Page 6 of A Cosy Christmas with the Village Vet

Forgetting his nerves, and his less-than-happy start to the day thanks to Loretta, Nick couldn’t help but return Chris’s smile. ‘I sure am,’ he said, a surge of enthusiasm filling his chest.

‘And how are you, young lady?’ Chris stooped to ruffle Maudie’s ears and she gave a happy tail wag. ‘Oscar’s looking forward to seeing you, and there’s a new friend for you to meet. He’s called Wilf and I think you’ll like him; he’s a very handsome black Labrador; belongs to our new nurse.’

‘Oh, he’s so cute; a great big softy with bags of character,’ said Jules.

‘Hear that, Maudie? A cute black Labrador,’ Nick said with a wink.

Maudie gave him an unamused, side-long look which made Jules and Chris burst out laughing.

‘Maudie doesn’t look very impressed,’ Jules said through her giggles.

‘No, she won’t be until I give her the T.R.E.A.T. I promised her,’ said Nick, smiling down at her. ‘She never forgets, and she bears a grudge, trust me.’

‘Ah, we can soon remedy that.’ Chris reached into the jar of dog biscuits that was kept on the shelf at the back of the reception desk. He handed one to Maudie who sniffed it before taking it gently. ‘Good, lass.’ He gave her a pat.

Nick looked on, smiling fondly at her. ‘Right, then, I supposed I’d better get cracking and check the computer for details of my first patient.’ He turned towards the door that had his name plaque fixed to it, a strange mix of excitement and trepidation swirling around inside him. Much as he was looking forward to joining his old friend in this new venture, and though his natural predisposition was to be upbeat and happy, a hint of sadness had sneaked in as the circumstances that had had brought him here popped into his mind. There was no getting away from the fact that Loretta’s untimely phone call that morning had put a bit of a dampener on things. Had she done it on purpose? he wondered. Probably not, she’d be too wrapped up in her own life to give much consideration to his now.

Oblivious to the thoughts whirling around Nick’s mind, Jules checked the screen of her monitor. ‘That’d be Fudge Simpkins; he’s a guinea pig. Mrs Simpkins is bringing him in. Says in the notes here he’s got a problem with over-eating.’

That lifted Nick’s mood in an instant, his smile pinging back. He chuckled and patted his stomach. ‘I know the feeling. I was the same with my dinner last night.’ That wasn’t strictly true. In fact, it was actually pretty wide of the mark. Nick’s dinner the previous evening had been a tasteless microwave meal masquerading as chicken tikka masala and fragrant rice with a garlic and coriander naan bread for dipping in the, supposedly, “mouth-watering sauce”. It was a poor imitation of one of his favourite meals, having about as much flavour as shredded cardboard and the texture to match. He’d only been able to eat half of it before scraping it despondently into the bin. His mind sprang to the last time he’d had a decent chicken tikka masala. It was at Cardamom, the Indian Restaurant in Middleton-le-Moors and it had been sublime, the best he’d ever tasted. He’d been with Loretta, and though the meal had been delicious, the atmosphere between him and his then fiancée had been so thick you could cut it with a knife. Nick hadn’t known why at the time and had blamed it on the fact he’d lost his keys just before they’d left, resulting in them arriving late for their booking. Even so, Loretta’s pinched expression and the heavy cloud of awkwardness between them had seemed out of proportion to his “misdemeanour”.Funny how a bit of hindsight can shed a whole new light on things, he’d thought later when he’d found out she’d rather have spent the evening with his best mate.

‘Right, that’s the kennels cleaned out and given fresh bedding; everything seems okay there.’ Pulled out of his musings, Nick turned to see a vet nurse with a blonde crop. She was dressed in purple scrubs and had a cheery expression.

‘Nick, this is Becky,’ said Chris. ‘She’s one of our three vet nurses; she and Bro—’

He was unable to finish his sentence thanks to the door bursting open, admitting a blast of bitterly cold air and a kerfuffle as a huge Great Dane hurled itself through the door dragging a petite woman on the end of its lead.

