The Dog Sitter: The new feel-good romantic comedy of 2021 from the bestselling author of The Wedding Date!

by Zara Stoneley

  God, don’t you hate solicitors? ‘I don’t know! Maybe she’s jealous, well she is jealous, she said he was childish, the way he tried to win her over, be Bella’s favourite. Or they could have had a nasty split and she just hates him. Or she might just be a cow.’

  ‘Wow, he must be sexy! You fancy the pants off him, don’t you?’ I can hear the smile in her voice.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous. He seems a nice enough guy, but I don’t know him! Before you say another word, I am not twisting this round in his favour. I just feel sorry for him.’

  ‘Sure.’ She laughs.

  ‘And you always say it’s important to have a balanced view, see it from both sides.’

  ‘Not really. All is not fair in love and law.’

  ‘And she is a bit of a cow, she shouted at me earlier!’

  ‘Had you done something daft?’

  ‘Abby! And no, I hadn’t, I just sent her a photo of the dog which was “off-brand”. Honestly, you’d think it was a bloody celebrity, not a loopy mutt!’

  ‘Off-brand?’

  ‘Oh yeah, with Georgina everything is about being on-brand.’

  ‘You’re kidding?’

  ‘Nope, this isn’t just any dog, this is a special Instagram dog!’ Abby giggles. ‘So, what do I do, oh clever little sister?’

  ‘Okay, she does sound slightly over the top.’ I can tell she’s trying to stop giggling. ‘So why not ask him, or her, or both of them whether there’s a middle way.’

  ‘I’ve been banned from talking to him!’

  ‘Banned?’ That sets her off laughing again, and it’s infectious. I join in. Honestly, when you say all this out loud it does sound bonkers. ‘So, have you stuck to that?’

  ‘Er, well no, not exactly.’ I don’t think I’m ready to tell her about the bootcamp session with Ash yet, or the planned walk. Better to keep this simple.

  ‘You’re house-sitting Becky, you’re not under contract! What’s the worst she can do? Send you home?’

  ‘It has been mentioned,’ I interject.

  ‘Well, sounds like you might be well out of it! Sounds crazy to me, must be one hell of a cute dog.’ My sister is not a dog person, she’s a cat person. She likes polite distance, verging on indifference, and cleanliness in her pets.

  I sigh. ‘I do like it here.’

  ‘I guessed that.’ Her tone has softened, and I can hear the smile in her voice. ‘And you did need a break.’

  We both sit silent, thinking for a few minutes.

  ‘So, now I’ve given you a free consultation, and the benefit of my worldly experience in dog custody, will you look at these paint colours for me and tell me what you think? I’ll Skype you at the weekend, during the day when the light’s good and you can have a look. We painted sample squares on the wall!’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘You do sound happy Becs, happiest you’ve been for ages, kind of more carefree, like when we were kids.’

  ‘I do?’ I think about it. ‘I think I am. I ate ice-cream out of a tub, watched Bridget Jones and slobbed out with Bella the other night.’

  ‘Sounds perfect.’ Her voice has a soft edge.

  ‘It was.’

  ‘On your own?’

  We both laugh. ‘Totally, well apart from Bella.’ Abby is right though. I am happy, I really am. Okay, I haven’t got my life or career sussed yet, but I definitely feel more positive. I don’t feel dread when I wake up, just the solid weight of a dog on my stomach. And I’m happy on my own, this is not about a guy – this is me being happy about me.

  ‘I’ve missed you Becs.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You stopped ringing for a proper chat.’

  ‘I did call!’

  ‘I know you called. We talked, but we didn’t talk.’

  She’s right. We’ve always been close, me and Abby, until I started seeing Teddy. She was even less reserved about passing an opinion on him than Mum. It made things awkward, seeing her roll her eyes when he made some derisory comment or was patronising. Except of course, I didn’t think he was at the time.

  ‘Sorry. I’ve missed you too.’

  ‘Night Becs, sleep tight.’

  ‘Don’t let the bed bugs bite!’ I chime back and we both blow kisses.

