“”That’s alright,” he said, feeling like he should add that he was sorry he hasn’t before now. But there was no need to go down the road. Guilt was pointless, he’d just aim to do better in the future.
“Ah, this is Jess. She’s a real fan of people,” he told Lucy. He reached down and picked up the cat with ease and confidence that came from years of being around the animals. “I had a cat called Jess back on the island. Well, he was called Mark, after Mark Twain, but then little Charlie got really into Postman Pat and started calling him Jess, and it stuck,” he explained. Maybe she knew that already. Maybe not.