Biscuit knew there was someone at the door before the bell even rung. He stiffened and stared into the hall, on full alert. And when the ding-dong chimed, he took a couple of steps forward and woofed, a low warning sound.
‘Good boy,’ she praised him, pleased his protective side had kicked in. ‘Shall we see who it is?’ It was probably someone collecting for charity or enquiring whether she needed her gutters cleaning, but when she opened the door, she had theshock of her life as she came face to face with a large bouquet of flowers.
Startled, she stepped back, but she’d forgotten Biscuit was right behind her, and as he pushed past her to greet the newcomer, he took her legs from underneath her.
Nora went down on her bottom with an ‘Oof!’ and a thud.
Luckily, she still had a significant amount of padding on her backside to cushion her rather ungainly and decidedly inelegant fall, but it still hurt.
‘Oh, hell, are you okay?’ The beautiful bouquet was cast aside as Elijah hurried to help her up.
Rubbing her behind and hoping she hadn’t damaged her coccyx, she said, ‘I’m fine. But your flowers aren’t.’ Yelping enthusiastically, Biscuit was trampling all over them in his haste to greet Elijah as he danced around on his hind legs.
‘They’re not my flowers, they’re yours,’ he said, holding out a hand to help her to her feet.
‘Mine?’ Who from? And why was Elijah delivering them?Oh!
‘I’m sorry. I was an arse,’ he said sheepishly.
‘You were. You’d better say hello to Biscuit while I try to rescue the flowers.’ About half were salvageable and as she went inside to find a vase to put the poor stems in, she called over her shoulder, ‘You’d better come in.’
She heard the door close, and froze, wondering which side of it Elijah might be on.
It was a relief to hear his voice as he tried to calm the excited dog, and when Elijah came into the kitchen, she saw that Biscuit had the hem of his tee shirt in his mouth as though leading him.
Elijah said, ‘It’s alright, boy, you can let go, I’m not going anywhere. Not yet anyway, not unless your mum kicks me out.’
‘Don’t temp me,’ she growled.
Biscuit, the material still clamped between his teeth, whined uncertainly.
Giving the dog an incredulous look, she said, ‘I won’t kick him out, okay?’ and Biscuit immediately released his hold on the tee shirt, leaving behind a large wet patch.
‘Sorry about the flowers,’ she said, filling a glass vase with water. ‘They’re lovely.’
‘What’s left of them,’ he pointed out, despondently.
‘It’s not Biscuit’s fault. He hasn’t settled in yet. Still a bit excited. I only brought him home today.’
‘He’s settled in now.’
So he was. Biscuit was sprawled on the kitchen floor, his nose on his front paws. ‘Hallelujah! I was beginning to think he wasn’t going to.’
Elijah smiled. ‘I’ve got the magic touch.’
‘I hope I haven’t got to call on you every five minutes to get him to lie down,’ she joked weakly.
‘I wouldn’t mind if you did.’
Nora sent him a sharp look, which softened when she saw his face. He looked quite forlorn. ‘I’m sorry it worked out this way,’ she said.
‘No, you’re not.’
‘Okay, I’m not, but I didn’t want it to end like this.’
‘It doesn’t have to end at all.’
‘You do realise Biscuit is mine?Iadopted him.’ She prodded herself in the chest.
