Retribution

Chapter 39 - As Time Goes By

We spent a good couple of hours with Ellie that day, walking her around the extensive grounds, letting her off the lead, and playing with her. She'd taken to Harvey like a duck to water. After completing all the paperwork, arranging a home visit, and visiting the centre every day for the following week, Ellie finally came home.

She'd been with us for two weeks now and had settled in brilliantly. When Harvey was home, she followed him everywhere. If it was just me and her, she replaced Marco by being my new shadow.

A delivery driver knocked at the door after she'd been with us three days. Marco, intrigued by Ellie, observed her from a distance and let her take the lead. She pushed her way in front of me, barking before I'd even opened the door. The delivery driver eyed her with caution before looking up at me.

"She's fine," I said, smiling. "Don't worry."

I patted her on the head and to my surprise, she sat down and remained quiet whilst I signed the paperwork and took my parcel. Marco explained the natural instincts of a dog to put itself in between the possible threat and its owner, or rather, leader. With each day that passed, she proved more and more that she was exactly what I'd been looking for. I couldn't remember life without her.

Jake had gone to France on the Monday morning after we'd met Ellie. We'd spoken every morning and evening, but it was hard not having him here after he'd been glued to my side for three weeks. I felt like a part of me was missing. He still had another four weeks to go, which included trips to Belgium and Switzerland. With my dreaded thirtieth birthday tomorrow, I was trying my hardest to look on the bright side.

A silver lining to my cloud though was that since Jake had left, Adam had quietened to an extent which made me wonder if I'd hallucinated the past few weeks. Even though Marco was still around, and Jonny still at Charlie's, Adam seemed to think that Jake had abandoned me in favour of other women.

Work had become a welcome distraction and a surprising piece of normality to getting myself back on track and in a normal routine again. Marco kept Ellie with him during the day so she wasn't home alone, but I knew at some point she'd have to be home alone for a period of time, and I wasn't too sure how I was going to handle that yet.

Tonight, I was going to my favourite Mexican restaurant with Charlie, accompanied by Johnny who agreed to sit at the bar. Tyson was home, and much better, although not quite fully recovered. I'd been hesitant about letting him and Ellie meet whilst he was still feeling vulnerable, but at Charlie's insistence, I brought Ellie to the barn after a week. After a few tense minutes of watching them sniff each other and follow each other around, Tyson curled up in his fluffy bed, and Ellie cuddled up next to him. My dog was turning into a healing angel for everyone she came across.

After picking Charlie up, we made our way over to my mums. Harvey was staying with her for the night, but Adam had asked at the last minute to take him ice skating after tea, throwing me off course with my plans. This meant I had to take Harvey's clothes and things to mum's house before heading off for my delicious fajitas. With Adam taking Harvey back to mums, I knew he'd be there when I dropped off Harvey's overnight bag. But that still didn't stop the lurch of fear in my chest when I saw his car parked outside her house.

Jonny offered to take Harvey's things in for me, but I refused. I couldn't afford to show any kind of weakness after everything so far. I took a deep breath as I walked towards the front door, not expecting Adam to come waltzing out before I got there.

"Hi," he said, his brown eyes lighting up with hope.

"Hi."

A broad smile slid across his face. "You look lovely. Are you going out?"