Page 42 of A Cosy Christmas with the Village Vet

‘That’d be great. I think you know where everything is after helping with the washing up last night.’

Five minutes later, Nick turned from the Aga where he was whisking the hot chocolate in a pan to see Brogan coming back into the room, smiling. She looked adorable in a pair of over-sized tartan pyjamas, her stunning hair hanging loose around her face, her green eyes shining. His pulse rate surged. Yet again, he found himself fighting the urge to go over to her and wrap his arms around her.

‘Mmm. That smells so good,’ she said, tucking her hair behind her ears and padding over to him, a pair of chunky woollen socks on her feet.

‘It’s just about done, I think.’ Nick turned his attentions back to the pan, emotions hurtling around his body. She looked so beautiful. So natural. How he desperately wanted to press a kiss to that rosebud mouth. Take her up to his bedroom…Ey up! Calm your jets, matey!

‘Fab. I’ll go and put another log on the fire in the living room and we can get comfy through there, if you like?’ She smiled up at him, making his heart leap.

He swallowed, doing his best to rein in his wayward thoughts. ‘Yep, sounds good.’ It was going to be a struggle not to bring up what had happened between them at the wedding but, all the same, he didn’t want to set things back, especially when everything had been going so well. He reminded himself that they worked together, that he didn’t want to affect their professional relationship, create any awkwardness such that Brogan would feel obliged to leave. He’d heard her enthusing to her friends about how much she was loving her new job. There was no way he could spoil that. He’d just have to let Brogan take the lead in their unusual situation. He hoped she would take them in the direction his heart was heading, and that it wouldn’t take too long.

* * *

Nick woke earlythe following morning, darkness lingering outside. For the second night on the trot he’d slept well. The first thought that filtered into his mind was that he’d be spending the day with Brogan. He threw his arm above his head as a smile spread slowly across his face, a feeling of happiness blooming in his chest. He released a contented sigh. His second thought was that there’d be no angry texts or voicemails from Loretta to contend with now that she’d got her shoes. Boy, did that feel good. He hadn’t realised just how much that had been dragging him down, no doubt made worse by the prospect of dropping them off at their former home at Middleton-le-Moors, with the risk of seeing her there. And as for the Trotters and that bloody cottage, he wasn’t going to worry about that today. He’d done all he could. He’d informed his landlords of the problems and if they didn’t have the courtesy to respond to him, then there was nothing he could do about it right now. All that was left for him to do was to get the rest of his stuff out of there as soon as possible; he’d deal with getting the bond he'd paid them returned later. He didn’t want to dwell on the niggle that they’d try to blame him for what had happened to the cottage, nor the fact that he might have to get his solicitor involved. No, after all that had been going on, today he was going to relax and enjoy spending time with Brogan and Maudie and Wilf. And he was determined that nothing was going to spoil that.

He was the first to arrive downstairs, feeling more refreshed than he’d done in a long time. After letting Maudie and Wilf out into the yard, he set to getting breakfast ready. In the fridge, he found everything he needed to make a hearty Yorkshire breakfast, and in the pantry was a loaf of wholemeal bread, perfect for making chunky slices of toast. As he was beating the eggs, he made a mental note to pick up some supplies from the village shop by way of his contribution to stocking the cupboards. He didn’t want Brogan to think he was taking advantage of her hospitality. It was part of the reason he’d wanted to pay for their meal at the pub last night; a way of saying thank you, that he appreciated her letting him stay at Pond Farm.

Hearing a scratch at the door, he let Wilf and Maudie back in and they scurried to their bed, watching him attentively as he continued with the breakfast preparations, Wilf drooling spectacularly.

‘That smells amazing.’

Nick turned to see Brogan walking over to him, rubbing her eyes. His heart gave its usual leap. ‘Morning, sleepy head. Thought I’d start us off with a hearty breakfast seeing as though we’ve got a busy day ahead of us, delivering the notes. I hope you don’t mind?’ A sudden thought shot through his mind that she might think he was taking liberties by going through her cupboards and taking it upon himself to make breakfast.

Wilf and Maudie managed to tear their eyes away from the bacon sizzling in the pan and trotted over to welcome Brogan, their tails swishing. ‘Morning, you two.’ She smiled down at them affectionately before looking back up at Nick. ‘Trust me, I’ll never mind being woken by the delicious smell of a cooked breakfast wafting upstairs.’ Her smile widened. ‘It’s ages since I indulged in one; I just usually grab a couple of slices of toast or a bowl of cereal.’

Wilf and Maudie trotted back to their bed and resumed their breakfast preparation observations.

Nick beamed, a feeling of relief in his chest. ‘In that case, if madam would care to park herself at the table, I’ll be happy to bring her a rather large mug of builder’s brew.’ He went over to the table he’d set for them earlier, and pulled out a chair, indicating for her to sit down.

‘Thank you,’ she said with a giggle as Nick tucked her chair in under her. Being so close, her hair brushed against his face and he caught a waft of her shampoo, its fresh floral scent triggering a somersault in his stomach.

‘You’re welcome,’ he said, picking up the teapot and pouring her a mug of tea, doing all he could to calm his racing pulse.

‘Ooh, I need this.’ She took a generous gulp. ‘Mmm. And it’s the perfect temperature. Thank you.’ She took another mouthful.

‘My pleasure,’ Nick said, making his way back to the stove. He placed a couple of slices of bread in the wire Aga toaster and set it on the hotplate. Soon the smell of toast joined the other mouth-watering aromas that swirled around the kitchen.

Brogan let out a splutter of laughter. ‘Oh, my days! Look at the state of Wilf,’ she said.

Nick turned, wire toaster in hand, to see that Wilf’s drool had returned with a vengeance. The Labrador was now shivering with anticipation, making the strands of saliva quiver alarmingly. Nick let out a peal of laughter. ‘Typical Labrador, driven by his belly.’

‘He’s shocking; from that performance, anyone would think he hadn’t been fed for a week,’ said Brogan, still giggling.

‘I have to agree, it’s very convincing. And the award for best actor goes to Wilf Hopwood!’ said Nick, adopting a presenter’s voice. Wilf wagged his tail at the mention of his name, glancing between Brogan and Nick, the drool swaying. Maudie looked on, unimpressed.

‘You do realise you’ll have to give him something now you’ve mentioned an award, don’t you? He takes his drooling skills very seriously. And I should warn you, it’ll have to be food based or he won’t be impressed,’ said Brogan.

‘Already thought ahead; there’s a particularly juicy sausage set by for him, one for Maudie too.’

‘Phew! I didn’t want him to get all diva on us.’

‘Heaven forbid,’ said Nick, raising his eyebrows as he walked over with a plate piled high with slices of golden toast. ‘There you go, you might as well make a start while it’s warm. I’ll just be a moment with the rest.

* * *

‘That was delicious.Thank you. I feel very spoilt.’ Brogan patted her stomach.

‘Not at all. I can’t thank you enough for giving me a roof over my head. I dread to think where I would’ve ended up staying if you hadn’t.’ Nick stood and headed over to where two sausages were cooling, breaking them up and putting them into the dogs’ food bowls. Wilf devoured his enthusiastically, while Maudie took her time, sniffing it thoroughly beforehand. ‘I’m not so sure Wilf tasted that, he wolfed it down so quickly,’ said Nick, amused.

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