Page 20 of Sweet Dreams at the Forever Home on Muddypuddle Lane (The Forever Home on Muddypuddle Lane #2)

Nora filled the metal bowl with fresh water and put it down on the plastic easy-wipe mat next to the fridge.

‘There you go,’ she told Biscuit, and he wagged his tail but made no move to drink from it. This was his first day in his new home, and he seemed rather uncertain about the whole thing.

‘You’ll get used to it,’ she promised, stroking the top of his head and praying that was the case. He’d been padding around ever since she’d fetched him from the kennels nearly two hours ago, and was showing no signs of settling in.

Nora had shown him the garden, his nice new dog bed (with a blanket brought from The Forever Home at Jakob’s suggestion), and the cupboard where his food and toys were kept.

She’d offered to groom him (he’d sidled away), and play with him (he hadn’t shown any interest, not even in the ball with the squeaker), and she’d tried to get him to cuddle on the sofa but he was having none of it.

Biscuit was too busy exploring every nook and cranny. Which Nora wouldn’t have minded, but he’d already explored each one several times already. He reminded her of a wild animal in a cage, pacing back and forth.

Maybe she should take him for a walk? Would a spot of exercise help? It couldn’t hurt, she decided, lifting his lead off the rack of coat hooks by the back door. ‘Walkies?’

His ears pricked up and a hopeful expression lit up his soft brown eyes.

She’d take him for a stroll around the village and pay the salon a visit while she was at it, because it would be a good idea to introduce him to the place and to her staff, since he’d be coming into work with her tomorrow. She hoped Kendra and the others would like him…

Feeling anxious (Biscuit was probably picking up on her anxiety) Nora popped his harness on him and set out.

She’d taken today off in order to collect him from The Forever Home (having been given the green light by Dawn yesterday, who had been lovely when she’d done her home visit) and help him settle in.

Nora knew it might take a few days – and Jakob had told her the same – but she was nevertheless concerned.

She desperately wanted Biscuit to be happy in his new home.

Thankfully he seemed much more relaxed now he was outside, content to stop and sniff at all the unfamiliar smells.

The high street had a typical Wednesday lunchtime busyness about it.

Picklewick wasn’t a big place, but enough people lived and worked there to keep businesses like the cafe, her salon, and the bakery afloat, and most of the faces she met were familiar.

If she hadn’t cut their hair and therefore knew them personally, she knew them by name or by sight, so it was to be expected that several people would stop to chat. And to admire Biscuit, of course.

Biscuit, to Nora’s relief, lapped up the attention. He was definitely a people dog, friendly and calm.

Until he suddenly wasn’t…

Nora hadn’t been expecting the dog to take off down the pavement at a rate of knots, and she was almost yanked off her feet. With an excited woof, he barrelled into the road, dragging her with him, and was met with a squeal of brakes and honking horns.

Nora had no idea how either of them arrived at the other side of the street in one piece. It was a wonder they hadn’t been killed, or at the very least, injured.

Stumbling over the kerb, she almost face-planted the pavement.

‘What the hell are you playing at?’ an all-too familiar voice demanded, and Nora looked up to see Elijah’s angry and shocked blue eyes boring into hers.

Stunned, she stuttered, ‘I didn’t mean… He caught me…’

Elijah ignored her. Crouching down, he put his palms on either side of the dog’s head. ‘Are you okay, boy?’

Biscuit was fine. He was gazing lovingly at Elijah, his tail wagging nineteen to the dozen.

It was Nora who wasn’t fine.

She was trembling, her knees felt weak, her heart was pounding so hard she feared she might pass out, and she was trying her best not to cry.

‘He could have been run over,’ Elijah scolded.

Anger surged through her, boiling away the threatened tears. ‘So could I,’ she shot back.

‘You should have had better control of him.’

‘I didn’t expect him to dart across the bloody road.’

‘Maybe you should have?’

A scathing retort leapt into her mind. And there it stayed. Elijah was right. She should have been more prepared. It didn’t have to be Elijah who caught Biscuit’s attention next time; it could be another dog, or a cat, or a squirrel that he wanted to say hello to or chase.

Oh, hell, had she bitten off more than she could chew? Had she made the wrong decision? Although Biscuit had pulled on his lead before, he’d always responded to a firm ‘no’ and the pulling had stopped.

This, however, hadn’t been a pull. It had been a full-on, totally unexpected lunge . And Nora hadn’t had a hope in hell of holding him back.

