Lost and Found on Foxglove Street (The Foxglove Street #9)

Chapter 18

18

STANLEY

Gravy bones are one of my favourite things—I think I may have mentioned that—and Grace was kind enough to feed me some of them before we got cosy together on the sofa. I wasn’t really hungry, not after the dinner I was fed round at Ryan’s house, but when you’ve spent time on the streets as I’ve done, you don’t turn down food when it’s offered to you.

Grace made a mug of peppermint tea, and said she hoped it might soothe her stomach after all the chocolate cake she ate. Seemed to me like she barely touched her dessert, because I saw Ryan clear her plate—along with his grandmother’s—once the ladies said they were stuffed and couldn’t eat another morsel, but I can’t say I know enough about chocolate to comment on how much it might take to fill a person up.

Human chocolate is nasty stuff as far as dogs are concerned. Best avoided unless you want to end up as sick as a… well, as sick as a dog, I suppose.

With our bellies full, we settled down to watch television together. Grace flicked through the channels for a while, only pausing on the occasional programme for a few minutes before sighing and grabbing the remote and flicking through the channels once more.

She was restless and out of sorts. Watching her from where I was stretched out with my head on the sofa cushion, I studied her aura and emotions.

Obviously, part of the reason she was restless and out of sorts was because of the bad news she got at work today. Quite what those bosses of hers were thinking at this hotel where she works was a total mystery. After only knowing Grace for a few days, it was obvious to me that she was brilliant and wonderful and completely deserved this promotion she was going after.

And yet her employers left her disappointed and upset by putting the brakes on the whole process. Clearly, these people were idiots.

But I could see that this promotion business was only part of the reason for Grace feeling restless tonight.

It was also because of Ryan.

She had feelings for him, but was pretending otherwise. Or perhaps she was resisting her feelings, rather than ignoring them. It was one or the other.

That didn’t make a great deal of sense to me. If I happen to like a lady dog, I don’t beat around the bush about it. I tell her how I feel by giving her a good sniff and whispering a few romantic words in her ear, and if the lady dog happens to like me back, then she says as much and off we go.

Humans aren’t so straightforward. They like to complicate things and make life difficult for themselves. They are a strange breed.

I was beginning to understand why I might have crossed paths with Grace and found my way into her life. She needed help to understand her thoughts and feelings, and she needed a friend, too.

When we’d returned to her little house on Foxglove Street earlier that night, I’d tried to make myself scarce in order to give her time alone with Ryan. I dashed inside the house and left them to their own devices outside on the doorstep, convinced it was the perfect moment for them to confess their feelings for each other.

They’d just enjoyed a pretty stroll together in the soft summer twilight. The sky was filled with gorgeous sunset colours and the moon was rising in the sky and the warm evening breeze was lovely. The two of them kept glancing at each other as they walked, and I know for a fact that Ryan had a good long look at Grace’s hand as they strolled side-by-side and he thought about taking hold of it and slipping his fingers into hers.

But then he thought about how he was carrying the dog bed he’d bought for me and how Grace had my lead in one hand and her bag hitched over her other shoulder, and with all this going on Ryan feared it might all come across as a bit awkward.

And then he also worried that Grace might not want him to do something like that in the first place, and that taking her hand into his own before he knew whether she was even remotely interested in him might just be a step too far.

So, in the end, he did nothing.

Once me and my dog bed were safely out of the way and inside the house, I’d hoped they might succumb to their feelings if given a moment of privacy and enough time to look into each other’s eyes.

No such luck, I’m afraid.

Like I said, humans are a strange breed.

So anyway, Grace was restless because of this news she got at work about her promotion, but also because she couldn’t stop thinking about Ryan. She shouldn’t have turned him down when he invited her to spend the day with him and Miriam. Perhaps she would’ve enjoyed a day spent out and about.

I know I would have. A nice leg stretch somewhere in the South Downs countryside? Yes, please!

But that wouldn’t be happening, sadly. Grace seemed intent on staying at home tomorrow and brooding, which was a pity, because I knew she would miss the chance for a really lovely day and a really lovely walk.

And in my humble opinion, you can’t beat a really lovely walk.

As I lay on the sofa, I stared up at Grace and tried to get her to understand what I was thinking. I understood her well enough, so why couldn’t she understand me?

We should go with Ryan and Miriam tomorrow for a nice walk in the countryside.

I repeated this thought over and over, and I even chuntered a bit too, hoping this might help the communication process, but all I got for my efforts was a lovely smile from Grace and an ear rub.

So, it wasn’t exactly a total waste of time. I never say no to an ear rub. They are pure bliss.

The only problem was that the ear rub from Grace was so fantastic that I felt myself starting to nod off. Instead of repeating my thought-penetrating mantra over and over again— We should go with Ryan and Miriam tomorrow for a nice walk in the countryside —I ended up dozing off on the sofa.

Oh well, at least I tried.

And in fairness, Grace seemed to enjoy being snuggled up beside me as I succumbed to sleep. So, if what she needed most was a friend at her side, ready and willing to drool on the sofa cushions while keeping her company, then at least I was doing my duty.