in hand.
Cat inhaled, then jumped when she saw that George was standing silently next to her table, holding her mug of tea. He put it in front of her, followed her sight line and nodded slowly. ‘The man, the one with the dog. Saved you from the squirrel.’
‘Y-yes. Although you make it sound like I was being attacked, like the squirrel was enormous, with big teeth and claws.’ She started to laugh, but George was still looking at Mark.
‘You need to watch that one.’
‘Sorry? I need to watch who?’
‘The man.’ George nodded his head towards Mark.
‘Why?’ Cat’s mouth went dry, sure George was about to impart a piece of the jigsaw puzzle.
‘Watches people, writes it all down. Sits in here with coffee, black, no sugar, and a macaroon.’
He said it as if that, in itself, was suspicious. Those treacherous macaroons. ‘And…?’ Cat prompted.
‘He watches people, writes it in his book. Big, leather, silver fountain pen. Spying maybe, taking notes, reporting back. Too quiet, brooding. Just like that programme Spookies. Maybe he is one, a Spooky?’ George turned to Cat, a bushy eyebrow raised.
Cat bit back her laughter, wondered if she should point out that George was doing just what he was accusing Mark of: spying on people, reporting his observations to others. ‘I’ll make sure to be wary of him. Thanks, George.’
‘No more squirrels, young lady.’ He said it with sudden fervour. ‘The squirrels lead you to the man, and to all sorts of trouble.’
‘The squirrel wasn’t my decision.’
‘Take more care, avoid the squirrels.’ He wagged his finger at Cat, then each of the dogs in turn, before going back inside.
‘Wow,’ Cat murmured. ‘That was intense, wasn’t it?’ Dior looked up and gave a single, affirming bark. ‘What do we think? Do we think George has a point? What is Mark up to? Is he spooky, or just sexy?’ Cat bit her lip, refused to acknowledge that she’d said it out loud and then realized that, only an hour before, Mark had been walking Chips close to the cliffs. She knew collies were energetic, but did she really need another walk quite so soon? Had he been lying to her? Maybe George was right; maybe she needed to take a step back, leave Jessica and Mark to their own lives and concentrate on her own. After all, she had enough to think about with Pooch Promenade, skirting around Joe, and the upcoming party. Jessica’s party. Cat sighed, stroked Coco’s wonky ear and blew on her tea. Spooky Mark had disappeared amongst the trees.
She found Polly sitting on the wall at the side of the Fairview vet’s surgery, eating a cheese sandwich and trying to keep her long hair out of her face.
‘Can’t you eat inside?’ Cat asked, making Polly jump.
‘They’re redecorating the kitchen, so it’s full of burly builders and smells of paint. I don’t mind being out here, apart from when small dogs try and eat my lunch.’ She snatched the other half of her sandwich away from Dior, and then gave him an affectionate stroke to make up for it. ‘So these are Jessica’s dogs? They’re very pristine.’
‘Just like she is.’
‘And well behaved?’
‘Mostly. Listen, she’s invited us to a party.’
Polly stopped mid-chew. ‘Seriously?’ she mumbled. ‘Why?’
‘Because I walk her dogs, because we live on the same road? I don’t know, but it’s exciting, isn’t it? Her house is amazing. And think of all the potential clients that could be waiting for us. It’s a networking goldmine. You’ll come, won’t you?’
‘I don’t know…a party’s not really my thing.’
‘How can you say that all parties aren’t your thing?’
‘This one will be posh, and I don’t know Jessica.’
‘So come, and then you will. Joe’s invited too.’
Polly gave her a sceptical look.
‘Oh, come on, I can’t go on my own! We can get glammed-up together – we’ve not done that since I moved in – and go and see how the rich and famous live. These opportunities don’t come along very often.’
‘And especially not involving tall, dark-haired strangers.’ Polly grinned, her freckled nose crinkling, and nudged Cat with her shoulder. Cat had told Polly all about Mark, about his sarcasm and his trips to London and his smug chin, but now she wished she hadn’t.
‘That’s not important.’ She wrestled an empty chip box out of Valentino’s mouth. ‘Don’t eat rubbish.’
‘Why not? I thought he was your new Miss Marple project.’
‘I need to leave him and Jessica alone. I need to focus on what’s going on in my life.’
Cat’s words were met with stunned silence.
‘Okaaaaay,’ Polly said eventually. ‘What’s happened? Did you find something out?’
Cat shook her head. ‘I made a decision.’
‘You realized that curiosity could kill the Cat?’ Polly grinned, and Cat rolled her eyes.
‘It felt all wrong. If they’re together, I should let them get on with it. Jessica’s a grown woman. She doesn’t need my help and I was in danger of—’ She stopped, turned away from her friend and lifted Valentino onto her lap.
‘Danger of what?’
‘Danger of messing it all up. As usual.’
‘Oh, Cat, come on, I wasn’t being serious.’ Polly rubbed Cat’s back. ‘I’m eighty per cent sure you wouldn’t have done anything too calamitous, but you’re right, you need to leave them to it. If it turns out Mark isn’t involved with her, you can re-evaluate.’
‘Exactly. So this party, then.’
‘Let me check my work schedule.’
‘You can’t be working on a Friday night, can you?’
‘Late-night surgeries. We do them three times a week now, and Friday is always busy because people panic that they won’t be able to see a vet over the weekend without paying a huge call-out fee, so we get all sorts. Cats eating coal, “Why is my puppy running in circles?”, parrots that have stopped talking.’
‘Sounds like a riot. Never mind my messed-up life, how are you supposed to have one when you spend all your time here or studying?’
‘It’s fun! And if we can reassure a few scared owners, and fix the genuinely unwell pets too, then we all go home happy. What would you do if Valentino got sick, or Disco – if Disco hurt herself on a Friday night – and the vet’s was shut?’
‘I’m not against what you’re doing – how could
