Page 15 of Christmas at the Home Farm Vets
‘And Dorothy?’ Gil raised a brow. ‘I saw she was in the diary.’
‘The usual,’ she replied quickly, glad to move past that look. ‘Oli examined a few extras whilst we were there.’
‘And you escaped unscathed?’
‘Totally.’ Oli’s laugh was a wry one and he glanced at the scratch on his hand. ‘Well, pretty much.’
‘Well done. Not everyone appreciates my aunt, she’s certainly one of kind. So what do you think, Oli? Gonna stick with us until Christmas?’
‘If you’ll have me?’
‘Absolutely we will.’ Gil clapped his shoulder delightedly. ‘Welcome to the team. Let’s sit down over a pint sometime and you can tell me about Costa Rica. The surfing must have been incredible.’
‘It was.’ Oli’s gaze flickered over Erin. ‘I’d love to go back. Keep travelling.’
‘Sorry, Jess is here and I think she wants a word.’ She turned away and a silent breath escaped. She needed to fix her thoughts on a new bathroom and not sharing her home with the man who filled her mind with dreams of what might have been if she’d been brave enough to follow her heart and trust him, as he’d asked her to do.
Jess was leaning against a desk, and she thrust a plate into Erin’s hands. ‘Saved you a piece before it’s all gone.’ Elaine’s pork and cranberry pie was legendary, and Erin had been hoping for a chance to try it. ‘So how did it go with Oli this morning?’
‘Yeah, fine.’ Erin cut off a corner of the pie with a fork, pastry crumbling onto the plate, and her mouth watered greedily. ‘I’m pretty sure Dorothy gave him the runaround on purpose, but he coped.’
‘So what’s the story with you two?’
‘Story?’ The fork in Erin’s hand wobbled. ‘What has he told you?’
‘So there is one, I knew it. There’s always a story when two people can’t keep their eyes off one another. And maybe it’s just me but you do seem quite familiar. Comfortable, almost, like you really know each other.’
‘Don’t be daft.’ Erin’s guilty gaze jumped to Oli laughing at something Gil was saying. She needed to knock that notion on the head before Jess ran away with it. ‘We were at the same university, that’s all.’
‘You what?’ Jess dumped her empty plate on the desk and drew Erin away from Steph and Elaine chatting nearby. ‘You two were at Cambridge together?’
‘Yeah.’ This kind of conversation was exactly why Erin was beginning to think she’d made a dreadful mistake in allowing Oli to share her home. Employing him was Gil’s choice, but she ought to have seen sense and refused to host him. Three weeks was quite a long time to keep their history hidden from someone as tenacious as Jess. ‘We were friends for bit. First year mostly, but not so much after that.’ Words that weren’t anywhere near adequate enough to describe how she’d really felt about him then.
‘Not…?’ Jess let the rest of her question tail away and her gaze was sympathetic. ‘I’m sorry, it’s none of my business.’
‘No. Not really, not properly.’ Erin knew exactly what Jess had meant. ‘We’re too different and it would never have worked.’ She leaned in and lowered her voice yet more. ‘And I don’t want that going any further, okay? Cambridge doesn’t matter, everyone will probably work it out eventually, but this does. It was a sliding doors moment that didn’t amount to anything.’
‘Different how?’ Jess glanced at Oli, deep in conversation with Gil and Gabi. ‘You were at the same university, you both love animals and working with them, understand the pressures of the job. Clearly you share some values.’
‘Those are just coincidences, Jess. They’re not enough. Once there was a moment when I thought it might work out, but then he went on holiday with another girl.’ Erin tried to force away the memory of how she’d felt at the time, not wanting it to overwhelm her now. ‘I didn’t know until I heard it from someone else. He tried to get in touch to explain but by then I didn’t want to hear it. I haven’t seen him since we graduated. It’s over, we’re not even friends anymore.’
‘Seriously?’ Jess frowned, nodding a ‘yes’ to Elaine when the older woman held up a mug offering another brew. ‘I mean, on the surface that’s a really shitty thing to do, but are you sure that’s the full story? If you didn’t give him a chance to explain…’
‘Why should I?’ Erin touched the faint thudding in her temples. She hadn’t slept well last night, too aware of Oli returning and the unfamiliar noises that came with having someone else in the house. A stranger, and yet not. ‘He had his chance, and he blew it. Game over. I’ve moved on and clearly so has he.’
‘So why on earth would you agree to host him after that?’ Jess held up a hand as Erin’s mouth opened. ‘And don’t give me some excuse about it being for Gil’s benefit, we both know he could’ve found someone else. Elaine would’ve probably done it. You did it because you wanted to see him again.’
‘Jess…’ Erin eased out a harassed breath; telling the story hadn’t made it hurt less, but she didn’t want to lie to her friend. She’d barely even allowed herself to admit such a thing. ‘I didn’t want to cause a problem for Gil so late on, and the money will help towards a new bathroom. You’ve seen the state of mine.’
‘Yeah, yeah.’ Jess leaned closer. ‘You keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better. But here’s the thing. Oli’s here, where you are, right now. One of you let that happen, so maybe you both need to move on from your past and think about where you go from here. The way he looks at you, Erin, it’s…’
‘What are you talking about?’ Erin’s pulse was clattering and suddenly she wanted to know, have someone else confirm what she already suspected.
‘Like it’s not over. Far from it.’
‘And what about Jason?’ Erin whispered. She’d barely given the man she’d met a few weeks ago a second thought in the past twenty-four hours. But Jason was exactly the reality check and distraction from Oli she needed.
‘I know you think you should date if you want to settle down with a family one day, but are you sure he’s the right place to start?’ Jess’s smile was sympathetic. ‘Noah told me his sister saw Jason’s profile on Tinder. He’s still on there, he hasn’t updated it since you guys met.’
