‘Sorry. You must hear that a lot,’ she said, wincing at her faux pas. Trust her to offend the only gorgeous man she’d seen around here in ages.
‘What do you advise, Mr Green?’ Rex turned to her father.
‘Call me Geoff. It depends on what you want to do with it. The male will be more bolshie, the bitch will be calmer. Do you want it for a pet or for work? Because I have to be honest with you, that ’un,’ he pointed to Nell, ‘won’t be any good around sheep. She’s too people focused; she’ll spend most of her time concentrating on you and not on her job. I know, I’ve seen it before.’
Leanne watched Rex’s face, seeing a play of emotions scudding across it like clouds across the sky.
‘A bit of both, really,’ he said eventually. ‘It’ll have to come with me to work most of the time, and I expect to take it into schools and whatnot.’
‘What do you do?’ Geoff asked.
‘I’m a park ranger.’
‘Oh aye?’ He nodded in approval. Both Leanne and her father knew how vital good management of the National Park was for its success. Her dad had a lot of respect for the rangers.
‘I need a dog that won’t be afraid of meeting new people, but won’t get overexcited either,’ Rex was saying.
Leanne had a feeling she was going to lose Nell, and to hide her dismay, she bent down to put the male pup back on the hay and picked the bitch up instead. It might be the last time she’d get to cuddle her. Nell snuggled into her neck, and she inhaled deeply. She didn’t think she’d ever get tired of the smell of puppy, nor the feel of the soft little body in her arms. Nell licked her on the nose and Leanne laughed. This baby sure was a cutie!
‘I take it you’ve owned a dog before?’ her father asked cautiously. He was always careful to ensure that any dogs he bred went to good, knowledgeable homes.
‘I lost my springer spaniel bitch a few months back,’ Rex said. ‘I thought I’d not be able to face having another dog, but I’ve come to realise that a house is too quiet without one.’
Impulsively Leanne took a step nearer to the half-door and thrust Nell into Rex’s hands. She knew the puppy wouldn’t be on the farm for much longer, regardless of whether he bought her or not, but it was the pain in his voice that made her mind up. If Nell had to go to anyone, then it should be to this man with love in his eyes and an ache behind his words. She would be well cared for, Leanne was certain of it. Although she didn’t know a thing about the guy, she had a feeling he would adore the little dog as much as she did.
She watched his face anxiously. He blinked in shock for a second when the pup was shoved into his arms without warning, but his expression immediately softened as he gazed down at her.
Sad that the puppy would be leaving her but confident that she was going to the best of homes, Leanne unlatched the stable half-door. Hardly able to speak because of the catch in her voice and the tears pricking her eyes, she slipped through the opening and dashed back to the house, saying a silent goodbye to the little dog who had stolen her heart.
Chapter 4
‘He’s taken her, then?’ Leanne asked her father at teatime, already knowing what he was going to say.
‘Taken who?’ That was Saul, the most annoying of her four brothers.
‘I was talking to Dad,’ Leanne protested.
‘So? I can join in if I want.’ Her brother reached across her for the tureen of mashed potatoes.
Leanne stuck her tongue out at him and slapped his hand away.
‘Children, play nice,’ their mother warned, and the pair of them subsided. Leanne might be twenty-nine and Saul thirty-three, but they still listened to Iris when she used that voice.
‘Well, Dad, did he?’ Leanne asked again, this time passing the tureen to Saul without being prompted.
‘Did who do what?’ Her father was busily tucking into his plate of lamb casserole. He loved his food, did her dad. Actually, they all did. Physical jobs combined with fresh air plus Iris’s excellent cooking meant there usually wasn’t much left over at the end of a meal.
‘Did Rex take Nell?’ Leanne persisted.
‘Aye, he did. The pup’s ready to leave now, so I thought he might as well. No point in delaying it. Anyways, Bess will be happy with one less mouth to feed.’
‘Who’s Rex?’ Saul asked, around a mouthful of food.
‘Some bloke who works for the Brecon Beacons National Park,’ Geoff replied, clearly more interested in his dinner than in gossip.
