Page 17 of Summer at the Cornish Garden Café

He didn’t know what else to say.

‘I have your contact information for volunteering, so I’ll be in touch soon. But please have a think about Harvey and potentially come and meet him again at the sanctuary and see if you still think adopting would suit you.’

‘Thanks, Leanne.’

‘No problem at all.’

Thomas wandered over to Winnie and crouched down next to her then gave Harvey a stroke. The dog snuffled against his hand and gave it a lick.

‘He likes you, Uncle Thomas!’ Winnie beamed. ‘You should adopt him so I can see him all the time.’

‘I’ll think about it,’ he said. ‘Oh look, there’s your dad and Wendy.’

Bligh and Wendy entered the gazebo and Thomas waved them over.

‘Everything OK?’ Bligh asked scanning the space for his wife.

‘Marnie’s sitting down,’ Thomas gestured at the seating area. ‘She’s had a few twinges and seems a bit tired.’

‘OK, I’ll keep an eye on her. I’ve told her to slow down but you know what she’s like.’

‘I do.’ Thomas grimaced. ‘Stubborn.’

‘True that.’ Bligh patted his shoulder. ‘Keep an eye on the girls while I speak to my wife.’

‘Of course.’

Bligh went over to Marnie, and Thomas and Winnie introduced Wendy to Harvey. The girls played with the dog and his toys and asked Thomas more times than he could count if he would adopt Harvey. After twenty minutes, Bligh came back to them and said, ‘Come on, we need to get your mum something to eat.’

‘Can we have ice cream?’ Winnie asked jumping up.

‘After you’ve had lunch,’ Bligh said.

‘Yay!’ Winnie jumped up and down and Harvey pawed at her leg. ‘Sorry, Harvey but we have to go now. We will see you again soon, I hope.’

The dog wagged his curly tail, and Thomas gave him one more stroke before they left the gazebo and walked back out into the late May sunshine.

Harvey the puggle wuggle was certainly cute and would make a great addition to the family but he’d need to take some time to think it over. The last thing he wanted to do was rush such a big decision, even if his heart was telling him to go for it.

It wasn’t the first time recently that the phrasethe heart wants what it wantshad come to mind, and he had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last…

11

LENA

Lena removed her shoes when she reached the beach and walked across the sand, enjoying the feel of the warmth against her soles. She wanted to paddle in the sea and feel the soothing lapping of the waves against her skin, to breathe in the salt-laced air and let her thoughts drift away.Feelings pass like the clouds racing across the sky, she had told herself many times recently, but sometimes they only passed when she made a conscious effort to let them go.

When she reached the sea, she shivered as the cold water caressed her skin. She had always been keen to learn about herself, about why she thought and felt the way she did, and she liked to analyse her feelings and reactions. She knew how complex the human brain was and that sometimes patterns created in childhood could affect how an adult dealt with situations, but she also believed it was possible to change. Life scarred everyone in some way, whether physically or emotionally, often a combination of both, but everything made people more resilient. She had been through her fair share of experiences, and they had left their marks on her, but she was still here, still able to enjoy much that life had to offer and stillcapable, it seemed, of feeling connected to others. She could make new connections and that thought excited and unnerved her because the most recent human connection was to a man she barely knew, a man who clearly harboured pain of his own and who didn’t even seem to like her if she was being honest with herself. She had no idea how she was going to approach this situation or if she should even try to get to know him better. Definitely NOT in a romantic sense if he was with the pregnant woman she’d seen him with earlier. And yet the thought of not trying to be his friend seemed so sad to her that her chest ached, and she knew she would forever wonderWhat if…Connection to others came in many forms and friendship was an important one.

‘Lena? Are you OK?’

She turned to find Ellie at her side.

‘What?’ She blinked. ‘I mean, pardon?’

‘You’re upset.’ Ellie touched her arm.

‘Me?’

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