Two nights later, after a boring day sitting at her bedroom window watching the world go by, Amber tidied herself and went downstairs to wait for her uncle to return from work so that they could have dinner together. He was usually so punctual that you could have set the clocks by him, but tonight six fifteen came and went and there was still no sign of him. By the time it got to seven o’clock Mrs Carter was clearly very disturbed.

‘Oh dear, I do hope he hasn’t had an accident. This is most unlike him,’ Martha Carter fretted as she stared along the road from the window for at least the tenth time in as many minutes. ‘I’d better go and get Biddy to put his dinner on a pan of water on the stove or it will be stone cold and ruined. Would you like yours now?’

Amber shook her head, feeling sorry for the woman. She obviously cared a great deal for her uncle and she just wished he wasn’t so blind that he couldn’t see it. ‘No, thank you, I’ll wait for Uncle Jeremiah,’ she told her.

‘Then I’ll get Biddy to keep yours warm too,’ Mrs Carter said, bustling away to try and save their meal.

Deep down Amber was getting a little concerned too. Her uncle was a creature of habit, and in the time she’d been living there she’d never known him to be late for his meal once.

At last, at almost half past seven, she heard a key in the lock of the front door and she hurried from the dining room at the same time as Mrs Carter appeared from the kitchen. Suddenly, they both stopped dead in their tracks as they stared towards Jeremiah who was standing there with a large bag in one hand and a squirming puppy in the other, his face red with embarrassment.

‘Wh-what’s this?’ Martha Carter surged forward with a look of wonder on her face and he thrust the puppy into her arms.

‘Er . . . Amber mentioned that she thought you’d like a dog,’ he said gruffly. ‘So I, er . . . got you this one . . . It’s a bitch.’

‘Oh Jeremiah, she’s just perfect,’ Mrs Carter breathed in delight, her eyes shining.

Suddenly Jeremiah noticed how attractive she looked when she blushed, which made him blush all the more. It was the first time she had ever addressed him by his Christian name and he found that he quite liked it.

‘So, er . . . is dinner spoilt?’ he asked for want of something to say. Amber had crossed to pet the little dog too and he almost felt as if he mightn’t have been there. Both women were clearly very taken with her.