Page 29 of Happy Days Ahead in the Cornish Village

‘Greg from Trestow racetrack has just rung. Thirty of them this time.’ Flora walked behind the counter and picked up the phone.

‘You can only do what you can. We can’t take more dogs than there are kennels, love.’

‘I know.’ Flora nodded.

‘I’ll just pop these away and then make a start on the digging.’ Jay held up the empty bowls.

‘I’ll help too. I can always carry on with the finances at home.’ Megan shook her head.

Home? She was now calling the bed and breakfast home. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

‘Don’t do any such thing, lovely. There’s no rush.’

‘Ready?’ Jay appeared again.

‘Yep.’ Megan nodded.

12

‘I think we’re almost there.’ Megan launched a shovelful of dirt towards the ever-increasing mound at the side and nodded towards the ground. ‘Surely it doesn’t need to be much deeper than this?’

‘Nope, I think you’re right.’ Jay leaned on his shovel and grinned. ‘We should probably double-check with Percy once we’ve levelled this out. I’ve no clue about building or foundations at all.’

‘Nor me.’ Megan glanced across at him. ‘Well, a little, but only what I picked up from visiting building sites.’

‘You used to work for a building company?’

‘No.’

Why had she mentioned building sites? It had just slipped out. Megan slid the metal of her shovel into the dirt again, pushing against the stones, slowing it.

‘My ex works in the building industry,’ she explained, ‘and I did a little work for him. You know, accountancy-wise, so I’ve visited a few sites over the years.’

‘You know more than me then.’

‘What is it you do again? I mean, I know you’re looking for work at the moment, but before that?’ She should know this. She was sure he’d mentioned it on their date. Although had he? They’d been so busy chatting about growing up and everything and anything else, she couldn’t quite remember if he’d explicitly said what line of work he was in.

‘Well, I was working in marketing but I’m looking to change things up a little. I’ve been applying for conservation jobs.’ Jay smiled shyly. ‘Not that there’s many around so I’ll probably end up going back to marketing, but I have some redundancy pay I’m surviving off at the moment.’

‘It makes sense you carrying on applying for your dream job, then.’ Megan looked across at him. ‘It must feel good choosing something you want to do and working towards it.’

‘Yes, it does. I feel excited about finding a job and working again.’

Megan planted her foot on the shovel and leaned back, wriggling it in an attempt to dislodge it from the mud. She must have forced it in too deep. With her feet on either side, she pushed it forward and then back again, pushing her right foot back down on the metal. As the dirt shifted beneath her, the shovel fell back and she watched as a large lump of mud flew through the air towards Jay, hitting him square on the chin.

‘Oops.’

Jay rubbed the back of his hand across his chin, smearing mud over his skin, and chuckled.

‘Sorry!’

‘Hey, don’t be.’ Grinning, he leaned down and took a handful of loose soil before throwing it at her.

Squealing, she jumped out of the way as the mud flew past her. ‘Ha ha, you missed.’

Megan reached down and grabbed a clump of soil from the pile to her right, and launched it at him, watching as the dirt, drier than that from the ground where they had drenched it, dispersed in the air, leaving a cloud of fine dust to settle in Jay’s hair.

Taking her lead, Jay grabbed a handful from the pile and propelled it towards her where a dusty trail landed across her cheek.

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