Page 16 of A Cosy Christmas with the Village Vet

Brogan had a feeling she knew where this was going.

‘He lives with his brother, Toffee. Poor little Toffee can’t be getting a look-in with the food; Fudge must be eating so fast. We’ve tried to separate them for a while, just so Toffee can get something to eat, but it doesn’t seem to be making a difference. In fact, Fudge seems to be getting bigger.’

Nick set Fudge down on the table, checking the little creature’s fur for fleas. Seemingly unperturbed, the guinea pig looked around inquisitively, chomping on a blade of hay that was disappearing into his mouth at great speed while Nick began palpating Fudge’s rather rotund abdomen.

‘And how old is Fudge?’ asked Nick.

‘I think he’s about four months old,’ said Mrs Simpkin.

‘Well, I can confidently tell you that Fudge is in the best of health.’ He gave Fudge a quick tickle between the ears. Brogan was struck by Nick’s calm and gentle manner.

‘Oh, thank goodness for that. I didn’t know what I was going to say to my daughter if anything was wrong with him.’ Dinah Simpkin sagged with relief. ‘So, is he just greedy then?’

‘No,sheisn’t greedy at all.’

Mrs Simpkin looked at Nick, her eyes growing wider as the penny dropped. It was in synchronicity with her bottom jaw. ‘She? No!’ She pressed a hand to her chest. ‘Does that mean…?’

‘Fudge is a female guinea pig; a sow,’ said Nick, smiling kindly. ‘And a heavily pregnant one at that. I could feel a few pups having a good old wriggle around in there when I examined her; there’s at least four.’

‘Four? But… but… How did that happen? The pet shop we bought them from assured us they were both boys; told us they were brothers.’ Dinah Simpkin glanced between Nick and Brogan, her face a picture of disbelief.

‘Well, I can assure you that Fudge is very definitely a female. And I assume this will be her first litter, which is good news as her young age will be in her favour; sows over the age of seven months run the risk of having serious problems giving birth. But, happily that’s not going to be the case for Fudge here.’

Oh, thank goodness for that.’ Mrs Simpkin was looking a little punch-drunk from all this information. ‘And is it possible to tell how many babies she’s going to have?’

‘I can x-ray her to see how many pups are in there, if you like?’

‘Is that necessary? I mean, are guinea pigs known for giving birth to a large number of babies?’ She stroked her hand along Fudge’s back.

‘I wouldn’t say it’s crucial. And in answer to your question about litter size, they can give birth to as many as eight – but I don’t think that’ll be the case with Fudge here. The average is two to four which is more likely for Fudge; there might be another one hiding behind the others.’

‘Oh, okay.’ Mrs Simpkin nodded as Fudge made little chattering sounds as she sniffed the air.

‘And you might be surprised to know guinea pig pups are born with their eyes open and are fully furred. They’re also mobile straight away so are able to walk around. And I have to say, they’re very cute.’

Mrs Simpkin nodded, continuing to stroke the guinea pig as she absorbed Nick’s words. ‘How have I been so stupid? It’s kind of obvious looking at her now.’

‘You’re not the first person it’s happened to, Mrs Simpkin,’ said Brogan. ‘Lots of people have been caught out that way.’ She glanced across at Nick, a flicker of something passing between them, giving her a jolt and making her look away.

‘Brogan’s right,’ said Nick, ‘but it might be a good idea to get the word out, see if you can get some homes lined up for when the pups are old enough to leave Fudge. Guinea pig sows can start breeding as young as two months old; you don’t want to be overrun.’

‘Oh, my goodness, we certainly don’t. Well, thank you, Mr Heuston. Come on, Fudgy, let’s get you home so we can break the news.’

‘And it would also be a good idea to separate Fudge and Toffee too; you don’t want them having a repeat performance; bizarrely sows can get pregnant straight after giving birth,’ Nick said as he scooped the guinea pig up and carefully popped her back into the pet carrier. ‘There we are, back to your snuggly bed, Fudge.’

‘Ooh, perish the thought; poor Fudgy.’ Mrs Simpkin gave a shudder as she walked towards the door Nick was now holding open for her.

Nick turned to Brogan and smiled, holding her gaze. ‘Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve had worse starts to the day.’

Her stomach performed a somersault. Was he referring to the morning she’d crept out of his room? ‘Oh, yes, me too.’ She grabbed the disinfectant spray and gave the examination table a thorough dousing, her cheeks burning as she scrubbed away. She’d been momentarily distracted while Mrs Simpkin had been there, slipping into work mode with ease, but now the awkwardness of earlier between her and Nick had returned with a vengeance. If first day impressions were anything to go by, it wasn’t going to be easy working in such close proximity to him. She sighed inwardly; she really didn’t know if she could do it. But she’d been so desperately looking forward to this job. Why did things have to be so complicated? Already it was tying her up in knots, setting her stomach churning away.

She could feel his eyes on her, sense he was desperate to broach the topic ofthatnight, tackle the elephant in the room. She wished he’d just get it over and done with, then she’d know where she stood, know whether he was going to be the sort of bloke who would blab to all and sundry about his “conquest”; tell everyone she’d thrown herself at him and tarnish her hitherto good reputation of keeping herself-to-herself as far as men and relationships were concerned – it definitely didn’t include hot and steamy one-night-stands.

She heard him draw in a breath beside her. ‘Brogan, I know now’s not the right time, but I’d really appreciate it if we could talk, especially if we’re going to be working together like this. I think we’d both benefit from clearing the air.’

She swallowed the ball of nerves that had wedged in her throat and raised her eyes to his. The earnest, clear blue gaze that met her made her pulse surge as the familiar electricity crackled between them. The feelings she’d had two weeks ago came rushing back at her, tugging at her insides. He looked every bit as handsome as the man she’d stored in her memory; the one she hadn’t dared to take out and revisit. Taking a moment, she gathered herself together and said, ‘Yeah, I get that. I’d like us to talk too, but I’d rather not do it here, if that’s okay?’ She didn’t want to risk anyone overhearing what they’d been up to, nor did she want to set tongues wagging about them having a private conversation. That could very easily send her new colleagues jumping to conclusions and the last thing she wanted was unwelcome attention because of that, and to be the subject of office gossip, especially when she hadn’t been there five minutes. On top of that, gossip had a habit of spreading like wildfire around the moorland villages, and talk of her and Nick would very likely reach Lytell Stangdale before she did. This “thing” between them needed handling very gently, of that she was sure. ‘We need to go somewhere private.’ She glanced up at him, gnawing at her bottom lip.

Nick raised his palms. ‘Yeah, course, I totally get that.’ He was looking at her intently, making her feel self-conscious. ‘So, I don’t suppose you’re free tonight, are you? It’d be good to get things sorted straight away,’ he said. There was a hopeful look in his eye.

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