by Hannah Ellis
“That’s true.” He stopped and leaned casually against a red brick partition wall. “It was stables originally,” he said as Josie opened one of the old stable doors and went into what was now a dog kennel.
“This place is amazing.” She walked around the space and pushed open the dog door at the far end to peer out to an outdoor enclosure.
“It’s pretty fancy,” he agreed.
“No wonder Annette was upset about closing down.”
“It was only supposed to be a temporary thing. Just while Wendy recovered from her operation…” He trailed off and his eyes glazed over briefly. Then he straightened up abruptly and moved to open the stable door for Josie. “It’s too much for her to manage now, on her own.”
Josie counted over twenty individual stalls in the barn. It was very impressive.
“There are infra-red heaters for the winter,” Sam said, pointing overhead.
“It’s a doggy paradise.”
“It was very popular. People would book far in advance.”
“I’m not surprised.”
They ambled slowly back outside. “Are you seriously considering this?” Sam asked, when they made their way towards the house. “Moving here? Working for Annette?”
“I don’t know.” Gazing around again, she was struck by how still and tranquil the surroundings were. It almost didn’t seem real, as though she were wandering through a painting. “I didn’t think so. But now I’m here it’s surprisingly tempting. I have to figure some things out first. It’s complicated with my boyfriend.”
“I thought he was your ex-boyfriend?” Sam squinted, puzzled.
“I’m not really sure.”
Sam didn’t reply and Josie felt a fleeting sense of guilt. She’d assumed that their kiss hadn’t meant anything to him. Just an inevitable end to a day filled with champagne and romance. But the silence between them felt suddenly charged.
The golden retriever that barrelled up to them was a welcome distraction. Sam bent to ruffle his coat and the tension in the air dispersed. “This is Charlie,” Sam said, dragging his attention away from the dog and grinning up at Josie. A small black terrier arrived next to vie for attention, throwing itself on the ground beside Sam and eagerly offering its belly to be rubbed. Sam happily obliged as the dog panted and wagged its tail. “This is Macy… And you know Tilly, I take it.”
The gorgeous springer spaniel belonged to Lizzie and Max. She stood beside Josie, wagging her tail.
“Yes,” she said, stroking Tilly affectionately. Tilly was staying with Annette while the newlyweds went on their honeymoon. “We know each other well.”
Josie and Sam made a big fuss of the dogs while they waited for Annette to catch up.
“What do you think?” Annette said, puffing as she approached.
“The barn’s fantastic.”
“We fell in love with the stables when we moved in,” she said. “So we tried to keep a lot of the original features when we refurbished. Once upon a time it was a working farm. We even thought about going into farming. The closest we got was our little vegetable patch, but we kept the name as Oakbrook Farm anyway. Have you seen inside the house?”
“Not yet.”
“Come on then. You’ll need to see where you’ll be living!”
Josie chuckled. “Nothing’s definite yet.”
She was given a guided tour of the lovely old farmhouse. There certainly was plenty of room. The spare bedroom upstairs had a fantastic view out over the hills, and Josie could imagine sitting and gazing out. Of course, she’d probably get bored of the views after five minutes. She was a city girl after all. She’d soon miss seeing buildings all around.
“Are you convinced yet?” Annette said as the three of them sat at the kitchen table cradling coffees.
Josie shook her head. “I don’t know.” She didn’t even know Annette very well but already she was tempted to say yes just to please her. She felt so sorry for her all alone with nothing to keep her occupied. She couldn’t make such a drastic change just to cheer up a little old lady, though. And she couldn’t make any rushed decisions. She needed to think about it properly. And talk to Jack.
“I’m really flattered that you offered, and it is tempting. I’m going to think it through.” She finished her coffee in one long gulp. “I really need to get home.” It was about a four-hour drive back to Oxford and she was already tired.
“I thought you might stay for dinner,” Annette said quickly. “Both of you. Maybe Sam could take you down to the local pub later so you get a feel for the village.”
“I thought you were trying to tempt her.” Sam stood when Josie did. “Taking her to the Bluebell Inn is a sure way to scare her off.”
“Maybe another time,” Josie said at the door. “Thanks for showing me round.”
Annette picked up a business card from the windowsill and gave it to her. It had the address and phone number for the kennels. “Call me when you decide,” she said. “Maybe you could give her your number too, Sam. Just in case she can’t get hold of me.”
“Oh my God,” Sam muttered under his breath as they stepped outside.
“Bye, Annette!” Josie called, beaming.
At the car, she turned to Sam. “Do you think Annette offering me a job is just an elaborate ploy to get you a date?”
He frowned and then his lips twitched to a smirk. “It’s a definite possibility.”
Chapter 6
It was late by the time Josie arrived at Jack’s place that evening. She should probably refer to it as home - she’d been living there for over a year. Somehow it had never really felt like home though. Moving in together had come about purely for convenience when Josie was unemployed and struggling with her rent. It was early in their relationship and was only supposed to be a temporary arrangement. That’s probably why she’d never got beyond thinking of it as Jack’s place.
Jack jumped up from the couch and greeted her enthusiastically with a big hug and a kiss.
