Page 61
“Hang on!” Lauren called. “What did you want?”
“I’ll tell you later!”
Carly rang Samantha on her way to reception, Reggie towing slightly ahead.
“If you’re ringing to cancel, I might actually lose my cool.”
“I’m ringing to say I’ll be early. Can you make sure he’s ready?”
A thud and a bark sounded in the background. “He’s been ready all afternoon. Can you drop him at Dad’s after his walk instead of here? I’m cooking for the in-laws tonight. They’re not dog people.”
Carly resisted a comment about distant and extended family. “I can’t. I’ve got a golden retriever to return.”
“Oh, great. I should’ve known there’d be another excuse. How many weeks has it been now? You can’t avoid Dad forever.”
“I’ll be with you in ten.”
She hung up and held the front doors for Reggie. It wasn’t an excuse. It was a reason. The distinction mattered. Besides, there was no sense ferrying Berkeley to their dad’s house for one night when Samantha would only have to fetch him again in the morning.
Ten minutes later, Berkeley was in the back with Reggie, collected from Samantha’s drive with the minimum of conversation, and the sat nav was taking Carly through town to a street of neat little bungalows. Surely not. The only person Carly had ever known in a bungalow like this was her grandmother.
She checked the number. Right place.
The driveway was empty, so she stopped on the kerb and left the space for Lauren. Both dogs sat bolt upright the second she cut the engine. They’d have to wait because she was doing a recce.
The streetlight showed flower beds along the front, and a lawn without a single weed. More care and attention than she’d expected. Then again, Jenna had told her Paige had lived here until a few weeks ago. Paige gave off homemaker vibes. Lauren did not.
Carly zipped her coat against the wind and let the dogs out.
An hour of looping the estate and the high street later, her phone buzzed. Lauren was home. After an afternoon of Samantha’s messages, it came as a small relief.
This time, a light glowed in the front window, and the Volvo was on the drive. Lauren stood in the doorway and waved them up the path, and Reggie hauled forward the moment he saw her.
“Hello, trouble.” Lauren caught his face in both hands, then looked past him. “And who’s this?”
“This is Berkeley.” Carly was proud of him for sitting and waiting his turn. When Lauren checked it was okay to stroke him, Carly nodded. People were often wary of a dog that size. “Don’t worry. He’ll only bite if I tell him to.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second.” Lauren let him sniff the back of her hand, then made a show of shivering. “Do you want to come in for a drink? You can finally tell me what you wanted earlier.”
Carly checked her watch. Half six. Samantha would be serving up. Another half an hour wouldn’t hurt anyone.
“Okay.”
Reggie trotted off down the hall the second his lead came off. Berkeley stayed sitting at Carly’s feet.
“I didn’t know you had a dog,” Lauren said, crouching to him.
“I don’t. He’s my dad’s. He hasn’t been getting much exercise.”
“How come? Sorry if I’m prying. It just seems weird, given exercise is basically your dad’s business.”
Carly frowned. She hadn’t looked at it like that. “Berkeley used to walk between the gyms with him. They were together all day. That doesn’t happen anymore.”
“Because he retired? I’d have thought he’d still be into fitness.”
“No. Because he has motor neurone disease.”
Lauren looked up with the same pitying face everyone made when they heard. Everyone was sorry. It didn’t change anything.
