The puppies picked their way over the grass, bumping into chair legs and each other, clamouring over feet, chewing on each other’s ears and trying to climb on Betty, who’d flopped down to lie on Alice’s trainers by now.
Max scooped up the roundest of the puppies who was barging his way through the bowl of water that sat outside. ‘This one’s your little lad.’ He handed the puppy to Jill.
Tears popped straight into and out of Jill’s eyes. ‘Oh my God. Hello, you.’
The puppy licked her face. Freckles were just visible in the folds of his snout, and he had a two-inch white splash of fur decorating the back of his neck, like somebody had spilt cream on him when they’d walked past.
After he’d cleaned away Jill’s impromptu tears, the puppy wriggled free and scurried over to his sisters to push one of them over with his nose.
‘So they’re all healthy, they’re all okay?’ Jill asked Max.
‘They sure are. And by the time you pick him up in three weeks all their vaccinations will be up to date and I’ll give you a pack I’ve been putting together about his food and all that.’
‘That sounds perfect.’
‘Let me get you all a cup of tea,’ Max said. ‘And then you can get to know them all a bit better.’
‘You’ve changed your mind, haven’t you?’ Alice joked to Jill when Max had gone inside.
‘They’re just so ugly,’ she laughed back while one of the sisters chewed on the loose ends of Jill’s hair.
Theresa stroked a passing fluffball. ‘I want one too.’
‘You can come over and play with this one whenever you want.’ Jill was rolling a tennis ball gently towards her soon-to-be-puppy and watching him approach it curiously. Alice watched her friend, happy for her.
She looked down at the giant dog on her feet. It was a good job Jill had a big house.
