Chapter 11

11

Pausing just inside the door to reception, Megan smoothed her T-shirt down. Not that it made any difference. She'd popped to the launderette in Trestow just before meeting Jay for dinner yesterday evening and typically there had been a queue which meant she'd had to bundle her wet clothes in a bag and take them to the restaurant instead of dropping them off first and hanging them up. Of course, this had resulted in her entire wardrobe now being full of creased, slightly damp smelling clothes.

Never mind, Jay had seen her knee-deep in dirt. A few creases wouldn't put him off. Besides, if yesterday's dinner was anything to go by then it was her he was interested in, not what she was wearing. She stifled a giggle as she remembered the Bolognese sauce dribbling down her top after he'd made her laugh. After feeling briefly mortified, she'd shrugged it off. It hadn't bothered Jay, in fact he'd found it funny which was refreshing when she thought back to how Lyle would have reacted. Yes, she'd had fun last night. More fun than she'd had in a long while.

She smiled as she pushed open the kitchen door. ‘Morning.'

‘Morning, lovely.' Flora looked up from the notebook she was scribbling in.

‘I've just put the kettle on,' Susan said, pulling out another mug from the cupboard. ‘Would you like a coffee?'

‘That'd be great, thanks.' Megan bent down as Cindy sauntered over to her, leaning against her leg as if waiting for the fussing she knew was to come. ‘Hello, you.'

‘Morning.' Jay grinned as he looked over from the line of dog bowls he was filling with kibble.

‘Hi.' Glancing across at him, she smiled, her cheeks warming, before turning her attention to Cindy. Was she imagining things or could she feel the connection still from yesterday's date? Maybe she was imagining it, after all he'd made no move to kiss her or anything last night. Maybe their date hadn't gone quite as well as she'd believed, maybe he just saw her as a friend. She focused on Cindy. ‘Has there been any interest in her yet?'

‘No, nothing, but I'm just writing a little piece about her and then Darryl will feature her in the Trestow Telegraph .' Flora shrugged. ‘I'm not holding out much hope because of the separation anxiety, but you never know, miracles do happen.'

‘They do, and we managed to rehome little Dina, didn't we?' Susan waited until Megan had stood up again and then passed her a mug. ‘She had really bad anxiety, do you remember?'

‘Oh yes, she did, but it was a little more manageable because she was only tiny, so she wasn't quite so noisy and she eventually settled in a crate, didn't she?'

‘She did. That's right, I'd forgotten about the crate training.' Susan took a biscuit from one of the bowls Jay was filling and held it out for Cindy. ‘Still, we can't give up hope.'

‘No, we can't. I'm sure there'll be someone out there.' Flora tapped her pen against her chin. ‘I think I might actually include the fact that potential adopters can and probably should have a trial run with her before making their final decision. It might save a little heartache later down the line.'

‘Good idea.' Susan slipped into the chair opposite Flora. ‘And it might encourage people to come forward, knowing they have a few days of living with her and getting to know her antics before committing.'

‘Exactly.'

Jay replaced the bag of kibble and stacked the bowls, ready to take to the kennels.

‘I'll give you a hand if you like?' Megan put her mug down on the counter and walked across to him.

‘Thanks. Ready?'

‘Yep.' Holding her hands out, Megan took the bowls from him, his fingers brushing against hers as she did so.

‘After you.' Jay smiled as he held the door open.

Once the kitchen door had clicked quietly shut behind them, she looked across at him. His brow was furrowed as he attempted to open the door that led to the kennels without dropping his stack of bowls.

‘Thank you for dinner last night,' she said. ‘I really enjoyed it.'

‘You did?' He pushed down on the door handle with his elbow and kicked it open.

‘You sound shocked?'

Megan slipped past him as he held the door open. Had she got the wrong impression here? Had he not enjoyed himself? He had seemed to. They'd spent the evening laughing and sharing details from their childhoods, she'd even told him about the time she'd taken the wrong train on the way to a job interview as a teenager and ended up in the middle of nowhere and three hours late.

Letting the door swing shut behind them, Jay waited for the excited barking and whining to subside a little before looking her in the eyes.

‘Oh, I did. I really enjoyed myself and thought we had a great time. I'm just not very good at these things and so I didn't want to presume that you felt the same way.'

Megan laughed, a wave of relief flooding through her. He did feel the same then. He had felt a connection.

‘I did tell you after our meal.'

‘I know you did.' Looking down, a slight blush crept up his neck. ‘Like I said, I've always been rubbish at dating. In fact, that's not true. I haven't been rubbish because until I asked you out, I haven't been on a date since I met Mia's mum.'

