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

by Zara Stoneley

  ‘Good, eh?’

  Bella drools all over the edge of the picnic rug, so I throw her one of her high-quality, totally natural chews (she eats far more healthily than I do) and snap open the can.

  It is amazing. The best G&T ever. The cool liquid slips down my throat and I groan and close my eyes.

  When I open them, it is to see Bella grab at least three slices of sausage roll in her mouth at once and back off.

  ‘No!’ She takes another step. ‘Bella, drop it!’ She growls; it’s only a play growl, but doesn’t help the situation at all. I stand up, and she’s off! This is when it’s a mistake not having her on a leash.

  It is also a mistake thinking I can catch her. She’s gulping down food as she goes, the best game ever. Running past me and back to the blanket where she scoops up some ham and keeps running. At least she can’t get my gin, that’s in my hand!

  We’re on our fourth lap, and are down to carrot sticks, dips and a couple of slices of ham with teeth marks at the corner, when it dawns on me that I have to play clever here. I change direction, and head her off before she gets to the rug again.

  She woofs and wags her tail even harder. Cheese spills out from her mouth as she shoots straight between my legs, along the top of the bank and then leaps into the water.

  Side by side with another dog that has appeared from nowhere.

  They both come out of the water, shake then zoom back up the bank again. I dive, trying to grab her, but it is too late.

  They both soar over the top of me, showering me with droplets of water which becomes ten times worse when they hit the lake and I get well and truly splashed.

  I’m still game. I’m going to grab her when she comes out this time.

  Except she doesn’t.

  Both dogs start to swim away from me.

  Bugger. Double bugger – I’ve just crushed my can of gin!

  ‘Bella!’ I yell as loud and authoritatively as I can, but my voice is completely drowned out by a much louder bellow.

  ‘Bella! Sam!’

  Then I notice the rowing boat that seems to have materialised from nowhere.

  Ash. Who else?

  He is whirling what looks to be a dead rat on a rope round his head, and whistling. The dogs are both doing doggy paddle as fast as they can towards him, which is away from me.

  I can hear his chuckle from here as he hauls both dogs into the boat.

  ‘Git! You aren’t going to win!’ Of all the underhand ways to carry on. He’s now given up on luring her away with food and sent a dog in to do his dirty work! ‘I’m coming, Bella!’ Sugar, no way am I going to swim after her.

  I scramble down the slope, mainly on my bum as I’m in such a hurry, then run over to where I found the rowing boat last time. It is still there!

  It is so much easier rowing without a bouncy dog in the boat as well, but I’m slightly shocked that Ash is still in sight – mainly, I think, because he hasn’t got much choice. The dogs keep trying to chase each other around him, despite him telling them quite firmly to ‘sit’. His boat is rocking so much that it sets me off giggling, which makes it even harder to row so it probably looks like my boat has hiccups.

  I’m determined though, even though my ribs ache from trying not to laugh and I’m literally crying. But I am so close.

  He seems to be spinning on the spot now, and whoops, he’s lost a dog!

  I drop my oar, and grab the side of his boat, just as he leans over the other side to grab the lost dog and haul it back aboard. ‘Haha, got you!’

  The look on his face is comical when he turns in surprise to look at me. Both the dogs sit down.

  Bella barks and wags her tail furiously. The other one copies. Their tongues are lolling out and they look so funny and cute I can’t help but grin.

  ‘Ah, I forgot about Ginny!’ He gives a rueful smile and it’s like a little bubble of happy has burst inside of me and is rippling its way outwards. I’m like a newly poured glass of fizz.

  ‘Ginny?’ I am smiling like a loon.

  The last few days, I’ve not seen him or heard from him, and for an awful moment it felt like he’d disappeared. Gone for good. Which I guess is why I let my guard down.

  I mean, I know after the shag he’d been pretty pointed about not being up for a relationship, but even the ‘mates’ side of it seems to have died a death after Teddy had popped up at the dog party.

  ‘The boat.’

  ‘The boat’s called Ginny?’ I take my squashed can of drink out from between my knees and take a welcome swig. This rowing is hot work, and I’d been so determined to reach him I’d not realised quite how knackered I was until now.

