Page 51 of Coming Home to Sturcombe Bay
But she wasn’t jealous — how could she be? She was glad for him that he had known that happiness, even though it had been so cruelly snatched away.
Now . . . Well, it probably wasn’t the right moment to try to discuss their past history. He had a busy surgery to run, a French Bulldog and two cats out in the waiting room requiring his attention. At least they could be friends. It would be foolish to look for anything more.
“What do you think, Barney?” she murmured in the little dog’s ear, cuddling his warm body and stroking his rough fur. “Friends is good, right? Though you’ll always be my bestest friend.”
The door opened and Liam came back in.
“Oh . . .” She caught her breath, feeling a stupid blush rise to her cheeks — hopefully he’d just think she was embarrassed at being caught whispering sweet nothings to her pet. “That was quick.”
He smiled. If he had noticed her reaction, he gave no sign of it. “Modern technology — the results will come up on the computer in a few minutes.” He tickled the dog’s ear, earning himself a gaze of pure adoration. “He’s doing pretty well for his age. You must have missed him while you were away.”
“Yes, I did,” she admitted with a wry smile. “I was so happy to see him when I got back.”
“I bet. So how are you all now?”
“We’re fine. Trying to get used to Nanna not being there. She was such a big presence — she’s left a very big hole.”
“The whole town will miss her.”
“She was smiling, you know — as if she was happy to go. She’d enjoyed the cricket, and bickering with Arthur.”
He laughed. “Of course. She always enjoyed that . . . Ah . . .” He glanced at the computer screen beside him. “The results have come up. Everything’s looking fine, within the normal range. Right, young man, just one little injection for you and you’ll be running around like a puppy again. But not too much,” he added quickly to Cassie. “Don’t let him tire himself.”
Cassie nodded, watching as Liam deftly filled a syringe and injected the contents into the loose skin at the back of Barney’s neck.
“There you go — all done, mate.” He rubbed the spot, and the little dog twisted his head to lick his hand.
“Thank you.” She clipped on Barney’s lead and lifted him down from the table. “Well . . . um . . . Goodbye.”
“Will you be at Debbie and Bill’s wedding?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll see you there then.” He smiled with unexpected warmth. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
Cassie paid at the desk then stepped out into the bright sunshine, turning down Church Road, Barney trotting happily beside her.
She was still feeling unsettled by that unexpected encounter with Liam. Of course, it was probably inevitable that in a small town like this she would run into him from time to time, sometimes when she least expected it, wasn’t ready for it. If she stayed, it would be something she would have to deal with.
If she stayed . . .
Friends. It was easy to say, not so easy to live with. She didn’t want to fall in love with him again, but she wasn’t sure that she could help herself.
Shaking those thoughts from her head she glanced around. There had been changes since she had been away. Brenda’s shop was still there, but the hairdressers had changed hands. The pharmacy had gone and so had the off-licence and the shoe shop, which had been taken over by a second-hand furniture shop.
More of the big houses on the other side of the road had been converted to bed-and-breakfast places. She smiled to herself at the twee names: Bella Vista, Sunny Dene, Sandy Bay.
The Memorial Garden was looking very colourful, its neatly trimmed lawns and well-kept flowerbeds presided over by the old stone clock tower which had been built to commemorate the dead of the Boer War, and now carried the names of the dead in every war since.
She glanced down at the dog. “Fancy a walk on the beach?” He responded with a look that suggested he had taken it as a rhetorical question. “Okay, come on then.”
They strolled down the ramp and she let him off the leash. The beach was busy again. Barney spotted an unwary seagull and set off in hot pursuit, zooming around sun loungers and deckchairs, barking excitedly.
Inevitably the seagull got away, and Barney came trotting back, his pink tongue lolling out. Cassie bent and tickled his ears. “Never mind, poppet. Come on, look who’s here.”
Lisa was in her usual corner with the baby in her carrier. Cassie waved as she strolled over, Barney loping along at her side. Noah and Amy were playing catch with a beach ball, but they instantly stopped their game and came to make a fuss of the little dog, who rolled over to have his tummy tickled, wriggling in ecstasy.
