Page 27 of Summer at the Cornish Garden Café

When his stomach growled loudly, he realised it was lunchtime, so he reluctantly said goodbye to Fifi then locked her kennel and turned to go. But she pressed her beautiful face up against the glass, her big brown eyes imploring him to stay with her. He couldn’t leave her like that, so he unlocked the kennel and went back inside for another hour until one of the employees arrived to take her to the secure exercise field.

He returned to Leanne’s office and knocked on the door and Leanne called him in.

‘Coffee?’ she asked.

‘Please.’

‘I have biscuits too!’ She brandished a packet of custard creams. ‘You’ll find that we always have biscuits here.’

‘Good to know.’ He accepted a mug of coffee then a custard cream. ‘Thanks for this morning. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.’

‘I’m glad to hear it. Did Fifi guilt trip you into staying with her longer?’

He laughed. ‘She did. It’s those big brown eyes of hers.’

‘She’s good at that. She’s such a beautiful girl. It’s hard to believe that someone abandoned her outside our gates.’

‘What?’ Thomas almost dropped his biscuit into his mug. ‘They left her there?’

Leanne nodded. ‘We try not to judge anyone because life can be hard, and lots of people are struggling right now, but I do wish they’d contact us and ask for help rather than leaving dogs to fend for themselves like that.’ She gave a small shrug. ‘Sadly, that’s how things are. Luckily, our security cameras alerted us to the fact that there was movement at the gate, and I went out and brought her inside. Poor girl was bewildered and ravenous, but we fed her and snuggled her up and she soon settled. She’d clearly been a loved pet but for some reason her owner had felt unable to keep her. I suspect it’s because she’s big with a big appetite and she needs a lot of exercise and mental stimulation, but she also needs love and cuddles and has so much love to give in return.’

‘Has she had any interest?’ Thomas ate his biscuit, trying to swallow his sadness down.

‘Not yet. People tend to go for the smaller dogs and larger breeds like her get left behind. We do our best for her though and I live on site so I’m always here. Some of the employees stay over in the allocated rooms a few times a week just to help out, especially when we have litters of abandoned pups in that need round-the-clock care. And we have a network of fosterers who are incredibly important to the rescue. They take the pressure off here so we can make space for more dogs and other animals.’

‘It’s an important network then,’ Thomas said.

‘Indeed, it is. And now, hopefully, you’re going to join us?’

‘I would love that.’ He sipped his coffee. ‘How’s Harvey getting along?’

‘Oh that pug is just the sweetest. I don’t know how he hasn’t been snapped up yet. We’re crossing everything that he will be though.’

So there was a good chance that Harvey would be adopted but not Fifi.

‘I wonder if…’ He stopped himself.

‘If?’ Leanne smiled. ‘Please never be afraid to ask something or make suggestions, Thomas. We’re a solid team here and we are always open to a fresh perspective.’

‘OK. Uhm… I wonder if perhaps I could foster Fifi for a bit. I’d get to know her first of course so she trusts me, and then perhaps in a week or two she could come and stay with me. I could bring her in with me on my work days, and then take her home at night. Would that work, do you think?’

Leanne’s face broadened into a huge smile. ‘I think that would be perfect. I saw how well she took to you.’

Thomas frowned in confusion.

‘On the cameras in the kennels,’ Leanne said, pointing at the monitor in the corner of the office. ‘We have cameras everywhere to keep an eye on things in case any of the animals get distressed or need anything.’

‘Of course. I did see the cameras when I went in, but I’d forgotten.’ Thomas laughed.

‘Fifi had you wrapped around her paw, didn’t she?’

A flush crept into his cheeks but Thomas smiled. ‘She did. I think she deserves a chance.’

And just like that, Thomas decided to foster a beautiful young Doberman named Fifi.

16

LENA

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