Page 8 of A New Family at Puddleduck Farm (Puddleduck Farm #6)

When Phoebe got back to the house, she found Maggie and Eddie already ensconced at the big old table in the kitchen sipping coffees and chatting to Sam, who had Lily on his lap.

‘Finally,’ Maggie said, hearing Phoebe and Roxie coming through the back door and turning to say hello. ‘I thought you’d abandoned ship. Not to mention your husband and daughter.’

‘You’re early.’ Phoebe consulted her smartwatch. ‘It’s not even ten forty-five.’

‘I couldn’t wait any longer. I can’t believe it’s taken you this long to invite me.’

‘Since when have you needed an invitation?’ Phoebe countered. ‘You usually just turn up whenever you like.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’

They locked gazes and as Phoebe met the hazel eyes that were as familiar as her own, she burst out laughing. ‘It’s so good to see you, Gran. And you do know you don’t need an invitation, don’t you?’

‘I do know I can’t stand the word Gran.’

‘How about Great-Gran?’ Phoebe heard Eddie chuckle as she went across the kitchen towards Sam and her daughter, neither of whom had made a sound during this brief exchange, and lifted Lily gently out of his arms.

‘Come and get reacquainted with Maggie, little one,’ she said, taking the baby over to where her grandmother sat.

She saw Maggie’s eyes light up with love and a look of tenderness warm her weathered face.

‘She is so gorgeous. She must have most of my genes.’ She shot a glance at Phoebe and then she laughed too. ‘Great-Gran doesn’t sound quite as bad, I have to say.’

‘It’s the word “great” she likes,’ quipped Sam. ‘Who wouldn’t want to be called great?’

‘Less of your cheek, young man.’ But Maggie was still smiling as she took Lily in her arms. ‘I’m only holding her while she stays quiet. I’m not getting involved with changing her or feeding her or any of that malarkey. I’m better with puppies than human babies.’

‘I don’t mind being called Great-Grandad either,’ Eddie put in, and Phoebe glanced at the old man, who was beaming and also flushing slightly.

Eddie never said much. He was fairly deaf so it was hard to know how much of any conversation he could actually follow, but she suspected he didn’t miss much either.

Maggie had told her once that Eddie was of the opinion there wasn’t much point in talking unless you had something interesting to say.

Eddie used British Sign Language, and he and Maggie had developed a version of their own that they often used for private conversations.

Like Maggie, he was still mentally sharp as a tack.

He might walk with a stick, these days, but other than that he was fit for his age.

Maggie put this down to the fact he’d spent most of his life embroiled in the hard graft of farming. As she had herself.

Phoebe told them about the discussion she’d just had with Natasha about the dog field.

‘She’s a smart cookie, that young lady,’ Maggie said approvingly.

‘She’s right about demand. Lots of people don’t train their dogs properly these days.

It’s definitely worth asking Sarah’s husband for a quote.

The cost was the main stumbling block I had before and the planning permission will still be valid.

It wasn’t that long ago. If it could be done on a budget, I think it could be great. ’

They segued into a discussion about the cost of things and then into wildlife and people keeping pets they’d once have left well alone like the owl in the shed.

‘That’s a cost thing too,’ Maggie said thoughtfully.

‘The price of puppies went through the roof in lockdown and it hasn’t come down that much.

In the olden days crossbreeds were free – people had a job to give them away.

Nowadays the breeders call them some fancy designer name and charge a fortune. It’s scandalous.’

Eddie nodded. ‘Cockerpoos,’ he muttered. ‘I blame the Americans.’

‘The Americans?’ Sam echoed, looking at him. ‘What have they got to do with it?’

‘He’s right,’ Maggie said. ‘That’s where cockerpoos came from.

Back in the fifties. They were bred as companion dogs.

But these days any old cross gets a fancy name and a fancy price tag.

’ She frowned. ‘Yorkipoos, cavapoos, pekapoos, and don’t even get me started on the shih tzu crosses because I don’t want to swear in front of junior here. ’ She winked at Phoebe.

