Festive Fling with the Single Dad

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Aksel had spent a restless night just a few metres away from her. Even the thick stone wall between Flora’s bedroom and his couldn’t dull the feeling that anytime now she might burst through, bringing light and laughter. He imagined her in red pyjamas with red lips. And, despite himself, he imagined her out of those red pyjamas as well.

He set out before dawn with Kari, walking to the canine therapy centre, which was situated in the grounds of the Heatherglen Castle Estate. As they trekked past the clinic, Aksel imagined Mette, stirring sleepily under her quilt. She’d loved it, flinging her arms around his neck and kissing him. Each kiss from his little girl was still special, and every time he thought about it, his fingers moved involuntarily to his cheek, feeling the tingle of pleasure.

Esme Ross-Wylde was already in her office, and took him to meet his new charges, dogs of all kinds that were being trained as PAT dogs. For the next few weeks Aksel would be helping Esme out with some of the veterinary duties, and he busied himself reading up on the notes for each dog.

A commotion of barking and voices just before nine o’clock heralded Flora’s arrival with Dougal, and Aksel resisted the temptation to walk out of the surgery and say hello. There was a moment of relative peace and then Esme appeared, holding Dougal’s lead tightly.

‘Flora tells me that Kari’s made friends with this wee whirlwind.’ She nodded down at Dougal, raising her eyebrows when, on Aksel’s command, Kari rose from her corner and trotted over to Dougal. The little dog calmed immediately.

‘Yes. He just needs plenty of attention at the moment.’

‘I don’t suppose you could take him for a

while, could you? Give everyone else a bit of peace? He’s a great asset when it comes to teaching the dogs to ignore other dogs, but he’s getting in the way a bit at the moment.’

Aksel nodded and Esme smiled. ‘Thanks. You know that Flora works at the clinic...?’ The question seemed to carry with it an ulterior motive.

‘Yes, she came to introduce herself on Saturday, and she’s been helping me settle in. We went shopping for Mette yesterday.’

Esme chuckled. ‘Shopping’s one of Flora’s greatest talents. Along with physiotherapy, of course.’

‘We found everything that we needed.’ The idea that yesterday hadn’t been particularly special or much out of the ordinary for Flora was suddenly disappointing. It had been special to him, and the look on Mette’s face when he’d helped her unwrap her new quilt had been more precious than anything.

‘I’ve no need to make any introductions, then. I’ve been talking to the manager of a sheltered housing complex near here—her name’s Eileen Ross. We’re looking at setting up a dog visiting scheme there and I thought that might be something I could hand over to you. Flora visits every week for a physiotherapy clinic, maybe you could go along with her tomorrow and see how the place operates.’

‘I’d be very happy to take that on. I’ve seen a number of these schemes before, and I know that the elderly benefit a great deal from contact with animals.’ The tingle of excitement that ran down his spine wasn’t solely at the thought of the medical benefits of the visit.

‘So I can put this on the ever-growing list of things that you’ll take responsibility for while you’re here?’

Aksel nodded. He wasn’t aware of such a list and wondered whether it was all in Esme’s head. She ran a tight ship here at the centre, and he’d already realised that she was committed to exploring new possibilities whenever she could.

‘Leave it with me. I’ll have a report for you next week.’

‘Marvellous. I’ll give Flora a call and let her know that’s what we’re planning. Is an eight-thirty start all right for you?’

‘That’s fine. Is the sheltered housing complex within walking distance from Cluchlochry?’

Esme chuckled. ‘It depends what you call walking distance. I doubt Flora would think so. You don’t have a car?’

‘No.’

‘We have an old SUV that you can use while you’re here. It’s a bit bashed around and it needs a good clean, but it’ll get you from A to B.’

‘Thank you, that’s very kind. I’ll pick it up in the morning if that’s okay.’

‘Yes, that’s fine. I’ll leave the keys at Reception for you.’

CHAPTER FIVE

FLORA HAD ALLOWED herself to believe that going to Mette’s room at lunchtime, when she knew Aksel would be there, was just a matter of confirming their visit to the sheltered housing complex tomorrow morning. But when she found him carefully threading Mette’s fingers into a pair of red and white woollen gloves, the matter slipped her mind. The two of them were obviously planning on going somewhere as Mette was bundled up in a red coat and a hat that matched her gloves, and Aksel had on a weatherproof jacket.

‘Hi, Mette.’ Flora concentrated on the little girl, giving Aksel a brief smile, before she bent down towards Mette, close enough that she could see her. ‘You look nice and warm. Are you going somewhere?’

Mette replied in Norwegian. Her English was good enough to communicate with all the staff here, but sometimes she forgot when she needed to use it.

‘English, Mette.’ Aksel gave his daughter a fond smile. If there had ever been any doubt about his commitment to the little girl, it was all there in his eyes. ‘We’re going on an expedition.’