Page 15 of Playing for Keeps

“How do you like your coffee?” she asked, desperate for a moment to compose herself.

“Just black, thanks.”

Waiting by the coffee machine, she took a couple of deep breaths, then glanced through the arch at Bill, who scratched behind Perry’s ear.

The memory came to Allie in a rush. Her mum telling her to sit and wait with Bill and Cooper. The dog back then had been a golden retriever with gorgeous big eyes and Allie had absolutely adored him. Bill too. She’d loved sitting in front of the fire with the two of them for a chat before school.

The coffee machine stopped, snapping her from her trance.

She still felt slightly dazed as she handed it to Bill.

“I went to school with Daisy’s grandad, you know,” he said. “Though he was a few years behind me.”

Allie smiled at the unexpected comment. “That’s nice.”

“Have you met him?”

“Daisy’s grandad?”

“Aye. Ron.” He paused for long enough for Allie to shake her head in confusion. “The greenkeeper,” he added.

“Oh.” She tilted her head back as the conversation started to make more sense. “No, I haven’t met him yet.” Which was a little odd. The greenkeeper at Fox Hill was the heart of the club. It often seemed impossible to go anywhere without bumping into him.

“You’ll probably meet him soon,” Bill said. “Ron’s a great bloke. All but raised Daisy himself,” he added quietly.

Questions danced in Allie’s mind, but she had no chance to ask any since she caught sight of Kevin walking into the lounge.

“Uh oh!” Bill said, casting his eyes down at his coffee.

“Dogs aren’t allowed in the clubhouse,” Kevin said, stopping at the other side of the room as his eyes landed on Perry. “You know that, Bill.”

“It must have slipped my mind,” Bill said, aiming a discreet wink at Allie that took her back twenty years in an instant. Back then, he’d wink at her as he slipped her sweets when her parents weren’t looking.

“My fault,” Allie said, crouching to stroke Perry. “I didn’t see the harm in it.”

“It’s just policy.” Kevin hung back, looking as limp as his handshake. “The cleaning crew get shirty about it. And some of our members don’t like dogs around the place. You can finish your coffee, but after that the dog needs to be out of here.” He turned and walked back towards the bar. “Next time stick to the rules, please.”

Allie stared after Kevin while continuing to stroke Perry. It took a lot of willpower to keep from revealing her identity and asserting that Perry could remain beside the fire for as long as Bill wanted to stay.

“Sorry about that,” she said quietly to Bill. “It’s a pointless rule. Especially at this time when there’s no one else in the place.” Though that niggled her as well, since they ought to be doing a good breakfast trade.

“Don’t you worry,” Bill said. “I knew we wouldn’t be allowed to stay. Sometimes it’s fun to break the rules though.”

“I’ll talk to Kevin,” Allie said. “See if I can overturn the ‘no dog’ rule.”

“Good luck with that,” Bill said. “I reckon you’ll need it.”

She smiled slowly. “At the risk of sounding like a princess, I can tell you I have a way of getting what I want.”

“I like your spirit.” Bill finished his coffee and stood up, shooting Allie another charming wink before he left.

CHAPTER 7

When Allie had gently probed Kevin on the subject of dogs in the clubhouse, he stuck to his story that it was an issue with the cleaning crew. Apparently, muddy paws and shedding fur had caused issues in the past. His tone was firm and his argument just about sound enough that Allie didn’t feel she could counter it without suspicion.

Honestly though, all it would take was an old towel for wet days, but most people were considerate enough to not bring their dogs in on those sorts of days. At least that had been her experience at the Fox Hill Club.

Once the lunch rush was over, she wasn’t needed for the rest of the day. In fact, Kevin gave her a working schedule which was a lot fewer hours than she’d expected. Back in her room, she flopped onto the bed and contemplated what she was going to do with all her free time. It occurred to her she was going to have to do as her dad had suggested and make a holiday of it.

---