‘It’s true,’ Phoebe said, when Sam raised his eyebrows in amazement. ‘About the price tags, I mean. All of those breeds have extortionate price tags. I see them in my surgery.’

Lily, eager to be included in the conversation, gurgled and waved her fists.

‘Quite right, darling,’ Maggie said, bouncing her on her knee.

‘It’s outrageous what doggies cost these days.

Cats too,’ she added. ‘Back in the day most cats were moggies, and you couldn’t give them away for love nor money.

Nowadays you’ve got your ragdolls and your Maine Coons as well as your Persians and your Siamese, and I hear Savannahs are popular now too.

None of them are cheap. It’s not that surprising people think it’s a good idea to capture a wild bird and keep it as a pet. ’

‘Do you think it’s a matter of raising public awareness, Maggie?’

‘Yes, although that’s probably easier said than done.’

‘We could certainly do our bit in the practice. We’re thinking of putting up posters.’ Phoebe looked hopefully at Eddie, who did the fact sheets Maggie used for the adoption packs. ‘I was hoping maybe if we did some research on the various animals you could do us a poster, Eddie?’

He nodded. ‘Can you get an article in the paper too? Your friend’s got a newspaper, hasn’t she?’

‘You mean New Forest Views – Tori’s magazine. Yes, of course she has. Why didn’t I think of that? It must be baby brain.’ She tapped her forehead. ‘I saw her last night. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. I need to work out what animals to do.’

‘You could start with African pygmy hedgehogs,’ Sam suggested, and both Maggie and Eddie looked blank.

Phoebe told them about Bumble. ‘We’ve hopefully got him a home, but I think we’re going to be seeing a lot more of those little fellows.’

Maggie looked grim. ‘It’s not new for people to want exotic pets.

The Savannahs I mentioned are a cross between the serval, which is an African wild cat, and a domestic cat.

They’ve been in the country a while. Unfortunately.

’ She shook her head, and Phoebe knew she was biting her tongue not to share her opinion of people who bought exotic animals without knowing anything about their care.

Instead, she busied herself making faces at Lily, who responded in kind.

‘We could do with a fact sheet on foxes,’ Sam murmured. ‘I’ve heard of people getting them so tame they start behaving like dogs. It’s never a good idea to get wild animals that reliant on humans.’

‘Rabies,’ Eddie put in, and everyone looked at him in alarm.

‘We haven’t got rabies in England,’ Maggie said. ‘Unless it’s a recent thing – I’ve given up listening to the news, it’s too flaming depressing.’

‘No, we haven’t got rabies.’ Sam was shaking his head in bewilderment.

Eddie waggled his index fingers above his head. ‘Wild ones.’

‘He’s talking about wild rabbits,’ Maggie said, after a brief signed exchange with her husband. ‘And he’s right. People do sometimes keep wild ones – why pay for a rabbit if you can just lure one out of the wild?’

Luring a wild rabbit into your garden struck Phoebe as a lot harder work than going to the pet shop and buying one.

Rabbits were very timid and they surely hadn’t got that expensive, had they?

Then she remembered Belinda Bates’s lop-eared rabbits.

They hadn’t been cheap. She cleared her throat.

‘Why don’t we start with African pygmy hedgehogs, owls and foxes?

I’ll do some research on the hedgehogs and pass the details to Eddie. Is that OK with you, Eddie?’

He gave her a thumbs-up sign.

‘I think your daughter’s nappy may need changing,’ Maggie said, screwing up her nose and looking at Phoebe hopefully.

‘No worries, I can do it,’ Sam said.

‘I’m guessing this might not be the best time to ask you and Eddie about helping out with babysitting duties then?’ Phoebe said to her.

Maggie grinned and dropped a kiss on Lily’s head, before giving her back to Sam. ‘I thought you’d never ask, love. That’s if you’re sure you and Sam are happy having a couple of old codgers like us looking after your precious daughter?’

They both nodded, and she looked relieved. ‘It’ll also give me an excuse to spend more time helping out in the rescue,’ she added with a gleam in her eye. ‘Full-time retirement doesn’t suit me.’

