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

Chapter 31

31

Ryan steered the car into the car park attached to the quaint country pub his grandmother had chosen for lunch. It was located a few miles outside of Hamblehurst, with views across the South Downs to the south and meandering woodland to the north. There was a large beer garden outside facing towards the woods, but as the afternoon had turned overcast and cool, they opted for a table indoors once they confirmed the pub was dog friendly.

While his grandmother and Grace found a table near the windows with a view across the grassy landscape, and got Stanley settled beside them on the floor, Ryan bought drinks at the bar. As he waited for the barman to prepare his order, he thought about what Grace had said during their walk around the lake at the country park.

He thought about what she’d said about her feelings towards him, and about her growing fondness for Stanley, and how much she’d enjoyed the time they’d all spent together lately.

And he thought, too, about what she’d said about how all those things now left her conflicted about the job opportunity that had arisen in York.

Ryan was glad he’d admitted to Grace that he’d miss her if she left Hamblehurst for a job elsewhere. He didn’t have to spend any more time with her than he already had to know it was true. And while the last thing he wanted was to dissuade Grace from pursuing a career opportunity that was important to her, he was also glad that his grandmother had pushed him into being honest about his feelings.

Well, almost honest. If he was being completely honest, he would’ve told Grace he was… already falling in love with her.

Because that was the simple truth of it.

Fearing that such an admission might just send her running for the hills in alarm, and leaving him feeling foolish, Ryan thought it wise to be cautious. What he’d already admitted about his feelings was more than he’d imagined possible after only a few days spent in Grace’s company.

Whatever happened next was, he sensed, very much in Grace’s hands. She was the one with the decision to make about the job opportunity in York. She was also the one with the decision to make about whether she wanted to keep Stanley in her life.

And Ryan, too.

It was also true what Grace had said about how this past week had been out of the ordinary and a big change from their usual routines. They’d both been in holiday mode, Grace while she’d taken annual leave from work, and Ryan while he’d enjoyed downtime after completing his latest songwriting project and spending time with his grandmother.

Things might look and feel very different for them both once the routines of work and life returned. Perhaps once they had returned to their busy work schedules, things might fizzle out between them.

Ryan hated that idea the moment it popped into his head.

Still, he couldn’t deny the possibility of it happening.

He also couldn’t deny that his endless internal monologue was becoming rather too gloomy.

Ryan carried the drinks to the table by the window, where he found his grandmother and Grace studying the menu with interest, while Stanley snoozed on the floor. Once they’d settled on their choices and placed their food order, the conversation continued to flow easily as Miriam chatted to Grace about the cousin she was going to visit later that day and the travel arrangements she’d made that morning.

“I thought you were staying with Ryan for another week,” Grace said.

“That was the plan originally,” Miriam said. “But when the opportunity popped up for an impromptu visit to see my lovely cousin, I decided to switch things around.”

She gave Ryan a conspiratorial wink as she said this, which, he was relieved to see, Grace didn’t appear to notice.

“Perhaps you can keep Ryan company in my absence until I get back?” Miriam added, making Ryan emit a groan. His grandmother was about as subtle as a sledgehammer. “How much more time off work do you have, dear?”

“Just tomorrow, and then I’m back on shift,” Grace said.

Miriam frowned. “That’s a pity. Well, perhaps you two can arrange to share a few dinners together after your working days are done, Grace. There’s all that beef bourguignon in Ryan’s freezer, leftover from the casserole I made last week, not to mention a few servings of leftover pasta and whatnot. Ryan will forget all about it unless you are there to remind him to enjoy it.”

“I’m sure he won’t starve,” Grace laughed.

“I’m counting on you to see that he doesn’t,” Miriam said.

“Er, Grandma, I am actually a grown man who managed to feed himself just fine before you arrived.”

“Yes, on frozen pizza,” Miriam said with an exaggerated sigh. “And you know my views where frozen pizza is concerned, Ryan. It isn’t real food.”

