Chapter 2
Springtime in London was the first sign of the heatwave that would bathe the capital until nearly September. It was only mid-March, but coats had been hung up, shorts had been pulled out of the back of drawers and bare arms were getting the first of their yearly doses of vitamin D.
Alice walked down Kensington High Street on her way to meet Jill, having left theFunny Packoffice early that Friday afternoon. The incoming lighter evenings, with the low sunshine warming her face, made the winter months worth it.
She wanted to talk to Jill, seriously, about an idea they’d both skirted around for a couple of weeks, mentioning in passing, making quips about, but never really pinning anything down. So she’d suggested they meet at a bar in the sunshine for a glass of wine.
‘Can you believe this weather?’ Jill asked as a greeting, the same greeting all Londoners were using at the moment.
‘If this can just last all summer I will have ticked at least one thing off my “what do I want to happen this year” list.’ Alice sat down and they ordered a bottle of rosé to share, because when it feels like summer you may as well go all out.
‘How was work today, honeypie?’ Jill asked, as if she were Alice’s husband.
‘Just marvellous, thank you, darling. And you?’
‘Same old, same old.’ Jill worked as a web developer, usually on long-term retainers from tech companies, which gave her the sociability of an office environment with the freedom to dictate her own hours. ‘So what did you want to talk about?’
‘Okay,’ Alice leant forward. ‘You know we both said we wanted to travel more this year?’
‘Yes, definitely.’
‘And we keep bringing it up and saying how great it would be.’
‘It would be great. You and I have a lot of fun travelling.’
Alice grinned. ‘We have had some good adventures. I was thinking, shall we just do it again? Shall we just go for it?’
‘Go backpacking again?’
‘Maybe notbackpacking, but have another adventure. For a month or two, like a road trip around Europe or something.’
‘When were you thinking?’ Jill asked, sipping her wine.
‘Maybe after summer, so we have some time to save up a bit and book the time off work. What do you think?’
Jill hesitated, and Alice felt a drip of doubt sink into her. Maybe Jill didn’t want to do something like this after all. She shouldn’t have got so ahead of herself with hope.
‘How do you feel about dogs, Alice?’ Jill asked all of a sudden.
‘Oh. Okay, we can talk about that. I like them . . . I don’t know a lot of dogs.’
‘Well, you know I said I wanted to get a pet this year?’
‘Yeah.’
‘I think I’m going to get a dog. This summer. In like, July.’
‘That’s exciting news,’ Alice cried. ‘Congratulations! Why July, specifically?’
‘Because my puppy is already, um, baking, in its mum’s tummy.’
‘What?’ laughed Alice. ‘What kind of puppy is it? How did this happen?’
Jill looked a little relieved that Alice was taking this so well. ‘A friend of a friend has a lady Bernese Mountain Dog and they wanted her to have one litter of puppies. Long story short, we got in touch and the friend said I was welcome to have one of them if I wanted.’
‘What’s a Bernese Mountain Dog?’ asked Alice. ‘They sound big.’
‘They are big.’ Jill grinned. ‘Black and orange and white, sort of like a smaller St Bernard. With big paws and a big nose and a really lovely personality. It’ll be born in May, and it’s best to take home a new puppy eight weeks after. So, July.’
