Janice Sharp chased after her dog Toby as he shot off along the beach making a beeline for Dan Preston's poodle Sherrie. Janice was too late, Toby was already playing tug of war with Sherrie's posh fleece lined waterproof jacket. Sherrie tried running away, however, small but strong terrier Toby wasn't about to let go of Sherrie's coat and he'd already made holes in it with his sharp canine teeth.
Finally catching up Janice grabbed Toby by the collar, lifting him up and shouting at him to stop as Dan made a grab for Sherrie. "I’m so sorry Dan!" Janice said as she put Toby’s lead back on him. Dan was cross, it wasn’t the first time that Janice’s dog had been a nuisance to other dogs on the beach. "Isn’t it time you took him to training school" he scowled at Janice "or at least keep him on the lead" Janice went bright red, she was so embarrassed and she knew he was right. "I did take him to a few lessons, but he just disturbed the other dogs in the class" she admitted "and we got thrown out". Dan suppressed a smile, he really wanted to laugh, but he tried to keep his face stern. He muttered "OK" turned his back and headed off to his cottage up on the Clifftops above the bay; Sherrie and her torn coat held firmly under his arm. Janice headed straight for home too, she lived in the lower part of Sandstone Bay where she was a little bit more
sheltered from the stormy weather than Dan with his cottage up there on the highest point overlooking the ocean.
Janice had never married, and at 38 she enjoyed her life as an independent woman, she’d inherited her parents small cottage after they’d been tragically killed in a car accident when she was 24. She missed them so much, she’d never been one for having lots of friends and her one romance with John Brent, who worked as a barman in their local pub, came to an abrupt end when she spotted him kissing Tilly Waterman one afternoon down by the lock gates. She’d been hurt and devastated and her shy disposition meant that the little bit of confidence she had about meeting men had been shattered even more.
Reaching home, keeping her coat and bobble hat on, Janice took off her walking boots and put her trainers on, she decided she must drive into town now to get a replacement coat for Sherrie as the shops would be closed tomorrow as today was New Year’s Eve. The weather was supposed to get really bad over the New Year too and a fine dust of snow was already settling on the roads. Luckily she only had to drive three miles into the nearest town where the pet shop was. She took her naughty dog Toby along for the ride. Janice worked from home as an Accountant so she rarely went anywhere without her dog. The pet shop had a similar doggy coat that would fit Sherrie and after buying it with some doggy treats for both Sherrie and Toby, Janice popped into the off-licence next door to the pet shop to get Dan a bottle of wine as well, hoping it might make him a little more friendly. Dan, who was a fisherman with the local fishing fleet, was pretty much a loner too since his partner left him for someone else, he hadn’t wanted a poodle named Sherrie, but his girlfriend left the dog behind declaring that her new boyfriend didn’t like dogs. Dan would be celebrating his 40th Birthday tomorrow on New Year’s Day and he just couldn’t be bothered to start any new relationships, he hadn’t seen his girlfriend’s betrayal coming and he didn’t think he could trust anyone ever again.
The snow was falling fast now as strong winds whipped across the country roads as Janice drove back to Sandstone Bay. She began to get worried as the snow was settling deeply and flashes of yellow lightening lit up the dull grey late afternoon sky. She had to drive past Dan’s place before driving down into the Bay so she decided to drop Sherrie’s coat, dog treats and the bottle of wine off on the way home. However a hundred yards or so from his cottage Janice realized that her car was slipping and sliding all over the place and she only just managed to pull off of the road and onto the snow covered grass verge. She had no option other than to grab Toby and the bag with the gifts and quickly get over to Dan’s or she’d be stuck in her car.
It seemed to take her ages to battle against the wind and snow, but finally she made it to Dan’s door and rang the doorbell. Dan had been dozing in front of the fire when the doorbell disturbed him, grumbling to himself he got up wondering what sort of mad person comes out in weather like this. He thought he was having a nightmare when he opened the door to see a bedraggled Janice covered in snow with killer dog Toby whimpering under her arm. He stood there shocked. " Can I come in?" Janice blurted out, amazed at his rudeness of letting her stand there in the freezing cold. Dan moved back making room for Janice to enter the hallway as he quickly shut the door against the blizzard. "What on earth are you doing out in this weather Jan?" he asked as he took her wet coat and hat to hang them on the hall stand as he looked at Toby, making sure that Janis had hold of his lead. "I’m so sorry" Janice muttered, offering him the bag with Sherrie’s new coat, dog treats and the bottle of wine. Dan took the soggy bag and looked inside "You really shouldn’t have bothered Jan, didn’t you hear the weather forecast?" Janice wanted to cry, here she was trapped by the weather with a man who disliked her intensely. "You’d better come in and sit by the fire to warm up, but hold onto that dog of yours" he told her.
