He looked at Marcus, and was wondering if he should suggest something that outrageous when a huge dog came belting towards them.
‘What the hell is that?’ yelped Marcus.
‘Ah, there you are,’ said Gayle smiling. ‘I wondered where you were hiding. Say hello to Olive.’
‘Olive?’ exclaimed Marcus, holding on to the banister for dear life. ‘I’d rather not.’
Jake, on the other hand, rather fancied petting the exuberant Old English Sheepdog that was belting towards them, her tongue hanging out of her mouth, her long fur rising and falling as she ran down the hall.
Gayle rushed back down the stairs towards them. ‘Sorry. I’ll take her into the kitchen and shut the door.’
Jake said, ‘Ignore Marcus. This is not one of his better days.’ He stepped from the stairs and crouched down to say hello to the large dog.
Olive ran into his arms, tail wagging furiously, giving Jake lots of doggie kisses as though he was a dear, dear friend whom she hadn’t seen in an age.
Gayle stood there with her hands on her hips, tutting. ‘Really, Olive, anyone would think you don’t get any fusses in this household.’
‘You have a lovely dog, Gayle,’ commented Jake.
‘Ah, she’s not mine. She belongs to Mr Addison.’
‘The guy from the housing development?’
‘You’ve met Nick?’
‘Only in passing, when we bumped into him.’ Jake decided notto get into where that had been. ‘I mentioned that I was looking for somewhere to stay the night, and he saidfollow the lark.’
Gayle grinned. ‘That was Robyn’s idea. Did you like the little signs guiding you here?’
‘No.’
Jake turned around and glared at Marcus. ‘We did – yes. I’d like to meet Robyn.’
‘I’m sure you will. As I said, she does pop to see me, so you might be lucky. Now, if you ever need any interior design work on the—’ Gayle halted.
Marcus sat down on the stair, holding on to the banister spindle, and looked at Gayle. ‘On the …?’
Jake rolled his eyes at Marcus’s rudeness. They both knew what Gayle had been about to say. ‘We’ll be sure to pop into her shop and ask. Won’t we, Marcus?’
Marcus frowned at them both.He said, ‘You accept pets here?’
Gayle turned around and looked at him. ‘Well, we accept Olive. I hope that’s not a problem.’
Jake stepped in before Marcus got them both thrown out. ‘That is not a problem at all. I think she’s so cute.’
Gayle smiled. ‘Yep, she seems to have that effect on most people.’ Jake caught her giving Marcus a sideways glance.
He gave Olive a scratch behind the ears, which she seemed to enjoy. He smiled. He’d never had time for pets, although unbeknown to Faye, he had been looking for a puppy for Natty. But he had told Natty that the puppy would have to live at his house because Natty had told him Mummy didn’t have time to look after a pet, even though Natty had promised she’d do it herself.
As with everything else Natty had asked for when he’d been babysitting her, he’d had no hesitation putting his hand in his pocket and spoiling her rotten. But after Faye’s reaction when she discovered all the toys, all the things Faye could not afford,he realised he’d made a huge mistake. He imagined she was probably thinking,how do I compete with that?What sort of expectations was he giving her daughter? Expectations that she could have whatever she wanted, he realised. It was little wonder that Faye had stormed out and was barely talking to him.
Olive attempted to get past Jake and say hello to Marcus too.
Gayle noticed. She quickly stepped past Marcus on the stairs, and joined Jake at the bottom of the stairs, taking Olive by the collar. ‘Right, back to your bed in the kitchen, Olive. We can’t have you monopolising my guests. I’m sure they would like to see their room now, and have some time to unpack before dinner.’
‘Dinner?’ repeated Jake. You do evening meals here too?’ He’d assumed that it was bed and breakfast only.
‘Oh, yes. We do now. We used to be just a bed and breakfast, but since I stopped hairdressing, I’m now devoting all my time to running Lark Lodge. I thought, why not offer my guests an evening meal too? It’s optional, but I do a nice selection.’
