Page 19 of Falling for Provence

The dog looked back at her. He had odd ears, she noticed. One stood straight up but the other was bent and it almost made it look as if he was winking at her.

She looked at the vet, who smiled sympathetically. She looked at Julien, who shook his head in response.

‘I do not want a dog,’ he said. ‘My life is complicated enough as it is.’

Of course it was. He was juggling parenthood with a demanding career. He lived with his mother. He’d been caring for a pair of donkeys that didn’t even belong to him.

‘There must be someone who would want him,’ she said. ‘I can’t have a dog, either. I won’t be here for very long.’

Julien spoke to the vet again. A short exchange that ended with a shrug by the vet.

‘It’s possible that a space at the rescue centre, or with one of the people that help by fostering unwanted pets, could become available before long. A notice could be put up here to see if someone wants to offer him a home but… in the meantime, there’s simply no way the clinic can help.’

Ellie looked at the dog again.

If she didn’t do something, this small, unhappy animal might not be alive for much longer. She couldn’t let that happen. Not just because she felt responsible for what was happening. It was more that she had an opportunity to cheat death, even if it was only for a scruffy, homeless dog.

‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I’ll take him. Until somewhere more permanent can be found.’

The vet was smiling again, this time with approval. Relief, even? He hadn’t wanted to put the dog down, had he? Christophe might have ended up taking him home himself if Ellie hadn’t offered, but it was too late to find out now. He was speaking to Julien quietly.

‘He’s not going to charge you for this appointment,’ Julien translated. ‘He’ll bandage the leg, and you can bring him back to be checked next week if he’s not a lot better.’

Ellie smiled back at the vet. ‘Merci beaucoup,’ she said.

‘You’ll need some food, I expect?’ Julien added. ‘And maybe a collar and lead? They have supplies here for sale.’

Ellie nodded slowly. She might not have enough cash on her, but hopefully she could use her bank card here. Not that she’dexpected to see her savings eaten into quite like this, but, now that she’d made the decision to save this sorry little dog, what else could she do?

And it wasn’t just the dog…

Ellie suppressed a sigh as she followed Julien out of the consulting room. She’d been up early this morning to clean out the trough in the olive orchard, emptying it of water and scraping out the sludge at the bottom before refilling it. She had been pleased with the quality of water the donkeys now had to drink, but she was now remembering other things Fi had mentioned.

‘Could you please ask if they have what is needed to treat donkeys for worms?’ She asked Julien. ‘And possibly the name of a farrier? My sister tells me their feet will need attention.’

‘They are fine for the moment. I had Christophe check the donkeys when we first realised that nobody was looking after them. They had their feet trimmed not so long ago.’

‘Oh…’ Ellie bit her lip. ‘We owe you some money, then.’

Julien shrugged. ‘De rien– it doesn’t matter. You didn’t know. And it was my choice. As I said, Theo was very taken with the animals when we arrived, and… and he needed something to be happy about.’

He turned away to speak to the girl behind the reception desk and she pointed towards large bags of dried food against a wall. Ellie was left out of the conversation again, but she wasn’t even thinking about dog food.

What had happened, she wondered, to make Julien’s son so unhappy at such a young age?

And then she remembered those big brown eyes looking up at her. The fear in them that had become something very different. Something like surprise and then trust. Hope, even.

That single word that had pierced her heart.

Maman.

They put the dog onto the back seat of the car again for the ride home, but, before they had even pulled out of the veterinary clinic’s car park, he squeezed through the gap between the front seats, climbed onto Ellie’s lap and then lay down, pushing his nose into the crook of her elbow.

Julien’s sideways glance came with a half-smile. ‘I think he knows who saved his life.’

‘I’m only going to be looking after him for a bit. Until I can find him a proper home.’

‘Of course.’ But Julien sounded unconvinced.

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