Ryan was about to respond when he caught the amused look his grandmother gave Grace and noticed the warm sparkle in Grace’s eyes as she grinned back. She was obviously enjoying this exchange between grandmother and grandson, and seeing how kind Grace was towards Miriam, and how willing she was to indulge her antics, only made his feelings for her deepen even more.

Perhaps he was no longer just falling in love… perhaps he’d already fallen .

The full force of this unbidden thought was only just penetrating his brain when an ear-splitting crash split the air behind him. Jumping in his seat in alarm, he turned and saw a waitress standing with a look of horror on her face and staring at the tray of dirty plates and glasses she’d just dropped to the floor right next to their table.

In the same instant, Ryan saw his grandmother leaping up from her seat with a shriek and wiping frantically at her clothes.

“Grandma! Are you okay?” Ryan said, his voice filled with alarm as he took in the broken glass and cracked plates scattered across the floor. “Did something hit you?”

“Yes, I think I took the brunt of all the liquid from one of those glasses on the tray,” Miriam replied, her voice shaky. “My blouse is soaked.”

“I’m so sorry!” the waitress said in a panic. “The tray just slipped out of my hands!”

“Stanley! Stanley! Stanley, come back here!”

It was now Grace’s frantic voice that had Ryan’s attention. His grandmother, too, swung her gaze towards Grace, who had sprung from her chair and was now sprinting for the door.

“What’s wrong?” Ryan shouted as Grace picked up speed.

“Stanley made a bolt for it when the tray hit the floor!” Grace called out over her shoulder. “The noise must have frightened him. He ran out from beneath the table and yanked his lead from underneath my foot. He was running for the door before I realised what was happening! I have to catch him!”

Grace vanished through the double doors of the pub before Ryan could say anything else. One of the double doors was propped open to allow customers easy access, which was how Stanley had made good his sudden escape. Ryan could hear Grace shouting Stanley’s name as she fled outside.

“Go and help her!” Miriam said urgently, still wiping at her dripping blouse.

“I can’t just leave you here, Grandma,” Ryan insisted, even as his gaze flicked again to the door Grace had just run through. “Are you hurt? Did one of the glasses cut you when it broke?”

Miriam shook her head impatiently. “I’m fine, Ryan. I’m half-soaked from the contents of that beer glass that came hurtling towards me, but that’s all.”

Several other members of staff were now running towards them, one of them offering paper towels for Miriam to dry her clothes while the others began clearing up the mess on the floor.

“These young bar staff will sort me out,” Miriam said, accepting a handful of paper towels with a grateful nod. “Now, off you go and help Grace find Stanley. She needs you more than I do.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Ryan couldn’t stand the idea that his grandmother had been cut or grazed by a piece of broken glass or smashed plate and just wasn’t telling him. The terrible racket that had filled the pub had given everyone a fright, his grandmother in particular, given her proximity to where the tray hit the floor. He’d caught the look of shock on her face in the immediate aftermath of the incident and he was worried about the effects that fright might be having on her.

But Miriam’s steely glare soon reminded him that his grandmother was no delicate flower.

“Ryan Lewis, I am perfectly fine!” she said, her tone as stern as her expression. “If you don’t get out there and help Grace, what on earth will she think of you? Now, go!”

Miriam shooed him away. Ryan knew he couldn’t let Grace run around outside on her own chasing after that daft dog. Only a few seconds had passed since she’d sprinted through the pub doors, but he didn’t want to delay any longer.

With one last look at his grandmother, who only glared at him again, Ryan turned for the doors and ran outside. Glancing around, he saw Grace rushing around the perimeter of the small car park, which was lined with shrubs, before racing around Ryan’s car which was parked at the far end and peering underneath it, all the while calling out Stanley’s name.

Without success, she hurried back towards the pub building, and when she saw Ryan there, she held up her hands in despair.

“I thought he might have run towards your car, maybe thinking it was safer there,” she said. “But he’s nowhere in the car park.”

