Page 37 of A Cosy Christmas with the Village Vet

Nick stopped in his tracks, turning back to his ex. ‘Since when did you got so nasty, Loretta? You never used to be like this, all prickly and spiteful. You seem unable to say anything pleasant about anyone now. All I can think is that you must be feeling pretty unhappy with yourself to speak about other people the way you do.’ He went to open the door; the sooner he could get away from her, the better.

She set her mouth in a hard line and glared at him, her eyes blazing. ‘If you hadn’t been so bloody difficult about giving me my shoes, I wouldn’t have had the need to get nasty; it’s you who’s made me behave this way, having to fight for my property.’ Seconds later, her sneer returned. ‘But judging by your overly defensive reaction, it looks like I guessed right, doesn’t it? You’ve wormed your way into Bregan’s sad little affections. What’s that saying? Desperate men take desperate measures?’

Nick froze, his hand on the door knob. ‘Wow! You really are a nasty piece of work, aren’t you?’ He was struggling to recall a time when he’d felt this way about someone. It struck him that the pernicious rivalry Loretta had with her younger sister, Catriona, had spilled over to encompass Brogan.

Loretta always wanted what Catriona had which Nick had struggled to understand; his relationship with Matt couldn’t be more different, they’d always looked out for each other, supported one another. Yes, they’d scrapped at times, but their disagreements had always blown over, quickly forgotten. But that wasn’t the way with Loretta and Catriona. He recalled a time when Catriona had turned up at their house with a new designer handbag. Loretta had been so consumed with envy, she’d barely been able to look at her sister. Catriona had only just closed the door behind her before Loretta was on her laptop, looking for a handbag to outshine her sister’s, saying Catriona was just showing off and had only called round to ‘flaunt her stupid bag’. It had been the same with cars, houses, and, it transpired, getting engaged, the stakes getting higher every time.

When Catriona and her wealthy, nightclub owning boyfriend, Calvin, announced their engagement, Loretta had been apoplectic. ‘It’s wrong! They haven’t been together five minutes. It’s making a mockery of what an engagement is supposed to mean; the commitment it’s supposed to represent. It’s not a fashion statement or something disposable. And did you see that smarmy look on her face? I know full well she’s only doing it to get at me. She treats everything like a competition, always has to be the first to do anything out of the two of us. It’s ridiculous! I’m the older sister. I should be the one to get engaged first! They won’t last, I can guarantee it.’ She’d huffed and pushed her mouth into a tight pout. ‘And how come you haven’t set up your own business by now? Calvin’s the same age as you and he set his up four years ago, he’s even expanding it with a new wine bar.’

Though he’d grown used to the sisters’ competitive relationship, Loretta’s bitter diatribe had shocked Nick. Things had moved up to a whole new level.

It had taken Loretta a couple of months to get Nick to agree that it was the right time for them to get engaged. The subsequent party she’d organised to celebrate had been bigger and glitzier than Catriona and Calvin’s, her party dress costing twice as much as her sister’s. And as for the ring she’d chosen… jeez! It had been eye wateringly expensive. The word “ostentatious” didn’t cover it. Nick had actually felt embarrassed when people had asked to see it.

It had come as a shock the first time he’d witnessed the sisters’ competitiveness – over a pair of earrings, he seemed to remember. He’d tried to convince Loretta not to let it get to her, but to no avail. Though he’d developed a better understanding of it when he’d discovered the cause: their father.

Catriona was a proverbial chip off the old block. Just like Donald, she was a high-achiever who always seemed to do well at everything with very little effort, from taking exams, to passing her driving test first time (Loretta had passed on her fifth attempt) or baking cakes for the Middleton-le-Moors summer fayre (Loretta’s cake had collapsed so she hadn’t been able to enter it). Their father seemed to relish pointing out his daughters’ differences, particularly highlighting Catriona’s successes. He didn’t seem to notice how efficient and highly-regarded Loretta was at her place of work, or how she’d climbed up the ranks far more quickly than anyone else. It had resulted in her being head-hunted by Nick’s then best mate Aaron to work at his company. That didn’t seem to count in Donald’s book (turns out Nick hadn’t been too pleased about it either, but for a completely different reason!). There was no wonder Loretta had developed a hard exterior; she was clearly horrendously insecure which had manifested itself in this unpleasant side of her. She hadn’t been this way when they’d first got together, but things had got progressively worse once Catriona had started dating Calvin. In fairness, Nick thought it couldn’t be much fun having her nose constantly rubbed in everything little thing her sister did.