  So, after sleeping on my brilliant sister’s non-advice, I decide I was right. I cannot just avoid Ash (not that I want to). Sadly, I probably shouldn’t sleep with him either (I think I might want to do that bit). I think I need to call Georgina and suggest some supervised access for Ash, during which I will promise not to listen to any lies he might tell about her, or let the dog out of my sight, and will promise not to let him shove her in his rucksack and run off. Seems reasonable, yes?

  I send her a text, asking if we can have a quick chat tonight, then I get dressed so that I can let Bella out in the garden for her morning constitutional. I am not risking running into Ash without any clothes on again.

  Bella dashes out onto the lawn at high speed, wees, then pauses. Nose in the air. After a brief sniff of the air, she spins around. Her nose is down and she’s snuffling along at high speed, pausing every now and then and chomping on something.

  When I say she’s a food machine, I do mean she’ll eat literally anything. I swear when we were in the woods, she was crunching squirrel poo, and now all I can think is that she’s after bunny currants. Rabbit droppings, in case you’re wondering – actual currants aren’t good for dogs. Though I’m not sure poo is either. Never seen it on a doggy diet sheet.

  I throw a doggy treat that I’ve brought out with me, and she totally ignores it. I watch her from the terrace, not sure whether to go after her or not. These are obviously very tasty morsels, far better than mine. It’s really funny watching as she follows a zigzag trail.

  Yes! That’s exactly what it looks like – a trail! Oh my God, I don’t believe it – Ash has laid food out for her. She’s heading straight towards the dense shrubs at the side of the garden. I break into a trot after her as she speeds up. Even though she’s slowing down briefly to snaffle up the snacks, she’s still going at a fair pace. Bella heaven!

  He must be watching me, worried I’ll get to her first, because he suddenly launches himself out of a rhododendron bush. I’m sure he’s judged it carefully, aware of her speed, knowing when she’ll reach him.

  But he dives just as I put my foot on her long lead.

  Bella is yanked to a halt. ‘Sorry Bella! It’s for your own good!’ Even from this distance the look on his face is brilliant! I wish I had my phone and could take a photo, or better still a video, I’d get so many shares on Reddit or TikTok!

  I mean, how brilliant am I? I am really getting good at this dog-protection lark. After the last episode of finding him in the bushes I made two resolutions. One, to never go out in my pyjamas, and two, to clip the very, very long leash onto Bella’s collar so that even if he got his hands on her, he wouldn’t be able to run off without having me in tow.

  It’s worked out better than I could have ever hoped!

  ‘What the fu—’

  ‘Long lead!’ I yell triumphantly, bending down to retrieve the end of the lead that is under my foot. It is black, like Bella, hidden against her coat, buried in the grass that is overdue a mowing. And I reckon he was watching her so intently, he couldn’t see anything else. ‘Loser! Hahaha!’ I start to reel her in quickly, and head towards her at a jog, just in case he decides to grab her anyway – and take the lead (and possibly me) with him. I’m not going to risk the humiliation of being dragged down the lawn behind him. ‘Not much of an SAS man after all then, are you!’

  He laughs, then laughs some more. A proper infectious belly laugh that is hard to resist. Then he sits on the grass, rubbing his large capable hand over his lightly bearded chin. I bet it feels all nice against your cheek when he snogs. Not red-rash bristly, just a tickle. Like down. Oh God, Becky. Stop!

  He stops stroking his chin and drops his hand. He’s got a nice chin. Firm. Clefted.

  I
could draw that chin. I could kiss that chin. I could…

  ‘You are kidding?’ He’s grinning. ‘You really do think I’m SAS, don’t you?’

  That stops me. I think I might be burning up. Em-bar-ass-ing. I didn’t mean to say that out loud. My fantasies are supposed to stay in my head.

  ‘No! Oh my God, no!’

  ‘Wow, I’m flattered!’ His eyes have gone all twinkly.

  ‘Stop laughing!’ I gather Bella in close to me, just out of his arms’ reach. Which is a bit mean, when he obviously wants to cuddle her – but he’s let me down. ‘I was going to tell Georgina you weren’t all bad, and you should be allowed to see her. Now you’ve spoiled it!’ I wave a schoolmistress finger at him. Which makes me feel a bit daft.

  He shrugs. ‘I don’t just want to see her.’ His eyes widen to emphasise his words. ‘I want her back… Becky Havers.’