  ‘Did you bring me a beer?’ Light twinkles in his eyes, one dimple deepens.

  ‘Sod off!’

  ‘Not seen you around for a few days.’

  ‘I’ve been busy working.’ I smile. ‘Miss me?’

  ‘Oh yeah…’ He pauses. ‘No opportunities to grab Bella at all.’

  ‘Ha! You can go off people, you know.’

  ‘I know.’ There’s a long pause. ‘This is Sam by the way.’ Sam wags his tail so vigorously at the sound of his name I’m surprised he doesn’t fall over. He’s cute and golden-brown, his colour getting lighter by the second as it dries in the sun.

  ‘He’s a spaniel?’

  ‘Yup.’

  ‘He looks smaller than the one we had as a kid, bouncier, lighter.’

  ‘He’s a working one, yours was probably the show type.’

  ‘You didn’t text back,’ I blurt out. Aware that we’re just skirting around what we should be saying.

  ‘I didn’t want to get in the way with your boyfriend.’

  ‘He’s an ex and was my kind-of boss, well he recommended me for commissions, until he found somebody better.’ What on earth made me say that? I haven’t said that to anybody! ‘A proper cover designer.’

  ‘You’re a proper cover designer!’

  I have to smile. ‘He was here about work, cross that I hadn’t done this stuff he wanted and…’ I blab on then stop when he doesn’t say anything, and shrug instead. ‘I chased him off with the fire poker.’

  ‘Resourceful.’

  We sit for a moment, our boats rocking gently, me still hanging on to the rope at the end of his with one hand, and my can with the other.

  ‘What’s with the dog bait then?’

  ‘Ah, yes, well Sam here belongs to a mate of mine. She’s broken her leg, so I’m helping her out. I used to walk him sometimes with Bella before me and Georgina…’ He doesn’t finish the sentence. ‘Bella is besotted, aren’t you girl?’ She grins at him and lifts a paw so he can stroke her chest. ‘He was her birthday present, I brought him for a play date and I didn’t realise it was party time.’

  ‘I didn’t organise that.’

  ‘I guessed not.’ He gives a wry smile.

  ‘I can’t believe she actually arranged a birthday party for a dog!’

  ‘That’s Georgie for you, even the dog has to be leading her best life. Preferably in public and filtered.’

  ‘Are those dogs even her friends?’

  He puts his head back and laughs, a full belly laugh that makes my thighs tingle, and makes me want to laugh with him. ‘You’re kidding me? You’re really asking?’

  ‘Well…’

  ‘It’s all fake, fake friends, hired help. Like the rest of the stuff on her Insta account.’

  ‘She’s posted lots of party pics on Instagram.’

  ‘I bet.’ He shakes his head but doesn’t seem too angry. ‘She’s obsessed. It’s her whole life and to hell with reality.’

  ‘It is her whole life,’ I say seriously, holding his gaze. ‘That’s why she can’t bear to let it go.’

  ‘I know.’ His tone is soft.

  Georgina posted several photos over the day of the party and the couple that followed, all with brand names prominently displayed, and all tagged.

  ‘Bella looks happy in the photos!’ It’s a bit of an
inane thing to say, but he is in love with the dog, and I do need to break the silence between us.

  ‘High five to that eh?’ They high five each other, which makes me laugh.

  ‘It was fun, you have to admit it!’

  He grins, a broad genuine grin, that makes me feel carefree. ‘You really enjoyed yourself, didn’t you?’

  ‘I did!’

  ‘Mrs Competitive, eh? I can’t believe you were actually racing alongside her to make sure she’d go faster!’

  ‘Are you laughing at me?’

  ‘It was cool! I loved it.’ His gaze is still for a moment. ‘You’re pretty cool.’

  ‘It was the best dog party I’ve ever been to.’

  His dimples deepen. ‘Best as in only?’

  I grin back. ‘Yeah, well, maybe. The bar has been set high now!’

  He chuckles and seriously disrupts my insides. ‘I love the way you threw yourself into it, Georgie would never have done that. She was all about the organising, not the taking part.’

  We share a look.

  So, like Teddy then. Not a lot of letting their hair down.

  ‘Everybody is different, I guess.’

