Read Online Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts by Lucy Dillon - Free Book Online

would you recognise that particular activity? You never even so much as turned on the dishwasher for years. Zoe’s smile intensified.
    David lifted an eyebrow and looked amused. ‘Wow. Things have changed.’ Then he frowned. ‘You’re not thinking of selling the house behind my back, are you? Because . . .’
    ‘Mum!’ Spencer tugged her sleeve. ‘Mum, Dad’s given Leo the best present ever .’
    ‘Yeah!’ agreed Leo. ‘You’re never going to guess what it is, it’s so cool!’
    Their faces were shining with excitement, and even as she smiled down, pleased to see them so happy, Zoe’s heart sank. David’s presents usually involved a lot of cleaning up for her. She hoped it wasn’t going to be something that made them sick, damaged the house or turned her into Scrooge Mummy in comparison.
    ‘Let me guess!’ she said, making a reasonably good show of pretending to furrow her brow. ‘Is it . . . a Tardis?’
    ‘No!’ howled Spencer and Leo.
    ‘Is it . . . a Dalek?’ Zoe cast a furtive glance over the car towards David. She half-thought it might be; she’d investigated hiring one for Leo’s sixth birthday party the following week, only to discover she could get NASA to build her one for slightly less. It would be just like David to upstage her cunning cardboard approximation.
    He shook his head dismissively. ‘I don’t think it’s useful to buy into all that branding at their age. We need to talk about that, by the way. This Dr Who party business.’
    Aaaarrrrrrrggggggghhh, shut up, you po-faced bastard. ‘Too late,’ she said. ‘I’ve already ordered the cake.’
    ‘No, Mum!’ said Leo. He was nearly bouncing with joy, his round face beaming up at her. He looked like a mini David, but with her brown eyes. Her heart twanged. ‘Guess again, guess again!’
    ‘Better than a Dalek,’ said Spencer, scornfully.
    Zoe hoped it wasn’t a bike. Please, not a bike. Or a mini Ferrari or something.
    ‘Is it . . .’ She pantomimed putting her finger on her chin and looked at Leo with one eye closed. ‘A speedboat?’
    ‘No!’ he cackled, unable to hold it in any longer. ‘It’s a puppy!’
    Her jaw dropped, and this time there was no pantomime involved. ‘Not a real one, though?’
    ‘Yes a real one!’ Spencer butted in, nearly knocking Leo out of the way. In the last few months he’d grown noticeably bigger than his brother, starting to look like a real boy. ‘Look, let’s get him out! He’s in the boot. His name’s Toffee and he’s just like off the telly and he’s going to sleep in my room during the week, and in Leo’s at the weekend.’
    ‘ My bedroom!’ howled Leo. ‘He’s going to sleep on my bed, Spencer! He’s my dog!’
    ‘No, I’m the oldest . . .’
    ‘He’s both yours,’ insisted David in a calming, caring-and-sharing tone that made Zoe want to strangle him. ‘Be gentle, Leo, Toffee’s probably very scared after his journey.’
    As the boys slipped into their habitual squabbling over who would get the puppy out, Zoe straightened up and glared over the top of the car. ‘David. I can’t believe you’d be so irresponsible!’ she hissed. ‘We talked about this at Christmas. You knew I’ve said they can’t have a dog! It’s impossible!’
    He raised his hands. ‘Nothing’s impossible, Zoe. It’s a question of what’s convenient . We all have to make compromises and I really think it’ll be good for them. Give them a sense of routine.’
    Zoe could barely breathe for outrage. Routine? After he’d destroyed every scrap of routine they knew? There was so much wrong with this that she didn’t know where to begin. The trouble was, she knew she had thirty seconds flat before he passed the buck onto her and screeched out of the boys’ lives for another week.
    ‘Maybe you should come in and have a cup of tea and we can talk about this,’ she managed, but already David was looking shifty.
    ‘I’d love to but I’ve got to make tracks. Jennifer’s got plans