“Get off me,” she said, trying and failing to sound stern. “We split up, remember?”
“Nope,” he said, with his charming boyish grin. “Don’t remember that. You must have imagined it.”
“Ha-ha!” She sat on the couch and scanned the living room. Items of clothing were scattered around, and takeaway boxes and beer bottles adorned the coffee table and surrounding area. “The place is a tip.”
“I know.” He went to the small kitchen and came back with a bin bag. “I missed you. You know what I get like when I’m upset. This is the result of a fog of self-pity.” He threw rubbish in the bin bag and grinned sheepishly.
“It’s the result of you being a lazy slob,” she corrected.
“Maybe that too.” Abandoning his half-hearted attempt at cleaning, he sat beside her. “Everything falls apart when you’re not here. You’re not really going to leave me, are you?”
“Will you stop looking at me like that?” she said, but couldn’t help but laugh. “Put the puppy dog eyes away. They won’t work on me any more.” He pouted and she laughed some more. “I’m serious! Stop it!”
Leaning closer, he poked her playfully in the ribs before tickling her and pushing her back to lie on the couch. “I know you missed me really.” He dotted kisses on her face as she squirmed to get away.
“Okay,” she said. “I missed you. Just stop tickling me!” He eased off and she wriggled to get comfy under his weight.
“It’s too late to move out tonight anyway,” he said.
She ran her hands through his short blonde hair. “You’re going to have to stop breaking up with me.”
“It’s you at least half the time,” he said.
“I know. We need to stop it. It’s childish.”
“Aww, but I’m only twenty-six, I thought I had a few more years of being immature before I had to grow up.”
She sighed. “We live in a tip and we have stupid fights far too often. I’m getting sick of it.”
“Okay.” He rested his weigh
t on an elbow. “They’re just small things we can easily fix. And you know what the great thing about fighting is?”
“Yeah,” she said wearily. “Making up. It’s getting less fun though…”
“Okay.”
“I’m serious, Jack.”
“I can hear that.” He looked at her sadly. “I will try and keep the place tidier. And no more arguing, I promise.”
“Go on, then,” she said, pushing him off her.
He crashed purposefully onto the floor and gave a dramatic display of being injured. She laughed and he kept up a limp as he tidied up the living room. “Does this remind you of when we first met?” he asked.
A smile twitched at her lips as she thought back to the acting job. They were extras in a military soap opera. They only filmed the pilot and it wasn’t commissioned for further episodes but it was her favourite job ever. It was such a buzz being on a TV set, and it was so much fun. Meeting Jack had been another perk. She thought again about her ambitions to have a career in acting and then her mind flicked to Annette and the job at the kennels. She brushed the thoughts aside and focussed on Jack. “Your wounded soldier act doesn’t get any better. No wonder it all ended up on the cutting room floor.”
“No, it was definitely your dodgy barmaid skills that let us down. Although, I suppose it was confusing for you, being on the wrong side of the bar.” She threw a cushion at him and he threw it back. “I’m trying to tidy up, you know!”
“Good,” she said. “This better not be a one-off event.”
“By the way, I saw an advert in that Italian restaurant down the road. They’re looking for a waitress. I didn’t know if you might fancy doing that for a while…”
“You want some rent money?”
“Well, no stress,” he said. “I can’t support us both for long though. Not if we want any kind of social life anyway.”
“I was going to call Michaela again,” she mused. “Just in case she has any auditions for me.”
“I thought you’d given up on the acting?”
“I had.” That’s what she’d said after the last audition a few weeks ago. It was always so disheartening being turned down. She’d sworn she was giving up a few times so far. But she always decided she’d just give it one more try, sure that her big break was just around the corner. The auditions had become few and far between, but she still spoke to Michaela at StarSearch acting agency now and again, just to see if there was anything interesting she could audition for.
“I’ll just check in with Michaela.” She tried to keep her voice light. “You never know, maybe she has something more exciting for me than a job in the local Italian restaurant.”
“I’m amazed she hasn’t blocked your number by now.”
“Hey! She likes me.”
“You’re not exactly bringing much commission for her though, are you? You really think it’s worth your time to keep calling her?”
“Probably not.” She paused, wondering whether to mention her job offer or not. “I was actually offered a job this weekend. Max’s aunt wants me to go and work for her.”
Jack picked up the last of the beer bottles and then began collecting up dirty clothes. “Doing what?”
“She’s got a dog kennels and she’s looking for someone to manage it. Actually, I think she just needs someone to help out. She’s old, like eighty or something, and can’t do it all herself.”
“That sounds all right.”
“It’s in a little village though – Averton. It’s over towards Lizzie and Max’s place. She offered for me to live there – rent free, food provided. She said she can pay pretty well too.”
“So you could live there during the week and come back on the weekends?”
“I don’t know really.” That hadn’t occurred to her as an option. Although if it was possible it would be much more appealing. “It was all a bit out of the blue so I didn’t ask too much.”
“You should find out. It sounds like a good gig.”
“And you wouldn’t miss me too much if I was away all week?”
