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

Chapter 27

27

STANLEY

Neither of them realised I was listening to every word of Ryan’s story as he shared it with Grace, but of course I was listening.

How could I not listen? The story Ryan told was too awful to ignore and certainly impossible to sleep through. My eyes may have been closed, but my ears were not.

I tried to imagine what it must have been like to go through such a terrible humiliation in front of so many people, and I know that’s what Grace was doing too, putting herself in Ryan’s shoes in an effort to understand how badly it had affected him.

Grace’s aura turned the most melancholy shade of blue as Ryan recounted his story. Her empathy runs deep, almost as deep as the love she already feels for him inside her heart.

That night, after Ryan walked her home and they kissed each other goodnight, those blue tints remained around the edges of her aura as she got ready for bed. I know she thought about Ryan for a long time after she climbed beneath the duvet, and sleep eluded her as his story spun around inside her head.

When I snuck up onto the bed beside her, she was still awake. I thought she might send me back to my own bed, but instead she pulled me close and hugged me tight.

“I don’t know how people can be so cruel and manipulative,” Grace whispered. “Those people in charge of that television programme ought to have been strung up for what they did to an innocent eighteen-year-old boy.”

She got no argument from me on that count, which I made clear by nuzzling into her face.

“He writes such wonderful songs, Stanley,” she continued, her voice just a whisper. “I’ve listened to so many of them since he told me about the ones he’s written for some of the big pop stars, and they’re all terrific. Someone who can create songs that bring people such joy should never have had to go through what Ryan went through.”

I gave her another nuzzle to show my agreement.

“But the love songs he writes, those are really amazing,” Grace said. “And what’s even more amazing is that he’s written one for me. Me! Can you believe that?”

Of course I could believe that. This time I added a thorough lick to my nuzzling for emphasis, although I can’t say Grace cared quite as much for that.

“Okay, so he didn’t exactly say it was a love song, but I heard the music he played on his guitar, and it is definitely a love song. I just wish he’d let me hear the lyrics he wrote. We’ve only known each other for a few days, but I can’t help hoping that he feels the same way about me as already I feel about him, and maybe if I heard the lyrics to that song he wrote, I’d know for sure.”

I wished I could tell her she already did know for sure. Humans really make such a big complicated mess out of their emotions, never trusting what they feel and overthinking everything.

“Is it weird that I’m lying here talking to a dog?” Grace said with a quiet laugh.

Of course it wasn’t weird. Dogs make the best listeners. Everybody knows that.

Still, at least Grace’s rumination meant she was grateful for my company as she tried to get to sleep, which also meant she let me stay on the bed beside her. Naturally, I saw it as my duty to comfort her and help her nod off, and that’s what happened, eventually.

We both needed a good night’s rest after our busy day at the beach followed by the revelations Ryan had shared.

The next few days proved to be busier still.

The following morning, Ryan invited Grace and me to join him and his grandmother on another little day trip out and about. Grace tried to decline, insisting he ought to enjoy time alone with his grandmother, which she said was what the two of them were supposed to be enjoying until I’d turned up on the scene and needed looking after.

I didn’t mind being blamed. It was true, after all.

Anyway, Grace’s objections were brushed aside and off we all went in Ryan’s car, this time to visit a special bakery and café that Miriam had read about on a local tourist information website and which claimed to sell the most amazing prize-winning pies and pastries.

I’m happy to confirm they did sell the most amazing pies and pastries, and while salivating in front of the glass cabinets filled with treats, I spied a rather grand-looking trophy perched on the shelf behind the counter, which the bakery owner proudly showed off when Miriam asked about it.

Once we were seated at a table with our goodies, I snaffled quite a few dropped crumbs from my spot on the floor, and would’ve happily stayed there all day hoovering up spillages and helping to keep the place spic-and-span, but Miriam also wanted to visit an old country house that was nearby and which was apparently the ancestral home of some duke or earl or what-have-you.

So, once we were all filled with delicious pies and pastries, off we went to the country house. It turned out that dogs weren’t allowed inside, but as Miriam was keen to have a snoop around the magnificent old place, she joined a guided tour group that was just about to start, and I went off with Grace and Ryan to enjoy the sprawling gardens.

I happen to think Miriam might have done that deliberately and chosen somewhere I wouldn’t be allowed inside in order to give Ryan and Grace more time alone. Although the guided tour was only supposed to last for an hour, Miriam decided to stay on for the optional visit to the house’s archive rooms, which added another forty-five minutes. As she’d become friendly with some of the other people on the guided tour—Miriam is such a lovely, friendly lady—she decided to join them in the café afterwards to refuel with a cup of tea.

In the end, Grace and Ryan were alone in the beautiful gardens for almost two-and-a-half hours. They walked me around the grounds, and spent time in the hedge maze, and meandered through the woodlands, before settling down on a bench beneath an oak tree with takeaway coffees that Ryan fetched from the café.

The two of them talked the entire time, sharing more of their life stories and getting to know one another better with every moment spent together. I loved being there with them as they strolled around, hand-in-hand, feeling like I was part of a little family of three.

Once our day trip was over, Grace insisted on inviting Ryan and Miriam to her house for a meal, to thank them for the all dinners she’d enjoyed at Ryan’s house so far. While Grace was cooking pasta and roasting some chicken, Miriam received a message on her phone and suddenly announced that an old friend was passing through Hamblehurst and had invited her out to the local pub for dinner and a catch up.

That sounded as suspicious to me as it did to Ryan and Grace, but Miriam could not be swayed from her decision to leave the youngsters to their evening alone. Her friend arrived to pick her up barely a few minutes later, an elegantly dressed woman around Miriam’s age who embraced her fondly at the door and made a big deal out of exclaiming about what a lovely coincidence it was to discover their paths had crossed.

And off Miriam went to her night out at the pub with her friend, leaving Ryan and Grace to dine alone. They sat together all evening at the cosy kitchen table, eating the meal Grace had prepared and talking as the romantic candlelight flickered.

It was a pretty scene… and that’s all I’m prepared to share about it. Two young lovers are entitled to have at least a little privacy, you know.

The days that followed were bliss.

More little outings and visits here and there, more pit stops at many lovely cafes, more lazy lunches, more relaxed evenings spent either at Ryan’s house or Grace’s house. The summer weather was warm and bright, the days were filled with fun and laughter, and romance danced in the air whenever Ryan and Grace were together.

Although Miriam and Ryan had arranged to spend this time together, Miriam often made herself scarce in order to leave the young couple to their own devices. It was obvious she was thrilled to see her grandson in the company of a woman like Grace, and Miriam was only too pleased to give them the space they need while their relationship got started.

In a perfect world, those halcyon days would’ve lasted forever. But that’s not how these things work.

On the second last day of Grace’s time off work from the hotel, she got some news that changed everything…