Page 25 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

‘Don’t move into another flat then,’ said Walter, with a grin.

Lily had been typing into her phone and looked up. ‘It says here that Newfoundlands are a very bulky dog who can take up a lot of space in your house and the car too.’

Alex ran a hand through his hair. He had accepted the dog with no thought as to what size it might grow to. This was possibly all his fault.

‘They can suffer from separation anxiety and destructiveness when left alone too much,’ carried on Lily.

‘I’ve had girlfriends like that,’ said Ben, with a grin which he quickly dropped at Lily’s raised eyebrows. ‘Kidding. And present company excepted, of course.’

However, Alex had completely lost his sense of humour. He had thought the dog might just be a positive thing in his life but suddenly he had a giant breed to take care of.

‘Newfoundlands can be stubborn, shed a lot of fur and can slobber and drool quite a bit as well,’ carried on Lily.

Alex groaned. ‘Is there any good news that you could tell me?’ he asked, feeling quite desperate at that point.

‘It says that they’re a calm breed and that they love the water,’ she told him.

‘He’s in the right place then,’ said Walter, with a grin.

Alex, though, didn’t smile, still mulling over the change in his well-intended plans.

‘They love daily walks so that would fit in with your morning runs,’ Lily told him. ‘When you’re all mended, that is. They’re good at receiving training and they’re good natured with everyone, especially children.’

But Alex still wasn’t so sure and could only focus on the negative aspects of the breed. ‘They suffer with separation anxiety? What happens when I want to go back to work?’ Although he hadn’t quite decided what he was going to do once his foot was fully mended. ‘How am I going to get a sitter for Tiny when he’s going to be an extra-large dog!’

‘Perhaps Tiny needs a new name,’ said Walter.

He and Ben stifled laughter together at the joke.

Alex sighed. ‘You need to help me,’ he said, looking around at the family. ‘What am I going to do?’

‘Listen, I think Tiny’s a good idea,’ Hannah told him. ‘Like a fresh start. You did say you’d always wanted a dog.’

‘Yes, but not one the size of a house!’ said Alex.

‘He’s not that big yet,’ she told him, leaning down to stroke the dog who was sleepy after his busy morning.

But even Hannah’s gentle reassurance didn’t make him feel better at that moment.

‘Yetbeing the operative word,’ said Alex. ‘How am I going to cope with him? I’m still struggling to even walk at the moment.’

‘I can help you with him,’ Hannah told him. It was absolutely the wrong reason but the right thing for Alex to hear. ‘I can walk him for you. Take him outside when your foot’s hurting.’

‘Anyway, you did say that you were going to take some additional time off,’ added Ben.

‘Quite right,’ said Walter, nodding his head in agreement. ‘You’ve been working or training ever since we’ve known you. Take some time for yourself.’

‘To do what?’ asked Alex.

‘Absolutely nothing,’ said Dotty. ‘It’s called relaxing.’

‘Yeah, you should try it sometime,’ said Ben, looking at his friend. ‘They’re not wrong, mate.’

‘You could stay here for the whole summer,’ said Hannah softly.

Alex looked across the table at Hannah, delighted that she wanted him around for that long, but he couldn’t stop himself from shaking his head. ‘I can’t,’ he told her before looking at everyone else. ‘Tiny’s already disrupted you all for one night. Are you and, more importantly your hotel guests, going to put up with the howling every night? If I keep Tiny, and I’m still saying that is a very large if, we still can’t stay here. We need to be somewhere where there aren’t any neighbours or hotel guests nearby.’

‘We’re hoping to have planning permission for the lodges but it’s taking a bit longer than expected,’ said Ben.