Second Time Around Part 28

'A black Lab,' said Ben.

'Oh, they're so good tempered,' said Donna.

'Oh, let me see you,' said Jennifer and she crouched down and lifted the little pup onto her lap. He smelt of the litter and his little pink tongue hung out one side of his mouth. His fur was as smooth as silk and his little claws dug into her flesh like needles through the thin cotton skirt. He was shaking a little, overwhelmed by the audience, and he stared at Jennifer with coal black eyes so knowing and trusting her heart melted.

'Oh, let me have him. Let me have him,' cried Lucy and she grasped the little pup and pressed him to her breast and kissed the top of his smooth black head as if he were her baby. 'Oh, he's just adorable,' she cried and she cuddled him for some minutes, then set the little pup on the ground and everyone watched as he wobbled about, like a toddler who'd just found his feet, sniffing and tugging at Ken's trouser leg.

'I wonder what we should call him?' said Lucy.

'Well, we've had a m.u.f.fin ...' Matt's voice piped up from the corner. 'How about Doughnut?' Everyone laughed and Ben said, 'Oh, Matt, that's brilliant.'

As if realising that he'd just been christened, the puppy decided to mark the occasion. He squatted and a little trickle of urine ran along the join between the patio slabs, only missing Donna's smart leather bag by centimetres. Everyone roared, not least Donna, and she s.n.a.t.c.hed the bag onto her lap.

'You've got a wee lethal weapon, there, Jennifer,' she teased.

Ben said, 'Are you sure you like him? I know he'll never be a replacement for m.u.f.fin. But I thought the summer was the perfect time to get him.'

'Now is the perfect time,' said Jennifer, her heart swelling with happiness. 'And he's the perfect dog.'

'I've got everything we need for him in the car,' said Ben. 'A crate, pen, puppy food. You name it, I bought it!'

'Give us the keys then and I'll get the kitchen set up for him,' said Lucy. 'He'll need a place to crash after all this excitement.'

Ben handed over the keys and big burly Ken stood up. 'I'll give you a hand, love. I'll get cramp if I sit too long.'

Lucy paused with the keys in her hand and stared at Doughnut, who was now over at the border beside Grandpa, attacking the trowel with ferocious determination. Grandpa rolled the pup on the ground and tickled his chest. 'And maybe it's time we scattered m.u.f.fin's ashes.'

'Where were you thinking of, Lucy?' said Jennifer.

'Why right here,' she said with a smile. 'At the end, this was the only place he wanted to be.'

Jennifer nodded and looked around the small, sunny garden. He had spent most of his life here in this house and garden it was right and fitting that it be his final resting place.

Lucy and Ken disappeared and Jennifer watched the puppy hesitantly climb the steps up to the house, reminding her so much of the tentative way babies explore the world. And while the rest chatted and Matt, with a beer in one hand and a pair of tongs in the other, expertly flipped meat on the hot grill, Jennifer turned to Ben, now sitting beside her on the bench, the empty cardboard box at her feet.

She placed a hand on his knee, so bursting with joy and grat.i.tude, that it was some moments before she could speak. 'Thank you, Ben. That little pup means more to me than the finest jewellery.'

'He's our pup, my darling,' he said interlacing his fingers with hers. 'And it's my way of saying that I'm going to be around for a long time. Forever, if you'll have me.'

She did not want to think of the future, only the here and now and this happiness that she held in her heart as fragile as an egg. 'Let's enjoy each day as it comes,' she said staring into his deep, brown eyes, mirrors to her own, while all around them everyone laughed at the puppy's antics. 'Forever is a very long time.'

Erin Kaye's thoughts on writing.

Second Time Around.

What inspired you to write about a cougar relationship?

The hypocrisy within society that says it's okay for a man to date a very much younger woman, but not the other way around. It's true that cougar relationships are more common nowadays and less frowned on but they've become a source of amus.e.m.e.nt. I prefer not to use the word 'cougar' when talking about Jennifer and Ben as it implies a predatory relationship, whereas this love story is about the meeting of two minds.

Are Jennifer's fears for the future of her relationship with Ben unfounded?

The book ends on a slightly cautious note from Jennifer. I think she's taking her happiness where she can find it, in the here and now, fully aware that it may not last. But then again, it might.