‘He’s Scottish, he lost his dog a few months ago, he’s tall and he’s got auburn hair,’ Leanne said, filling in the details.
‘Fancy him, do you?’ So far, Murray, another of Leanne’s brothers, had been silent, but the thought of teasing Leanne had obviously proved irresistible to him.
‘No!’ she shot back. ‘I’m simply observant.’
‘Don’t you mean nosy?’ Saul clarified.
‘Is he married?’ Iris asked.
‘How should I know?’ Leanne retorted.
‘You seem to know everything else about him,’ Saul said. ‘Where does he live?’
‘I can answer that one,’ their father interjected. ‘He said he’s got one of those cottages behind the high street.’
Leanne wondered whether she could see it from the rear of her shop. If not, then it was probably visible from upstairs. It was a pity the first floor was occupied by a firm of solicitors, because it would have made a great flat, she often thought.
She frequently considered moving out of her parents’ house and finding a place of her own in the village, but so far she had yet to do anything about it. Stevie had offered her the flat above Peggy’s Tea Shoppe, but Leanne hadn’t taken her up on it, so instead Stevie had rented it out as a holiday let when she’d moved in with Nick, which had been around the same time as Tia, Nick’s sister, had moved out of the Furlongs and into the downstairs wing of the Manor with her fiancé, William. It seemed like everyone was moving on and moving out, except Leanne.
Maybe it was about time she thought seriously about her own space. It would be handy living just a few minutes’ walk away from the flower shop instead of halfway up a mountain. On the other hand, she would have to do all her own cooking – unless, of course, she did what Saul and Murray did and came home each evening for dinner. She’d also have to do all her own washing and ironing, not to mention the cleaning. It wasn’t as if she desperately needed her privacy either – she could barely remember the last time she’d had a boyfriend to need privacy for!
She knew she was spoilt living at home, but she kind of liked it. Besides, if she was going to take this competition seriously, she wasn’t going to have that much time to play house, was she?
The competition!
‘I’ve got news!’ she shrieked at the top of her voice. How could she have forgotten something so important?
The noise around the table ceased. Even her brothers stopped bickering about football to listen. Seeing that she had her family’s undivided attention, she took a deep breath and dived right in.
‘I’m going to be on the telly, on a show called Budding Stars,’ she announced.
Her family stared blankly at her.
‘It’s a new competition, like Bake Off or Strictly, and what’s really cool is that the winner gets to design a display for the Chelsea Flower Show.’
She noticed her mother nodding – at least someone in the family knew what she was referring to. Iris loved watching both Bake Off and the televised highlights of the Chelsea Flower Show.
‘How come you’re going to be on it?’ Murray asked.
‘Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence,’ Leanne drawled back at him. ‘I never shot you down when you entered all those sheep-shearing competitions.’
‘I didn’t mean it like that,’ her brother protested. ‘I meant, Bake Off is for non-professionals. Surely this Budding Stars thing is the same?’
‘No, it’s not. It’s to find the best all-round florist, whether they’re amateur or not. The only
stipulations are that you can’t have won any kind of award, or have a qualification in floristry. Apart from that, anyone can enter, from a kid on work experience to someone who does the flowers in church every Sunday.’ She paused to take a breath. ‘I sent my application in weeks ago and I just heard back today that I’m through to the next round. I’ve got to go to London for an interview and stuff.’
‘Stuff?’ her mother asked. ‘What kind of stuff? How long will you be there for, and who’s going to look after the shop while you go swanning about?’
Leanne scowled. Thanks for all the support, she thought sarcastically. Not one member of her family had bothered to congratulate her. Placing her knife and fork down on her plate, she stood, pushing her chair away from the table. She was having difficulty holding back tears.
Then her mother was on her feet and there was the familiar feel of her arms around Leanne’s shoulders. ‘Don’t think we aren’t pleased for you, love, because we are. We’re thrilled, aren’t we, Geoff?’
Her dad nodded vigorously; even her brothers were smiling. Leanne gave a loud sniff, and her mother flinched.