  ‘How do you know my name, Ash?’

  We stare at each other for a long, silent moment. His name rolled off my tongue naturally. But now it seems weird that we’ve said each other’s names out loud.

  ‘You signed your picture. I googled you.’

  I don’t say that I googled him as well and found out absolutely nothing. Which kind of sadly reinforced the SAS idea. Bummer.

  ‘Impressive CV.’

  I don’t know whether to be pleased or annoyed. Or whether I’m blushing out of embarrassment or pleasure. God, this man confuses me.

  ‘Now I’m going to have to take her everywhere with me, to make sure you don’t take her!’ So much for my little planned solo trip to the art shop today. Bella will have to come with me. I can’t trust him not to break in. ‘I felt sorry for you, and now I’m disappointed.’ I’m cross with him. I wanted to help, but what am I supposed to think now?

  He smiles, not at all bothered about the telling off. ‘Can’t blame a guy for trying!’

  ‘Yes, I can! Poor Georgina, she’s really upset about all of this.’ They need to clone Bella if she’s so important to both of them. I don’t know anything about the ins and outs of their relationship, but I do know I have to keep Bella safe until Georgina comes home.

  ‘I know.’ The smile fades from his face, and he looks worried for a moment. ‘But things change. Sometimes you have to let go and move on.’

  He could be talking about me. I was just expected to let go of my work and move on. ‘Well, maybe you need to help her a bit!’ Okay, it’s a bit snappy. I shouldn’t be snappy, but he’s hit a nerve. ‘Not everybody can just forget about things they’ve worked hard at, things they think are important in their life.’

  ‘It’s not a failure to admit it and walk away when something is wrong.’ His tone is soft, and his normally piercing gaze is looking at me in a totally different way.

  I squirm a bit inside. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I should have just said to Teddy, ‘Hey, you know what? You’re right! I’m crap at doing this weird work you made me do, I’m going to go and do what I want’, but it isn’t that easy, is it? I don’t know if I can do anything well anymore, I don’t know if I’m as crap at doing what I want to do as I am at doing the stuff he told me to.

  Except lately I’ve begun to think that maybe I’m not that rubbish. Maybe some of my stuff is okay after all.

  Maybe Georgina needs to know that it’s okay if her life isn’t quite as perfectly-perfect as she thought it was.

  ‘Letting go and moving on is part of life.’

  ‘Maybe,’ I say grudgingly, it is poor Georgina we’re talking about here, not me. But I can understand now why she’s been so strung up, so upset when I’ve done things wrong. When I’ve talked to Ash. ‘I don’t think she wants to let go of you or Bella,’ I say, as the thought comes into my head. His face clouds over. ‘Though of course it’s none of my business,’ I add hurriedly. It really is none of my business. I should keep my nose out. ‘Sorry, I better go back in.’

  ‘She’s not trying to hang on to us because it’s right, but because she doesn’t want to admit it’s wrong.’ He sighs. ‘And, yes, you’re right – it is none of your business.’ His face has tightened. He’s shutting me out. I don’t think he intended saying any of this to me, a stranger. Or to anybody.

  ‘Huh, well yes, but I do have to do my job and right now, you’re not helping by trying to steal my, I mean her, dog! She needs time!’

  ‘My dog.’

  ‘Whatever!’ This is one argument I can’t win. I don’t know whose bloody dog she is.

  His face lightens up a bit. It’s like the clouds have cleared as quickly as they do over the Cumbrian hills. ‘You’re quite a little lioness, aren’t you?’

  ‘And don’t you forget it – but less of the little!’ Poor Georgina, cute dog, cute guy, perfect life, and it looks like it has started to crumble around her. I know what it is like to try and let go of stuff, even when in your heart you know that you need to. ‘Now go away!’ Sadly, I can’t stop myself from smiling, so I’ve not got quite the authoritative effect I was aiming for.

  ‘See you later!’

  ‘Not if I see you first,’ I mutter, tugging on Bella’s lead, but feeling strangely smug. He’s going to see me later!

  Okay, earth to Becky. It’s Bella he wants to see really, not you. ‘Come on lady, breakfast time – if you’re still hungry after all those treats!’

  He chuckles, and I swear I hear him say ‘SAS’.

