'll start outside and then you can have a chance to meet the dogs inside after our tour.'

Megan followed the group outside, stepping into the summer sun. As the reception area emptied, Megan positioned herself behind a couple standing nearby.

‘That's it. This way. We'll begin at the paddocks where you can all meet our lovely trainer, Sally, and our longest standing volunteer, Susan.'

The couple in front of Megan moved forward, leaving Megan standing there at the very moment Flora walked past. Megan swallowed as Flora paused in front of her, her words caught in her mouth for a second before she nodded slowly and made her way towards the front of the crowd.

What had that meant? Should she just go now? Save herself the embarrassment? No, she was here for a reason. The very reason she was staying in Trestow. If she didn't at least stay until the end of the induction and see what Flora had to say, then it would all be for nothing. She'd have travelled all this way for no reason.

As the other volunteers surged forward, following Flora as she led them towards the bottom paddock, Megan followed at a short distance. It wasn't as though she had anywhere else to go. She no longer had anywhere to call home and the friends she'd thought she'd be able to rely on for support she hadn't heard from. Lyle had probably made up some story or other to explain why she'd left him. That was the thing with Lyle, however bad his situation, however much he was in the wrong, he was quick to spin it so he always came out on top, so he was the one in the right.

‘That's it, come on through. This is our bottom paddock, a safe space for the dogs to exercise off lead. It's all enclosed and secure so they can let off some steam. When we have a new arrival, we assess them and those who are friendly with other dogs will have the opportunity to socialise.'

‘Can all the dogs you have be exercised together?' A woman towards the front of the group shot her hand up.

‘No, but don't worry, when you arrive for your volunteering session, there'll always be one of us around who will tell you who can and can't be exercised together. Plus, when we look round the kennels, you'll see each kennel has a clipboard, information such as that will always be written on there, too.' Flora shut the gate behind them all.

‘Will we be able to choose who we walk?' the woman called out again.

The man walking next to Megan turned to her and shook his head, his dark hair bouncing. ‘Let me guess, she only wants to walk the cute ones.'

Megan grimaced. It sure sounded like it.

‘Up to a point. All of our dogs need to be exercised each day, and that needs to be done fairly. All the dogs in our care deserve our attention and love. As a volunteer, some of the dogs will be off limits, such as our resident dog, Ralph, who must be walked by someone he is familiar with at the quietest times of the day.' Flora led the group across the paddock. ‘We have a list we tick after each walk so we know who has had their walk and who hasn't.'

‘What if we can't commit to a certain time each week?' A man towards the front of the group spoke up. ‘Can we just turn up?'

Flora paused. ‘We prefer people to commit to a regular time. Just so we can make sure we have an even spread of volunteers. With only the two paddocks, there's a limit to how many dogs we can walk at once so we wouldn't want people to just turn up or they might find it's a waste of their time. Of course, if you can't commit to a regular time slot, we can try to work around you and come up with a solution. We just ask to be kept in the loop, so to speak.'

‘Of course, thanks.' The man nodded, seemingly happy with Flora's answer.

Flora steered them towards the gate to the top paddock and waved towards Sally and Susan, who made their way towards them.

‘This is Susan and Sally.' Flora introduced them.

‘Hi, everyone. Lovely to meet you all.' Susan waved as the small Jack Russell Megan had seen Sally walking earlier bounded up to the gate.

Turning back to the group, Flora raised her voice again. ‘We won't go into the top paddock as Susan and Sally are socialising two of our newest arrivals, but as you can see it's much the same as the bottom paddock. Now, if we head back to the reception area and the kennels, we'll grab a cuppa, and I can answer any other questions you may have.'

Turning, Megan followed the group back through the bottom paddock.

‘Megan, isn't it?'

Jerking her head up, she caught her breath. It was Flora.

‘Yes. I'm sorry, I can go. I just…' She shoved her hands in her pockets.

‘You'd like to volunteer here?' Flora began to walk beside her, matching her pace.

Megan nodded.

‘Good to have you here, then.' Flora indicated the people ahead of them. ‘I'd better get to the front. Shall we have a quick chat after the induction? If you have time, of course?'

‘Okay.'

‘Great.' Flora smiled before quickening her pace and weaving her way towards the front of the group.

Megan could feel the tension melting from the knots in her shoulders. Flora hadn't asked her to leave. That was a start.