‘I was just being practical,’ Iris pointed out. ‘You can’t be in two places at once.’ She guided Leanne back to her chair. ‘Finish your meal,’ she insisted, ‘and tell us all about it.’
Leanne sat, but she knew her mother was right. Iris couldn’t be expected to step in, although she did help out if Leanne needed a break. But she wasn’t getting any younger, and she had enough on her plate as it was, what with all the jobs she did on the farm. No one could say that being a farmer’s wife was easy. Leanne knew from experience that there was always something that needed doing; right now, at this time of year, it was seeing to the orphaned lambs. So far there were five of them, all having to be bottle-fed several times a day, and the number was only going to rise, because lambing season wasn’t over yet. Then there was the vegetable plot and the beehive – solely her mother’s domain – plus the actual farmhouse itself, with all the cleaning, cooking and laundry to be done. Her mother was in charge of the farm admin and the accounts, too.
No, Iris had her hands well and truly full, and Leanne had no intention of adding to her burden.
‘I’m going to take on an apprentice,’ she announced, her eyes widening as the words slipped out of her mouth without any apparent command from her brain. She took a moment to think about what she’d just said. She had toyed with the idea when she’d been contemplating a life that didn’t consist solely of working, eating and sleeping, so why not seriously consider the possibility now, when it was for a solid reason? After all, as her mother had just pointed out, she couldn’t be in two places at once. If she was serious about this competition, then she’d have to make arrangements for when she wasn’t going to be around.
But what if she didn’t get any further than this next stage? she asked herself, before realising it didn’t actually matter – she wouldn’t have lost anything and would have gained an assistant, which would allow her a bit more time for herself.
Decision made, she set about wondering who on earth she could entrust her flower-shop baby to.
With her fork halfway to her mouth, she paused – actually, she knew just the person!
Now all she had to do was persuade her.
Chapter 5
Rex clambered out of bed, his eyes stinging and his body protesting, and rubbed a weary hand across his face, stubble rasping under his fingers.
If this was what having a baby was like, then no thanks.
Another mournful howl, followed by a series of pathetic yips, echoed up the stairs. After two nights of being separated from her mother and siblings, Nell showed no sign of settling down.
With a sigh, Rex trudged down the stairs and staggered blearily towards the kitchen, glancing at the clock as he did so. Two thirty. Great. He’d only been asleep for an hour, and this was the third time tonight he’d been forced to traipse downstairs to comfort the tiny dog. Despite his best efforts – soft bed, stuffed toys, a warm hot-water bottle – the puppy was having none of it.
The howling ceased as soon as he opened the door, and a pair of blue eyes peered up at him hopefully. He stepped inside and—
Bugger!
He hopped around, shaking his foot and cursing, because he’d only gone and stepped on one of the hard little chews he’d bought her. Then he cursed again as his non-injured foot trod in something cold and wet.
Great. The dog had managed to wee over the tiled floor, totally missing the puppy training pads he had placed around her bed.
He looked at them more closely and realised she hadn’t missed them at all. A smelly little pile sat right in the centre of one of them, with brown paw prints dotted around it. Wonderful – she’d managed to tread in her own mess.
Very much awake now, he scooped up the ball of fluff and held her gingerly in one hand while cleaning up the mess with the other. When the astringent smell of disinfectant had replaced the less-than-aromatic smell of the little present she had left him, he turned his attention to cleaning the dog herself.
Thinking it was a game, Nell yipped and wriggled, trying to bite anything that came within range of her needle-sharp teeth, as Rex carefully wiped the pink pads of her paws, making sure to get between her toes. In order to keep her quiet, he let her nibble on his fingers, yelping himself once or twice when she bit too hard. Immediately the puppy was contrite, her tail wagging furiously as she tried to lick his face.
‘I know, I know,’ he crooned. ‘You didn’t mean to hurt me. You’re only a baby.’
Nell whined back, still licking any and every bit of exposed skin she could reach, and he laughed when a wet pink tongue connected with his nose.