Janice sat in the cozy armchair by the roaring log fire, Toby settled at her feet already making himself at home. Dan brought Janice a cup of hot chocolate and sat opposite her on the other side of the fire. "I honestly thought I could get back before the storm got worse, I really didn’t mean to impose on you" Janice said. Dan actually smiled, he soon realized how shy Janice really was. "Well we’ll just have to make the best of it, if you don’t mind sleeping on the sofa tonight, there’s no way we can get you home in this blizzard" he told her. "Thank you Dan, I’ll be gone as soon as I can get to my car tomorrow" Dan just nodded and got up to go to the linen cupboard to sort out some blankets and a pillow so Janice would be snug on the sofa.
Poodle Sherrie wasn’t a good guard dog, she’d slept through Janice and Toby’s arrival. She woke up to the smell of hot chocolate and her owner Dan cursing under his breath as he stirred the hot drink to give to Janice. After Dan had gone to sort out the blankets, Sherrie wandered into the living room and slowly approached Toby, Janice held onto Toby’s collar very tightly. Sherrie and Toby did a bit of mutual sniffing and Sherrie wandered off again to find her warm bed. Janice looked around the modern neat room, Dan had good taste and Janice approved of his uncluttered but comfortable home. She noticed a few birthday cards on the mantlepiece above the fire and she got up to look at them. Dan came back in with an armful of bedding and Janice felt embarrassed for being so nosy. "Happy Birthday Dan" she said, sitting down again. "It’s not until tomorrow" Dan replied "I don’t make a big thing of birthdays" Janice agreed, since her parents had gone she just got a few cards from distant relatives and a couple of friends, but that was it. The awkwardness between Janice and Dan was almost palpable, Dan went off to the kitchen to prepare a meal for later. He switched the tv on, giving the remote control to Janice in case she wanted to watch something.
After preparing the meal and putting it to one side, Dan stayed out in the kitchen with Sherrie in her doggy bed, turning on his laptop to see the latest weather forecast and to catch up on the news. Janice dozed in the chair along with Toby, the warmth of the fire making them both sleepy. Around 7pm Dan came in to tell Janice that dinner was ready. He brought in a bowl of dog food for Toby with some water and ushered Janice into the kitchen where an unexpected feast was laid out on the kitchen table. Dan’s hobby was cooking, he’d always treated his ex-girlfriend to wonderful meals, but she’d never really praised him for the effort he made. "This looks amazing!" Janice told him. He smiled and Janice noticed how good looking he was when he wasn’t being stern. She smiled back as she seated herself at the table. Dan had cooked a fish pie, roast potatoes and parsnips, cabbage, baby carrots and mashed swede. He’d also made an apple pie with custard for dessert. "Tuck in" Dan said as he sat down at the table. Janice put her folded napkin on her lap and cut into the delicious fish pie. "Where did you learn to cook like this?" she asked him. "This is so nice!" she added. Dan was really pleased that Janice liked his meal "I’ve always been interested in cooking" he explained "I did fancy opening a restaurant at one time, but my partner at the time Nicole, thought it would be too much work for both of us" "What a shame" Janice exclaimed "but it’s never too late if you wanted to try it, the Bay only has a fish and chip shop and the bakery that’s also a café, but we have nothing for dining out except pub grub." She told him. Dan was a little surprised at the new Janice who had suddenly come out of her shell and was talking so enthusiastically about his cooking skills. "Funny enough" Janice added "I’ve always fancied running my own business, doing Accountancy for a living is rather dull. If you wanted someone to go into partnership with I’m sure I could learn, I’m not a bad cook either" Janice realized that she was talking too much and being a little bit pushy with her eagerness to please. She concentrated on her lovely meal as Dan sat there smiling. "We never know what the future holds Janice, it’s good to know that you would be interested should the unlikely event happen that I could afford my own restaurant."
