Page 4 of Christmas at the Home Farm Vets
‘You?’ Her laugh was a quick one. How did he always do this, hold her with just a look, as though everyone else around them had vanished? Worry made her tone sharp, and her mind was still racing through trains and transport. ‘I very much doubt it, unless you can magic up a train right now. I probably won’t be there for another twelve hours either way. Mum has fibromyalgia and it can be really bad sometimes.’
‘I’ll take you.’
‘What? To the station?’ Somehow Oli was holding her hand, and she stared at their entwined fingers before easing hers free. ‘It’s fine, I can get a bus. But thanks.’
‘Not to the station, to Yorkshire. I’ll drive you because you clearly need to go, and I can help.’ Drizzle that had been in the air turned to proper rain and Oli tugged his collar up against the freezing drops.
‘You’re not serious!’ Erin laughed again, because there didn’t seem to be any other appropriate response. She was searching his face for the tease, but somehow she knew he was serious, and relief was already replacing some of the worry. ‘When?’
‘As soon as you’re ready. You go and get your stuff, I’ll sort out a car.’
‘Don’t you have plans?’
‘Yeah, but they’ll keep. This is important.’
‘Oli, I don’t need you to rescue me. I can look after myself.’
‘I know you can, but why not let me help,’ he said reasonably. ‘That’s what friends are for.’
It didn’t feel like they were friends to Erin, not really. Oli wasn’t someone in whom she’d confide, nor would she ever admit that he occasionally featured in her daydreams, which troubled her for multiple reasons, number one being because she wasn’t planning to fall in love. ‘But where will you get a car?’
‘Never mind that. Meet me outside the Porters’ Lodge in forty-five minutes. I won’t be able to hang around as parking’s not allowed so you’ll need to be there.’
‘Okay.’
He took off and she stared for a moment before racing after him, trying to drag her thoughts into some sort of order. In her flat she dumped her bag and stuffed some essentials into another one, too unnerved by worry over her mum to think through the implications of being driven home by Oli Sterling. It was a four-hour drive, maybe a bit less on a Saturday afternoon instead of a weekday. Why would he even do such a thing, for her?
Forty minutes later she was waiting anxiously on the main road outside the Porters’ Lodge, still bemused by the turn of events, when Oli arrived in a small blue Vauxhall. She grabbed the door and leaped inside before he got into trouble; she didn’t want to cause him any more problems than she already had. Traffic was worse than she’d expected, the city packed with tourists enjoying the sights of Christmas in Cambridge. To Erin each minute dragged as though it were ten as they crawled along.
‘Thank you,’ she said eventually, her voice small. ‘I really don’t know why you’re doing this and giving up your weekend. I’ll pay you back for the cost of the car.’
It would take her months to do that; she’d have to eke it out of her maintenance loan and make do with less, but that was nothing new. Maybe she could get a job for a few hours each week and send him her salary. She ought to have refused his offer but in those frantic, freezing moments in the courtyard she simply hadn’t known how else to get home in a hurry.
‘You don’t have to do that.’ Oli was queueing at traffic lights, and her stomach did the usual flip as their eyes met. ‘Seriously, Erin, don’t worry about it.’
‘How do you know it’ll worry me?’
‘I dunno. Maybe I know you better than you think.’ He pointed to a pair of paper cups sitting in the drinks holder. ‘Coffee. I thought you might like one.’
‘I don’t drink it very often, I prefer tea.’ She found a smile. ‘I’m a proper Yorkshire lass and we can’t get by without a good brew.’
‘Is that right? So you don’t want it then?’
‘I didn’t say that.’ They both reached for a cup at the same time, and laughed. Erin picked one up, gratefully wrapping her fingers around it.
Now the plan was in motion, her thoughts were racing ahead to home, seeing her family and the old terraced house with its familiar comforts. And what was she supposed to do about Oli then? Invite him into the heart and centre of her life, and expose him to its realities? Or send him away and add the cost of a hotel room to the expense he’d already incurred, because he couldn’t drive straight back to Catz after such a long journey. Finally they were on a main road, speeding away from the city, and her shoulders loosened some more now they were heading north and nearing her mum with every mile.
‘How long have you been driving? Please don’t tell me you’ve just passed your test and never driven so far in your life.’
‘Okay, I won’t.’ Oli was staring ahead, concentrating as the day darkened. ‘I passed a few weeks after my seventeenth birthday, so I’ve been driving for over a year.’
‘Happy to hear it.’ That settled her, even though she could tell he was good from his quiet confidence. If they carried on like this, she’d be home and with her mum soon after teatime, a thought which relaxed her some more. Drowsiness overcame her and when she woke again, she was surprised to see they were approaching Leeds.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I should be navigating for you. At least helping in some way.’
‘It’s fine, you were obviously tired. And I’ve got a sat nav for directions.’
Erin glanced at the small screen stuck to the dashboard. They had barely twenty miles to go and one more city to navigate. ‘Are you okay? Not too tired?’
