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‘It’s hard to explain.’ Hannah briefly considered all her options and decided that honesty was probably the way forward. ‘I always told Dad things were great between me and Graham, because it made him happy. He messed things up with my mum, and he didn’t want me to repeat his mistakes.’
‘Right,’ said Rob. ‘So him finding out you’re knocking around Spain with a random tennis coach after your husband cheated on you wouldn’t be ideal.’
‘No. He’d be REALLY upset.’
Rob nodded thoughtfully. ‘Yeah, OK.’
‘Let’s keep thinking,’ said Hannah. ‘And in the meantime we’ll go to the shelter and see what it’s like. No pressure, and we definitely won’t leave Scrumpy there today.’
Rob grinned. ‘You’re pretty cool, you know that?’
‘Yeah, I know,’ said Hannah, waving her hand dismissively. ‘Come on, we’ll call them now.’
‘Here is where the dogs sleep,’ said the man, gesturing to a concrete pen with a chain-link gate. The hard floor was scrubbed clean and smelled of bleach, but there was no bed or blanket, just metal water and food bowls and a rubber mat, presumably for the dog to sleep on. It looked like a prison cell, and Hannah was glad they’d left Scrumpy tied up in the shade outside so he didn’t have to see it.
‘We can look after your dog,’ the man said with a reassuring smile. ‘You pay for him to stay here, we do all paperwork and vets, then we send him home.’ He showed them the day pen, where fifty or so dogs of all shapes and sizes and colours were hurling themselves at the fence, panting and barking and begging for attention while a young woman silently picked up poo with a shovel and bucket behind them. Hannah reminded herself that these dogs had been rescued from worse situations; that this man and his team of staff did amazing work. The place was clean and the dogs were clearly well fed and cared for, but it was still the saddest place she’d ever been. She glanced at Rob, who looked haunted.
‘Thank you,’ said Hannah, resting her hand on Rob’s arm. ‘We’ll talk about it, then let you know.’ Rob nodded at the man and hurried outside, his face pale.
‘Are you OK?’ she asked, as Rob untied Scrumpy’s lead and picked him up, burying his face in his furry neck. The dog’s tail wagged furiously as he licked Rob’s face and tried to work out where all the other doggie smells had come from.
‘I’ve really fucked up, Hannah,’ Rob sobbed. ‘I should never have taken Scrumpy off Javier; I should have left him where he was. It’s not fair to give him an amazing few days then put him somewhere like this.’
‘It’s OK,’ she said soothingly, stroking Rob’s arm. ‘We’re not going to leave him here.’
Rob looked up at her. ‘What other choice do we have?’
Hannah smiled and stroked Scrumpy’s soft head. ‘We’re going to go and see my dad.’
Rob’s eyes widened, then he put Scrumpy on the passenger seat and pulled Hannah into a hug so tight he lifted her off the ground. ‘Fuck,’ he said, pulling away so he could look at her. ‘You’re incredible.’
‘Oh,’ she gasped, taken aback by the force of his response. She looked into his eyes and there was something deep and unfathomable; a look that pooled in her stomach like hot chocolate on a snowy day. He looked like he wanted to kiss her, and in that moment she absolutely wouldn’t have pushed him away. She half-closed her eyes, but he’d already let go and was backing away.
‘Sorry.’ Rob tucked his hands under his armpits. ‘Got a bit carried away.’
‘It’s fine,’ laughed Hannah, trying to look like she was totally cool with this whole situation. ‘I’ll grab us both a coffee, then we’ll talk about it.’
Rob turned his attention back to Scrumpy, so Hannah grabbed her bag and headed into the tiny village café along the street from the shelter. She ordered two café con leches and waited, her foot tapping anxiously as she tried to get a handle on things. Kissing Rob was a very bad idea, because that would only lead to one place, and then she’d just be another summer notch on Rob’s bedpost. But maybe that was OK? Lots of people had holiday flings, and none of them died of heartbreak. But Rob was different. She liked him; in fact, she REALLY liked him. Enough to invite him on her road trip, despite knowing that she’d already half-fallen for him and it would probably end in tears.
Don’t get hurt, she told herself.You’re not emotionally strong enough, not yet.She’d give herself some space until later in the year, then maybe ease herself into dating with men who scored low for potential heartbreak. Like learning to ride a bike with training wheels.
Forget about Rob as a potential boyfriend, she muttered to herself, taking deep breaths in time with the hissing of the coffee machine.He’s not right for you.But Rob was also funny, he was kind and he was good company. He could be part of her adventure without being in her bed. Couldn’t he?
The thought of Rob in and out of her bed made her anxious, so she pushed it aside for a moment to deal with a more immediate problem – what was she going to tell her dad?
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
‘Dad’s a two-hour drive away,’ said Hannah, as they made their way up a rocky path through an orange grove. The woman in the café had sent them that way when Hannah asked if there was a nice place to walk a dog; apparently it ended at a ruined castle with a beautiful view across the Andalusian hills. ‘But I need to sort a few things out before I call him.’
‘Like what?’ asked Rob, nudging Scrumpy away from some discarded food wrappers at the edge of the path.
‘I need to decide how much I’m going to tell him about Graham. Like, shall I be completely honest, or leave out some of the details?’
‘Can we choose the option that’s most likely to make him fall in love with my dog?’
‘Well, you’re a whole other problem. If Graham and I were still blissfully happy, why would I be travelling around Spain with you? It doesn’t add up.’
Rob smiled playfully. ‘Why ARE you travelling around Spain with me, again?’