  ‘I guess.’ He’s watching me, in a slightly assessing way, which is making me shivery with anticipation.

  He lowers his hands, and rather unexpectedly Bella makes a leap towards me and lands slap bang between my legs, interrupting the moment and leaving me with a totally different feeling of anticipation. One of getting wet.

  ‘Bloody hell.’ I grab both sides of the boat in alarm, dropping my nearly empty can, which lands on Bella. She leaps up and spins around, then jumps straight back into Ash’s boat – just as Sam jumps into mine. He’s wagging his tail ten to the dozen in my face, which makes me laugh, which sets Bella off barking and before I know it, she’s back over here as well. Sam play-bows and bounces then takes a massive leap straight over Bella, the side of my boat, and over the top of Ash’s and lands with a massive splash in the water.

  It’s funny. So funny that one look at Ash’s face sets me off laughing even more. He chuckles as Sam tries to get back in his boat. He hauls him in, and the dog shakes himself dramatically – showering us both.

  My sides ache. I feel helpless, weak. And then I catch Ash’s eye. His look is intent, even though he’s smiling. And suddenly I feel even weaker.

  I hardly notice that miraculously the rocking of the boat has stopped.

  Ash has his hand on it. He speaks, breaking the spell. ‘Okay?’

  ‘Sure.’ I hope this isn’t going to turn into musical boats, with the dogs carrying on leaping from one to the other. At least I am now back in possession of a dog, the right dog. I right myself and try and act casual, as though I haven’t just screamed, laughed or stared like some lovelorn teenager. ‘You’ve taught her loads of tricks.’

  ‘I have.’ He’s still holding my boat, but his face is serious as he gazes straight into my eyes. It’s not an ‘about to kiss you’ look now though. This is more, far more. It brings a lump to my throat. ‘I had plenty of time.’ He strokes Sam’s head with his spare hand and gazes out over the lake. ‘When I came home.’ He reaches forward into his rucksack then and pulls out a beer – holds it out to me. ‘Some of us came prepared,’ he says with a wry smile, then roots around for another one.

  We crack them open in silence and take a swig.

  Both dogs settle down in the bottom of the boats.

  ‘When I quit the Marines and came home, I wasn’t in a particularly good place.’ He turns the can of beer in his hand. ‘I’d lost somebody close, and…’ He gazes upwards at the sky. ‘I’d lost my whole purpose. I felt useless, out of place.’

  I can’t imagine Ash without purpose. He strikes me as the kind of guy that always knows what he’s doing and where he’s going.

  ‘I’d gone from full on, never stopping, having an end goal, having people at my side, to nothing. Zilch.’ I watch his Adam’s apple as he gulps down the beer. ‘I can’t blame Georgie for being upset, she didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know how to cope with me. I was a total pain in the arse.’ He gives a wry chuckle. ‘In her eyes I’d gone from never-at-home hero one day, to angry loafer the next.’ His boat rocks gently and nudges mine, as Sam settles into a more comfortable position. ‘I wasn’t the action man she’d fallen for; I was difficult to live with. I guess I was a bit of an unexploded bomb, and after a bit she kept lighting the touch paper to see what would happen. Just to get a reaction from me, to try and get me to communicate. Like she did with the boathouse.’ He shakes his head as though to clear it, then glances my way again. ‘I got Bella and—’ his eyes narrow as he frowns ‘—it might sound dramatic, but she saved me. Didn’t you, girl?’ She flops her tail at the sound of her name, knowing he’s talking about her. ‘Life just seemed better. She was a reason to get up in the morning, a reason to eat because if I didn’t, she wouldn’t.’

  I nod, swallowing down the lump in my throat. This man gets my knickers in a twist and sends my emotions haywire. ‘I get that.’ If Bella hadn’t been here, I would have moped, worked less, lost even more confidence in myself. The doubts might have just deepened, except having Bella meant I couldn’t be like that.