* * *

Phoebe’s parents, Louella and James, said much the same thing about helping with Lily when they came by later in the week.

It felt like a rerun of Sunday morning with all of them sitting around the wooden table, but instead of coffee they were drinking tea with some M&S very chocolatey biscuits that Louella had brought with them.

‘You haven’t got time, Mum,’ Phoebe said, biting her lip. ‘You’ve got school. The last thing you need is another childcare commitment.’

Louella looked shocked. ‘We’re talking about my granddaughter here.’ She glanced fondly at Lily, who was sitting on her lap. ‘I don’t see her as a childcare commitment.’

‘It’s still time you haven’t got, though.’

‘Your mother hasn’t told you, has she?’ James looked across at her. ‘She’s decided to take early retirement from Bridgeford Girls School come Christmas.’

‘You never are.’ Phoebe stared at her mother in amazement. ‘You said you’d never retire.’

‘I might do the odd bit of supply teaching to keep my hand in, but yes, your father’s right. I’ve decided to stop teaching on a permanent basis.’

‘We’ve decided one less workaholic in the family would be good,’ James added, encircling them all with a gesture. She and Maggie weren’t the only workaholics, Phoebe acknowledged. Her father and her brother Frazier also both worked loads of hours in a family law firm.

‘That’s right.’ Louella’s pink cheeks coloured up a little. ‘I thought I might like to get to know my newest granddaughter a little better.’

Phoebe was amazed for the second time. It wasn’t as though her mother was short on grandchildren. Frazier and Alexa had three.

‘I know your brother’s got three,’ Louella said, reading her mind. ‘But it’s different when it’s your daughter’s child. Isn’t it, my gorgeous girl?’

Lily gurgled in contentment. She looked perfectly at home on her grandmother’s lap.

‘She thinks she might get more of a look in with this one,’ her father said, looking at his wife indulgently. ‘What with Jan being the other grandparent and all.’

Phoebe glanced at her mother, whose eyes were twinkling. ‘You and Jan have been discussing this, haven’t you?’

‘We may have been discussing it a little.’

‘They’ve practically got a rota organised between them,’ James said.

‘No, we haven’t,’ Louella objected hastily as Phoebe and Sam exchanged glances. He looked as mystified as Phoebe felt.

‘I take it you don’t know about this?’

‘Ma’s said nothing to me.’

‘We don’t want to step on any toes,’ Louella continued quickly. ‘We just want you to know the offer’s there. Should you need it. There’s a few baby and gran clubs in the forest. Music and Movement. Wriggle and Jiggle. I’d love to take her to one of those. It would be fun.’

She looked between Phoebe and Sam. ‘You two work full time and Jan and I are both of an age where we feel we’d like to slow down a bit and get to know our granddaughter. If that’s something you’d like too – obviously.’

There was a sudden hesitation in her voice and Phoebe said, ‘Oh, Mum, of course it is. We’d love you to be involved, wouldn’t we, Sam? We want you to be a big part of Lily’s upbringing.’

‘Yep,’ Sam said. ‘Although I’m not sure how Ma’s going to work any less hours at Hendrie’s.’

‘I think she’s got something in mind, but I’ll let her tell you that herself,’ Louella said. ‘Now I know we’re all on the same page.’

‘Maggie wants to help too,’ Phoebe said.

‘What’s Wriggle and Jiggle?’ Sam asked, round eyed.

‘The baby and gran version of dancing, I think,’ Louella said happily.

James and Sam exchanged bemused glances.

‘Let’s have another biscuit to celebrate a plan well made,’ James said, getting up. ‘I’ll stick the kettle on again, shall I?’

‘I’ll do it,’ Sam said, leaping to his feet and passing the plate of biscuits around again. ‘And while I’ve got you both here, I don’t suppose there’s a chance of having a trial babysitting night so I can take your beautiful daughter out for some couple time, is there?’

‘We’d be delighted, wouldn’t we, James?’ Louella got her diary out. ‘When were you thinking?’

‘This Saturday coming?’ Sam said hopefully, glancing at Phoebe, who was nodding slowly.

‘I’m up for that – definitely.’