He felt a sudden pang of pity for his ex. He glanced over at her to see her face set hard as she glared back at him. His sympathy quickly leached away.

‘Might be a good idea if you head back before the roads get too icy. We’re due more snow,’ he said, no trace of his previous anger in his voice.

His change of tone seemed to wrong-foot her. She blinked, a frown disappearing as quickly as it arrived. ‘Right, I’ll do that.’ She stepped out onto the pavement as he closed the door – it took a good couple of yanks before it shut properly. Once he’d locked it he made sure to fix the keys to his keyring.One less pair to lose!

‘Right then.’ He was itching to get away.

‘You still need to collect the rest of your stuff from the house.’

‘There’s loads of boxes in the cottage, so I can’t imagine there’s much of mine left at the house,’ he said, keeping his voice cool.

‘You still need to collect it. If you let me know when that’s going to be I’ll put the bags in the shed and leave the key under the lid of the recycling bin; you can post it through the letter box when you’re done. That way you can just take them.’

‘That’s fine. I’ll be over on Sunday afternoon.’

‘Okay, though I doubt we’ll be back from the hotel. It’s Aaron’s company’s Christmas party over in the Lake District.’

‘Yeah, I know, you told me before.’ He walked over to his car and opened the door. ‘Bye, Loretta.’ He climbed inside. Usually, he’d offer a few friendly words about her looking after herself, but not today. Today he’d had enough.

‘Bye,’ she said, watching with a frown as he drove away.

* * *

An afternoon spentin the surgery’s operating theatre had been a welcome distraction for Nick, his mind emptying of all the stressful things that had been troubling him while he focused on his patients.

Before he knew it, Jo was locking the door and turning the sign to closed. ‘Right, time to collect my two gremlins from the childminder. I’m hoping they haven’t been up to too much mischief today. They’re eight and ten, and snow seems to send them absolutely hyper.’ She feigned a worried face as she pulled on her coat.

Nick laughed. ‘Ah, well, if they’re anything like my brother and me when we were that age, they’ll have worn themselves out running around and having snowball fights.’

Just then, the door to Vonnie’s room opened to reveal the practice manager talking to Brogan and Mia. Vonnie had her hand on the door, the three of them laughing about something she was saying. Jo went over to them. ‘I’m heading off now, folks so I’ll see you on Saturday. Nice to meet you, Brogan.’ She gave a friendly smile.

‘Nice to meet you, too,’ Brogan said, smiling back.

‘Right then, after that busy day, I think we should all be heading home and cosying up in front of the fire,’ said Vonnie, tucking a pen behind her ear in her usual habit. ‘Everything seems all right here. Mia and Brogan have checked on all our overnighters and Chris has been in touch to say he should be back within the next half hour. So all that remains for me to say is, I’ll see you tomorrow, Mia.’ She turned to Nick and Brogan, saying, ‘Enjoy your day off, the pair of you, and I’ll see you both on Friday.’

‘Will, do, thanks, Vonnie,’ said Brogan. As she headed through to the waiting room, Nick watched Mia lean into her, her eyebrows raised and an amused smile on her face. She whispered something into Brogan’s ear, following up with a throaty giggle and an elbow nudge. Whatever she’d said, it made Brogan’s face flush and she shot her colleague a mock warning look, at the same time fighting the urge to smile. Something told him that other people were picking up on the chemistry between them. Loretta’s words sprang into his mind; she’d clearly spotted it too, though he’d assumed she’d been bluffing at the time, lashing out with a spiteful comment to get at him. Well, she’d succeeded in that. He could take anything she said about him, but it had really rankled when she’d had a pop at Brogan.

‘Oh, and keep a look out for that van. I’ve had a few people mention seeing it loitering around today. It might be nothing, but it’s best to be vigilant,’ said Jo. She gave them a wave and headed out into the darkness.

Nick’s thoughts went back to the tyre tracks he and Brogan had seen on the lane to Pond Farm, and to what she’d said about being woken in the night. He hadn’t wanted to frighten her, but he had an inkling she was right to be suspicious. A few of his clients had mentioned the van to him today too.

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