Runaway Bride: A laugh out loud funny and feel good rom com. Mary Baker Jayne

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СКАЧАТЬ me. I kind of like having you around.’

      His keen eyes flickered over my face, and I felt my cheeks pinken.

      ‘I can’t live in this thing forever though, can I?’

      ‘Why not? I’m going to.’

      ‘But you’re… you. And we can’t all illustrate books for a living. I need to find some work.’

      Plus there was the other thing. I’d been noticing it more lately: the lingering looks, the… the something. Not just on his side, from me too.

      What with one thing and another, we’d been together in the van nearly a month. And the natural result of our confined quarters was an intense closeness, both physically and, increasingly, emotionally. I could sense there was something building between me and Jack, something inevitable, and with my head still reeling from the fallout of my relationship with Ethan, I was worried I was in danger of… let’s say, of making choices that might not be for the best right now.

      ‘Okay,’ Jack said, dropping my hands. He looked disappointed. ‘If that’s what you want. I’ll miss you though, Kit.’

      ‘We’ll stay in touch, won’t we?’

      ‘Course we will.’ He smiled. ‘For you, I might even keep my phone switched on.’

      ***

      We set off that afternoon. We’d been camping near Derby and Surinder and her husband lived down in London, so we had a long drive ahead.

      ‘So how did you say you knew this girl?’ Jack asked when we were almost halfway there. ‘University, was it?’

      ‘Jack…’

      ‘Hmm?’

      ‘Jack!’ My voice was urgent. ‘Can you pull over?’

      ‘Not car-sick, are you?’

      ‘It’s the puppies. I think they might be coming.’

      In the rear-view mirror I could see Sandy squirming, shifting her hindquarters constantly from one side of the van to the other. I’d noticed her at it for a good quarter of an hour, looking steadily more uncomfortable as the van rocked on its way. Her mouth hung open, and a whispered, wheezy moan was coming from the back of her throat. As I watched, a shudder ran across her tight, round belly.

      Jack glanced over his shoulder and his eyes widened. ‘Shit! You’re right.’

      ‘What do we do?’ I said. ‘Can we get her to a vet? Oh God, Jack!’

      ‘Stay calm, lass, I’ve done this before. You sit with her while I get us to a campsite. There’s one with pitches for campers half an hour away.’ He looked at Sandy again. ‘Cross your legs, old girl.’

      When we reached the campsite, Jack grabbed Sandy’s blanket from the back of the passenger seat and chucked it to me.

      ‘Cover her. I don’t think we really want to explain to the site owner why we’ve got a dog having puppies in the back.’

      I draped the blanket over Sandy. She gave a pathetic whine, looking up at me with eyes that begged me to make the pain stop. God, I hoped it’d be quick for her.

      Luckily she was quiet while we checked in. Jack drove us round to our pitch and parked up, then sorted out the power hookup so we could have a bit of light. When he’d done that he came to join me.

      Sandy looked at her dad and opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Another shiver ran along her belly.

      ‘Not too long.’ He patted her. ‘Doing well, Sand. You’re very brave.’

      She wagged her tail with a few limp thumps.

      ‘Let’s get her into her bed,’ Jack said. ‘Lift her head.’

      I did as he asked, and with an effort we eased a lightly whimpering Sandy into the dog bed.

      ‘For your own good, girl,’ Jack said, looking guilty at the discomfort he was causing. ‘I want you and the babies to be comfortable, that’s all.’

      ‘What do we do, Jack?’ I asked in a whisper when Sandy was curled awkwardly in her little bed, panting. ‘You sure we shouldn’t take her to a vet?’

      ‘It’s fine. I grew up on a farm, I’ve done this hundreds of times.’ He went over to the tall cupboard next to the kitchenette and took out a cardboard box. ‘Just need my puppy delivery kit.’

      ‘What’s in it?’ I asked when he’d knelt back down.

      ‘Take a look.’

      I peered into the box. Inside was a shoebox, pair of scissors, post-it note and a one-litre bottle of vodka.

      I frowned. ‘What’s all this stuff? I thought we needed hot towels and lukewarm water or something.’

      ‘That’s for babies,’ he said. ‘I mean, human babies. Dogs tend to sort themselves out. We won’t need to interfere unless there’s complications.’

      I took out the shoebox and shook it.

      ‘It’s empty.’

      ‘Yeah. Hopefully it’ll stay that way.’

      ‘Oh. I see.’ I put it back and looked at the post-it note stuck to the bottom of the box. There was a phone number scrawled on it. ‘What’s that?’

      ‘Twenty-four-hour helpline if she gets into difficulties. They can talk us through it, or put us in touch with an out-of-hours vet if it has to come to that. And sterilised scissors, in case we have to cut any out of their sacks.’

      ‘And what’s the vodka for? Antiseptic?’

      ‘No.’ He unscrewed the lid, took a drink and passed it to me. ‘For us. It’s going to be a long night.’

      I shot the vodka bottle a wary glance. ‘My friend’s expecting me though.’

      ‘Sorry. Act of God,’ he said, looking at Sandy. ‘You can stay one more night, can’t you? Then we’ll get you a taxi to the station tomorrow so you can go the rest of the way. I won’t be able to move Sand for a fortnight or so after the babies come.’

      I felt a wave of relief at having an excuse to stay another night. Much as I knew it needed to happen, I’d been feeling increasingly anxious about the impending separation all through our drive.

      ‘Okay, I’ll text Surinder. Couldn’t leave you to bring the pups on your own.’ I took a swig of vodka and passed it back. It felt like we were sealing a pact, somehow.

      After he’d drunk some, he put down the bottle and curled his arm around me. ‘Thanks, Kit. Feel like I need you tonight.’

      I turned my attention to Sandy. Her face was full of resigned pain. When I placed my hand against her hot belly, it felt like the puppies were dancing the tarantella in there.

      ‘Poor СКАЧАТЬ