  ‘Haha, funny, isn’t he, Bella? Hilarious!’ Bella doesn’t care, the little food machine is intent on dragging me back to the house, so she can eat something else. It’s a good job she bounces round so much, or she’d be the fattest dog on the planet.

  I think my to-do list might be a bit ambitious. Or I need to get up earlier and not spend the first half hour of the day trying to outwit Ash.

  I know my priorities. Number one is walking Bella. A week or so in, I have learned that the more tired she is, the less destructive she is. This is important as I am on a mission to save as many of my socks from destruction as possible. Give the dog her due, she’s creative.

  It’s not just the anti-destruction angle though; walking Bella is definitely not a chore. Well, yeah, at first it was just a job on my list, but I soon realised that it makes a difference to my whole day. It’s good for me, I’m feeling fitter than I have for ages, and it’s also given me thinking time and just being-me time. I’ve not put headphones on, because I need to be alert in case of animal or Ash noises, so it’s just been me, Bella and the world around us.

  Have you any idea how good it is to listen to silence, or the murmur of water in a stream, or the distant bleating of lambs or just the breeze in the trees?

  I’ve not stopped and listened to the world for like, well, forever. And it is so hard to wallow in self-pity, or grouch about a person, or hate the world, or worry endlessly about whether the work you’ve just done is a pile of horse shit, when you’re clambering up a hill after a dog and are out of breath, or when you’ve turned a corner and found a family of baby rabbits bouncing about.

  So, that. Priority one on my list is important for more reasons than I could ever imagine.

  Number two on the list has to be tidying up – you have no idea how much mess one dog can make. It’s a bloody good job she doesn’t moult as well, or I’d never keep up. In a way though, that’s therapeutic as well, another major distraction from checking emails or social media.

  Number three on my list is new work. Today I need to do some further sketches for Mischief the Magic Pony because my client said the concept sketch I sent her was ‘awesome’ (awesome, you hear that Teddy boy? Awesome!), and would I be interested in illustrating the series? Are you kidding me?! Interested? I did a jig round the kitchen hanging on to Bella’s front paws, then picked her up and spun her round until we were both giddy (I collapsed, she did zoomies, barking her head off, note to self, do not wind the dog up). Then I rang her back and said, ‘Sure, I’d be happy to discuss terms.’ How cool am I?

  Unfortunately, it turns out that ‘terms’
with this publisher aren’t quite on the same scale as ‘Ben’ terms. Which I guessed would be the case, but I still live in hope. They have a much smaller budget, and although they’d love ‘copious illustrations’ it does rather depend on interest.

  But it could be massive.

  Wow, I’ve just realised, I’ve rediscovered a bit of my optimism! I’m awesomely happy with ‘It could be big’! And it’s a cool project. And I want to do it so much. And if I keep doing bits of work with Ben (but be more selective about what) then I’ve at least got some income, and I can pay the bills, and it does give me time to branch out into stuff like this.

  Isn’t that what I really need to do? This could be my life changer.

  So, really this should be priority one, but I have responsibilities while I’m here, and they come first.

  And number four is to make the agreed cover amendments for Ben that I promised.

  I also want to do some doodles for the art shop, as well as visit it.

  Anyhow, bearing all this in mind, and as the village is only three miles away, I need to combine activities.

  I will walk, not use the car. So that covers number one for the day, and also cuts down on dog-napping opportunities for Ash, and reduces number two, as there isn’t as much time in the house to make mess. I am not going to let Bella out of my sight though. She is coming shopping with me.

  I pack my small rucksack with treats for Bella, poo bags, a bottle of water and my sketch pad so David Simons can see some of my actual work – rather than just the stuff on my phone. Photos aren’t the same, my artistic side needs to touch the paper, see the definition of paint and pencil, and I think Mr Simon’s might be the same.

  Yesterday I decided to download the Ordnance Survey app to my phone (Dad suggested it – I didn’t know such a thing existed) and it means I don’t just have to rely on Georgina’s walk guide. It was easy to spot that there was a nice path that I could join at the bottom of the garden and follow along the edge of the lake. Then there was a short incline through fields to meet up with the road where it emerged opposite the church in the middle of the village. Perfect!