Janice helped Dan stack the dishwasher and Dan said he would have an early night, time had flown and it was 10 pm. He wished Janice a goodnight and said he hoped she would be comfortable on the sofa with Toby sleeping in the armchair by the fire. Dan then retired to his bedroom and Sherrie settled in her bed by the warm Aga in the kitchen. With the lights out and just the glow of the log fire the cottage seemed eerie, Janice tried to get off to sleep, but she kept hearing strange noises and she thought she saw an orb of light floating near the corner of the room. Just as she was dozing off she was awakened by someone or something trying to tip her off of the sofa. She got to her feet, but there was nothing there when she switched the light on. Toby was also awake and growling deeply in his throat. Janice opened the living room door and thought about waking up Dan, but she was so worried about being a nuisance that she decided to go back to the sofa and try to get to sleep. It wasn’t long before the entity tipped Janice right off of the sofa onto the floor. She was terrified, Toby had already run out of the room as she’d left the door ajar earlier. This time she went into the hall and banged on Dan’s door to wake him up. "I’m so sorry Dan, but there’s something strange going on in the living room" she yelled. Dan opened his bedroom door in his striped pyjamas and looked at the trembling Janice who looked quite ludicrously swamped in the large dressing gown he had lent her. He told her to come in and tell him what was going on. Janice explained what had happened and she was surprised at his calmness and the fact that he didn’t think she was crazy.
They sat side by side on Dan’s bed and he even put his arm around her to steady her nerves. "I should have warned you" he finally said, he explained "When I bought this house 15 years ago the previous owner told me that they thought the house was haunted by an old lady who used to live here in the 1920s. The thought of ghosts had never bothered me so the sale went ahead. I was aware of her presence when I moved in and although I’d heard weird noises and things seemed to get moved around now and again, she’d never really been a nuisance.” he continued “It was a bit different when my ex-girlfriend moved in 3 years ago, the ghost seemed to take a dislike to Nicole and the banging and stuff being moved around got a lot worse. Funny enough the dog never seemed worried about the place being haunted, in fact she wagged her tail and looked happy to see whatever was there." Janice was stunned, but she felt safe now sitting with Dan. "Nicole had wanted me to sell up and move straight away, but I had always been happy here and I hoped that things would settle down. And they did after a while, though Nicole still wanted a bigger more expensive house in the upmarket part of the nearby town. She was more of a one for night life and she enjoyed the shops, maybe we weren’t all that suited anyway."
Janice was surprised that Dan had opened up to her so much and she told him about her own life, the sadness at losing her parents and her boyfriend who had been playing around. "My goodness" Janice suddenly said, "Where is Toby?" Janice had visions of Toby setting about Sherrie and biting her. Dan got up and led the way into the hall, the kitchen where Sherrie had her bed was just opposite and the door was open. Dan had a small night light in the kitchen and he looked over to where Sherrie’s bed was. "Come here Jan" he said. Laughing, he added "take a look" Janice could see Toby and Sherrie snuggled up closely in the doggy bed and they were both fast asleep.
The grandfather clock struck midnight, it was New Year’s Day. "Happy New Year Janice" Dan said "Happy New Year Dan and Happy Birthday" she smiled. "Would you like a glass of wine?" Dan asked "That would be lovely, thanks Dan" Janice replied. They sat on Dan’s bed drinking their wine and chatting through the night, Janice still felt a bit jittery about going back into the living room, but she felt fine with Dan being there. Both Dan and Janice realized that they actually had a lot in common and this was the start of a great friendship and maybe even more.
The ghost of the little old lady chuckled to herself as she watched the couple getting on so well. She knew two good souls when she saw them and she knew that in time they would both look after her lovely house, just as Dan had looked after it and loved it when he moved in. She knew that Nicole wasn’t good enough for kind-hearted Dan and she had done her best to drive her out. She had managed to tip Janice off the sofa knowing that she’d go running to Dan. As for Toby, he’d seen the ghost and dashed off to find Sherrie who was more than willing to snuggle up to Toby as he leapt in beside her in her doggy bed.
New Year’s day was bright and the skies were clear, the snow storm had gone and the lorries had been out gritting the roads early in the morning. Janice hadn’t rushed off home, Dan asked her to stay for lunch and they’d made plans to see each other the next day. It was a brand new year and with it came all probabilities and possibilities. Janice and Dan had found the joy of being in each other’s company and Toby had been forgiven for bringing them together in such a chaotic way, he and Sherrie were inseparable now too. The ghost of the little old lady smiled to herself, just a little push had helped Janice and Dan on the way to fulfilling their dreams. Together, in the future, they would open up one of the most popular restaurants in the region and they would raise a family in her beloved cottage on the cliff. The ghost lady’s job was done, she could move on to where she was meant to be…....
Happy New Year. Best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2021
(All characters and places in this story are fictional and the story is also on my blog ' Virtually London (Lite)') https://sllondon.blogspot.com/