Her heart began to stammer. Chutney had a tendency to wander, especially if he got the scent of a rabbit. Even though she had got the gap in the hedge fixed, she suspected there were other places he could have squeezed through, being so much smaller than the other two dogs. What if he had got out on the road? Although there wasn’t much traffic along this particular lane, it only took one speeding car to do the damage.
Poppy looked at the manor in the distance. Raffaele Caffarelli’s top-notch sports car was parked out the front. There were lights on downstairs, which meant he must be still awake.
She glanced at the business card on the kitchen table. Should she call him to see if he had seen any sign of Chutney? The three dogs were used to walking up to the manor. Before Lord Dalrymple had died she had taken them up every day to visit, and she had only stopped walking them in the grounds of the manor once the ‘sold’ sign had gone up.
She picked up the business card and ran her index finger over his name. She took a little uneven breath, reached for her phone and quickly typed in the number before she changed her mind. He answered on the third ring.
‘Rafe Caffarelli.’
Poppy felt the base of her spine shiver at the sound of the deep burr of his voice. ‘Um...it’s Poppy Silverton here.’
‘I’ve been expecting you to call.’
‘I’m not calling about the dinner thing. I wondered if you’d seen a little dog up at the manor.’
‘What sort of dog?’
‘He’s a cavoodle.’
‘A what?’
Poppy rolled her eyes at his tone. ‘He’s a cross between a miniature poodle and a King Charles cavalier. He’s called Chutney.’
‘You named your dog after a condiment?’
She pursed her mouth in irritation. ‘Have you seen him or not?’
‘No.’
‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry to bother you so late. Goodni—’
‘I’ll have a look around outside. Would he have wandered into the maze, do you think? I haven’t figured it out yet so you might have to come and rescue me from the minotaur if I get stuck.’
‘I’m sure you’re quite adept at getting yourself out of complicated situations.’
He gave a little chuckle. ‘You’ve been reading up on me, haven’t you?’
‘If you find Chutney, please call me.’
‘I’ll do
even better than that. I’ll deliver him to your door.’
‘I wouldn’t want to put you to any bother.’
‘Will he come to a stranger?’
‘He’s a shameless glutton,’ Poppy said. ‘He’ll do anything for food.’
Her spine shivered again as he gave another deep chuckle. ‘I know the type.’
* * *
The doorbell rang a few minutes later. Poppy had only just come back inside after doing another round of the garden. She shushed Pickles and Relish, who were bouncing up and down on their back legs like string puppets being controlled by a hyperactive puppeteer. ‘Down, Pickles; you too, Relish. Sit. I said sit.’ She opened the door to find Rafe standing there with Chutney under one arm. ‘Oh, you found him! Where was he?’
He handed the dog to her. ‘He was sitting at the back of the manor near the kitchen door.’
Poppy put Chutney on the floor where his two friends immediately besieged him with frenzied licks and whimpers of delight, as if he’d been away for a month instead of an hour. She straightened to face Rafe. ‘I’m sorry about that. I think he still misses Lord Dalrymple. We used to go up to visit him every day.’