‘I went to the pub,’ he said, ‘think I had a few too many.’
Mum shrieked. ‘What?Rachel let you get drunk. What the hell is she doing?’
I snatched the phone back. ‘Grandpa disappeared and I didn’t know where he was. It was stressful but luckily, I found him in the pub.’
In the background Aunty Karen was saying to Uncle Robert, ‘Rachel let Dad go on a drinking bender down the pub.’ Uncle Robert replied, ‘What was Rachel doing whilst your father was on a bender? Was she with a fella?’
‘Janice, ask Rachel what she was doing whilst letting Dad go on a drinking bender,’ Aunty Karen ordered.
Grandpa held my gaze. ‘Rachel, ignore them. I had the best time with Dorothy earlier. Your mother and Karen would never have let me do that.’
Mum overheard Grandpa. ‘Dad, you’re right there, Karen and I would not let you get drunk at your age. I honestly don’t know what Rachel is doing.’
Through gritted teeth I said, ‘I had no idea you were going to do a disappearing act on me, Grandpa. I came home and you’d left a note to say you’d gone on an adventure.’
He grinned. ‘I told you that was what I came here to do – go on an adventure.’
‘Where’s Maddie’s dog?’ barked Mum, making me groan. I’d forgotten all about Humphrey. Oh God, he was still missing and out in the snow. ‘I bet you’ve lost him as well.’
‘No,’ I lied, thinking on my feet. ‘Layla, the cleaner, is out walking him.’
‘Thecleaneris walking Maddie’s beloved dog,’ Mum gasped. ‘Have you lost your mind, Rachel?’
‘Mum, please will you listen to me about what really happened with Grandpa,’ I pleaded. ‘I did not know he would be in the pub.’
‘Rachel, you’ve let us all down,’ snapped my mother. ‘You agreed to look after your elderly grandfather over Christmas and abide by our rules. We have had no regular updates and today you dropped him off at the pub to drink himself silly whilst you enjoyed yourself. We are all disappointed with you, Rachel. Maddie would not have behaved like this.’
I could feel anger at my family bubbling up inside of me. Mixed in with this was my frustration over finding out Ben was a walking red flag and an ongoing worry about who Maddie had married.
‘You should be ashamed of yourself,’ barked Mum.
‘Will you listen to me?’
‘I don’t need to listen to you, Rachel,’ snapped Mum. ‘This is serious. Gary was taking us out tonight to his favourite restaurant and now after hearing this, we won’t be able to enjoy our food.’
Something inside me snapped. My family were great at controlling at each other and manipulating situations. I was tired of their rules and my mother’s rants about how I had disappointed them all. For thirty-two years of my life, she’d been telling me this. In a moment of madness, I hung up on my mother. My hands were trembling as I stared at my phone. No one did that to Mum. If she was not going to listen to me then I wasn’t prepared to be shouted at. Once the call had gone, I turned off my phone.
Grandpa cheered and shook his fist. ‘Yeah, a family rebellion. This is great. Way to go, Rachel.’
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
Grabbing my coat and my wellies, I ordered Grandpa to stay in the house. ‘I need to go find Humphrey. Please don’t do one of your disappearing acts.’
He nodded and gave me a thumbs up. ‘I have done enough adventuring today, Rachel.’
I pulled up my hood and stepped out into a blizzard. As I trudged down the driveway and struggled to see a few yards in front of me due to the snow, I panicked at the thought of poor little Humphrey being out in this. Maddie would kill me if she knew.
I made my way into the village, passing my car which was covered in snow outside Ben’s cottage. Seeing his van in the driveway made my heart flutter, which was annoying. My heart was clearly not aligned with my brain. It had taken me months to recover from Sam’s cheating confession and the way we ended. The last thing I needed was a Christmas romance with Ben which would take another six months to get over. I wasn’t sure my heart could withstand more pain. Especially from someone like Ben who had been close to Olivia and already had somehow taken control of my heart in a few hours. I had to keep Ben as a friend and work on suppressing my feelings.
‘Humphrey!’ I shouted as I got further along the lane and nearer the village. There were no sounds of barking.
I trudged through the little high street shouting for Humphrey. It was deserted. Everyone was at home in the warmth, probably wrapping presents and deciding not to venture outside.
Little lanes led off from the high street which filled me with panic. Humphrey could be down any of them. He could have been run over or injured. My stomach began a nauseating slow spin cycle. I was the worst dog sitter ever. In my head I could hear Mum telling me how disappointed everyone was with me.
After shouting his name repeatedly, I decided to turn back, clear the snow off my car and drive around. Even though my petrol light was on I could probably do a wider search than on foot. I walked past one little lane and took one final yell. ‘Humphrey!’ A distant bark made me look down the lane. The barking continued and it was getting louder. I jogged down the winding lane which was hemmed in with bushes on either side. As I came around the corner, Humphrey raced towards me, his red lead trailing behind him in the snow.
‘Humphrey,’ I cried, as a wave of emotion hit me. With open arms I ran to him and to my horror the little rascal turned and began to trot back the way he had come.