Megan stared at him before shaking her head and looking away. He'd said he'd been divorced for two years, hadn't he? And he hadn't been on a date since? ‘You haven't? How come?' After opening the door to Rex's kennel, Megan carefully lowered one of the bowls and quickly fussed him behind the ears before turning to the next one.

‘I don't know. I suppose I just didn't feel ready. Besides, and I know this is going to sound self-pitying, and I can assure you it's not meant to, but my confidence with romance and relationships has well and truly been shattered since finding out about Leanne's affair.'

Megan sighed. ‘I can understand that. It's difficult once you've been hurt to be able to trust again.'

‘Exactly.' Jay passed Ralph his bowl of kibble. ‘And I think it's the deceit too that has really had an effect on me. How do I trust someone else when I lived with Leanne whilst she was seeing someone behind my back?'

‘I know what you mean by not being able to trust.' Megan opened the door to Angus's kennel and laughed as he bounded across the small enclosure towards his food faster than Megan had ever seen him move before. ‘I didn't know you could move so fast, Angus!'

Jay glanced at her. ‘I thought you said your ex didn't cheat?'

Closing the door quietly, Megan frowned. ‘No, he didn't. He was busy with work. I don't think he'd have had the time to. The lies, though, I know about them. Even now, I'm not really sure what was real and what wasn't with him.'

‘Sorry to hear that.' Jay paused outside Splash and Ocean's kennel. ‘I suppose at least we both understand.'

‘Exactly. We have to focus on the positives.' Megan smiled.

‘Most definitely.' Grinning, Jay looked down as Splash pawed at the kennel door, his bowl already empty. ‘That's it, all gone, Splash.'

‘Aw, look at his face though. Anyone would think we'd starved him.' Megan laughed as she rummaged in her pocket for a treat.

‘Ha ha, you're the same as me. Fill up with treats as soon as you walk through the door.' Jay patted his bulging pockets.

Megan looked around when she heard Flora walking into the corridor. Her face looked worried. ‘Everything okay?'

‘No, I've just had a call from the racetrack outside Trestow. They've asked us to take some of their dogs.' Flora began to walk up and down the corridor, peering into each kennel.

‘How many?' Jay asked as he collected the empty bowls.

‘Thirty.' Flora sighed.

‘Thirty?' Megan's mouth dropped open.

‘Yes. Thirty.' Flora shook her head, a flash of anger crossing her face. ‘They do this. Every so often we'll get a call asking us to take some of their dogs, sometimes less, sometimes more. Of course, I can't just turn around and accept them all. We simply don't have the space. Plus, greyhounds are so difficult to find homes for, and I have to think about how many other dogs we can have and rehome in the time it would take to rehome one greyhound.'

‘Why do they get rid of so many at the same time?' Jay asked.

‘They retire them.' Flora shook her head. ‘If they'd only learn and let them go in stages, but I suppose it's to do with the racing season or something. As much as I'd love to, we just don't have the capacity to take them all. Hopefully we can squeeze in one or two though.'

‘What will happen to the rest? Do they ask anyone else to take them in?' Megan chewed down on her bottom lip. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to know the answer.

‘Fortunately, Trestow racetrack won't just ask us, they'll ring around all the local rescue centres and the national greyhound ones too and try to find rehoming spaces, but of course with so many needing a safe space at a time…' Flora pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘Not every racetrack will even bother to try.'

Megan blinked against the tears forming behind her eyes. She'd always had a soft spot for greyhounds. Of course, Lyle would never have agreed to open their home to a pet, not that he had been there much himself over the past few years.

‘We'll be able to take two, I think.' Flora nodded. ‘That's if they can share a kennel. Sonny is going to his new home tomorrow so they can have his kennel.'

‘That's good then.' Jay held the door to the reception area open for them.

‘Yes, it is. We seem to be on a good roll with rehoming at the moment.' Flora smiled a sad smile. ‘There's always more needing our help though and I hate to let dogs down.'

‘I'm sure you're not letting anyone down, Flora, love.' Percy walked into the reception area from the front entrance, the bell tinkling above the door.

‘Greg from Trestow racetrack has just rung. Thirty of them this time.' Flora walked behind the counter and picked up the phone.

‘You can only do what you can. We can't take more dogs than there are kennels, love.'

‘I know.' Flora nodded.

‘I'll just pop these away and then make a start on the digging.' Jay held up the empty bowls.

‘I'll help too. I can always carry on with the finances at home.' Megan shook her head.

Home? She was now calling the bed and breakfast home. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

‘Don't do any such thing, lovely. There's no rush.'

‘Ready?' Jay appeared again.

‘Yep.' Megan nodded.