Page 51 of The Runaway Wives

Dee pulled out a chair and sat down. ‘What do you mean?’

‘People who love dogs but don’t have the time or space for one get together with local dog owners so they can take their dogs for walks, dog sit, even look after them while their owners go on holiday. So you have the fun without the responsibility. We’ve got a local app for the people who live in Port Telwyn and the surrounding area. Some of the owners are elderly or working and appreciate a helping hand.’

‘That sounds perfect. I love walking and it would be good to have a dog to accompany me. How do I sign up?’

‘How about meeting me in The Pirate’s Head tonight for a bite to eat and I can show you?’

‘Perfect. I finish here about six and need to go home to freshen up, so I can be there for seven?’

‘I’ll be there.’

They exchanged a smile and Dee felt a little flutter in the pit of her stomach. She liked Kenny, he was easy to talk to and pleasant company. It had been a long time since she’d spent time like this in another man’s company.Don’t get ahead of yourself, Kenny is just being pleasant and friendly because you’re old friends and he knows you’re having a tough time, she told herself.

Feeling her cheeks go hot she bent down to stroke Toffee, to allow herself time to compose herself. Then she stood up. ‘I must get back to work, it’s starting to get busy again. See you later then.’

He held up his mug. ‘You will.’

‘You two seem to get on well,’ Andi said with a waggle of her eyebrows as Dee went back inside.

Dee blushed. ‘Yes, it’s nice to catch up with an old friend, and everyone has been so welcoming.’ She washed her hands and put her apron on again. ‘Kenny was telling me that you had a “share a dog” app where you can match up with a dog owner and share taking the dog for walks and stuff. He’s going to tell me about it later.’

Andi grinned. ‘Oh yes, I’ve heard of that. It’s a great idea, and there are several working and elderly people in the village that use the service. And of course, it’s a very complicated app. You definitely need Kenny to talk you through that over a drink.’ Dee got the idea that Andi was teasing her but she didn’t mind. She was rather excited about the ‘sharing a dog’ idea. She’d miss Snowy when Edna returned home. It would be good to have a pet around and she couldn’t commit herself to one of her own yet, not until she’d sorted out her living and work situation.

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Snowy followed Dee home, so she fed the little cat who then curled up on one of the chairs. Dee glanced at the litter tray, it was clean as Snowy had been at the café all day. She put fresh water in the bowl and a bit of dried cat food in another bowl, in case Snowy got peckish. Then she went up for a quick shower and changed into jeans and a top. She’d phoned the local solicitor’s office at lunchtime and booked an appointment for Thursday to start the divorce rolling. The sooner she sorted it, the sooner she could get on with her life.

She went over to Snowy, who was still curled up on the sofa, and stroked him. ‘I have to go out again, are you going to be okay here by yourself?’ Edna had told her that she often left Snowy in when she went shopping and he always used the litter tray.

Snowy lifted up his head and miaowed as if he understood, then laid his head back down on his paws again. He seemed perfectly comfortable.

‘I won’t be long,’ Dee told him, grabbing her handbag. It was warm so she didn’t need a jacket. She wondered briefly how Snowy would be with a dog, but then, at the moment, she would only be borrowing one to take for walks, so that shouldn’t affect the little cat.

Flic, Stu and Cath were at The Pirate’s Head with Kenny when Dee arrived. Stu waved and called her over.

‘Kenny’s been telling us that you’re thinking of signing up to the “Local Dog Walkers” app?’ he said when Dee had got herself a wine spritzer and sat down to join them.

She noticed to her surprise that Toffee was lying by his feet. The little dog waved his tail at her and she bent down and stroked his head then replied, ‘Yes, I’d love a dog to take for a walk, it’s better than walking alone, and if it helps someone else then that’s great.’

‘Do you have an iPhone or Android?’ Kenny asked her.

‘Android,’ she told him, taking it out of her handbag. Nigel always insisted that Androids were more flexible and had better cameras.

‘This is the app. You’ll find it in the Playstore,’ Kenny told her, showing her the icon – a white dog in a dark blue circle with Local Dog Walkers written around it.

She installed the app and signed up – which was so easy she could have done it by herself but it was good of Kenny to offer to help. She took out her credit card to pay the small fee of £10 a year, but to her dismay it was declined. Nigel had kept his threat of cancelling her cards. Thank goodness she’d moved that money into her own account.

‘Problem?’ Kenny asked.

‘Nigel has cut off my access to the joint account.’ She took out her personal account card. ‘It’s okay I have my own account.’

To her surprise there were quite a few dog owners looking for people to share their dogs – people who worked, young mums who didn’t have time, elderly people who no longer had the energy.

‘What sort of dog are you looking for?’ Cath asked.

Dee considered this. ‘I don’t really mind. I think it’s more important to me who I help by looking after it,’ she said after a moment’s thought. ‘I think I’d like to help out an older person, it must be really difficult for them to walk their pets and often they’re the only “family” they have.’ She thought of some of the elderly people in the village she lived in – or should that be, used to live in – they often didn’t see anyone from one week to the next, especially if they were housebound. It would be good to help someone like that look after their dog, and also probably provide a bit of much needed company. She remembered the elderly lady who had spent a couple of hours in the café that afternoon, making a pot of tea last, and stroking Snowy, wondering if she had a pet. If she didn’t, was it because she couldn’t look after it by herself.

Finally Dee selected a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel called Betsy, owned by an elderly couple, Stan and Brenda Slater. Their daughter had signed them up for the app, concerned that no one had time to exercise the dog. They lived a few minutes’ drive away. Dee sent them a message offering to walk the dog for them, then settled back to join in the conversation which had now turned to the Artists’ Studios.

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