‘But it might be dirty or wet.’
Cameron pulled off his hoodie and laid it on the ground next to him and kept Gazza away by fussing him. ‘Here you go.’
Ros wasn’t sure. But then she reasoned that she wasn’t sure about any of it and she’d come this far so she carefully sat on the top and Cameron kindly kept Gazza’s advances at bay by hugging him.
‘Give me the lead and lie down,’ said Cameron.
‘Is that really necessary?’ asked Ros, starting to feel rather silly, and she had a quick check to make sure nobody was watching them.
‘I’m afraid it is,’ said Cameron, slowly lying back down.
Reluctantly Ros joined him and was immediately struck by how blue and cloud-free the sky was.
‘Take a moment,’ said Cameron.
Ros took a deep breath and Gazza walked over her solar plexus, making her emit an ‘oomph’ sound.
‘Sorry,’ said Cameron, guiding Gazza back to lie between the two of them. When the dog finally settled down then so did Ros.
The sun was warm, the ground beneath her was soft and there was a faint smell of grass and flowers in the air. She felt surprisingly calm. Especially given there was a hairy black dog panting away near her shoulder.
‘What are you thinking about right now?’ he asked.
‘Literally nothing. Except possibly what my head is lying on.’
‘Okay. Try not to think about that. We’re trying to find something we have in common so focus on that. What do you like?’
‘My job.’
‘Risk management. See, I remembered.’ He seemed to be thinking for a moment. ‘Probably nothing that we have in common there. What else do you like?’
There was an embarrassingly long pause while Ros tried to think of things that weren’t work that she liked and was struggling to find anything. ‘Sorry.’
‘It’s fine. Shall I go through things I like and you can jump in when there’s something you can relate to? Anything, however small a connection.’
‘Okay.’ Ros nodded and closed her eyes so she could concentrate.
‘I’m into hiking and hill walking. I’ve only been a few times but I had a blast skiing and learning to snowboard. I love the outdoors in pretty much any weather. I like it when you’ve gotten really cold and wet and then you come inside to warm up.’
He left a little pause as if willing her to agree but she couldn’t. Skiing seemed very high risk and Ros didn’t take risks. She also loathed being cold or wet. Being cold and wet was the worst.
He continued. ‘I read a lot. I have to for uni so my novel reading time is reduced but I still enjoy a good thriller. Something twisty. I like watching those sorts of things on TV too.’
‘I only read non-fiction.’
‘Okay. Don’t worry, we’ll find something. What else? I enjoy comedy, stuff that makes me laugh. I’ve been to a few comedy club nights; they’re always fun. Um . . .’ She got the feeling he was running out of things. ‘Music!’ he said a bit louder as if discovering it lurking at the back of his mind.
‘Yes, I like music.’
‘Excellent,’ he said, sounding relieved. ‘I like anything from Eighties pop to indie rock. Who do you like to listen to?’
‘Bach mainly,’ said Ros and she heard the gush of air as Cameron let out an exasperated sigh. ‘But I like classic musicals like The King and I. Do you like musicals?’ she asked.
‘Nah, I’m afraid I’m more into club classics,’ he said. He was quiet for a bit and she missed the sound of his voice. It had a lovely timbre to it.
They lay there in silence for a couple of minutes. Ros listened to the birds in the trees, the sound of nearby traffic and then footsteps as someone was walking the nearby path. They were listening to the radio and Ros almost tutted that they didn’t have headphones plugged in. She did not like those people. As they grew closer she could hear it was sports commentary and she tuned in.
‘Cricket!’ they both said at the same time.
Chapter Nine
Ros had been hoping to offload Gazza at her dad’s quite quickly but while she and Cameron had been chatting about cricket the dog had slunk over to a flowerbed and managed to dig a sizeable hole before they’d realised. Thankfully Cameron had tidied up the flowerbed but Gazza was caked in dirt and she couldn’t let him loose in her dad’s home in that state.
She scooped him up and carried him inside, the whole time keeping her head as far away from his tongue as possible because she was pretty sure she’d seen him eat a worm earlier. ‘Hi, Dad, we’re back,’ she called.
‘That was a long walk. Gazza will be your best friend for evermore.’
Ros briefly appeared in the living room with the wriggling canine under her arm. ‘He’s covered in dirt. I’m going to bathe him.’ Gazza’s tail immediately stopped wagging.
‘Shhh, we try not to use the B word.’
‘Dad, he’s not a toddler and he needs a . . .’ Her father pleaded with his eyes. ‘To be clean. I’ll sort him out and then I’ll be off. Okay?’
‘If you’re sure you don’t mind. I’ll give you a hand.’ Barry got to his feet and followed her.
‘You don’t need to and it does rather defeat the object,’ said Ros, trying to sound cheery as she took Gazza upstairs. She also wanted to avoid the Spanish Inquisition if she possibly could.
Ros put a forlorn-looking Gazza into the bath and got down the showerhead. ‘It’s no good going all pitiful – it’s your own fault.’ She switched on the shower and the dog flinched.
