‘It’s a perfectly natural process,’ Thea agreed. ‘Dogs have them all the time.’

Lara didn’t seem convinced and, secretly, Thea wasn’t either. ‘Have you had puppies before?’ she asked Rory, ‘either personally or through another dog? She might need some help.’

A look of horror crossed his face. ‘No. Lara is my first bitch. I haven’t a clue what to do.’ He backed away like a father in a delivery room who’d rather be in the pub.

‘Well, where do you think she should have them?’ asked Thea. ‘I mean, the sofa looks awfully cosy, but there’ll be nowhere to sit for weeks and weeks, and they might get lost down behind the cushions.’

‘To be sure, everything else does. I suppose we’d better have a box. There may be one out in the shed, though for the life of me I can’t think what, short of an elephant, would come in a box big enough for Lara and her pups.’

‘And I don’t suppose you’ve had an elephant delivery for months.’ Thea couldn’t help feeling that Rory should have thought about this before.

‘The service is a bit patchy, here in Ireland.’

‘Well, let’s push the sofa back from the fire a bit and put newspapers and stuff down in front of it for now,’ Thea decided. ‘We can think where to put the pups later.’

‘Sure, she’s only a dog, we don’t need to fuss too much.’

Thea didn’t know if it was the woman or the animal lover in her which rebelled at this remark. ‘She’s entitled to a little care and attention, isn’t she?’

‘Of course. We just don’t need to go overboard. She could have the pups in the shed if necessary. Then they’d be out of the way.’

Thea barely had time to give Rory a horrified and reproachful look before there was a knock on the door.

‘Who the hell is that?’ demanded Rory.

As Thea was nearest, she opened the door. Unless it was a vet, or Susan with a giant cardboard box, whoever was there would get short shrift.

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Thea thought she was suffering from some strange sort of hallucination. There on the doorstep stood Molly and, just behind her, Petal. Behind them loomed a large, dark man and a small boy. It was like one of those dreams where people who couldn’t possibly know each other all come together.

‘At last we’ve found it,’ exclaimed Molly, pushing past Thea who, stunned, could only step out of the way.

‘About time too! I’m absolutely starving,’ said Petal, following Molly. ‘They wouldn’t let me play my music in the car. They are so not fair.’