“I’ll check the front gardens of the pub and you head for the beer garden at the back,” Ryan said.

Grace nodded, her eyes filled with panic. Ryan sprinted around to the front of the pub. The garden area there was decorative only, just a thin strip of plants and shrubbery that bordered the building and separated it from the main road beyond. With his heart in his mouth, he ran towards the road, fearing that he might find the dog injured on the busy high-speed road, which was precisely the reason why he’d sent Grace to the beer garden at the back.

If Stanley had rushed out here in a panic and ended up on the road and been struck by a passing vehicle, he didn’t want Grace to be the one to find out about it first.

Ryan looked one way along the main road and then the other. Cars rushed by, most of them going faster than they should have been. When he saw no sign of the little dog anywhere on the treacherous road, Ryan felt a surge of relief.

That relief didn’t last for long, though. The dog was still missing. After running along the front gardens and thoroughly checking the shrubs while calling out Stanley’s name, Ryan knew the dog wasn’t in this particular area.

Across the road, the sweeping grasslands of the South Downs were wide open for some distance. If Stanley had crossed the road and run off in that direction, Ryan was sure he would still be visible. The little dog might be fast on his feet, but he wasn’t that fast.

Ryan jogged around to the beer garden at the back of the pub, where he found Grace conducting a frantic search amongst the tables and chairs, poking into the shrubs on either side of the space as she passed. She called out Stanley’s name over and over again, but there was no responding bark or yelp to be heard.

“I can’t find him!” Grace said when Ryan reached her. “He’s definitely not in this area.”

“What’s wrong, love?” asked a man who was sitting at a table in the beer garden beside a woman, the two of them huddled in jackets and reading newspapers.

“My dog, Stanley, ran off,” Grace said, hurrying to where the couple sat. “There was a loud noise inside the pub and it must have given him a fright and he bolted through the doors before I could grab him. He’s a little scruffy brown and white terrier. Have you seen him run past here?”

The couple looked at one another and shook their heads.

“Sorry, no. But we were reading our newspapers, so we might not have seen him,” said the man.

“But we’ll help you look for him, if you like?” said his companion.

“Thank you, that would be a big help,” Grace said. “We’ve looked all around the outside of the pub, which means he might have run off into the woodland.” She gestured towards the expanse of trees beyond the beer garden. “If he’s in there and we don’t catch him soon, he might just keep running and get even more lost than he already is.”

The man and woman were already on their feet.

“We’ll find him love,” the woman said kindly. “Charlie and I will search this bit of woodland to the east of the beer garden. You and your fella take the bit on the west.”

“Do you know how far the woodland goes?” Ryan asked, looking at the dense area they were about to enter.

“It’s a decent area, for sure,” the man said. “But let’s just make a start and see what we find. What did you say the dog’s name was?”

“Stanley,” Grace said, and then pulled out her phone. “Here, take my number in case you find him.”

They all did a quick swap of phone numbers and then set off. While the couple they’d just met strode off towards the eastern part of the woodland, Ryan followed Grace into the western section. The sound of all four of them calling out Stanley’s name echoed around the trees. As the voices of the other couple grew fainter as they headed off in the opposite direction, Ryan had to run to keep up with Grace.

“Stanley!” Grace called out, and Ryan heard the tearful panic in her voice. “Stanley! Where are you?”

There was no bark in response, just the noise of the birds in the trees.

“Stanley!” Ryan shouted, and then even louder, “ Stanley! ”

They hurried through the woodland in search of the little dog.

“We’ll find him, Grace,” Ryan said as they picked their way through trees and shrubs and hollows in the ground. “He must be here somewhere. He only ran off a few moments ago.”

“But what if he’s lost all over again?” Grace said, her words anguished. “He was a stray before. What if we can’t find him?”

“We will find him,” Ryan said, relieved when his determined tone seemed to reassure Grace the way he hoped it would. “I promise you we’ll find him.”

He just hoped it was a promise he could keep.