Page 63 of A Cosy Christmas with the Village Vet

The first few pages were photos of her grandparents taken around the farm. It was interesting to see that the place looked pretty much the same, though there was more clutter around the yard then – evidence of her grandparents’ hoarding, he suspected. Soon, Nick found himself looking at numerous photos of a little girl with bright red hair and an abundance of freckles. One picture in particular caught his attention. It was taken in front of a barn filled with oblong bales of hay stacked high. The little girl, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt and wellies, was sitting in a wheelbarrow, hens scratting about in the ground around her, and a plump sheepdog puppy in her lap. Her sunny smile revealed she’d lost her two front teeth. But there was no mistaking those sparkly green eyes.

‘That’s you?’ he said, smiling.

‘Yeah. I can remember when the photo was taken actually. It was a lovely sunny day. Grandad had been pushing me round the yard in the wheelbarrow ’til he was sweating buckets, which was probably why my grandma came out with ice creams for us. The little puppy there was called Scamp; I’d been allowed to name him. My grandparents hadn’t had him long; they’d got him to train up to work on the farm, helping with the sheep.’

‘Even from the photo he looks mischievous,’ said Nick.

‘Oh, he was; had loads of energy too.’

They flicked through more photos until they got to the end of the album. Brogan closed it gently. ‘Happy memories,’ she said softly.

Nick paused a moment, debating whether now would be a good time to start the conversation he’d hoped to have before Anoushka and Kristy arrived.Go for it! Grasp that nettle!Before he could stop himself, he said, ‘Talking of happy memories I’ve got one that includes you.’

He watched as she pondered his words, her brows knitting together. ‘You do?’

‘I do.’ He nodded. ‘Actually, just give me a second.’

‘Oh, okay.’

Within moments he was back, holding something in his hand. He was struggling to keep an amused grin from spreading over his face.

‘I’m intrigued.’ Brogan looked up at him as he made his way towards her, sitting down beside her once more.

‘Okay, so my happy memories of you start at the wedding.’ He watched her reaction closely.

‘Oh, right.’ She stole a look at him before quickly looking away, colour rising in her cheeks.

‘I know we haven’t talked about it since we found ourselves working together, but I kind of think it might be good if we do. To be honest, it feels a bit strange that we haven’t; we’ve been doing this odd kind of dance around it, both knowing it’s there, that it happened, but both trying to pretend it didn’t. If you see what I mean?’

She gave a quick nod. ‘Yeah, I think I do.’

‘Anyway, it’s probably a good time to return a couple of things you left in my room that night.’

The small wince she gave didn’t go unnoticed. ‘What things?’

‘First of all, there’s this.’ He opened his palm and her eyes lit up.

‘My hair slide! I thought I’d lost it forever! Thank you! Where did you find… oh, yeah, your room.’ She grinned sheepishly.

‘I wanted to give it to you the other night, but I couldn’t remember where I’d put it.’

‘It’s not like you to lose things,’ she said with a hint of sarcasm, quirking an eyebrow at him.

‘Says she who also lost these.’ He opened his other hand.

She peered at the scrap of dark green satin that sat in his palm, her eyes growing wide as realisation dawned. With a squeal, she snatched the fabric away and hurriedly stuffed it into the pocket of her jeans. Wilf and Maudie looked up, ears cocked. ‘Oh, my God! I’m so embarrassed!’ She clapped her hands to her cheeks. ‘I can’t believe I couldn’t find them. I mean, I normally fold all my clothes in a neat pile.’

‘Not that night you didn’t. If I remember rightly, you whipped your knickers off pretty quickly, spun them round your finger and flung them right across the room. I promise you, folding anything neatly was the last thing on your mind.’ His mouth twitched as he struggled to contain the laugh that was itching to break free.

‘That’s so not true!’ She covered her eyes with her hands and shook her head, laughing despite herself. Peeking between her fingers, she asked. ‘So dare I ask, where did you find them?’

‘On the lampshade; the one hanging from the ceiling. Had to call housekeeping to help reach them,’ he said, his face straight. ‘They had to bring ladders, a safety harness, the works.’

‘That is so not true!’ She gave him a playful backhander on the arm.

‘You’re right, I’m teasing,’ he said, his laughter escaping. ‘They were hidden under my suit trousers, which would’ve made them hard to find when you were trying to do your flit in the dark.’

‘Yeah, sorry about that. I just thought if I left before you woke, it would save you the awkwardness of… well, you know.’ She gave a shrug. ‘Plus, I wassoembarrassed; I’ve never done anything like that before. I promise you, I don’t make a habit of jumping into bed with strange men.’

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