Page 96 of Wild About You

I needed to see him, that was all. No, notneeded, I could survive without him – Iwantedto see him. I wanted to make sure he was okay.

It was freezing. I stamped my feet on the ground and huddled into my coat.

And then, there he was. Standing at the window. Dressed in black rollneck sweater and jeans. He was looking back at somebody – Roshni or George, I guessed – and speaking. There wasn’t a trace of a smile on his face. He looked so sad. Then he turned and looked out into the night, in my direction.

I was standing in darkness, in a dark coat. Could he even see me? I raised my hand, held it there for a moment.

He frowned for a second. Looked intently. Put the hand that wasn’t holding a mug to the window for a brief moment, in an echo of my gesture.

Then something changed in his face. He put his hand down, turned, and walked away.

Fool that I was, I waited for a few minutes to see if he was going to come down. But there was also a part of me – the truth-telling part – that had turned as cold as the night air. There had been something in the way he had turned away that reminded me of what Roshni had said. Completely withdrawn. Frozen.

I took myself back to the cottage, and put a few more possessions in my boxes.

CHAPTER 28

The office had always been a cheery place on Fridays, but even Tobias was looking muted the following day, and Tally phoned in sick. Even the weather felt low; by midday the sky was darkening and it felt several degrees colder. I was just telling Tobias he could take the afternoon off when something caught my eye – a flash of white and tan at the window.

I got up from my seat and went to look out at the gravelled carriage drive. It was Hugo. No collar, no lead. He was standing on the drive, scenting the air.

‘What the hell,’ I murmured, opening the door as softly as I could. I had no treats at my disposal – getting him to come to me would have to rely on affection alone.

‘Hu-go,’ I called, in my softest, sweetest voice. He turned and looked at me, his tail flickering into life. ‘Good boy!’ I said. ‘Such a good boy. Hugo, come!’ He raised a paw to take a step forwards.

The child came out of nowhere – a demob happy toddler, just released from her parents’ car after a long journey day-tripping to Stonemore.

‘Goggy!’ she shrieked at the sight of the beagle, charging towards him, little arms outstretched.

Hugo looked at her with his bright, seal-pup eyes, and assessed the situation.

I called his name again, but his eyes didn’t move from the child.

He tipped his head.

Then he turned.

And he ran.

Boy, that dog could run. He ran with an ecstatic, joyous energy, galloping out into the acres of Stonemore. There was no way I could keep up with him, but I tried anyway – pounding across the drive to the first gate. By the time I reached it, he was long gone. ‘Shit,’ I said. ‘Shit!’

I got back to the office to find Tobias already tapping a message into the house group chat for everyone to look out for Hugo. Almost at the same moment, Roshni came running into the office. She was dressed in colourful workout gear and was holding a phone. ‘Have you seen Hugo? George opened the door for a split second and he was gone. I think he was trying to find Jamie – he’s gone for a run.’

I explained what had happened. ‘Fuck,’ she said. ‘On top of everything. He doesn’t have a tracker on, does he?’

I shook my head, dialling Callum. Tobias had sent outhis SOS but all the responses coming in were negative. No one had seen Hugo.

We went out in different directions, clutching phones and estate walkie talkies. I walked along the verge of the road that ran around the perimeter of the estate. I could feel the panic rising in me as I scoured every hedgerow and stone wall for a sign of him, calling his name. The cars that drove past seemed to be going much too fast. The thought of him being knocked down made me feel sick and shaky. At one point I caught a glimpse of figures on a far hillside, looking, heard the faintest suggestion of their shouts. I was sure one of the figures was Jamie.

We all searched for hours. But there was no sign of Hugo.

‘He’ll come back when he gets hungry,’ I said, when we all gathered in the staff office at four, but I could hear the uncertainty in my own voice. The light was already fading and Hugo’s dinnertime was 4.15. By this time he’d normally be sitting by his bowl, waiting for his food.

Everyone had worked hard. We were cold and tired. I half expected Jamie to appear, to thank everyone. Instead, George stood on a chair and gave a little speech, whilst Roshni and Tobias handed out cups of tea.

‘Where’s Jamie?’ I said to Roshni.

She gave a little shake of her head. ‘Still looking.’

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