Do you think it is a child's responsibility to fulfil his/her parents' hopes and expectations?

No. We never own our children, we are only guardians for the short time they are with us. It's very hard as a parent not to harbour hopes and expectations. Loving children unconditionally and without expectation is difficult almost impossible. And yet it's what we ought to strive for. In the story both Ben and Lucy are striving, unhappily, to be what their parents want them to be and it backfires in both instances. The message in the book is follow your heart. I think I learned that lesson the hard way. I had ten successful, but not fulfilled, years in banking before becoming a writer.

Who was the inspiration for Oren?

Nathan Price in The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I had a lot of fun with Oren and felt so sorry for poor Lucy at points in the book where she was trying to please him and kept getting it wrong! I hope Oren's fanaticism is something with which people everywhere can identify. I think it's worrying when people adhere to any creed unquestioningly. I've become increasingly alarmed by reports of the rise of Young Earth Creativism in the US.

Tell us more about Lucy?

I'm quite perturbed by the current policy of pushing more and more kids into higher education, even when they're not really suited to it. Matt's vocational career path, in contrast to Lucy's academic one, brings him happiness compared to Lucy's despair. At the end of the book we see Lucy breaking free of these bonds and following her heart, and that's how she finds true fulfilment.

Is romantic love nirvana?

It is for some people. But for others, like Ben's mother Diane, it isn't. I think Lucy's happily single at the end of the book and I don't foresee a man in her life.

Why does Lucy lack confidence?

Because her father doesn't love her unconditionally and she knows it. At the end of the book, her faith and G.o.d's love bring her contentment.

What inspired Ricky's story?

The death of a young man locally in a car crash. There was no suggestion of the involvement of drink or drugs in that case, but it got me thinking how a family would cope with such a terrible tragedy.

Do you take your inspiration then from your own life?

Yes, and things that happen to my friends and family and the gossip you hear in a small town like the one where I live. Believe me, it all happens here. You don't have to look any further. I got the idea for Second Time Around from a friend who was signed up with an online dating agency. She lied about her age and ended up dating much younger men! And then I began to wonder about why she wouldn't come clean about her age and realised it was because there is still a bit of a taboo about older woman/younger man couples.

Reading Group Questions.

1) Do you think "cougar" relationships are more acceptable today than they were in the past?

2) Is Jennifer over-sensitive to what other people think of her and Ben? Why is Jennifer more conscious of the age difference between her and Ben, than he is?

3) How has Ben's background shaped his character?

4) Why does Ben find it so hard to go against his parent's wishes, e.g. staying in the family business when his heart isn't in it? In what ways does Ricky's death affect each member of the Crawford family?

5) What do Ben's parents object to more Jennifer's age or background? How does Ben find the courage to go against his parents?

6) Both Alan and Lucy, though very different characters, are both quite hard to like. Why is this?

7) What mistakes have Lucy's parents made in raising her? How have these mistakes affected her character? Why does she become addicted to online bingo?

8) What similarities are there between Lucy's father and Oren? Is this why Lucy is attracted to Oren?

9) Did you find Oren's character more laughable or sinister? Why does he have such a hold on Lucy?

10) If Lucy hadn't discovered Oren in bed with another woman, do you think she would have stayed with him?

11) Are Ben's parents wrong to place expectations on him? At the end of the book which parent do you feel more sympathy for Alan or Diane?

12) At the end of the book we forsee a happier future for mother and daughter. Who has changed the most, Lucy or Jennifer?

13) Are Jennifer's concerns for the future of her relationship with Ben unfounded?

14) Do you think Lucy will ever find love?

About the Author.

Erin Kaye was born in 1966 in Larne, Co Antrim to a Polish-American father and an Anglo-Irish mother. She pursued a successful career in finance before becoming a writer. Her previous bestselling novels include Mothers and Daughters, Choices, Second Chances, Closer to Home, My Husband's Lover, The Art of Friendship and The Promise of Happiness. She lives in North Berwick on the east coast of Scotland with her husband Mervyn, two young sons and Murphy the dog.

By the same author:.

The Art of Friendship.

The Promise of Happiness.

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