Page 17 of Where We Belong

Recovering his composure, Barnie placed his hand over Stevie’s. ‘It would be my pleasure.’

‘You’ll have to put your bags in here unless you want the boys to chew everything,’ Hope said as she pulled open the passenger door on her Range Rover for Cam to store his luggage.

‘No problem.’ After he’d stowed his things, Hope liked the way Cam leaned further into the back so he could greet the dogs and offer them his hand through the protective grill so they could catch his scent. ‘They’re gorgeous animals,’ he said, though she didn’t miss the discreet way he wiped a bit of dog slaver off his fingers onto his jeans.

‘I love them to bits,’ Hope said as she circled the car. ‘They’re still very much puppies, though, so don’t let their size fool you. I almost went flying this morning when they spotted a rabbit and wanted to give chase.’ She made another mental note to sort out some training classes before all hope was lost – so to speak. Standing on the running board of the car, Hope called a quick farewell to her mother and Barnie, who had almost reached the top of the stairs. Their heads were bent together, like a pair of old gossips, oblivious to Hope and Cam’s imminent departure. ‘Those two are going to get on like a house on fire,’ Hope observed with a grin as she dropped down into her seat.

‘I can see where you get it from.’

The quiet observation had Hope spinning in her seat to face Cam. ‘Get what from?’

He had a grin plastered across his face, his attention on his window where he was watching Barnie hold the door of the hotel open for her mother, the pair of them laughing about something. ‘The force of personality that gets people to do what you want them to,’ he explained with a nod up the stairs.

Not sure she liked the sound of that, Hope turned to put on her seat belt, yanking it with too much force and causing it to jam. ‘You make me sound manipulative.’

‘Persuasive,’ he corrected, his voice still mild. ‘And it was meant as a compliment. You have that same warmth and welcome about you, it makes people want to cooperate.’ Feeling somewhat mollified, Hope slotted her seat belt into place then glanced up to see his smile broaden. ‘I bet you’re lethal in meetings.’

He sounded like he wanted to be a fly on the wall in one of those meetings and Hope couldn’t help but laugh at his rather over-inflated sense of her business achievements. ‘It’s true people sometimes underestimate me, but unfortunately they don’t all roll over as quickly as you did.’

Cam barked a laugh as he secured his own seat belt. ‘I guess I asked for that.’

He glanced back up the stairs and Hope wondered if she’d miscalculated in not offering Cam a room in the hotel. ‘You don’t have to stay in the lodge, if you’d prefer to be here instead?’

The look he shot her was quietly amused. ‘Do I look jealous of Barnie’s preferential treatment, then?’

Her instant reaction was to leap to her own defence and deny it, but then she realised he was teasing her. ‘I think you should wait and see your accommodation before you judge which of you is getting the preferential treatment.’ Not wanting to say any more and spoil the full effect of the lodge, she put the car in gear and drove off.

‘It’s just a couple of minutes’ walk from here,’ Hope assured Cam as she pulled into the car park next to the campsite. ‘There’s a shop there that serves the site, which you are welcome to use,’ she added, pointing to a squat single-storey structure opposite. ‘It’s open for a couple of hours morning and evening to allow people to pick up a few essentials and to collect larger orders made via the village store.’

‘I’ll check it out, thanks,’ Cam said as he hauled his bags out of the backseat. ‘But I shouldn’t need much. Barnie and I are planning on a repeat visit to the pub for dinner tomorrow night. We had a fabulous meal there on the way home last time.’

‘At the Arms? I haven’t been there for a while, but they’ve got a really good reputation.’ Hope popped the boot open with the remote and the two Labradors leapt out before she had a chance to grab their leads, never mind clip them on. Slamming the boot closed, she rushed around to rescue Cam, only to find out there was no need. Abandoning his bags, he’d crouched down and had a firm hand on each collar and was laughing as he tried to avoid their enthusiastic licks of greeting.

‘Sorry!’ Kneeling beside him, Hope fastened on the dogs’ leads and tugged them gently towards her so Cam had room to stand up. He showed no sign of being in any rush, taking the time now his hands were free to ruffle ears and scratch each dog in turn.

‘It’s not a problem, really,’ Cam said, giving each dog a bit more fuss before he straightened up.

‘You seem very relaxed around dogs, which is just as well!’

Cam shouldered his two bags and tucked a small pack of beer under one arm. ‘I love dogs. We always had them when I was growing up, and I really miss having one around. I live on my own and spend so much time at work that it didn’t seem fair to get one.’

Hope locked the car and began to stroll towards the woods, the puppies bouncing around her ankles. ‘Well, you’ll get as much of a doggy fix as you could possibly need while you’re here. There are currently five canine members of the family.’ A thought struck her. ‘I hope Barnie is okay with dogs?’

Cam shrugged. ‘As far as I’m aware, he’s not got a problem. He stayed with my folks a few times when we were at uni, and he was fine then.’

‘I hadn’t realised you’d known each other that long.’ It certainly explained the easy way they had together.

‘Best mates since we were eighteen.’ Cam laughed. ‘God, it’s hard to remember being that age. Every year, when the new students file into my lecture theatre, they look so young.’

‘Or perhaps you’re just getting old,’ Hope suggested, not being able to resist the chance to tease him.

‘Ouch!’ Cam staggered as though she’d struck him. ‘You’re probably right, though!’

As soon as they were clear of the car park, Hope unclipped the dogs and let them have their freedom. They bounded off, happy to chase either other and snuffle around at whatever scent caught their attention, but they never went out of sight for more than a moment or two, and they understood enough to wait when she called them. ‘It’s not too much further,’ she said to Cam, gesturing towards a narrow path off the wide avenue they’d been following. ‘Just through here.’

They reached a deviation in the path and a low signpost that read Cosy Canopy to the left, and Woodland Wonder to the right. Hope fished a set of keys out of her pocket. ‘I’ll show you Woodland Wonder, but you are welcome to choose whichever one you would prefer. Rhys has decided against renting them until he can get a proper site manager in place, so you’ll be able to use whichever one you choose for the entirety of the dig. Between the farm and the campsite, he’s already stretched a bit too thin to manage everything and he really wants these to be a VIP experience and not just a bit of upmarket self-catering.’ Hope stopped herself with a laugh. ‘That was probably a lot more information than you needed.’ She gestured for Cam to go ahead of her. ‘After you.’

Without the small path to follow, it would be hard to know there was anything other than a dense coppice of trees in amongst the rest of the wood. It was only as they got up close that the privacy fence became visible, and give it another couple of years for the new planting to thicken out and the building would be completely hidden. Hope knew the moment Cam had spotted the lodge itself because he stopped dead in his tracks. ‘Bloody hell.’

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