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‘Thanks.’ Poppy straightened her back a little and led the way towards the storage shed at the back of the courtyard.
Inside, they lowered the box and pushed it across the floor under the shelf.
‘All done for the year.’ Poppy wiped her hands down the front of her jeans.
As they walked back, Mack turned to her. ‘There was something I wanted to tell you earlier.’
‘Oh, yes?’ Poppy smiled as she watched Dougal tugging on the low branches of the tree as Susan, Ginny, Sally and Alex tried to carefully lower it to the ground. She looked back at him and frowned. ‘Is everything okay?’
He shifted from foot to foot before running his fingers through his hair. ‘What I was going to say was…’ He cleared his throat. ‘I love you.’
Poppy opened her mouth and then closed it, not knowing what to say. Had he actually said that? Those three words, small but powerful?
‘Did you just say what I think you did?’
Chuckling, Mack stepped towards her, taking her hands in his. ‘I did. I love you, Poppy. I never thought I’d find love again, not until the boys were older, anyway. I wasn’t looking for anyone to come into my life. I was focused on my job and on raising Gus and Spencer as best I can, but then you…’
He grinned and glanced away.
‘What? Then I what?’ She smiled sweetly.
Shaking his head, he met her eyes again. ‘You came into my life, and I know we’ve not known each other long but, I love you. I really do.’
Poppy laughed. ‘Good, because I love you too, Mack.’
MORE FROM SARAH HOPE
We hope you enjoyed readingChasing Dreams at Wagging Tails Dogs’ Home. If you did,please leave a review. If you’d like to gift a copy, this book is available to purchase in paperback, hardback, large print and audio.
The Seaside Ice-Cream Parlour,another heart-warming romance, is available to buy now by clicking on the image below. Or read on for an exclusive extract…
Chapter 1
‘Please don’t start grumbling, Grace. You’ve already had something to eat, you just need to give in and go to sleep now.’ Pushing the brake down with her foot, Jenny Weaver peered over the top of the buggy. Grace looked shattered. Not that she blamed her. They’d had to catch the coach at 6:45am, a time when they’d usually still be asleep. ‘Not long now. Soon we’ll be on the train and then hopefully youwillfall asleep.’
Looking over at the departure board, she watched the updates flashing through. She smiled, it looked as though their train was still running on time. Another five minutes and they’d be out of the London smog and on their way to their new life. They’d done it. Well, almost. Their recent life of sofa surfing was over. In just a few short hours, they’d have somewhere they could call home again. Somewhere Grace could leave her toys scattered on the living room floor of an evening, ready to jump back into the same game the next morning. A place where they could finally start to put some roots down.
‘Excuse me, miss.’
Shaking her thoughts away, she focused on the boy standing in front of her. Taking in his ripped jeans and blue baseball cap pulled down over his eyes, she shifted her weight, clicking up the brake to unlock it, ready to head further up the platform towards the suited office workers if she needed to. She wasn’t in the mood for any trouble. Not today.
‘You’ve been dropping your luggage. I think your suitcase might be broke.’
Turning behind her to where he pointed, Jenny cursed under her breath. T-shirts, underwear and a collection of other items littered the path behind her leading all the way back towards the lift. ‘Thank you. I hadn’t noticed.’ Leaving the suitcase where it stood, Jenny turned the buggy and began picking up items of their clothing, balancing them on the hood of the buggy.
‘Oi, you lot! Come and help.’ The boy in the baseball cap whistled back at his friends who unfolded their long limbs from the bench and lumbered towards them.
Bending to grab another of Grace’s tiny T-shirts, she watched as the five teenage boys ran the length of the platform picking up their pastel-coloured clothes. Pausing, she accepted the handfuls of clothes as she was handed them and glanced around the busy platform. Unbelievable. Every day the newspapers and the news told stories on knife crime, postcode gangs and the general disrespect of young people today, and yet, here she was, her suitcase having expelled her worldly goods, and who comes to her rescue? Yep, a group of wayward teenagers whilst the ‘respectful’ citizens happily stand around in their expensive suits, clasping briefcases and desperately trying to avert their eyes, pretending to be focused on the urgent text they had just received, or too busy staring at the empty railway line willing the train to come and rescue them from their uncomfortable stance.
Rolling her eyes, she wheeled the buggy in the direction of a pair of flowery pink leggings which were blowing across the platform perilously close to a group of office workers trying to ignore the commotion right in front of them.
‘Excuse me.’ Picking up some leggings, she jogged on to the next item.
‘Here you go, miss.’ The boy in the blue cap passed another armful of clothes to Jenny.
‘Thank you.’ Nodding, she took the clothes from him just as the platform filled with the noise of the approaching train.
‘Do you want me to check the lift for you? In case there’s more in there and upstairs?’
