Louisa George - A Puppy And A Christmas Proposal

When she’d finished calling her mum he asked, ‘Was she okay about it?’

‘Not really. We were both looking forward to going together like we used to do years ago, but she knows my work here is demanding and that I often have to stay late, or even overnight. She’s used to me making promises I can’t keep. But then...we all know how that goes, right?’ Ouch. That was probably unnecessarily harsh. But when you broke off a relationship—an engagement— by phone call with no explanation, you had to expect the odd barb, right?

Geez. Beth closed her eyes for a second as she found some calm. It had been eight years. Eight damned years. She needed to let it go. In fact, she’d thought she had, until she’d come back to Oakdale to help her mum and found herself bumping into Alex at every turn. Ironic really, given that eight years ago, when she’d so desperately wanted to talk to him, she hadn’t been able to find him, and now she didn’t want to see him he was front and centre of Oakdale life. The sooner she went back to Glasgow, the better.

When she was able to breathe slowly again she turned to him. ‘So, Alex, why are you here, exactly?’

His jaw clenched and she wasn’t sure whether it was a reaction to her short manner or whether it was something else. ‘I seem to have a new friend.’

And why do I care? Oh. Why did she care? Because she knew deep down she still did. Cared enough about him that he made her heart hurt. Just a few more weeks and then she’d be gone and Alex wouldn’t be part of her life again.

Then she realised he meant the adorable puppy in his arms, who had woken up and was licking Alex’s chin and making him squirm. She scrubbed the back of the dog’s neck and it turned to look at her, large eyes brightening at her touch. ‘He’s gorgeous.’

‘He? You can tell the gender without looking?’ Alex’s eyes grew bigger too. ‘It took me a few minutes to figure that out.’

‘I can tell the gender by the way you’re holding him.’ She tried not to laugh. ‘But, if this is just a show and tell about your new pet then I haven’t got the time.’ Or the inclination.

She had to keep telling herself she didn’t have any inclination towards Alex Norton. Except anger. Was that an inclination? There had been many times, particularly in the first few months after he’d dumped her by phone, that her inclination had been to force-feed him the engagement ring he’d so beautifully proposed to her with. That was, if she’d been able to find him.

Alex shook his head. ‘He’s not mine. He just followed me home, snuck into my house and ate my shoes.’

‘All very lovely, I’m sure. And you want me to...?’

‘Take him.’ With the kind of smile that had once melted her heart, and now did absolutely nothing to her at all— at all —he handed the puppy out towards her. ‘He doesn’t belong to me.’

‘Nor me.’ Shrugging, she looked at the cute little dog who had a silky coat and bright eyes that were adoringly fixed on the man she’d once looked at like that. But he was distracting. They both were, and she had to deal with Meg. ‘He looks perfectly fine. Healthy and alert.’

‘He is.’ Alex craned his neck away from the puppy’s tongue and grimaced. ‘Too alert.’

‘Alert is a good thing, Alex.’

‘I need to find his owner.’

‘Of course you do, and I’m sure they’ll be very grateful.’

‘Has anyone reported a missing puppy to you or anyone here?’

She quickly flicked through the notices in the large clinic diary on the desk. ‘No, not in the last few days. A white rabbit, rather unoriginally named Bugsy, is currently AWOL, as is a Siamese cat called Marg, but no dogs.’

She threw him what she hoped was an über-efficient and over-officious smile that she knew would definitely not reach her eyes or exude any warmth or encouragement for them to stay. Whimpering came from the treatment room. Meg.

Damn. ‘Look, I have to go. Meg needs me and I need some answers.’ And not just about what was ailing the dog. ‘You know where the door is. Goodnight, Alex and friend.’

BUT HE DIDN’T LEAVE. He just stood there open-mouthed, shaking his head and cradling the dog to his chest as if protecting it from her. Great, and now she was Cruella de Vil.

‘Beth? Really? You can’t just send us out into the snow.’

‘Yes, I can. That’s exactly what I’m doing. You live a five-minute drive away, Alex. You are not going to die of cold just going back to your house in a fancy-pants Mazda cabriolet.’ And, okay...yes, she was far too aware of Alex’s life and his penchant for red cars that zoomed too quickly down the winding Lake District country roads.

‘But...what about this little one?’ He held the dog towards her and looked at her almost as dolefully as the dog did.

Steeling her heart against them both, she peered closer. Maybe she’d missed something. ‘Is he sick?’

‘No. He’s a handful.’

It was just a ruse. He’d come here to dump the poor pooch on her, but she was in no position to take on a puppy. ‘Do you have a fire or central heating at your house so the two of you can be warm until you find his owner?’

Alex’s hopeful smile faded. ‘Of course.’

‘Right. And you’re a grown man and a medical professional to boot. You’ll manage.’ She couldn’t hold back the sigh. ‘This is not an emergency, Alex. I am not needed here.’

‘Yes, this is an emergency, Beth. I don’t want a dog. I don’t know how to look after them. I don’t have the time. I need to give him back to his owner. Think of the poor little girl who is missing her puppy so close to Christmas.’

He was standing under a swathe of the cheap tinsel they’d strung across the clinic ceiling in an effort to be festive. His eyes locked onto hers and for a minute she was thrown back to a Christmas years ago when they’d come back from their separate universities for the holidays and they’d decorated his bedroom and made love for hours. Then he’d made her a crown out of gold tinsel, kissed her hard, told her she was the queen of his heart and asked her to marry him.

And she’d been the happiest woman on earth for a whole year, until he’d unceremoniously knocked her off that throne and broken her heart with a single phone call. Then had gone travelling...without her. In breaking up with her he’d not only cut her off from him, but from his parents and sister too...the extended family she’d always craved. Because, of course, when she’d come back home in the holidays and he wasn’t around she’d questioned them about why he’d disappeared from contact. They’d rallied behind their beloved boy. With a gentle sadness in their eyes, admittedly, but they’d rallied.

We’re so sorry, but it’s what he wants. We’re sorry, Beth.

For breaking her heart?

He could deal with the dog on his own. ‘Feel free to find the owner and be the hero of the hour. Why do I need to be involved?’

He shrugged. ‘Because I don’t know what to do next.’

‘Have you developed an allergy to phones or something?’ She shook her head. ‘Call the rescue centre.’

‘I did. No one’s reported a missing dog and they’re full so they can’t take this little one. No room at the inn, right?’

She rolled her eyes at the very bad Christmas pun. ‘The animal pound in Kendal?’

‘Same. Full, no missing reports filed.’

‘The police? Here—’ Raising her eyebrows, she thrust the surgery’s laminated card of emergency numbers towards him. ‘Call the local station.’

He took the card but shook his head. ‘You know, you’re not being very helpful.’

Say what? He had a nerve. ‘Alex, I am always helpful in times of need. This is not one of them. I’m in the middle of something very important. I have to go to Meg—’