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She was still in the same position when he reached her. Pepe, unconcerned, wagged his tail at her, then found a fascinating smell to sniff.
Kate straightened up, still panting. ‘Bloody hell, we’ve been looking all over for him. Where did you find him?’
Ron was saved from an immediate reply by the sound of Brett hollering in the distance, as he made his way towards them.
‘You’ve found him!’ Brett exclaimed when he grew close enough not to have to shout. ‘Where was the little blighter?’
‘In the dunes,’ Ron said. ‘Hefoundme.’
‘Thank God! Beverley has been worried sick. She was on the phone to the police when we left. Not that they can do anything, but at least if someone did find him and hand him in, the police would know where we are staying.’
‘How did he get out?’ Ron asked, hoping to goodness it hadn’t been his fault. He didn’t think he’d left the door open, but he’d been so keen for some alone time that he mightn’t have been paying enough attention to shutting it properly.
Kate said, ‘Mum got up at around five-thirty to go to the bathroom, and she let Pepe out for a wee. He was standing by the front door, so she opened that instead of making him go into the garden at the back. She assumed he’d cock his leg and come straight in, but the little sod ran off.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Ron said, then felt even more guilty when he saw Annabelle approach with the three younger children and noticed Izzie’s tear-streaked face.
‘Pepe!’ Izzie sobbed, running towards them and throwing herself to the ground when she got within cuddling distance. She was clutching her toy Pepe tightly, he noticed, and he guessed the cuddly dog would be going everywhere with her.
Pepe seemed equally pleased to see the child, smothering her face in kisses, very much as he’d done to Ron.
‘Sorry, Kate, I tried to persuade Beverley to remain at the house but she insisted on coming to look for him,’ Annabelle said, as Beverley’s rotund figure hurried into view. She was panting and her face was red.
Concerned, Ron dashed forward, took the old lady by the arm and guided her to the nearest bench, Izzie following, carrying a wriggling poodle in her arms, as well as her toy dog. Izzie solemnly deposited her charge onto Beverley’s lap.
‘Ooh, you naughty, naughty boy!’ Beverley wheezed. ‘You gave your mama such a fright. Don’t you dare do that again.’ She wagged her finger at him. Pepe licked it, then struggled to get down. ‘Here,’ she said to Ron. ‘Put his lead on him. I don’t trust the little bugger not to run off again.’
Ron actually did trust him, because Pepe hadn’t actually run off – the dog had come looking forhim. But he did as he was asked and clipped the lead to Pepe’s collar.
‘You are out early,’ Beverley said. Her gaze was penetrating. ‘He must have heard you go and decided to follow you when I let him out for a pee.’
‘Sorry,’ was all he said. He didn’t want to admit to sleeping outside all night, but the way Beverley was scrutinising him made him think she’d guessed anyway.
It took her a few minutes to get her breath back, but finally Beverley was ready to make the trek back to the house. She was such a determined and robust lady, that he had to keep reminding himself she was no spring chicken, and he felt an immense sense of guilt that he was the cause of her distress. If he could have slung her over his shoulders and carried her back to the house, he would have.
On the return journey, Ron hung back, feeling awkward.
‘Early walk, was it?’ Annabelle fell into step beside him. She stared pointedly at the throw he was carrying.
‘Not really,’ he admitted.
‘I didn’t think so.’
‘I had to get away for a bit.’
‘You should have said – I’d have joined you. I almost packed up and went home last night after yet another bedroom fiasco. If it wasn’t for the kids, I would have.’
‘It did get a bit fraught,’ Ron said. ‘I don’t understand why Beverley and Helen don’t get on.’
‘They’re totally different people, I guess,’ Annabelle said. She was quiet for a moment. ‘When you weren’t in your room, I wondered whether you’d left for good.’
He tilted his head to the side as he thought about what she’d just said. Most people would never consider the possibility that he might have gone back to living on the streets. A homeless man being given a roof over his head, three meals a day, all the baths or showers he could wish for? It would never occur to them that he would give it all up and go back to sleeping rough – because who in their right mind would swap a house for a park bench or a shop doorway? But it had occurred to Annabelle, and he was grateful to her for not assuming that he thought he had it made living with Beverley. He knew her mother thought that, and Helen clearly did.
‘It did cross my mind,’ he admitted.
‘I’m glad you stayed.’
Ron turned shocked eyes to her and his heart missed a beat.
