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‘Well, we’ve been calling him Sparks. And he’s very shy, but he might like to be petted if you’re really gentle.’

‘Is he one of your rescues?’ Summer asked, quietly.

‘Yes. He came in a few weeks ago.’

Sarah’s eyes went wide as she looked at Liv. ‘Are we going to be his new home? Am I getting a new dog as well as a new mum?’

‘Don’t get too excited, Sarah,’ Callum warned. ‘Liv’s just fostering him — looking after him for a few weeks — while Angela gets better from the accident and surgery. She can’t really walk Sparks as much as he needs right now, and he could knock her off her crutches too easily. Liv’s just looking after him for a little while, and then he’ll probably be going back to her while she looks for his new family.’

‘Oh.’ Sarah’s face fell for a few seconds before she grinned and looked at Liv. ‘So he’s a borrowed dog. A bit like a borrowed locum doctor?’

‘Yeah, a bit like that.’ Callum tousled her hair.

Sarah glanced at Liv, then back at him, and beamed. ‘OK.’ Sarah grabbed Summer’s hand. ‘Come on Tilly, let’s show Sparks your toys. C’mon boy.’

Callum watched in amazement as the shy dog hesitated, looked at all the adults, then bounded down the garden after the girls, yapping excitedly.

They hadn’t made it halfway down the garden path before Sarah ran back and threw herself into Liv’s arms. ‘I love borrowed locums.’ Just as quickly, she was off again, chattering loudly and excitedly to Summer and the dogs.

‘Liv?’ He folded his arms across his chest.

‘Yes, Callum.’

‘I thought you’d planned to be a temporary foster home for him.’

‘I did.’ He could see she was trying not to laugh. ‘But it looks like your daughter might have different ideas.’

‘Angela, when you’re feeling better, do you want to start drawing up the adoption papers, just in case?’

‘Sparks does seem pretty happy here,’ Angela agreed as they watched the dog bounce around the garden like an over-excited ping-pong ball.

Callum threw his arm around Liv’s shoulder and pulled her closer to him. ‘I’ve got news for you,’ he whispered in her ear.

‘What’s that?’

‘It’s not just my daughter with different ideas.’

‘No?’

‘No. It won’t be long before she’s officially your daughter too.’

She turned to grin up at him, her eyes sparkling. ‘I can’t wait.’

THE END