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‘Don’t worry. Is everything okay?’
‘I’m not sure. I’m meeting my dad to see what he wants from us.’
Standing up, Poppy held out her hand. ‘I’ll come with you.’
Mack swallowed. ‘You’d do that for me?’
‘Of course I will. I’ll wait in the car.’
Leaning down, she kissed him before taking his hand and pulling him up.
33
‘Again, Flora, I’m so sorry that I’ve caused so many problems.’ Mack looked at Flora, across the kitchen table at Wagging Tails.
‘As I’ve already said, you’re not to blame. For any of it. You were never under any obligation to give your expertise away for free and I would never expect it of anyone.’
‘Still, I feel to blame. Partly anyway.’
‘Mack, you can’t control things out of your control. I’m sure Poppy has told you by now but a sponsor recently pulled out. There are so many reasons we’re in the mess we’re in and that’s down to me, not you or the sponsor. No one else. Besides, if you try to apologise again, lovely, I’ll make you do all the washing up for the next year.’ Flora chuckled.
‘I don’t blame you.’ Looking down into his coffee mug, Mack raked his fingers through his hair. ‘I really am sorry. If I hadn’t charged you, if I’d just continued with Gavin’s agreement, you wouldn’t have ended up under so much stress and in debt.’
‘Mack, as I’ve told you a hundred times before, when you bought Gavin out of the surgery, you were under absolutely no obligation to continue treating our dogs without charge. If we’d taken them anywhere else, it would have been the same. You were simply doing your job.’ Flora took a sip of her coffee. ‘This isn’t down to you. It’s my job to balance the bills.’
‘I still feel awful, though. I just struggled to get past everything…’ His voice trailed off.
‘You’ve been through a lot with those boys and they deserve the best start in life possible. Don’t ever feel guilty for doing just that.’ Flora shifted in her chair.
‘Do you want another chair to put your leg up on?’ Without waiting for an answer, Mack dragged a chair closer to Flora and helped her to settle. ‘I won’t be charging for treatment any more, though.’
‘Thanks, lovely.’ Flora picked up her mug again. ‘Now, you only offer that if you can, and if you want to. Not because of this.’ She indicated her leg. ‘That had nothing to do with you.’
‘No, I want to.’ Mack nodded.
‘Okay, lovely. Well, in that case, thank you. But we’ll pay for medication and the like, just as we did with Gavin. I won’t be a burden to anyone.’
‘Yes, thank you.’ Poppy leaned across and kissed Mack.
‘It’s a relief to see you two back together again.’ Flora looked from Mack to Poppy and back again. ‘You’re right for each other.’
‘I’m relieved too.’ Mack took Poppy’s hand and squeezed it.
‘And how was everything with your dad?’ Flora looked at Mack over her mug. ‘Tell me if I’m being too nosey.’
‘No, no, it’s fine.’ Mack chuckled. ‘It was… okay. He apologised for leaving the way he did and wants to start seeing Gus and Spencer.’ Mack grimaced.
‘You don’t want him to?’ Flora patted his hand.
‘I don’t know. I think it’s important he does, yes, and his apology seemed to be sincere but it’s just a lot. How can I trust him again? What if they get to know him and he runs off again?’
‘What do you think you’ll do?’ Poppy looked across at him. He was in an impossible situation, trying to protect his brothers but also wanting them to get to know their father.
‘I’ve agreed he can start visiting them. Slowly. At their pace and at mine. If he’s serious about coming back into their lives, I figure he’ll respect that.’
‘You’re right. He will.’ Flora nodded and took a sip of her coffee.
The bell above the door into reception tinkled. ‘Hello. Anyone about?’
