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Lili didn’t expect her to, or Mabel and Marjorie.
‘I’m sure she’d be fine in the shop on her own,’ said Sarah. ‘Or Ray could run Bella back to The Summerhouse on his way to the houseboat.’
Ray frowned at Sarah for making that suggestion. ‘I don’t want dog hairs in my car.’
‘Are you serious? I’ve seen your car; it’s not exactly spotless. I’m sure a few dog hairs will be hardly noticeable.’
Everyone knew it wasn’t the dog hairs that were bothering Ray.
Lili felt Bella’s wet nose nuzzling her hand. She rolled her eyes and sighed at the sad puppy dog expression looking up at her. Nate would not be pleased, but she knew that Bella wouldn’t be any trouble. Lili glanced at the coat in her hands and thought of the hat and gloves that Nate had said she might need. It sounded as though whatever they were doing together would be outside. She couldn’t see an issue with taking the dog. Besides, Ray had agreed to look after Maisie; two children was enough without a dog to take care of too.
‘Come on,’ Lili said, reaching for Bella’s lead dangling from the antique coat rack in the corner by the door.
Bella did a couple of excited spins when Lili reached for her lead. Lili didn’t bother attaching it to Bella’s collar as they stepped outside. She knew Bella would walk to heel; she was taking the lead with her just in case.
Closing the door behind her, Lili paused for a moment in the cobbled yard. With shops on three sides, the yard was reached from a short walkway between buildings in the main road through town, High Street. There was a street sign for Cobblers Yard pointing down the lane. Without that, Lili suspected no one would realise the shops were there; a passer-by could easily blink and miss it.
Lili glanced at Ray’s art shop on the left and the charity shop run by Mabel and Marjorie next door. She waved at Reggie, another baby boomer who ran the music shop next door to The Potting Shed on the other side of the yard. The only unoccupied place was the bookshop next door to Ray’s shop. It sat there with cobwebs in its window, the books on display forlorn and forgotten.
Lili loved the things that the shops all had in common: the old-fashioned shop fronts with bowed-front leaded windows and the paintwork in vintage greens, browns and blacks. It all harked back to another era. There was even an old-fashioned streetlamp in the yard that Lili guessed had once been a gas lamp.
She smiled. It reminded her of the scene from the movie Singing in the Rain – the one with Gene Kelly singing the iconic song while dancing around a lamp post. Although it had been converted to electricity years earlier, unlike the modern streetlamps which gave off a harsh bright white light, this lamp was subtle, casting a soft yellow glow in the centre of the yard at night. And the light wasn’t intrusive in her bedroom in the flat upstairs; it didn’t keep her awake at night, but it was comforting when she did wake.
Lili continued through the yard and down the little lane. She could see Nate sitting in his old Saab, which he’d bought second hand when he moved from London. He was looking down the street, so he didn’t see her until she’d walked right up to the car. Nate grinned when he saw her, making her wonder what he had planned. He looked incredibly pleased with himself – but less pleased when he leaned across to open the passenger door for her and spotted the dog.
Lili opened the rear door and Bella jumped inside. When Lili sat next to Nate, she caught him looking over his shoulder at the occupant on the back seat. He turned to Lili. ‘Couldn’t Ray pop the dog back to The Summerhouse on his way to the houseboat?’
Lili frowned. ‘But that would mean he’d go out of his way. Thorpeness is in the other direction to Walberswick.’
‘Yes, I know that.’
Lili caught Nate rolling his eyes. They both knew it wasn’t the real reason Ray didn’t want to do it. She imagined he just didn’t want to be stuck in the confined space of a car with a dog he still didn’t trust.
‘It’s also in the other direction to Southwold, which is where we’re heading.’
‘I know.’ Lili smiled. ‘That’s why we won’t drop Bella at The Summerhouse first. She’s coming with us.’
Nate’s smile evaporated. ‘I thought it was just going to be the two of us.’
‘It is.’ Lili was still smiling. ‘Ray has got the kids.’
Nate cast an eye at Bella sitting on his black leather upholstery. He hoped the hound behaved herself and didn’t chew his upholstery or dribble everywhere. Still, that wasn’t what concerned Nate. ‘But it isn’t just the two of us,’ he said.
Lili turned to Nate. She didn’t see what he was getting all het up about. She tried to keep her sarcasm in check but failed. ‘Bella is a dog,’ she reminded him. ‘I can assure you that she won’t ruin your plans.’