“I’m sure our relationship could cope.” He gave her a wink. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.”
Chapter 7
On Monday morning Josie called Michaela at StarSearch. She didn’t have any auditions to put Josie forward for, and there was a weariness to her voice, as though she thought Josie was wasting her time. Usually she was much more positive. Unless Josie had imagined that.
Next, she wandered down to the Italian restaurant, but the waitressing job had already gone. Then she continued the job search by skimming through the old familiar employment websites. All the while, Annette’s business card sat beside the laptop, taunting her.
Eventually, she got out her phone and tapped the numbers in. As she suspected, Annette agreed to her spending the week at the farm and having two days off. She was slightly hesitant about those two days being at the weekends since that was often the busiest time but said she could definitely be flexible and she was sure they could work something out to suit them both.
Josie was fairly sure she’d agree to anything to get her there. When she ended the call, she stared into space for a while, trying to digest the conversation. She was fairly sure she’d agreed to start work the following week. It seemed like a pretty drastic career change, even for her.
Lizzie was at the airport when Josie called her to tell her the news.
“You’re really going to work for Annette?” she said. “I’m very surprised. But it’s great news. I bet you’ll love it. Max looks happy.”
“Very happy,” she heard him shout down the phone.
“I start next week,” Josie said. “I’m a bit nervous, though. I’m worried I’ll be no good at it and it’ll end up being awkward for everyone.”
“Just give it a try. I’m sure you’ll be great. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.”
Josie had a sinking feeling then. She’d not stopped to think too much about it not working out. Things could definitely end up very awkward. “I might be regretting it already,” she said. “What if I don’t like living in the countryside? You know I like the bright lights.”
“You might find you like the gorgeous sunsets, and the starry skies and the—”
“Yeah, I get it. You’ve been converted. I’m just not sure it’s my thing.”
“I thought you’d already agreed to the job. Why does it sound like you want me to persuade you?”
“I’m having cold feet already.”
Lizzie sighed. “We have to get on the plane soon. Hang on… Max wants to talk to you…”
“Hey!” Max said.
“I’m stressing out,” Josie said. “Promise you won’t hate me if it doesn’t work out?”
“I won’t. Honestly, I don’t expect it will work out long term. But Annette is determined to employ someone and you’ll at least buy me some time to find someone suitable for the job. I don’t want her rushing into it and employing just anyone.”
“I think that’s exactly what’s happened!”
“You know what I mean.” There was a tannoy announcement in the background.
“Oh, no,” she said drily. “Seems like you have to fly off to the Caribbean now. How awful for you!”
He laughed and passed the phone back to Lizzie. “Just try not to lose your new job before we get back.”
“You’re hilarious,” Josie said. “Have a great time. See you in a couple of weeks.”
She sat back in the chair. Now that she’d accepted the job with Annette she was keen to get started. A week was a long time to kill when you didn’t have any money.
In the end it went fairly quickly. Jack took her out to dinner one night and the cinema another. He even lent her money so she could get the train into London and visit her best friend, Emily. She was keen to fill her in on the latest developments in her life, and it was fun to have a wander round London too. You couldn’t beat a stroll around Greenwich Market, and it didn’t matte
r at all that she had no money to spend; she just enjoyed the bustle.
“Won’t you miss the city?” Emily asked as they sat on a bench eating sandwiches. She didn’t have much time but was eager to meet Josie for lunch. “I can’t imagine you living in the countryside.”
“I’ll give it a go,” she said. “It might be fun.”
“I suppose it might.” Emily didn’t sound at all convinced.
“You’re not making me feel better.” Josie rolled her eyes. “Tell me about the book…” Emily was a writer and had published her first book with a small press six months previously. It had been very exciting to start with, but the excitement seemed to be wearing off as she struggled to juggle a waitressing job and writing the next one.
“I’m officially a starving artist,” Emily said with a humourless laugh. “And this next book is killing me. I can’t seem to get it right.”
“You said that about the last one and it came out brilliantly. I can have a look if you want. I reckon I’ll have lots of time for reading in the back of beyond.”
“I sent it to Lizzie actually. She’s going to have a look over it while she’s away.”
“I see. Ask the pro!” Lizzie was an editor, and it had been helping Emily with her book that had inspired Lizzie to become a freelance fiction editor. She’d previously been a magazine editor. Now she worked from home, picking and choosing which projects to work on.
“How was the wedding?” Emily asked. “I can’t believe I couldn’t make it.”
“It was amazing.” Josie’s smile was automatic and far too wide.
“I thought Jack had split up with you and you were upset about going alone?”
“It turned out to be fun going on my own.”
Emily looked suspicious. “What happened?”
“Nothing. The best man was pretty cute, that’s all.”
“You’re terrible,” Emily said, laughing. “You don’t waste any time.”
“It wasn’t like that,” Josie insisted, trying not to let her thoughts drift back to that moment on the beach. “He’s actually a really sweet guy.” She grinned, remembering him telling her off for calling him sweet. “He’s Max’s best friend. And it was only a bit of flirting. He lives next door to the kennels so I guess I’ll be seeing him again.”
