Mills & Boon Christmas Delights Collection. Rebecca Winters

      Sara was a day trader in the city and in her working life wore designer suits and traded in numbers with so many zeros it made my head spin. Not that you’d know it looking at her now. But the smile she wore said it all. She volunteered here to escape the stress and even though that included undesirable jobs like washing out kennels and other chores that few people would put high on their list of ‘things I like to do in my free time’, it was all part of it.

      The other part of it was the animals. The centre mostly catered for dogs but they also took in the odd cat to help out other local shelters and had recently acquired two horses, a donkey and a Vietnamese Pot-bellied pig. These latest additions had been found in a barn after the owners moved, leaving no forwarding address. When John, the owner of the rescue centre, heard that there was the possibility of the horses being put down due to a lack of someone prepared to take them, he’d cleared an outbuilding and two days later had a comfy stable suitable for the animals to stay in. The pig also lived in there at the moment as it had delusions of grandeur and hadn’t quite yet figured out that it wasn’t actually a horse. But we were working on that.

      ‘How’s Bruno today?’ I came up to the kennel she was working on. It smelled clean and fresh from her efforts. A large Labrador was lounging on the dog bed with his head resting on the leg of her ripped jeans. His eyes were closing as she rhythmically stroked his ears.

      ‘Much better, thank goodness. He really seems to be settling. He’s eating quite well now too so John is hoping to be able to put him on the website in the next couple of days.’

      ‘Oh that’s great! It won’t be long before he finds a good home. Look at that face. How could anyone resist?’ Bruno was now making satisfied groany noises as Sara found a sweet spot under his chin.

      ‘I wish I could take him.’

      I smiled, sadly. ‘That’s the worst bit, isn’t it? Falling in love.’

      ‘Depends on the circumstances.’ She looked up at me from under her lashes.

      I raised an eyebrow. ‘Is there something I should know?’

      Sara’s smile widened and she pulled her other hand out from under Bruno’s head, an action which he made no effort to facilitate. One eye opened as she stopped caressing his ears to pull her glove off. On her third finger was a stunning, not to mention enormous, diamond.

      I grabbed her hand. ‘Oh my God! He asked? You said he’d never ask!’

      ‘I know! Believe me, I didn’t think he would. He always said he wouldn’t get married again, but then…’ She looked down at the ring, her face radiating happiness, contentment and perhaps a little lingering surprise. ‘I still can’t believe it!’

      I leant over the dog and gave her a hug. ‘Oh Sara. I’m so pleased for you, I really am. It’s wonderful news!’

      ‘Thanks Kate. I can’t tell you how happy I am. I thought I’d come to terms with the fact that I wouldn’t ever get married, because I knew I didn’t want my life to not have Henry in it. So, I’d just accepted that’s how it would be. And then, this! Completely out of the blue.’

      ‘Did he say why he changed his mind?’

      ‘He just said that he realised he was judging every marriage by his first one and that wasn’t fair on me, or himself. Now I think he’s even more excited than I am that we’re actually getting married!’

      I laughed. ‘That’s brilliant! Oh Sara. I’m just thrilled for you!’

      ‘Thank you,’ she smiled, pulling the glove back on. ‘And what about you? How’s Calum?’

      ‘Oh, he’s fine. Busy.’

      ‘As always.’

      I did a quick eyebrow raise. ‘I know. But I’m sure things will settle down soon and we can get to spend some more time together. Right, I’d better get a move on. Congratulations again.’

      ‘Thanks. I’ll see you later.’

      ‘OK. Bye.’

      I grabbed the handle of my trolley and pulled it around to the block I usually looked after, pondering on the fact that my reply to Sara about Calum had just trotted out like a well-rehearsed line. Which I suppose it was.

      It was true what I’d said to Janey about it being good to have someone who understood that I got busy, and I accepted that Calum worked a lot. He’d told me that from the beginning. Although, admittedly, I had thought we’d see each other a little more than we actually did. And the longer it went on, the harder it sometimes was. I was getting fed up of explaining away his absence so often and trying not to notice the private looks people exchanged when I did so. I got the feeling that some people didn’t even believe he existed. It was hard to blame them. There were weeks when he was so busy he barely called or texted at all. But I liked him and he’d promised me things would change soon. So until then, I’d just put up with the looks and comments. Things would change for the better soon.

      I got to the edge of the block and opened the first kennel.

      ‘Hiya, Kong,’ I called as I entered.

      A tiny patter of paws barely made a sound as the dog scuttled towards me. I scooped him up and gave him a cuddle. The teacup Yorkshire Terrier had come to the centre so thin it was hard to believe how he was still even alive. None of us had expected him to last another day. He was roughly the same size as one of the Kong toys we stuffed with cheese and treats for the bigger dogs, hence his name, and we all prepared for hearing the worst the next time we came in. But on my next shift, to my great surprise, not to mention delight, little Kong was still there and had even gained some weight. The vets had had to be careful about building him up gradually but he was now at a much healthier weight, and we were just awaiting some results from some tests on his kidneys. If those came back OK, which Mark was pretty confident would happen, Kong would soon be gracing the rehoming pages on the rescue centre’s website. He wouldn’t be up there long. His loving nature combined with perfect portability meant he’d be snapped up in hours, I suspected. I’d miss his little snuggles and really wished I could have him for myself, but it wasn’t possible with my job. And it wasn’t exactly the first time I’d been told I couldn’t have a pet. Even though this time I was the one giving myself the order. But at least now, here, I got to have the interaction with the animals that I loved.

      I tucked Kong in the front of my hoody where he liked to sit whilst I cleaned out his kennel. From there he watched everything that was going on, keeping nice and warm. I chatted away to him as I did my chores and he sat, listening contentedly. Today I told him about Sara’s engagement, that I hadn’t been seeing Calum as much as I’d hoped, and then I told him about my latest client, Michael O’Farrell, and the fact that I still couldn’t even begin to make him out.

      Several hours later, I’d cleaned all the kennels in my block, helped feed all the guests and played with a puppy for far too long before its new owner came to pick her up.

      ‘You look like that Stay Puft guy from Ghostbusters,’ Mark said, laughing as he wandered over.

      I pulled the scarf down that was currently tucked up to my nose.

      ‘You say the nicest things.’

      ‘I try.’

      ‘How many layers have you got on?’

      I paused a moment. ‘Four, I think.’

      He grinned.

      ‘Who you taking?’

      ‘Pete and Bonio.’

      ‘Good choice.’

      I smiled back and grabbed a couple of leads from the line of hooks on the wall.

      ‘See you later.’

      ‘See ya. Have fun.’

      I tucked a tennis ball in each pocket and snagged a ball flinger from the shelf. ‘That’s the plan.’

      With