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Poppy kicked the reception door closed behind her as she walked in, a waft of cold air filling the room, and the voices from the kitchen suddenly fell silent. Straightening her back, she entered. She could feel everyone’s eyes on her. At least they were all here. She’d hoped they would be.
Walking to the head of the table, she let go of the papers in her hands, the letters she’d found, the figures she’d scribbled down, the information about the remortgaging all fluttering to the surface of the table.
‘Poppy, love. You’ve not changed. Have you been up all night?’ Susan jumped up from her chair. ‘Let me get you a coffee.’
Ginny leaned across the table and picked up one of the letters. ‘What’s this?’
‘Yes, what are all these letters?’ Alex’s voice was full of curiosity.
‘What’s going on?’ Percy stroked his beard as he balanced his reading glasses on the bridge of his nose and picked up a letter.
‘Bills? They’re all bills.’ Sally frowned.
Poppy cleared her throat. ‘This is why Flora is in hospital. This is what she’s been protecting us all from.’
‘What do you mean?’ Alex frowned.
‘She’s been getting into debt to pay the vet bills.’ Ginny flicked through Aunt Flora’s little notebook before looking across at Poppy. ‘I’m right, aren’t I?’
‘And she’s remortgaging her cottage?’ Susan looked at the sheet of paper detailing the remortgaging process and clasped her hand over her mouth.
‘That’s why you were so off with Mack, isn’t it?’ Alex waved the letters in front of him. ‘You blame him.’
‘Oh.’ Percy rubbed his hand over his face.
‘It’s hardly Mack’s fault that Flora tripped, though. Despite all of this.’ Sitting down, Susan leaned towards Ginny and indicated the notebook. ‘Mack didn’tmakeher fall.’
‘The battery has been dodgy for a while.’ Ginny lowered the notebook and looked at her. ‘If Flora had had the money, she would have replaced it. That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it, Poppy?’
Poppy shifted on her feet. It didn’t feel right to share them. She knew her aunt would be mortified if, or more likely when, she found out Poppy had shown the others her bills, disclosed how much in debt she was in, but it was for the best. She knew in her heart it was. It shouldn’t just be Aunt Flora’s problem. They all cared for the dogs and if they couldn’t solve this, if Wagging Tails had to close… She shuddered. It would break her aunt’s heart. If they could share the problem, the worries, maybe, just maybe, they could stop this ever happening again. She nodded. ‘You’re all right. Flora has been taking out same-day loans to pay for the vet treatment and if Mack had honoured Gavin’s wishes and continued with the same arrangement, she wouldn’t have taken out those loans, she wouldn’t be thinking of remortgaging her cottage and she wouldn’t have tripped over the jump leads and broken her leg, because she’d have had enough money in the charity account to replace the van’s battery.’
Her voice was flat. She’d done all the crying she had in her last night. After the way she’d spoken to Mack, she’d been on autopilot until she’d got back to the cottage. A few hours of more tears and questioning everything and she’d been ready to face the problem, ready to try to find a solution.
She looked around the small kitchen. Everybody was silent. Still taking it all in, still looking at the debt letters on the table.
Percy coughed. ‘We’ll figure something out. I can remortgage my house. Or downsize. Never much liked it anyway.’
‘I have some savings. And I can ask Malcolm if he has any.’ Susan flapped the letter in her hand.
‘And I have my credit card. I can even open a couple of zero interest ones.’ Ginny nodded.
‘Me too. I’ll apply now.’ Alex pulled his mobile from his back pocket.
‘No, no. I’ve not brought all this here so you feel you have to pay it off. I just wanted you to all be aware of what’s been happening. Of the position Wagging Tails is in. So we can make sure nothing like this ever happens again.’
‘That’s why Flora’s been so quiet recently.’ Sally shook her head sadly. ‘Why didn’t she tell us? We could have helped.’
‘You know Flora. She’s always been the last person to ask for help.’ Percy sighed before looking across at Poppy. ‘Let us help, love. Between us, we can get this cleared.’
Poppy shook her head. ‘It’s fine. I’ve come up with a solution, but going forward, we need to work something out. We need to raise some money. When Mr Thomas relinquishes those dogs, we’re likely to have more vet bills.’
‘I feel so useless. I knew something was wrong. She’s been so preoccupied recently and then all that bother with the charity debit card. I should have put two and two together.’ Ginny pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘Poor Flora having to deal with all of this…’ She indicated the letters and bills strewn across the table. ‘I should have figured it out. I could have helped. We could have helped.’
‘Don’t blame yourself. If anyone is to blame, it’s me.’ Susan looked down at the letter she was holding. ‘Flora confided in me that she was worried about the vet bills but when I tried to push her for details, she just told me not to worry, that it was all in hand. I should have questioned her, I should have…’
‘I didn’t work it out either, not until I found these last night. And I’ve been living with her. She’s so good at hiding her worries.’ Poppy reached out and rubbed Ginny’s forearm. ‘But now we need to focus on how we stop this ever happening again. How we make sure we’ll be able to pay for any future bills.’
‘I suppose you’re right.’ Ginny began to bundle up the letters. ‘I’ll speak to Freya. I know her surgery is over an hour away and Flora didn’t want to take the dogs that far, but we can see if she’d be happy to treat the dogs she can – who are okay travelling and for non-emergencies.’