Telling herself she’d be better prepared from now on, she tugged on the lead to get Biscuit’s attention, and Elijah got to his feet.

‘Thank you for your concern,’ she said icily. ‘It won’t happen again.’

‘I hope not. You could have—’

She snarled, ‘Yes, thank you! I’m well aware of what could have happened since I’m the one it nearly happened to. Good day to you.’ And with that she stalked off, shaken, but trying to muster her dignity.

And had she really said, ‘Good day to you,’ like some elderly spinster from a nineteenth century BBC drama?

Without going to the salon and having lost her appetite for a walk, Nora slunk back home, her tail between her legs. To add insult to (almost) injury, Biscuit’s tail was waving like a flag in a stiff north-easterly, and he looked the happiest she’d seen him since she’d brought him home.

Elijah felt awful. He shouldn’t have reacted the way he had, but he’d nearly had a heart attack when he’d seen Biscuit drag Nora into the road. Admittedly, the traffic had been slow, but that was beside the point. She could have been killed. They both could.

Having a go at her had been his way of dealing with the sudden fear and his subsequent relief. Adrenalin had flooded his body, making his legs feel weak and his heart race. He’d also felt sick and shaken, but he shouldn’t have taken it out on her.

Then again, he was right in saying she should have had better control over the dog. Biscuit might look cute and fluffy, and he was incredibly gentle, but he didn’t know his own strength, and when he’d spied Elijah on the opposite pavement, he’d made a beeline for him.

Elijah stomped off home with mixed feelings.

He was delighted to have seen Biscuit, but not under those circumstances.

He was also delighted to have seen Nora, but ditto to the circumstances.

Despite her shocked and rather hostile demeanour, she’d looked gorgeous.

Having not seen her for over a week (nine days, to be exact – not that he was counting), Elijah had drunk her in.

She’d lost a couple of pounds, he thought.

That should please her. And she’d had her hair cut.

Not by much, but enough to notice. Enough for him to notice, because he’d committed the smallest details to memory.

Like the dimple in her left cheek when she smiled, and her slightly wonky front tooth, and the way the short fine hairs curled at the base of her neck.

He should apologise. It was only right. He’d take her some cake; he’d been trialling another new recipe and—

On second thoughts, best not. He didn’t want her to think he only wanted her for her taste-testing ability.

Flowers! That was it.

Elijah executed a smart about-turn and hurried back to the high street.

He would buy a nice bouquet and deliver it personally.

And if she was still out on her walk, he’d wait until she got back, because, let’s face it, he didn’t have much else to do this afternoon as Andrea was at the bakery today.

She was managing to do a couple of days a week but wasn’t back full time yet and wouldn’t be for a while.

Her dad was on the mend though, so that was the main thing, and what was even better news was that the old chap had agreed to take a look at Honeymead when he was discharged from the hospital.

Elijah hadn’t bought flowers for at least a decade, so when he entered the florist’s shop and came face to face with buckets of blooms, he had no idea what to go for.

‘Need any help?’ the woman behind the counter asked.

‘I’m after some flowers.’

To her credit, she didn’t roll her eyes. ‘Then you’ve come to the right place. Any idea what you’d like?’

‘No?’

‘What’s the occasion? Birthday, anniversary…?’

‘An apology.’

‘Ah.’ She nodded her understanding. ‘Who is it for? Wife, girlfriend, mum?’

The words were out of Elijah’s mouth before his brain could rein them in. ‘For someone I wish was my girlfriend.’

‘I see. Do you want it delivered?’

‘Can I take it with me?’

‘Of course. Give me a few minutes and I’ll put something together, and you can let me know what you think.’

Elijah watched her select several flowers and stems of foliage, holding them in her hand as she fitted them together, turning the growing bouquet this way and that until she was happy with the result.

‘I think Nora will like them,’ she said, startling him.

‘Nora? ’ How did she know?

‘I take it these are for her?’

‘You saw.’ Of course the woman had seen, he realised in dismay. She would have had a front-row seat from her a shop window.

‘I did.’

‘I wasn’t very nice.’ He hung his head in shame.

‘You saw someone you care about almost get flattened by an SUV. No wonder you were upset. It’s like when I lost my five-year-old in the supermarket once. When I found him, I shouted at him, too. Then I cried.’

‘At least I didn’t cry,’ he replied wryly. But he’d felt like it.

‘Here you go.’ She handed him the prettily wrapped bouquet. ‘Good luck.’

Elijah suspected he was going to need more than luck, because he didn’t just care about Nora, he was totally and utterly in love with her.