Page 8 of A Cosy Christmas with the Village Vet

Just then, the main door opened and a lady holding a plastic pet carrier stepped inside, a cold breeze sneaking in with her.

‘Morning, Mrs Simpkin. Just take a seat,’ said Jules, cheerily. ‘Nick, here’s your first appointment.’

‘Right then, I’d best get Maudie settled in the staffroom. Come on, miss.’ Nick clicked his tongue and Maudie followed.

As soon as he’d left the room, Jules didn’t waste a moment. She beckoned Brogan over to her and dived right into her interrogation. ‘So, how come you know Nick?’ she asked, her expression saying she knew there was more to the situation than met the eye, with the possibility of some juicy gossip. ‘Have you known him long?’

‘Oh, I just met him at a—’

At that moment, the phone rang.Thank goodness!Brogan felt her insides sag with relief.

‘Stay right there,’ said Jules, snatching up the phone and answering in her best “telephone” voice. ‘Good morning, Danskelfe Vets, Jules speaking. How can I help you?’

Jules was still on the phone when Nick came back into the waiting room, wearing what looked like an “I-can’t-believe-this-is-actually-happening” smile. Brogan tried to ignore the somersault in her stomach as she met his blue-eyed gaze, which wasn’t easy when images of the last time she’d seen him had rather inopportunely pushed their way back into her mind.

‘Right then,’ he said, rubbing his hands together, before briefly switching his attention to his first appointment. ‘Won’t be a moment, Mrs Simpkin.’ He turned back to Brogan, lowering his voice. ‘I wouldn’t mind a hand for a minute.’ He raised an enquiring eyebrow as he headed into his consulting room, holding the door open for her to join him.

Brogan followed, her heart rate upping its speed.Uh-oh.How should she play this? Act thrilled to see him? Act indifferent? She needed more time to think; more time to get her head around this whole new situation.

Closing the door, Nick spun round, his eyes wide with wonder. ‘Brogan! I can’t believe this. I had no idea you lived around here.’ He pushed his fingers into his fringe. ‘How’ve you been? – you look beaut… er, you look well, by the way.’

Oh, that deep, rich voice, it had the power to turn her legs to jelly. She met his gaze shyly, anticipation crackling in the air around them. And those blue eyes were every bit as vivid as she remembered… that strong, square jaw. Ooh, and don’t mention the way his generous mouth had felt on hers; all warm and soft and delicious.Mmm.Even the thought was enough to turn her insides molten. She felt the burn of another blush, the memory knocking her off kilter for a moment. She needed to take control of herself. ‘I, er… yeah, I’m fine thanks. I live just out of Lytell Stangdale, on a smallholding.’ She wanted to add, ‘And I didn’t know you lived round here, never mind worked at this place! You didn’t breathe a word about that!’but she couldn’t seem to get the words from her brain to her mouth. Instead, she just looked at him, as scenes from their first encounter continued to play out in her mind. It may have been brief, but the impact it had made on her had been something else, as had the feelings he’d stirred in her – and if the way she was currently feeling was anything to go by, he clearly still did. Truth be told, she was slightly embarrassed to admit that he’d occupied her daydreams for an inordinate amount of time since then.

‘I live in Arkleby; just moved there actually. I’m renting a cottage that thinks it’s a fridge; it’s absolutely bloody freezing. I can’t seem to get the place warm.’

‘Oh, right.’ Nick’s words pulled her out of her musings. Frowning, she said, ‘So what happened to moving to the Dales?’ She was sure that’s where he’d told her he was going. In fact she distinctly recalled him referring to it as a “fresh start”.

A shadow flitted across his face, making her regret asking him. ‘Er, yeah, I was; change of plan.’ He pushed his smile back up.

‘Oh, right.’Oh, right? Is that all you can say, woman?She really needed to expand her vocabulary, but it was difficult when there was so much to absorb and her brain was struggling to play catch up.

‘Yeah. Long story short, I bumped into Chris who told me Paul Jenkins, who was supposed to be joining him here, had backed out at the last minute. We got chatting and he asked me if I fancied taking Paul’s place. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. Didn’t need to think twice about it actually. I hadn’t signed a contract with the new place I was supposed to be heading to – in truth, I hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that something just hadn’t felt right about joining that practice. And, much as I love the Dales, my heart had never been in moving there; it was a classic knee-jerk reaction.’

She couldn’t help but wonder what the catalyst to his “knee-jerk” reaction had been.

‘It’s as if my bumping into Chris was meant to be… for lots of reasons. I like to think of it as serendipity,’ Nick said with a smile, making Brogan wonder what exactly he meant by that. ‘So, how come you’re working here? I thought you had a dog-walking business.’

‘Well, it’s kind of similar to what happened to you, I suppose.’

8

NICK

Nick listened as Brogan gave him an abridged version of how she’d heard there was a new vets’ surgery opening up in one of the recently converted Danskelfe Castle Estate units and had been hopeful of applying for a job there. She’d been disappointed to find all the vet nurse positions had been filled. However, just a few months after, she’d been surprised to receive a telephone call from Chris Crabtree. By a stroke of luck, the husband of one of the vet nurses had been offered a lucrative job working down south which meant, as the family were upping sticks and moving, she’d handed in her notice.

‘Which is when he rang me, asking if I was still interested in the job,’ Brogan said. ‘I couldn’t believe my luck.’

Nick nodded, his mind going back to Chris mentioning there was a new vet nurse starting who’d made a good impression on him; he’d said he thought she’d be perfect for the practice, had a nice way about her. It was clearly Brogan he’d been talking about.

‘Sounds like serendipity has struck twice,’ he said, looking into her dark-green eyes, edged with thick lashes; they were every bit as captivating as he remembered when he’d first looked into them two weeks ago.

He watched as two spots of colour bloomed on the apples of her cheeks. Seeing her here like this, so unexpectedly, had lifted his spirits inexorably after his doomed call with Loretta. He’d never expected to see her again, but now, here she was making his heart beat faster, just like before. She looked so beautiful, her face all fresh and free of make-up, her freckles on display in all their glory. He recalled her saying how she hated them, but he thought they looked lovely.

‘So, is this a permanent move? I mean, do you plan on staying here, at Danskelfe Vets?’ Brogan asked.

It took a moment before his thoughts got back on track. ‘Er, yeah, that’s the plan.’ He nodded. ‘With a view to going into partnership with Chris if everything works out.’ Right now, he really hoped it did. ‘And you? Do you see this as being permanent for you?’

‘Yeah, I do.’ She gave a small smile that triggered a surge of happiness through him. ‘At least, I hope so.’

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