‘Tiny! Heel!’ said the petite woman. Tiny obeyed, stopping so abruptly his owner crashed into him.

Tiny?thought Nick, amused.

‘Ah, here’s my first patient,’ said Chris. ‘Morning, Mrs Winterbottom, if you and Tiny just take a seat, I won’t be a moment.

The gentle giant surveyed the room, his gaze settling on Maudie who looked on, adopting a superior air.

Chris glanced from Maudie to Nick and flicked his eyebrows, entertained by Maudie’s response. ‘Right, hope you have a good first day, Nick. Catch up with you later this morning,’ he said as he headed towards his consulting room.

‘Thanks.’ Nick looked down at Maudie. ‘Right, miss, let’s get you settled before my first patient arrives.’

7

BROGAN

Adjusting her auburn ponytail, Brogan gave one last check in the staffroom mirror. Being in scrubs again gave her a bigger thrill than she’d expected, gave her a sense of purpose. The love of her old job came rushing back. She felt like a different person; a more confident version of the one she’d been for the last three years. She released a happy sigh, smiling at her reflection. Her life was back on track.

A moment later, she was following Jules on a quick tour around the surgery which was even more spacious than it seemed from the outside. Lady Carolyn Hammondely’s plan to convert the buildings for business use had been genius. The surgery really was state of the art and must have cost a fortune for the vets to kit out. As well as the reception area, and the two consulting rooms, there was an operating theatre, a lab, kennels and recovery rooms, as well as the staffroom which was fitted out more like a comfy living room, complete with a little kitchenette and cosy stove. Jules pointed out a washing machine and tumble drier where they could launder their scrubs rather than risk contamination by wearing them out of the surgery and taking them home. Brogan liked that standards were high.

Wilf had taken no time to get comfy with Oscar, settling down in front of the stove. ‘Someone looks right at home,’ Jules said, making Brogan smile. Another good sign.

Jules gave her a run down on the surgery’s routine and the rest of the staff. ‘It’s a great team, we all muck in. And you’ll love Georgia,’ she said of the part-time vet. ‘Well, I suppose I would say that since she’s my cousin, but it’s true.’ Jules flashed her a wide smile. ‘She moved back to Arkleby from York six months ago; works two days a week – Wednesday and Thursday. She’s got two little boys – they’re a real handful, but don’t tell her I said that! – and she’s really bubbly and friendly. Oh, and she’s horse mad. In fact you’ve probably seen her trotting around the moors on her mare.’

‘Mm, I have. I didn’t realise she worked here until I came for my interview and she was part of the panel. She seems lovely; I’m looking forward to meeting her properly,’ Brogan said, an image of a woman she’d encountered with whilst walking her canine charges out on the moor, appearing in her mind. They’d nodded and said hello, exchanged brief pleasantries about the weather, but that had been it. Still, Brogan remembered thinking the young woman had a friendly face. Another good reason to work here to add to her list.

With the tour over, Brogan had one last check on Wilf to make sure he’d settled. Content he had, she smoothed down her tunic and drew in a deep breath, pushing down the jangle of nerves that had started to surface. ‘Right, here goes. You’ve got this; it’s going to be all right.’ She turned to Wilf who was watching her from his toasty place in front of the stove. ‘You be a good lad, okay? I’ll pop back and see you soon.’

Wilf responded with a wag of his tail.

Pulling the staffroom door shut, Brogan gave the handle a quick jiggle, making sure it was closed properly; it wouldn’t do to have Wilf escape and get up to mischief, especially on their first day. Heading towards the reception area, she could hear Jules chatting away, a deep voice joining her lighter tone. No doubt the first client had arrived. Brogan’s nerves jumped back to life.No going back nowshe thought as she headed through the door to see Jules in conversation with a tall, broad-shouldered man with dark-blond hair.

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