Poppy's Place in the Sun
Page 28
Of course, that night I discovered the deepest connection of all. I got far more than I bargained for, I fell in love.
“Can we go outside for some fresh air?” I ask Leo.
I guess he sees a certain something in my eyes, either that or he picks up my mood. Sometimes he seems spookily able to read my thoughts. He skilfully guides us outside to a quiet spot behind the barn. He backs me up against a wall, a move that never fails to get my heart rate racing. I loop my arms around his neck and stare into his eyes, never tiring of the connection I find there. I say a silent prayer of gratitude to the universe for bringing me to Leo and for the white walls and blank canvases waiting to be filled.
And then we kiss. Something else I don’t think I will ever tire of.
From poppy@daydreamdesigns.co.uk
To michelle.davis@yahoo.com
Subject: I’m in!
Can you believe I’ve made it into the magazine version of ‘Your Place in the Sun’? It’s weird – they make me look and sound so glam and accomplished in the article that I don’t recognise myself!
In the feature they cover all the news from the summer about discovering the Goya prints and then St Quentin making it into ‘France’s Most Marvellous Villages’ guide. Also, obviously it’s good publicity for the guesthouse. I bet we’ll get lots of bookings off the back of it. Funny how many photos of the house and gardens Peanut managed to photobomb! I think the photographer liked her :-)
The best bit though is that they’ve publicised ‘Only Dogs and Donkeys’! They’ve printed ‘Peanut’s’ introduction in full in the magazine. I think they must like the book because they’re even talking about me doing an online column called ‘Peanut’s Place in the Sun’, although obviously ‘Peanut’ will be writing that and I’ll just do the illustrations ;-)
Hope all is well with you and you’ve got over that nasty cold.
Love from Poppy
xx
P.S. Do you think Mum will stop lobbying me to come back to the UK when she sees the magazine article and the photos of the chateau Leo is due to inherit??? ;-)
From michelle.davis@yahoo.com
To poppy@daydreamdesigns.co.uk
Subject: I’m in!
They make you sound glam and accomplished because you are glam and accomplished, you muppet!
I’ve still got the stinking cold and if I didn’t love you so much I’d hate you right now. Everyone always talks about living the dream – I’m just glad you got the chance to live yours.
Love and sneezes,
Michelle
‘Only Dogs and Donkeys’ by Peanut the chihuahua and Poppy Kirkbride
PROLOGUE
Poppy said I could write the prologue to this book as it’s all about me :-)
She’s reading over my shoulder and says she really should’ve called me Mimi instead of Peanut because it’s always all about me, me, me.
Well of course!
I didn’t know what a prologue was. Poppy said it’s a bit like the bite-size treat that we get before dinner to keep us quiet and I should use it to give people a little taster of our book.
So apart from being about me this book also tells the story about the day some important people came to inspect our village. Well Poppy and Leo said they were important but they didn’t bring us any dog treats so I don’t think they were that great.
Before they arrived someone let the donkeys out of their field next to our house. The donkeys ate a lot of the flowers in the village displays and then managed to find the food tent which I think was quite sensible of them. Everyone knows food tastes better than flowers.
But the Peanut pack saved the day – that’s us! My canine pack has Pickwick, Treacle, Barney and Maxi in it (but I’ve let Poppy and Leo have honorary, non-canine membership too).
We all followed the donkey scent and made lots of noise which I think was very helpful of us. Pickwick also helped them locate the donkey poop but Poppy didn’t seem quite so grateful about that. None of us understand her obsession with baths. Everyone knows that in order to catch a donkey you must first smell like one. It’s donkey-stalking 101.
Once we found the food tent we got a bit bored with finding donkeys and decided to find cake instead. Poppy said everything was a huge mess and cried a bit. I would’ve cheered her up but I was too busy being helpful clearing up cake crumbs and Leo was there to give her cuddles instead. He said it would all work out in the end. I think it did because everyone seemed very happy once the donkeys were back in their field and the important people had gone away. There was lots of music and dancing.
Poppy wanted me to show off my dancing skills so I can become a YouTube star but after a bit I got bored and decided to work the room with the rest of the pack. After all, happy humans plus freshly cooked burgers is an opportunity not to be missed! I have taught Maxi how to beg. When we met he lived on his own with Leo and thought dogs were only allowed to eat out of their bowls. Barney had never even heard of burgers and after he had his first taste his left ear shot up and he smiled for the rest of the day.
Leo says I’m a bad influence but he usually smiles whenever he says it. I like Leo even if he is a vet because he gives good cuddles. Now he’s around to look after Poppy it takes the pressure off me so I can concentrate more on the important things like making all the boy dogs obey my commands, banishing cats from my dominion and eating dog treats. I am thinking of running for the post of the mayor of St Quentinsur-Aude but Maxi says you have to be human to apply. We shall see, after all dogs have rights now.
Poppy has drawn all the pictures in this book and I wrote all the words. She says we have to give some of the money we make from this book to Angeline’s donkey sanctuary and some to a local dog charity for dogs who haven’t got a home yet.
I used to be one of those dogs and life wasn’t good until a charity rescued me. I don’t like to think about life before Poppy, so I’m happy we can help those other dogs. Also Poppy says we can spend my portion of the royalties on dog treats but that I’ll have to share them with the rest of the pack. Apparently it’s only fair because they’re in the story too.
That’s all, I hope you enjoyed the taster and that you enjoy my book – ‘Only Dogs and Donkeys’. Ahem, I mean our book, of course.
Peanut ‘the chihuahua’ Kirkbride (aka Mimi).
Acknowledgements
I want to give special thanks to the loveliest vet I’ve ever met – Huguette de Mey – who runs a veterinary practice with a heart. And also to her donkeys whose braying antics took me away from the book I was supposed to be writing and started the seeds of this one. Unfortunately, Leo doesn’t work at her practice so please don’t go looking for him :-)
I also need to say thanks to Peanut, Treacle and Pickwick for being such stars in this book. And to my blind dog Barney who joined our pack and snuck his way into the story during edits.
Last but not least thank you to everyone who has made my time in France memorable, and helped to shape this book.
About the Author
Lorraine Wilson writes flirty, feel-good fiction and is unashamedly fond of happy endings. She loves hearing from readers and feels incredibly grateful to be doing the job she always dreamt of. She splits her time between the South of France and Cambridgeshire and is usually either writing or reading while being sat on, walked over or barked at by one of her growing band of rescue dogs.
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