‘Oi, stop it. Faces aren’t for licking.’ He chuckled, despite his tiredness. ‘Now,’ he said, putting her back in her basket, ‘shall we try again?’
Nell sat on her haunches, staring up at him with liquid eyes, her tiny nose twitching, one ear cocked, the other flopping over. She looked so sad, his heart went out to her. He let out another deep sigh, which turned into a huge yawn.
‘Night night,’ he said. The dog continued to stare at him sorrowfully. ‘You’ll soon get used to it, I promise,’ he added, praying it was true. He didn’t know how many more nights of interrupted sleep he could handle. He didn’t think his neighbours were too pleased with Nell’s midnight serenades either.
He’d no sooner slipped back into bed than she started crying again.
Right, he decided, he was going to ignore her this time. If he went down to her every time she cried, she’d never learn to drop off on her own; although funnily enough, she had managed to sleep most of the afternoon yesterday, when he’d left her alone in the back of the Land Rover. He knew this because he’d been watching the little madam quite closely as he’d poked around in a pond, documenting the number of insect larvae and making notes on the variety of other wildlife he had spotted. It was a pity he couldn’t have joined her for a nap, but someone had to earn enough to put dog biscuits in her bowl.
He covered his ears with his hands, but when that failed to do the trick, he tried a pillow instead. It made no difference – he could still hear her. Each mournful, drawn-out howl was followed by a yip; then when that failed to get him out of bed, she resorted to pathetic whimpering.
Oh God, he couldn’t stand it. It wasn’t just the not sleeping that was getting to him either; it was the total and utter desolation in her little voice.
Knowing he shouldn’t relent, but unable to help himself, he slid out of bed once more and padded downstairs.
The pup looked so delighted to see him, as though he had been gone for hours rather than just a few minutes, that he had to laugh. She danced around his feet in joyous abandon, her little bottom wiggling from side to side with the force of her waggy tail. When Rex scooped her up and cuddled her into his chest, she buried her nose in the crook of his neck, her breath all warm and snuffly on his skin.
‘OK, you win,’ he sai
d, turning towards the stairs.
He knew he’d regret it and that he was making a rod for his own back, but if he didn’t get some sleep soon, he’d be a total wreck come the morning.
The last thing he remembered was the feel of a warm, furry body snuggling into his side as he finally drifted off.
Chapter 6
Leanne opened the door to Ken’s wife with a broad smile on her face and hope in her heart. Mabel didn’t appear nearly as happy to see her, and a frown creased her already wrinkled brow as she stood on the step worrying at her lip with her teeth.
‘I don’t know anything about flowers,’ she announced as Leanne quickly ushered her inside before the woman could change her mind.
‘That’s OK, I can teach you,’ Leanne said cheerfully, showing her into the storeroom behind the counter.
Mabel’s eyes widened at the sight of the large metal door. ‘Is that a safe?’ she asked.
‘Good Lord, no. It’s a cold room. I keep the flowers in there so they stay fresher for longer.’
‘I don’t know anything about flowers,’ Mabel repeated, ‘and I’m too old to start learning new stuff.’
‘You aren’t old,’ Leanne scoffed, hoping to reassure the other woman. Actually, she was rather elderly, being somewhere in her seventies. ‘Anyway,’ she continued, praying that it was true, ‘you’re never too old to learn new things.’
Mabel was understandably nervous, but Leanne was nervous too. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all, but she’d done it now and she couldn’t take change her mind. Besides, she was running out of time: her trip to London was only a week and a half away. She needed to start training someone as soon as possible.
She knew money was tight in the Everson household. When she’d mentioned to Ken that she was looking for someone to help out in the shop, his eyes had lit up. She hadn’t needed to persuade him to broach the subject with his wife – it was just a pity that Mabel didn’t seem as keen as Ken did. Originally Leanne had thought her idea was an excellent solution. Ken was reliable and a good worker. Unfortunately, Mabel resembled a small child on her first day at school – worried, scared and a tiny bit excited, all rolled into one.
The Tanglewood Flower Shop Page 3
