The Little Book Café. Georgia Hill

       Chapter 6

      On her day off Tash decided to go for a walk. She hardly ever went for walks. It wasn’t something she and Adrian did. Meals in expensive restaurants or drinks parties with his business contacts were more their style. Or rather Adrian’s style. She missed the simpler pleasures she’d enjoyed before him. It was funny how life with Adrian had consumed her. She used to love walking her parents’ dog. She hadn’t seen them for ages, or Benji, their over-indulged Westie. So she decided – once Adrian had left for work, she’d go and have a coffee with her mother and borrow the dog for a few hours.

      She waved Adrian off at dawn on a peerlessly beautiful August day. The house martins chattered above them as she saw him into his car. He was going on one of his regular trips to Manchester to reccie possible development projects and was grumpy. He hated going away.

      Looking up at the birds, he grumbled, ‘We’ll have to clear the guttering before they nest next year. They’ve made a right mess. Put netting up. Bloody things.’

      Tash smiled tightly. She handed him his briefcase as he squeezed into the Porsche. She wasn’t the only one putting on weight. ‘Drive safely.’

      ‘Will do, don’t want to risk any more points on the licence. Cops spot this car and think it’s fair game. I’ll give you a ring tonight.’ He slammed the car door hard, revved the engine and gave a loud toot as he went.

      Tash winced as she saw curtains twitch in the house opposite. It was very early. She wished Adrian would be a little more considerate sometimes. Giving a conciliatory wave to her neighbour who had opened her bedroom window and glared, she fled inside. She tried to ignore the flush of freedom that a few days without Adrian always produced.

      ‘This is more like it,’ Tash chatted to Benji as he scampered up the hill. She’d driven to a local spot popular with dog walkers on the outskirts of Berecombe. Once an old hill fort, it had spectacular views over Chesil Beach and towards Portland. As it was still early, there were few others about and a cool breeze softened the hot day which promised.

      It had been a good summer. The town was full to bursting with tourists and the place was revving up for Lifeboat Month. Some complained the grockles got in the way, that you couldn’t walk along the pavements and there was never anywhere to park but Tash loved the buzz. As she’d driven through town yesterday, on the way to the office, the bunting was being strung up across the main street; she adored its frivolity.

      She wandered to the eastern side of the hill and perched on one of the benches, enjoying the sight of the sea, a smudge of silvered pink in the early morning haze. Benji nosed contentedly around at her feet. Tash closed her eyes. She felt very peaceful and curiously free. She had two whole days to herself. Adrian wasn’t back until Thursday. She concentrated on the sound of a bird, a skylark maybe, high above her and the snuffle of Benji’s nose as he discovered fascinating new smells. His sudden bark had her eyes open in a flash.

      ‘Hello there.’

      A man was standing a little way away from her. He had his hand on the collar of the most enormous dog Tash had ever seen. It was grey and rangy with a noble head. Not unlike its owner. ‘Kit. Hello.’

      ‘I’m sorry. Did I disturb you?’

      The Westie had his hackles up and had begun to growl. ‘Benji, stop that,’ Tash scolded and clipped the terrier back on the lead. ‘Sorry, he can be a bit of a grump with other dogs sometimes.’

      ‘Not a problem. Merlin can look upon dogs smaller than him as prey but he’s very laidback most of the time. May I join you, or would you rather have the place to yourself?’

      It seemed churlish not to share the bench so Tash shuffled up. Besides, she was curious about Merlin. ‘What breed is he?’ she asked, after he and Benji had sniffed each other thoroughly, decided there was no threat on either side and then gone on to ignore each other.

      ‘Irish wolfhound.’

      ‘Does he come across many dogs bigger than him?’

      ‘Sorry?’

      ‘You said Merlin treats dogs smaller than him as prey. I’m surprised he meets any bigger.’ She reached over and rubbed the dog’s head.

      Kit laughed. ‘He’s a gentle giant but, when people meet him for the first time, he can come across as a tad alarming. I tend to be on the defensive.’

      Merlin whickered in agreement.

      ‘He has the most intelligent eyes,’ Tash said. She pulled on the dog’s ears gently.

      ‘A wise old man’s soul in a dog’s body, this one.’ Kit ruffled Merlin’s head and his and Tash’s hands met.

      Tash snatched hers away. Their eyes met and she felt herself blushing. Desperate to fill the charged silence, she blurted out the obvious. ‘Beautiful day.’

      ‘It is. Can’t argue with you on that. Hadn’t pegged you as a dog person.’ Kit nodded to Benji who had stretched out next to her feet.

      ‘Oh, Benji’s not mine. He belongs to my parents. Spoiled rotten too. I haven’t got a dog, Adrian doesn’t like the mess they make so I borrow Benji every now and again.’

      ‘Adrian?’

      ‘My boyfriend.’ Tash felt her face grow hot again. Why should she be embarrassed about admitting to Adrian?

      ‘Oh.’ Tash could see Kit processing the information. ‘Well,’ he conceded, ‘they can make an awful lot of mess. Lot of work too.’

      ‘Yes, doubt if I could cope, what with working full-time.’ Tash tried to keep the longing out of her voice. She’d happily put up with a bit of disruption if it meant she could have a dog. It was Adrian who had flatly refused to have any kind of pet. He’d even put his foot down about the idea of a hamster. ‘They smell,’ he’d moaned.

      ‘Probably best to borrow one once in a while then. Dogs like someone around and it’s tricky if you work.’

      ‘Do you? Work, I mean?’ It wasn’t just Merlin Tash was curious about.

      Kit chuckled. ‘I have a dog, two cats, a brood of argumentative chickens, one or two goats and three donkeys. Plus an orchard I can’t decide what to do with on top of an awful lot of land. I count that as work.’

      ‘But you haven’t always had the farm, have you? What did you do before?’

      She felt Kit’s gaze, hot on her face. He leaned nearer. He smelled of old-fashioned coal tar soap, with an earthy undertone. It wasn’t unpleasant and a world away from Adrian’s sluiced-on Paco Rabanne.

      ‘Can you keep a secret?’

      ‘Oh yes,’ Tash smiled. ‘I’m good at keeping secrets.’

      ‘Part of your job, I suppose?’

      ‘Well, client confidentiality is important.’ It wasn’t what she had meant but she let it go. ‘What’s this secret then?’ This was fun, she realised. It was almost like flirting.

      ‘I had a lottery win.’