Page 77 of Animal Instincts
“What on earth’s got into you, boy?” His gran glared up from her morning paper. “Whatever it is, it’s got nothing to do with Bingo, so don’t take it out on him.” She pushed herself up from the table and bustled to the door. “Come here, you daft dog.” She plucked up a whimpering Bingo. She didn’t keep hold of him, but instead thrust him into Joss’ arms. “Now sit yourself down and say sorry to your pet.”
Joss looked down into Bingo’s big, soulful eyes, and he buried his face in the dog’s wiry fur.
“I’m sorry, Bingo, you didn’t deserve any of that.” He didn’t, and Joss wasn’t sure he deserved the shit his life had slid into, either.
“Get that down you.”
Gran plonked a cup of tea in front of him, settled back into her seat and levelled her steady gaze at him.
“Something happened with your vet? You’ve not been yourself this last couple or so days.” She eyed him over the rim of her cup, keeping her keen gaze locked on him.
A hard lump lodged in Joss’ chest. He looked down at Bingo, who snuggled in his lap, a sure sign Joss was forgiven.
“Is it Oliver, my love? What’s happened? You’ve been here when you’re usually there, you’ve not mentioned him…” Gran’s soft voice, and the work hardened hand that came to rest on his, broke everything inside him.
Hunched over the table, holding onto Bingo as though he were the only thing stopping him from drowning, Joss told her about Spencer, about Gary, and about how everything had unravelled in the course of a few short days.
“Oh, Joss! There’s little that hurts more than a broken heart.” Gran bustled around to Joss’ side of the table and gave him a hard hug. Even less touchy than she was feely, it meant more to Joss than any overblown show of emotion ever could.
“So,” she said, ensconced again in her chair. “The ex boyfriend showed up. Spicer, was it?”
“Spencer.”
“Oh yes, that’s it, with the gone to seed fella he traded Oliver in for. I already knew they’d turned up in the Harbour, of course. I was just waiting for you to tell me.”
“How did you know?” Joss gawped.
“This is a small, close knit village, my boy, for all our numbers have been added to by newcomers. When a couple of flashy looking strangers turn up in an Austin Morgan—”
“Aston Martin—”
“A James Bond car, everybody notices. But what gets noticed even more, is when guests at The Arms have slanging matches late at night, don’t talk to each other over breakfast, and are overly demanding and rude to the staff. Eva was telling me all this, when I was giving her a cinnamon rinse.”
Of course Gran knew. It was as inevitable as the rising of the sun and ebb and flow of the tide.
“Must have been a shock for your vet, those two turning up out of the blue.”
Joss snorted. “What do you think it was for me? I thought, me and Oliver, we were… were…” Joss felt the throb of heat in his cheeks, and he looked away.
“Becoming close?”
Gran’s voice was gentle, and Joss looked up. She was smiling at him. An overwhelming love for this eccentric one of a kind elderly lady who’d taken him on and brought him up when he was no more than a tiny kid, crashed over him as unstoppable as a storm whipped, wild Atlantic wave.
“Yes,” Joss croaked, as his voice broke. “It felt like all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle had clicked into place, yet one visit fromSpencerand it’s all been pulled apart.”
Joss buried his face in Bingo’s furry head once more, and breathed in deep the little dog’s familiar and comforting scent.
“You know how much I like your vet. He’s a good man, although I doubt at the moment you can find it in yourself to acknowledge that. In fact, I’d go as far as to say he’d make a very acceptable son-in-law, or maybe I should say grandson-in-law. In time.” Gran nodded in agreement with herself.
“Gran! We never talked about — anything like that.” His face pulsed with embarrassment, yet his heart pulsed faster. The sudden spike in his chest crashed. How could he even thinkthatwhen Oliver had pushed him aside and rejected him? “You told me to be careful, remember? I wish I’d bloody well listened.”
“Yes, I did. But I mean it when I say he’s a good man. He wouldn’t have done what he has lightly, even if he has made a dog’s dinner of it. Stand back and look at it through different eyes. Through Oliver’s eyes.”
“See it from his standpoint? Gran, he dumped me. That’s what it comes down to, it doesn’t matter what lame reasons he used. If he’d said he’d gone off me, or he preferred being on his own, that would have been more honest. Still devastating, but… Why should I make allowances for him?” Joss stiffened, and his fingers in Bingo’s fur clenched into fists. The small dog yelped, wriggled out of Joss’ hold, and jumped from his lap.
Gran sipped her tea, ignoring his outburst as she frowned through the steam rising up from the cup.
“This Spencer character comes along and plants the idea Oliver’s somehow holding you back. The ex is out to cause trouble, for his own reasons. But add in that cocky little sod Gary turning up a few days before, surprised to find you still in the village and all but calling you a loser — is that the word? — for not leaving and putting into place all those plans you had. Of course it made Oliver wonder if he was holding you back. Don’t forget, it was only a few weeks ago you were plotting your escape — you went for that interview in Bristol, remember? Going to work with Oliver was all about getting the experience you needed to getoutof the Harbour, it wasn’t about tightening the knot to stay in it. You knew that, and so did he. Like I say, Oliver may have made a mess of it, but I can understand why he’s doing what he is.”
