Page 72 of A Cosy Christmas with the Village Vet

She looked at him, her eyes woeful and swimming with tears. ‘When I saw you with that girl, it made me realise it should be me you were having a laugh with, not her. I want to give us another go, Nick. I’ve missed you. I don’t know why we split up.’

He shook his head in disbelief. ‘You’re unbelievable, you know that, don’t you? But your cheating on me with Aaron has actually done me a favour; made me realise we were wrong for each other, made me realise how superficial our relationship was.’ He drew in a lungful of air. ‘That aside, I’m with someone.’ He tensed, waiting for her reaction.

‘What?’ Her mouth fell open, her expression morphing from shock to anger. ‘Are you saying you’re seeing someone new?’ She snorted. ‘You didn’t hang around, did you? I thought you said you were heartbroken after we split? Clearly not.’

‘I wasn’t looking to start a relationship with anyone. We just met and it was—’ He stopped himself from saying anything further; he didn’t need to explain himself to Loretta, and he certainly didn’t want to get involved in a slanging match.

‘It’s her, isn’t it? The dowdy girl from the surgery?’ She gave a scornful laugh. ‘You won’t last five minutes; she’s not your type.’

He resisted the urge to react. ‘If you could just let me know where my stuff is, I’ll be off.’

‘It’s where I said it would be; it’s outside.’

‘Right. That’s fine. Goodbye, Loretta.’ He glanced across at her to see her face set hard. She didn’t speak as he left the house.

43

BROGAN

The grandfather clock chimed nine. It had been just over two hours since Nick had dropped her off at Pond Farm and Brogan hadn’t heard so much as a peep from him. She didn’t know what to think. She peered out of the curtains, frowning when she saw it was still snowing. It had started a quarter of an hour ago, feather-like flakes tumbling from the sky. She dreaded to think what it would be like on the rigg road where it was higher and more exposed; the stretch regularly got blocked by deep snow drifts. Nick would have to tackle it to get home; it was the only access from Middleton-le-Moors way.

Her stomach had been churning all evening, and not just because of the snow and the potentially hazardous driving conditions. It didn’t rest easy that he was going back to the house he’d once shared with his ex-fiancée.

Brogan checked her phone again. She toyed with the idea of calling him to make sure he was okay, but decided against it, not wanting to seem needy. In the end, she settled on waiting another half hour, then she’d send him a breezy text, just asking if he was okay and reminding him to be careful of the roads.

She wasn’t sure what to do about their evening meal; they hadn’t discussed it before he’d left. She’d just assumed he’d be back in time for them to eat together, albeit a little later than usual. She didn’t want to eat on her own only for him to get home shortly after. She didn’t feel hungry anyway; anxiety had quashed her appetite.

She’d wait a little longer, kill time by having another cup of tea.

While she waited for the kettle to boil, Brogan’s mind wandered to Loretta. She was beautiful and glamorous. What if she wanted Nick back? Brogan’s stomach twisted at the thought. He was bound to go running back to a woman like that. All she’d have to do is click her fingers and any man in his right mind would jump to attention, happy to be putty in her fingers. Whereas Brogan always had the feeling someone like herself was ordinary, invisible.

Sensing her distress, Wilf and Maudie ran over to her, Wilf nudging her hand with a whimper. ‘Hello, you two. Fancy a cuddle?’ She slid down to the floor and two whiskery faces were pushed into hers; Brogan couldn’t help but laugh.

* * *

She’d been pacingthe floor for the last half hour, nibbling at her fingernails, her cup of tea long-since drunk. It was ten-thirty and she’d still yet to hear from Nick. Her mind was in turmoil. She didn’t know what to think. Had he set off and hit dangerous driving conditions? Or had he decided to stay with Loretta? A picture of them in bed together pushed its way into her mind, making her feel sick. She covered her face with her hands, hoping to chase the image away.

‘This is exactly why I’ve avoided getting involved with anyone,’ she said out loud. Wilf and Maudie looked up from their bed, regarding her while her pacing continued. ‘Surely, if he’d set off he would’ve texted to let me know. Ughh! Nick! Why can’t you just get in touch?’ She threw her arms up in the air.

Another image sprang into her mind; this time it was of him in his car. It had come off the road and ended up on its roof in a ditch. Tears burnt at the back of her eyes. ‘Oh, Nick, where are you?’

She peered out of the curtains again, rubbing a circle clear in the glass to see the snow was getting worryingly deep. ‘Camm will be out in the plough. Nick will be fine. Stop worrying,’ she said to herself in a bid to calm her jittering nerves.

A thought popped into her head and despite the time, she acted on it before she could think better of it and change her mind. She grabbed her phone and sent Molly a text, asking if Camm had mentioned what the rigg road was like, letting her know that Nick would be heading back from Middleton on it. If he hadn’t ploughed it yet, she hoped her message would prompt Camm to prioritise it. She pressed send, feeling a little better.

Midnight came with still no sign nor news from Nick despite her sending yet more messages – which she could see hadn’t been delivered – and trying to call his number, which frustratingly went straight to voicemail. Though she felt tired, her brain was too wired to sleep. It somehow felt wrong to go to bed and wait for him, so she brought her duvet downstairs and curled up on the sofa. She flicked the television on, selecting some music programme in a bid to fill the silence. As she lay staring into the darkness, a tear trickled down her face and a sob stuck in her throat.Please come home, Nick.

44

NICK

Nick had thrown his stuff into the boot and driven off the estate without a backwards glance, telling himself he hadn’t had a wasted journey; he’d got the last of his possessions. Loretta couldn’t nag him about them now. In fact, there was no need for any further contact apart from matters that concerned the sale of the house and that could be done through the solicitor. That things weren’t panning out with Aaron was none of his concern.

Once he was away from the estate, he pulled over with the intention of calling Brogan to let her know her he was on his way home. He reached for his phone, only to discover the battery had died. ‘Bugger!’ He’d meant to charge it at work, but Loretta’s visit had chased it from his mind. Remembering the charger he kept in the glove compartment, he rummaged amongst the detritus there, his heart sinking when he couldn’t find it. He leaned his head back against the headrest and puffed out his cheeks. ‘Can this day get any worse?’

Telling himself there was no point in wasting time, he put his car into gear and pulled away.

The closer he got to the moors, the worse the weather became, and by the time he’d turned off the main road, visibility was virtually non-existent. The snow was falling heavily, the wind driving it right at the windscreen. It eventually got so bad, he couldn’t tell if he was still travelling along the road or had strayed onto the moors. He had no choice but to stop the car.

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