Page 6 of Christmas at the Home Farm Vets
‘Downstairs?’ Oli’s smile faltered.
‘Yep. I hope you didn’t get the wrong impression in the email about the accommodation as well.’ Erin straightened her shoulders, making the most of every single inch of her five feet five.
‘My fault,’ he said lightly. ‘I didn’t read it properly, just took in the basics. It was quite long. It definitely said Elaine, though. I would have remembered if your name had come up.’
She wasn’t going to be drawn in again by his charm and that easy grin. When they’d first met, she’d imagined him more at home in a city bank like his father, not lambing a sheep in the middle of a freezing February night or performing emergency surgery on a cow in a filthy byre high on a moorland farm. But her perception of him at Catz had changed as she’d come to understand him better. In the veterinary hospital she’d seen for herself his love of animals, and the care and compassion with which he treated them.
‘I’ll show you to your room.’ She half wondered if the sight might have him hotfooting it back into the night in search of the nearest hotel instead. ‘You’ll need to duck in the kitchen too, and on the stairs.’
She resisted the urge to rush as he followed; there was nowhere far enough to run from how she felt about him. Upstairs, the landing was a small square space with another step into the bedrooms. The two doors were identical, each with a top half glazed and covered with a chintz curtain pinned in place over the glass. She opened the door to his room and squeezed inside so they wouldn’t get trapped together on the landing. The mattress on the spare bed was the best she could afford when she’d moved in, so it had cost next to nothing and wouldn’t be winning awards for comfort any time soon.
‘This is you,’ she said, heat racing back into her face as she hit the light switch. Having Oli sleeping a few feet away, just the other side of a thankfully thick wall, was a reality she had so far refused to confront.
‘Right,’ he replied slowly, his incredulous gaze landing on hers. ‘I thought it would be a…’
‘Double? Nope, definitely a single. Something had to give to make room for the wardrobe and I chose the extra guest. Hope that’s okay.’
Erin made sure it wasn’t a question on purpose. Maybe he did have a partner somewhere, but whether he’d read Gabi’s email in full or not, she’d been very clear about extra guests. None, not without approval she didn’t plan on giving. There was a limit to how much she could take, sharing her home with Oli, and him sleeping with someone else under her roof was it.
‘I suppose it’ll have to be.’ Oli dropped his bag beside the bed and went to the window. She hadn’t done a thing with the tiny garden yet and so it was still a swirl of wild borders stuffed with clambering roses and last summer’s perennials nudging ever closer to a pocket-sized lawn. Not that he could see it through the dark.
‘Do you want a hand with your stuff?’
He turned, leaning against the windowsill and resting both hands on it to regard her, shoulders hunched. ‘Thanks, but there’s not much more. I travel pretty light.’
‘Okay.’ She stepped back onto the landing, needing to get out of his space. ‘I know the email said that your rent doesn’t include meals, but I wasn’t sure how late you’d be, and the village shop closes at five. I’ve made a curry if you’d like to share. Just for tonight.’ Her toes were curling at the thought of eating together but she hated the thought of him going hungry. The slow cooker, a moving-in present from her mum, was Erin’s salvation. Most days she drove home through the Dales dreaming of the hot meal simmering in her kitchen.
‘That’s really kind of you, Erin, but I’ve got plans for tonight.’
‘Plans? But you’ve only just got here!’ She snapped her mouth shut before it fell into a gape. He produced that disarming grin she was so familiar with, and now she was glad she’d given him a single bed with its cheap mattress.
How did he already have plans in Hartfell? He’d only been here five minutes, and it had taken her weeks to pluck up the courage to go into the village pub for a meal on her own and begin the tentative effort of making new friends. But then she remembered how much he loathed being alone, a payoff from his days at boarding school and missing home.
‘Yeah, sorry. A mate from Catz farms near here and I’ve arranged to head over. You remember Rob, has that place out in the wilds? Mad about Rough Fell sheep. I haven’t seen him since graduation. But thanks for thinking of me.’
‘I wasn’t thinking of you,’ she said quickly, trying to convince herself she meant it. Sometimes she thought there was as much of her nan, who was a feeder, inside her, as there was her mum. ‘I’d have done it for anyone and with the hours I work I always batch cook for another day.’
‘You’re still doing that?’ A glimmer of amusement returned. ‘You were literally the only one at Catz.’
‘Needs must, Oli.’ She was stung by his remark, the reminder of the practical skills she’d depended on which weren’t exactly a choice. Of all the people she’d known then, he was one of the very few who’d glimpsed the reality of her life at home. They’d moved out of university accommodation in their final two years, and she’d ended up in a house share with a friend of his. He had often been at her place, and sometimes his girlfriend Ingrid would be there too, lounging on his lap and regarding Erin with cool triumph.
Oli moved to the bed and sat down. Erin caught his slight wince, her senses tuning straight back into his. It had always been this way between them; they each seemed able to anticipate the other’s mood. She decided she’d better not make him feel too unwelcome, though. She really wanted that new bathroom suite she’d got her eye on. If she was lucky she’d get it in the January sales, and he would be on his way without ever having had the chance to test it.
In the morning Erin curled up earlier than usual on the sofa with her breakfast. She’d woken with a churning in her stomach, alerting her to a worry it took her mind a moment to find. And then she remembered: Oli was here, sleeping in her spare room and staying for the next three weeks. Even though his few belongings were mostly confined to his bedroom after he’d fetched them from the car last night, a coffee machine and a box of capsules in the kitchen were making his presence in her home all too obvious. She’d heard him return about midnight, aware of his tread as he’d climbed the narrow staircase from the kitchen and opened the door to his bedroom, then a sharp crack followed by a muttered curse. He must’ve caught his head on the ceiling where it sloped.
Her phone was in the kitchen, and she hadn’t yet replied to the cheery message from her mum, inquiring how her new lodger was settling in. There was a message from Carys too, and it was more direct, making Erin smile when she’d read it:here if you need me and don’t forget you can boot him out if he’s an arrogant arse. He’s not part of your job description.
‘Morning.’
Erin started, jolted back to the present when she saw Oli at the door from the hallway. A dark blue T-shirt was crumpled above grey shorts, and she drew in a slow breath.
‘I hope I didn’t wake you last night.’ His smile was an uncertain one. ‘The thing with Rob turned into a late one and then I got lost on the way back. Sat nav directed me to a track in the middle of nowhere.’
‘Probably best not to use it.’ She’d also heard him getting into that single bed last night, the frame creaking beneath his weight. ‘You might want to apologise to Edmund, though, he’s already been round to make sure I’m all right. He found my wheelie bin on its side and was worried.’
‘Edmund?’ Oli moved to the coffee machine and swapped the plug with the one for the toaster. She’d have to get used to such everyday things for now and tried not to mind. ‘Sorry about the bin, it was very dark.’
‘It’s fine. Edmund’s my neighbour, he’s lovely.’
