The Mermaid Garden(93)

“It’s okay, Marina, I’ll have him,” she volunteered. “Mr. Atwood will just have to put up with him in the office. He can sleep under my desk.”

“No, you can’t have him at work,” said Rafa.

“I can ask my mother,” Tom suggested. “She’s got a cat, but you never know, they might get on.”

Marina seemed to be struggling with her conscience. “I can’t give him away,” she muttered. “I can’t. We have to take care of him.”

“I can look after him up in my room,” Rafa said gently. “You’ve given me an enormous suite, Marina; there’s room enough for both of us.”

She looked into the car and gazed on the sleeping mongrel. Then her eyes filled with tears. No one knew what to say. They had not expected her to react in this way.

“I’m sorry, Marina. I didn’t realize you were frightened of dogs.”

“I’m not frightened of them,” she replied, straightening up and composing herself. “He’s very dear. What are you going to call him?”

“We hadn’t thought,” Rafa replied, looking to Clementine for help.

“Biscuit,” she replied, grinning at her stepmother.

Marina gave a small smile and wiped her cheek. “Biscuit.” She laughed. “That’s a good name.”

“I thought you’d like it.”

“Sure,” Rafa agreed, oblivious of the joke that passed between the two women. “I’ll carry him upstairs and put him to bed.”

Marina seized control. “Tom, go and tell the kitchen to prepare something for him to eat and take up a bowl of water. Clementine, you go with Rafa and make up a little bed. I’m sure we have a basket somewhere—I’ll go and have a look.” She marched off to the stable block.

They watched her go. “What was that all about?” Rafa asked.

Clementine shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s a mystery. At least we know now that she’s not afraid of dogs.”

“If she’s not afraid of them, what’s the problem?”

“Perhaps it’s the fur. She’s very proud of her house.”

“No, it’s more than that. She nearly lost it.”

“She does that occasionally. Usually Harvey or Dad is near to put her back together again.”

Rafa frowned. “Why?”

“You ask too many questions, Rafa.”

But he stood staring at the stable block long after Marina had disappeared inside.

Rafa carried Biscuit upstairs and put him onto the blankets Clementine laid out for him on the spare bed. He was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open. Tom appeared a little while later with a bowl of water and some leftover chicken, and Marina had found an old wicker picnic basket as a temporary solution. Tomorrow they’d go and buy supplies at the pet shop. It looked like Biscuit was here to stay.

Clementine ignored the three missed calls on her mobile from Joe and agreed to stay for dinner while her clothes dried. They retreated to the stable block and sat around the kitchen table eating spaghetti with mussels, which Marina cooked better than any chef. Grey joined them, interested to hear about the dog, but more concerned about his wife and how she was reacting to her new guest. It astonished him that she had allowed the animal onto the premises at all. Rafa longed to ask why she didn’t like dogs, but intuition told him that that particular avenue was dark and treacherous.

At eleven Rafa got up from the table. “I’d better go and check on Biscuit, in case he wakes up and finds himself alone. He might be frightened.”

“After his adventure, I imagine he’ll be nervous for quite a while yet,” said Grey.

“I should go, too,” said Clementine. “Dad, can you give me a lift? I left my car in Dawcomb.”

“Of course,” said Grey, getting up.

Marina frowned. She sensed Clementine’s reluctance and wished she had the courage to admit that she’d been wrong and come home.

“I’ll walk you out,” said Rafa, then he turned to Marina. “Thank you for dinner. You cook spaghetti better than an Italian.”

Marina smiled. “Thank you. That’s quite a compliment, coming from a half Italian.”

Rafa accompanied Clementine onto the gravel. “What a day,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Why is it that whenever I’m with you, I end up taking off my clothes and jumping into the sea?”

“If you can’t work that out, you’re not as clever as I thought you were.”

She smiled. “Then you go to extraordinary lengths to get a girl to undress.”

“Some girls require more guile.”