A Christmas Tail: A heart-warming Christmas romance

‘Don’t you want to focus on building up your business walking dogs to begin with, rather than inserting yourself into your clients’ private lives?’

Cat sat back on the sofa, her mind whirring. ‘But I’m in the right place to find things out. I can easily do a bit of investigating…’

‘No, Cat.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because, as I’m sure you already know, it’ll end in tears.’

With the relaxing warmth of an extra-long bath working its magic on her limbs, Cat was in her rose-print pyjamas on the sofa, struggling to stay awake. She’d spent the afternoon plotting out the pages for the Pooch Promenadewebsite, and now just needed somebody expert to create it. She wasn’t sure after yesterday that Joe would want to be that person.

Darkness had descended, and the front room of number nine Primrose Terrace was cosy. Cat loved this time of year: the early sunsets, chilly in the evenings so that you could wrap up, but with vibrant flowers peeping up through the soil, the promise of summer around the corner. Her wrists and shoulders still ached, but her initial dismay at the disastrous walk had faded, her thoughts focused on how she could prevent it from happening again.

Shed padded into the living room, eyed Cat suspiciously and walked towards where her toes dangled enticingly over the edge of the sofa. Cat whipped her feet under her just as the front door banged open and Joe, breathing heavily and in full running gear, went straight past her and into the kitchen. Cat pretended to look at her website notes, listened to the cold tap running, the washing machine door opening, and tried not to feel so uncomfortable.

‘Hey,’ she called. ‘Good run?’ It felt lame, but she had to say something.

‘Cold,’ he called back. ‘But that wasn’t unexpected.’

‘Still raining?’

‘Yup.’

Great. Making an enemy of Polly’s brother was not on her to-do list. She took a deep breath.

‘Joe, I’m sorry I—’ She stopped as he appeared in the doorway stripped down and bare-chested in just his shorts. Cat could see that underneath his jeans and hoodies, Joe clearly kept himself very fit. ‘I shouldn’t have let the dogs in yesterday,’ she said quickly. ‘Jessica sprang the visit on me, and I didn’t realize she was bringing her dogs, but I…I couldn’t turn away – t-turn her away.’ Cat wasn’t sure where to look; there was something about Joe’s ripped torso that was making her feel a bit hot under the collar. She fumbled awkwardly as he stood there half-naked, fixing her with a steady gaze. His blond hair was dark from the rain, his blue eyes bright after his exertion.

She tried again. ‘What I’m saying is…’

‘I know what you’re saying. I know it was an awkward situation, and I’m sorry if I seemed unreasonable. But I don’t want dogs here, and I was surprised you’d let them in.’

‘I am really sorry.’

‘I know,’ he nodded. ‘Apology accepted.’ He gave her a hint of a smile, retrieved his glass of water from the kitchen and sat down opposite her, his elbows on his knees. His breathing had just about returned to normal, but Cat found herself fixated by the rise and fall of his chest, his slender but toned arms, and the six-pack. She looked away, thought of Mark, of his dark, amused eyes, his easy charm. She studied the individual orange hairs of Shed’s tail. She should go upstairs.

‘You looked a bit soggy when you came in earlier,’ Joe said eventually. ‘Were you walking the dogs?’

Cat nodded, reached for her cold cup of tea. ‘My first official walk as Pooch Promenade.’

‘And how did it go?’ She sensed him thaw a little, felt the slip back into a familiar routine.

‘Well,’ she said, trying to ignore Joe’s bare chest. ‘It started out well enough. I had a Rhodesian ridgeback, Elsie’s mini schnauzers and the three Westies—’ She stopped.

‘Jessica’s three,’ he confirmed for her. ‘It’s in the past. Go on.’

‘Right, thanks. We were trotting happily along, and then they spotted a squirrel, and then I might as well have been a rag doll at the mercy of a pack of huskies, I was that effective.’ She felt a flash of the panic that had engulfed her earlier and shuddered. ‘Ugh. Anyway, I had to be rescued by a handsome stranger.’

‘Oh? Someone you know?’

‘No, due to the fact that he was a stranger.’

‘Fair enough.’ He gave a sheepish smile. ‘So he was your knight in shining armour?’

‘Complete with collie.’

‘He has a dog? Of course he does.’ Joe scratched his jaw and glanced out of the window. Neither of them had got round to pulling the curtains, and Cat realized they must be clearly visible from the road, the lit room glowing like a beacon in the dark. ‘And have you recruited his dog?’

‘No. Well, not yet. But I think he must live close by, so I’m going to see if I can find out a bit more.’

‘Oh, no.’ He turned back to her. ‘What are you up to?’

‘Nothing at all.’ She kept her tone light, knowing he would see through it in an instant.

Joe put his glass on the table. ‘It took you two months to wreck your job at the nursery, and that was because you decided to upset the natural order. You knew what was allowed, and you did the opposite.’ His voice was rising, his blue eyes hard. ‘You’re not even one week into your new job – your business, I might add, nobody to lose out except you – and already you’re plotting something. You’re going to mess it up before it’s even got going.’

‘I’m trying to get more clients, that’s all.’

‘You’re after this guy?’

‘I’m intrigued by him.’ That was true, and she wasn’t after him, especially not if he was already with Jessica.

‘If you like him, why not just invite him for a drink? Then you can find out more by asking him.’

‘It’s more complicated than that. I need to know some things first.’

Joe took his glass into the kitchen. ‘Not everything has to be complicated,’ he called. ‘And sometimes, often, in fact, simple is better.’ He dropped his voice so Cat had to strain to hear him. She got the impression he was no longer talking to her. ‘Most of the time, simple is far less bloody trouble.’

‘Poor Joe,’ Cat said to Shed, who was still at her feet. ‘Not a happy bunny, is he?’

‘Who’s a bunny?’

‘Nobody. I was just saying to Shed that he’d probably quite like to chase a bunny.’

Joe narrowed his eyes. ‘Shed’s far too lazy to go after a rabbit. Sometimes he finds going after a bowl of Whiskas too taxing.’

‘Joe, would you like me to walk him for you?’ She grinned. ‘Walking cats isn’t that weird – I bet quite a lot of people do it.’

‘I’d love that.’

Cat frowned. ‘Seriously?’

‘Yes, I would love to see you try and walk a Rhodesian what’s-its-name, three Westies and my fat cat. I would video it, and it’d go viral in about three days – three hours if a squirrel got in on the act.’

Once he’d gone for his shower, Cat put the kettle on. She felt a small glow of satisfaction. Maybe she hadn’t completely ruined her relationship with him, maybe he could be worked on, made cups of tea, chipped away at until the real Joe – the Joe before Alex Duhamel and Rosalin – came back, emerging from the layers of misery. Maybe she could have her cartoon dog and Pooch Promenadewebsite after all.

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As March turned into April, Fairview Park transformed into a carpet of colour, of daffodils and marigolds and bluebells, the sea had more blue days than grey, and Cat and Pooch Promenade gained more confidence and more clients. Elsie’s recovery was slow, and while she had begun to take Chalky and Disco around the block, they still needed more exercise. Along with Bertha and the Westies, Cat had a couple of poodles to walk twice a week, and a Border terrier called Huey whose owners worked full time. Meeting new clients and picking up the dogs, she was learning different routes, getting to know Fairview better, and finding that she liked the cheery seaside town more and more.