Page 57 of The Little Flower Shop By the Sea
‘What?’ I ask. ‘What’s wrong?’
Lou stands up. ‘The thing is, Poppy, now that Suzy has had her pups I’m not sure I’ll be able to cope with looking after them and two fully grown dogs, and since you got on so well with Basil today…’
‘Oh no,’ I say quickly when I see where this is heading. I hold up my hand and back away. ‘No way, I have the shop to run, and…’ I search desperately for something else, but realise that I don’t have anything else to worry about.
‘Me caring for Basil was only supposed to be temporary,’ Lou pleads. ‘He’s an old dog, Poppy, he doesn’t take too much looking after – he sleeps most of the time. Besides, he’d so enjoy being back in the shop.’
Jake stands up and gathers up a small bundle of towel.
‘While you and Poppy are discussing this, I’ll do that thing…’ he says, taking a wide berth around me, deliberately keeping the bundle of towel where I can’t see it.
‘What thing? What’s he doing?’ I ask as he leaves the room.
‘It’s nothing, Poppy.’ Lou, visibly distressed, glances at Suzy then lowers her voice. ‘One of the pups didn’t make it,’ she says, and her lip begins to tremble. ‘Jake and me, we tried so hard to resuscitate him, to give him a chance but…’ She shakes her head and begins to sob.
‘Oh, Lou.’ I look at Suzy and she raises her head for a moment away from her new pups and looks with distress at Lou, her ears down. Then she looks at me as if to say, ‘I can’t do anything at the moment, you’ll have to do my usual job of comforting my owner.’
I take a deep breath and, feeling very much out of my comfort zone, I put my arm around Lou.
‘I’m sure you did your best, Lou,’ I tell her, sort of half-patting, half-hugging her. ‘Suzy knows that. And look –’ I gesture towards the basket – ‘Suzy has five healthy puppies to thank you for, as does Basil.’
Lou sniffs and reaches into the pocket of her apron for a tissue. ‘I know, but he was just so tiny and helpless – the runt of the litter. We tried to save him, but Mother Nature had other ideas.’
‘Why don’t you sit down,’ I say, leading her back over to the sofa, next to Suzy and her pups, so she can see the positive results of her efforts and not dwell on the negative. ‘Where’s Jake taking him?’ I ask delicately, not wanting to upset her. ‘The pup?’
‘Aw, bless him – he’s a good boy. He’s having a look in my shed to see if he can find a small wooden box to bury the little fella in.’
I swallow hard. This whole situation is suddenly affecting me in ways I hadn’t expected it to.
‘I’ll go and see if he’s OK, and while I’m there I’ll put the kettle on. You look like you could do with a nice cup of tea.’
‘Oh, that would be lovely, dear.’ Lou sits back on the sofa and sighs. She looks almost as tired as Suzy as she sits and gazes contentedly at the puppies. ‘Then we can discuss Basil…’
I go back through to the kitchen, find the kettle, fill it, then put it on to boil.
Looking out of the kitchen window I see Jake with a spade, digging a hole under a tree in Lou’s back garden.
He must have found a box then…
I stand at the window for a few seconds, then I take a deep breath and head out into the garden.
‘Hi,’ I say, as I approach.
Jake jumps, and immediately stands in front of a small wooden box on the grass next to him.
‘It’s OK, I know about…’ I nod at the box.
‘Oh…’ Jake looks down at it too. ‘Yeah, real shame. We tried…’
‘Yes, Lou said. She’s quite upset.’
Jake nods, then he looks up at the tree and I see him take a deep breath. Was he reliving his own pain, as I was mine?
‘You can carry on,’ I say hurriedly. ‘I just wanted to make sure you were… well, you know?’
Jake looks at me. ‘I was what?’
I kick at a leaf. ‘You know, OK… after what’s happened.’ I glance at the box again.
