Page 43 of A Cosy Christmas with the Village Vet

‘I don’t think he tastes anything, but he doesn’t seem to care,’ Brogan said with a chuckle. She pushed herself up, her chair scraping over the quarry tiles, and reached for her mobile on the dresser. ‘I’ve had a text from Lucy, telling us she’s printed off a load of notes and they’re ready at the shop whenever’s good for us to collect them.’

‘In that case,’ said Nick, ‘we’d best get cracking. I reckon it’s going to take us quite a while.’

‘I reckon you’re right. I’ll just reply to Luce, then I’ll go and get dressed.’ She paused a moment, pressing her lips together as if something had crossed her mind.

‘Everything okay?’ he asked.

‘I just remembered about my car, I wonder if I’ll hear anything about it being fixed today?’

‘Well, if you don’t, I’m happy to play chauffeur ’til it is.’

‘Does that mean you’re going to doff your cap for me?’ she asked, amusement dancing in her eyes.

‘Only if you want me to.’ He grinned, giving a quick demo.

‘Hmm. I’ll have a think about that one and get back to you.’ She slipped her phone back onto the dresser. ‘Won’t be long. Oh, and thank you – for the yummy breakfast and the offer of being my chauffeur.’ She flashed him a mischievous smile

‘No problem.’ Nick watched her go, his mind reeling with the feelings that engulfed him whenever he was around her. He wished he knew if she could feel it too. It was driving him crazy. There was a glint in her eye that suggested she did, but he didn’t want to rely wholly on his instincts. After all, he’d never experienced anything like this before; he didn’t want to misjudge the situation and for everything to blow up in his face. He winced at the thought. But all the same, he didn’t know how much longer they’d be able to carry on like this without bringing up their time at the wedding. It was beginning to feel very odd tiptoeing around it.

He filled the washing up bowl with soapy water and made a start on the dishes, his mind full of the prospect of spending the day with Brogan, a warm glow of happiness spreading through him.

29

BROGAN

‘Oh, my days,’ Brogan said to herself. Nick was growing on her more and more by the minute. How considerate of him to make breakfast for her. And from the sound of the pots clinking down in the kitchen, he was now washing up. She felt a little spike of guilt as she brushed her teeth; she wasn’t used to having people do stuff for her. It felt odd. There was no way she could leave all of the washing up to him; she’d feel like she was being a princess. When her grandparents had been alive, Brogan had always done the washing up with her grandma, the two of them chattering away as her grandma washed and she dried.

Brogan hurriedly got dressed and dashed downstairs to find the kitchen pretty much tidy. ‘Wow! Talk about a fast worker,’ she said, instantly regretting her choice of words, the heat of a blush warming her cheeks, her mind rushing back to the wedding.Nice one!

Nick laughed, his eyes locking on hers, setting a flutter away in her stomach. ‘Yep, you could say.’ He was clearly thinking along the same lines.

‘Right,’ she said, struggling to pull her gaze away, ‘I’ll give Maudie and Wilf a quick run around outside, then we can set off. Do you think we should take them with us?’

‘Don’t see why not.’ He gave a shrug.

There was something about the way he was looking at her that was making her feel all unnecessary, like he knew what she was thinking.

‘Oh, and in case you were wondering where your keys are, I’ve hung them on the meat hook on the beam by the dresser. That way, you can’t lose them.’ She hitched her eyebrow at him; she’d already cottoned on to him being slightly disorganised.

He followed where her finger was pointing and gave an amused laugh. ‘Anyone would think I had a reputation for losing my keys.’

‘Funny that,’ she said with a cheeky smile before disappearing into the hallway.

* * *

Brogan had scattereda load of grit around the yard when she’d exercised the dogs earlier and it had done a good job of melting the thick layer of ice. Nick had just finished scraping the windscreen and the two of them set off, Wilf and Maudie in the back, looking out of the rear window with interest.

As they made their way steadily along the track, Brogan anxiously scanned the ground for fresh tyre tracks, but there didn’t appear to be any. She sat back in her seat, the anxiety seeping away, her shoulders falling with relief.

‘You okay?’ asked Nick, quickly looking across at her, concern in his eyes.

‘Yeah. Just relieved to see no evidence of unwanted visitors, you know, like yesterday morning.’

‘Mmm. Maybe the weather put them off heading this far out. Judging by the amount of ice on the windscreen this morning, there was a hard frost overnight. It’ll have made driving pretty dicey. I dare that say whoever they are, they aren’t from this area and won’t be used to these conditions, and they probably won’t have thought to get winter tyres on their vehicles.’

‘True. Hopefully, it’ll make them leave the area all together.’

‘Here’s hoping,’ he said, flashing her a smile that unleashed a flurry of butterflies in her stomach.

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