Follow My Lead Episode 31
“Charlie, thank goodness you’re still open!”
His smile was a flash of white in the greasy, grimy face.
“You’re lucky. I was due to close ten minutes ago, but my last customer got held up.”
That would have been the smart silver car scooting out of the yard just as she drove in.
“What can I do for you, Danielle? Van giving you trouble?”
This was where she’d bought her van and where she brought it for routine maintenance.
Charlie owned the place, and although it looked nothing more than a rickety old workshop, hidden down the lane that ran by his modest modern bungalow, she’d grown to trust him and like him.
The fact that it was Stu who had recommended him was another count in his favour.
“The van’s running fine,” she told him through her rolled-down window.
“It’s the lock on the back door. It’s been playing up and now it’s stuck fast.”
The dogs, hoping the stop meant another walk, had set up a cacophony of barking inside.
Charlie resettled his cap on his greying head.
“I’m guessing it’s bad timing? OK, let’s have a look.”
He disappeared round the back, and there was the sound of clanking and thumping, and a fair bit of muttering.
He appeared at her window again, rubbing a skinned knuckle.
“Doesn’t want to open, does it? I’ll have another go, but we might have to use bolt-cutters to get the animals out,” he admitted.
He vanished into the gloom of his workshop.
While Danielle fretted, visualising her van being hacked to bits to get the dogs out, Lydia was looking about with interest.
“Did you say you bought the van here?”
Danielle nodded.
“Charlie’s not one of those wheeler dealers. It’s more of a hobby than a business, Stu says.
“He’ll buy a car at an auction, do it up, then sell it for peanuts.
“Like that one over there.” She pointed.
Across the yard, a small blue car was tucked into a corner, a modest For Sale sticker on the windscreen.
“Oh.” Lydia’s reply was barely audible, yet it betrayed more than a passing interest.
Charlie had returned and was busy at the back of the van.
They smiled with relief when they heard the door open and close several times, before he reappeared at her window.
“I’ve managed a quick fix so it works for now, but you need a new unit. I’ll order it in.”
He would ring her when it arrived, and book the van in to fit it.
As they drove off to finally take the dogs home, Danielle noticed Lydia give the blue car another appraising glance.
Interesting, she thought, but she would bide her time to ask her about it.
They detoured via the cottage to drop Lydia off, then Danielle set out to deliver the dogs to their respective homes.
Ollie was last. They were quite late, and she was nervous about her reception.
Of all the dogs that might have been trapped in the van, it would have to be him. Just when she’d got him back.
“I’m sorry we’re late,” she began as soon as his owner opened the door, but she got no further.
“Don’t worry about it,” the woman said, stooping to fuss him.
She scooped the little dog into her arms and gave Danielle a bright smile.
“Look how much happier he is. Aren’t you, Ollie? Yes, you are,” she cooed, kissing his nose.
“He really didn’t take to Padding A-Round,” she said, before adding in a confiding tone, “If I’m honest, neither did I.
“He was very casual about his time-keeping,” she said, overlooking Danielle’s own late arrival.
“I even missed an appointment one day because of him.
“I got a look inside his van once, too, and it was nothing like yours. Yours is spotless.”
Ollie was fidgeting to get down, and she lowered him to the ground.
“Between you and me, I think he’s just in it for the money. Not like you. Anyone can tell you really love dogs.”
Danielle had crouched down beside Ollie, who was leaning adoringly against her knees.
The woman went on, becoming more serious.
“Would you consider taking Ollie on full time?
“We over-reacted to that little incident. The way you looked after him, and sorted the insurance and everything . . .”
She laid a hand on Danielle’s arm and her smile was sincere.
“I don’t think we appreciated how much care you take, and I want to say I’m sorry.”
Danielle was at her van when the woman called after her.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve passed on your number to one of my friends, too.”
As she drove home, Danielle’s heart was glowing as bright as the late afternoon sun.
She lifted her hand to flip down the visor against its glare, and laughed at her reflection in the mirror.
“Well, look at you with your big cheesy grin!”
She was still laughing when her phone rang.
She pressed a button on the steering wheel to connect hands free.
“Yes, this is Danielle. Yes, Lead On. Can I help you?”
She listened to the tinny voice coming from the speaker. It was a new client.
“I hope you might have a vacancy to take on my two Labradoodles, Pepsi and Shirli. I’d engaged another local service, but I’d prefer someone else.”
As she drove on, asking questions and acquiring details, Danielle’s smile grew even wider.
She didn’t want to tempt fate, but between Ollie’s owner and her friend, and now this woman, too, it looked like her business was getting back on track.