Page 21 of Happy Days Ahead in the Cornish Village

‘I can’t believe that.’ Jay ran a hand through his hair. ‘Why on earth would someone go to the trouble of adopting a dog and then abandon them after just a month?’

Megan stood back up and held her hand to his forearm. ‘I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense at all.’

Jay looked down at her hand and gave her a brief smile. ‘No, I suppose we’ll find out more when Flora gets back.’

Taking her hand away, Megan felt the hot flush of a blush flash across her face. Jay was right, though. They would find out.

Bending back down, she turned her attention to Cindy again. ‘Shall we go into the kitchen and find you a little treat?’

‘Good idea.’

Megan laughed. ‘I was talking to Cindy, not you.’

She opened the kitchen door and waited until both Jay and Cindy had gone through before closing it again.

‘So what do we do? Just wait until Flora gets back or Sally, Alex or Ginny come through?’

‘I guess so.’ Jay spun slowly around in the kitchen before picking up a dog bowl from the stack beside the sink. ‘I’ll get her some food to help her settle. Although it looks as though she’s already making herself at home.’

Megan smiled as Cindy flopped to the floor at her feet, stretching her long legs out in front of her. ‘I wonder if she realises she’s just been abandoned.’

‘Here you go.’ Jay placed the bowl of kibble in front of her and watched as she pulled herself to sitting. Then he turned back to Megan. ‘I’m not sure.’

‘I might as well carry on with this lot while we wait.’ She indicated the laptop and paperwork. ‘It doesn’t seem right to just leave her in here and go back to digging.’

‘I’ll go and get on then if you’re okay with Cindy?’

‘Yes, of course.’ Megan looked towards the door as the bell tinkled, followed by the voices of Flora and Ginny.

As soon as the kitchen door opened and Flora and Ginny appeared, Cindy jumped up, all thoughts of food abandoned and rushed towards them, her tail wagging from side to side as quickly as physically possible.

‘Cindy!’ Ginny knelt on the floor and rubbed her hands across the greyhound’s back and chest. ‘Have you come for a visit?’

‘Lovely to see you.’ Bending down, Flora fussed Cindy behind the ears before looking around the kitchen. ‘Where are Mr and Mrs Stevens?’

‘Her owners? They’ve left.’ Jay grimaced. ‘They said they couldn’t cope with her separation anxiety and are returning her.’

‘What?’ Flora slumped into a chair.

‘Yes, we tried to tell them to wait and speak to one of you, that you’d be able to advise them or help them with training, but they didn’t want to listen, did they?’ Megan turned to Jay.

‘Nope. Apparently, they’ve not been able to leave the house since they adopted her and when they did, she destroyed a brand-new sofa.’ Jay shook his head. ‘They had a plane to catch and were eager to leave as soon as they’d dropped her off.’

‘A new sofa? Who buys a brand-new sofa when they’ve just adopted a dog?’ Ginny shook her head and slipped into the seat next to Flora, Cindy following her close behind and lying over Ginny’s feet beneath the table.

‘They knew Cindy’s problems with being left alone when they came to adopt her. We all told them, didn’t we?’ Flora glanced at Ginny.

‘Yes, we all did. Sally even tried to encourage them to go to her training classes and when they refused, she offered to go to their house to help with training free of charge.’ Ginny shook her head.

‘That’s right. And not to mention the fact they’d assured us they were experienced with dealing with dogs with extreme behavioural problems.’ Flora tutted. ‘They checked out, they ticked all the boxes. Their home was lovely, they worked from home.’

‘That’s a shame. It sounds as though they weren’t as experienced as they made out they were then.’ Jay took a sip of his drink.

‘No, you’re right.’ Flora held her hand over her forehead. ‘I do hate to see a failed adoption, although maybe in this case it’s for the best. Cindy deserves a family who won’t give up on her.’

‘Too right.’ Ginny looked down as Cindy laid her head on Ginny’s knee. ‘She’s such a lovely character. So gentle.’

‘She is, and it actually surprises me that she’d chew through a sofa. She never showed any signs that she was in the least bit destructive.’

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