‘Of course I do.’ His eyes were shadowed. ‘I really thought Josie was planning on coming back, settling locally so that Maisie had both of us. That’s what she said, we agreed. But now …’ He shrugged despondently, the droop of his shoulders saying it all.
‘Oh Charlie.’ She wrapped her arms round him, and after a moment he put his arm round her shoulders and pulled her in tighter against him. ‘We can’t think about the worst case right now. We’ve got to assume the best, make it look like you’re expecting her to stay.’ She could feel the burn of tears in her eyes. Josie couldn’t be allowed to do this again. She wouldn’t let her. Swallowing away her upset she forced the tremor out of her voice. ‘You’re right though, you need a proper home and you need child care.’
‘But the surgery needs somebody there all the time. It works, me being in the flat, on hand.’
‘But it doesn’t work for Maisie.’ Lucy pulled away and straightened up. ‘Eric didn’t live there before, did he?’
‘No, it was just used if Sal needed to stay overnight, if we had a dog in.’
‘Right, well it sounds like it’s time you moved out, and went back to that arrangement. It was fine for just you, Charlie when you were a locum and weren’t even expecting to stay long.’
‘True.’ Charlie nodded, ran his fingers through his hair in a gesture she knew so well. When he’d moved back to Langtry Meadows, it had been to help Eric out. A temporary position. Eric was now on the road to recovery, and soon he’d be back in the surgery helping out, but he’d already told Charlie he wanted him to stay. That he needed help for the foreseeable future.
‘But it’s different now, isn’t it? In fact,’ she paused as a sudden idea popped into her head, ‘why not ask Eric if Sal can move in permanently? I know on the wage you pay her,’ he raised an eyebrow but she carried on, ‘she can’t afford anywhere big, and there are hardly any small places up for sale or rent in Langtry Meadows. Oh come on, Charlie, it makes sense, I know she’s dying to get away from her parents.’
‘Sounds like we need one of your spreadsheets.’ There was a glimmer of the old Charlie there, a hint of smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
‘It does. And an estate agent.’
‘You’re right, it might make Maisie feel more settled as well if I get a place that reminds her of home.’ He put a hand on her knee, the warmth seeping in, and she leaned in against him. She couldn’t help it. ‘Thanks.’ He dropped the lightest of kisses on her hair. ‘You’ve got to show me this house that you’re after as well, over the weekend. I am interested you know, sorry we’ve not had time—’
‘Neither of us have had a spare moment. I’ll show you round, but don’t expect much, it needs a lot of work.’
‘But you’ve got time, before Annie comes back?’
‘True. But first let’s sort your stuff out, that’s far more urgent.’
‘I’ll get Becky’s number off Sally tomorrow, she’s bound to have it.’
‘She is, or I can ask at school. Jill will probably know.’
‘Talking of Sal, your little Piper is ready to go home. Shall I bring her round in the morning?’
‘Sure.’ Lucy frowned. She really wanted the little dog, she’d been thinking about her ever since she’d found her by the garden gate – and she’d popped into the surgery regularly after school to check up on how she was doing. But the thought of taking responsibility for her was a bit daunting, even though she’d been caring for all of Annie’s animals. This was different, this was a dog of her own.
‘What’s up?’ Charlie nudged her.
‘How can I look after her? I don’t often get a chance to pop home at lunch time, and she can’t spend all day on her own.’ And soon she might have a house-renovation project on her hands as well.
‘Well I can soon sort that.’
Lucy jumped at the gruff country burr behind her, then twisted round to find Jim had sneaked up unnoticed. ‘Jim!’ The school governor, and Annie’s brother, had been looking after her since she’d arrived in Langtry Meadows. It was Jim who had introduced her to Annie, found her a place to stay, he kept an eye on things and checked she was coping with the gorgeous but overgrown cottage garden, and now it seemed he was jumping into the breach again.
‘Evening!’ He grinned, showing a chipped tooth.
‘But how …’
‘You’ve no need to go worrying about that pup while you’re in school, I can quite easily take the young ’un a walk for you when I take Molly.’
‘You walk Molly?’ Lucy was surprised, she’d never realised that Jim helped Elsie out with her dog, and she hadn’t realised that her discovering Piper was common knowledge either. But in Langtry Meadows it was hard to keep anything under wraps.
‘Oh aye. I offered a while ago, when Elsie was finding she was too,’ he paused diplomatically, looking for the right word. Nobody would dare call Elsie old, or suggest she couldn’t cope, ‘busy. Not been feeling quite herself lately, and she has a lot on some days so I said it was no trouble.’
Lucy frowned. ‘Is she okay?’ She’d not seen quite as much of Elsie Harrington as she should since she’d been caught up in the new term, and the old lady had been so kind to her.
‘Just old age and a bit of a summer cold, but you know she doesn’t like a fuss young Lucy. I’m sure she’d welcome a visit though if you’re passing. Aye well, official dog walker, me.’ He chuckled. ‘It would be good for Molly to have a youngster come along with us, she doesn’t run around that much since her own pups went, the lazy old thing.’
‘So that’s settled then.’ Charlie stood up. ‘Can I get you a drink, Jim? Lucy?’
Lucy grinned. ‘Definitely. Sit down Jim. I reckon you’re better than any estate agent, aren’t you? Do you know if there are any houses up for rent in the village?’
‘Oh God, no.’ Lucy clutched her head. It wasn’t how she liked Saturdays to start. Piper was barking a high pitched ‘I didn’t know I could do it’ kind of bark, and a hen was squawking indignantly.
A hen.
She sat up abruptly. The hens should be in the garden, not in the house. Not even stopping to put her slippers on, she scrambled down the narrow staircase.
‘I didn’t know you could bark.’ Piper flapped her tatty tail sheepishly, but didn’t look up. Her chin was on the floor, her gaze fixed on the bottom of the bureau. She wriggled forward a few inches on her tummy, commando style and Lucy tried not to laugh. The hen that she’d nicknamed Squeak wasn’t squeaking, for the first time since Lucy had set eyes on her she was flapping her wings and squawking out what sounded like a warning.
The puppy was unperturbed.
Lucy knelt down so that she was at her level, and peered. Peeping out from the darkness under the bureau was something yellowy-brown and fluffy. A chick. She put her head on the floor so that she could see right under, and another three pairs of eyes stared out from the gloom.
‘Oh.’ She stood up and frowned at Squeak. ‘You’re supposed to lay eggs for breakfast, not hide them until they hatch. Now what are we going to do?’ What on earth was she supposed to do? Leave the chicks there? Put them somewhere warm? Put them back outside