  ‘She gave me a reason to walk and run because otherwise she’d wreck the house and give me and Georgie something else to row about. And what can I say? She just likes doing tricks. I soon found out that she was as tuned in to my body, my hands, as my voice so it was easy.’ He leans back slightly in the boat, stretches his long legs out. ‘She’s clever, she knew when I was wound up, knew when I wanted to cry, knew when I wanted the comfort of a warm body.’ He looks me straight in the eye. ‘It had got awkward with me and Georgie. She didn’t know what to do. Emotional outbursts from a man who’d promised to protect her, be strong, were way outside her comfort zone.’

  ‘You shouldn’t feel so guilty. Shit happens, life happens, Ash, and people change.’ I get it now; this has never been a nasty battle between him and Georgie. It’s been guilt and determination on his side and hurt and a desire to put the clock back on hers. I can’t blame Georgina for not wanting to let go of this dream.

  He shrugs. ‘I do feel guilty; I brought her here, promised her one life and gave her another. She was so desperate to escape me she turned to the internet!’ Bella perches on the edge of my boat and leans in towards him so she can lick his nose. He strokes her ears. ‘That was her safe place, because I wasn’t anymore, I’d failed her. And the more time she spent, the more obsessed she got and the bigger the gap between us. She built up the perfect picture of her life on there that wasn’t real. There was no way we could match that.’

  ‘She doesn’t want to let go of that, Ash. It’s hard to just walk away when you think it’s right.’ And don’t I know it. ‘The time has to be right.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘And you had Bella.’

  ‘And I had Bella.’ His tone has lost the edginess and intensity of a moment ago. Bella seems to have that effect on him. ‘Georgie hadn’t even been that keen on having a dog at first, until she’d seen how popular puppies were on Instagram.’ He laughs. ‘Strange world, eh?’ He shakes his head slowly. ‘But I guess I used Bella to keep my distance as well, I told her things I couldn’t tell Georgie.’

  ‘Sometimes it’s easier to talk to a dog than a person, I’ve done a lot of that lately!’

  We’re in separate boats. We’re not touching. And I guess Ash would find it hard to say all this if we were any closer. Maybe this is why he’s chosen this moment to tell me. Or the moment has chosen him. Life can be like that. Offering the perfect space to do things – and all you have to do is be brave enough to take them.

  This feels so intimate. I feel closer to him than I ever have in any embrace. The real him, beneath the laughter and kisses, beneath the hard, physical presence that has been all I’ve known of him until now.

  His voice is soft and steady, almost like a gentle caress. A hug of words.

  ‘You
have a closeness to people when you’re serving.’ A smile plays at the corners of his mouth as he strokes Sam. ‘You’re one of a litter of puppies.’ I grin back.

  ‘Bloody big puppies.’

  ‘Massive.’ The smile fades. ‘But they’re family, close family. Reliable. They understand.’

  ‘Why did you come back, Ash?’

  He props his elbows on his knees and looks out over the water, not answering for a long time. ‘Another time, long story.’

  Another time. It warms me up inside, knowing he doesn’t intend walking away from me just yet.

  Our boats don’t drift far apart. They occasionally rock, and bump as we drink our beer and the dogs snooze.

  Bella rolls onto her back, exposing her pink belly for me to rub.

  ‘She likes you.’ We’ve been silent for so long that the sound of his voice surprises me.

  ‘Hope so.’

  He pauses. ‘I didn’t text you back because I didn’t want you to think, I didn’t want…’

  ‘Any misunderstandings?’ He looks awkward. ‘Like me thinking you were after anything but Bella?’

  ‘Well, I…’

  ‘No problem.’ I am tensing up, my voice is coming out all sharp and staccato. ‘Just another tactic, eh?’

  ‘I didn’t mean that Becky.’ He looks miserable. ‘I wasn’t using you, it wasn’t a… tactic.’

  ‘So, what was it?’ It felt like pretty hot sex to me, and it might be irrational, after all it could have just been a mind-blowing shag between two practical strangers, but it’s making me angry being dismissed like this.

  ‘It was fantastic.’ He sighs. ‘Totally unexpected and totally fantastic.’ Oh! ‘But…’ He breaks the eye contact. ‘We live in different worlds, Becky. I just didn’t want you to think…’

  This seems to be going downhill rapidly and I’m feeling a prickle of unease. ‘Oh yeah sure, different boats.’ I try and lift the atmosphere.