Page 15 of A Cosy Christmas with the Village Vet

The thought of staying in a B&B until he found somewhere more permanent was losing its appeal by the day. ‘Yeah, I’m beginning to wonder if I haven’t been a bit too hasty,’ Nick said, rubbing his hand over the dark-blond stubble of his chin as they strolled along, their feet crunching over the blanket of frosty autumn leaves that covered the path. Oscar and Maudie trotted along jauntily up ahead. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret handing in my notice at my last practice, that feels right, but moving away? Hmm… I’m not so sure now.’

‘Tell you what, if I’d had even an inkling you were looking for another job, I’d have got in touch to see if I could’ve tempted you to join me. You’ll have heard I’ve set up a new practice over at Danskelfe in the old castle estate offices? Georgia Collier’s part of the team; she works a couple of days a week. She’s a brilliant vet; has moved back this way from York,’ Chris said.

‘Yeah, I’d heard that on the grapevine.’ Nick nodded. He liked Chris, and respected him too; he was a good vet with a sound reputation, as was Georgia, though he didn’t know her as well. ‘So how’s it going?’

‘Well…’ Chris went on to explain how his partner in the new business venture had backed out, leaving him looking for another vet to take his place. ‘If you’re seriously regretting your plans to move out of the area – and I know this is going out on a limb – I don’t suppose you’d reconsider your decision to leave and maybe think about joining me and Georgia at Danskelfe? I think we’d make a bloody good team.’

Nick listened quietly to what Chris had to say, his words circling around in his mind and gaining pace. He couldn’t deny it, he found the offer tempting, and before he’d known what was happening, he was giving it real consideration.

‘Listen, are you doing anything this afternoon?’ Chris asked.

‘Er, no, I don’t have any plans. Why?’

‘Why don’t you meet me at the surgery?’ Chris said. ‘You can have a look around, see what you think? Then, when you’ve had time to weigh everything up, you can let me know what you’ve decided to do – though I’d prefer it if you didn’t leave it too long to give me your decision; I’ll need to start advertising for someone new if you think it’s not for you. Having said that, I’m pretty confident you’ll be impressed.’ Chris grinned at him.

Nick was surprised to find he quite liked the idea of having a look around the surgery at Danskelfe. ‘You’re selling it well, Chris,’ he said laughing. ‘What time?’

‘Well, there’s no time like the present. How about we head there now?’

‘Sounds good to me.’

As it turned out, Chris had been right, Nick was impressed. As soon as he set his foot through the door he felt his enthusiasm of old rush through him. As Chris gave him a tour of the place, explaining his vision for the future, Nick felt more and more fired up by the minute, his spirits lifting. He could see himself happy working here – and the potential for going into partnership with Chris made it even more appealing. Chris was a positive bloke, decent and hard-working too. Nick had a lot of respect for him. In truth, if he could have chosen anyone to potentially go into partnership with, Chris Crabtree would be top of the list.

‘Like I said, have a think about it and let me know if you’re up for it.’ Chris smiled hopefully at him.

Tempted as he was to dive right in and accept Chris’s offer straight away, Nick held back, telling himself not to be so impetuous over such a huge decision. But deep down, he knew he’d already made up his mind.

As he drove home, his head was brimming with it all. His heart was thumping; it felt so right.

Two hours later, he made the call, Maudie watching with her usual haughty interest. ‘Chris, it’s Nick.’

‘Hi, Nick.’ Chris sounded nervous.

‘If it’s still okay, I’d like to be a part of Danskelfe Vets; I’d like to accept your offer,’ he said, a smile in his voice.

‘That’s absolutely bloody fantastic, Nick mate. You won’t regret it.’ Chris sounded as over the moon about hearing the news as Nick was delivering it. ‘When can you start?’ he asked, laughing.

‘How does Monday the fifth of December sound?’ That would give him time to clear the rest of his stuff out of the house he’d shared with Loretta and find somewhere to rent closer to the surgery.

‘Sounds good to me,’ Chris said. ‘I’ll get the paperwork sorted and I’ll be in touch.’

Chris’s optimism had been infectious and Nick had ended the call feeling the happiest he’d felt all week. At least this new job would keep his mind off his failed relationship and potential house sale. He wasn’t so sure it would keep his mind from straying to Brogan though, and how she’d slipped through his fingers. He hadn’t been able to get her out of his head all week and it had been driving him crazy. How could he have got it so wrong? It had crossed his mind that he could do a bit of research, ask Toby if he could fish out Brogan’s contact details for him, but he decided against it; if she’d wanted to get to know him better, she wouldn’t have done a middle-of-the-night flit. She obviously hadn’t felt the same connection he had; hadn’t wanted to take things any further. He didn’t fancy being hurt twice if she’d told him that night had been a one off. No, the more he thought about it, the more he felt things were best left alone.

15

BROGAN

PRESENT DAY

‘Right, I’ll just go and get Mrs Simpkin and Fudge. If you could just give the examination table a quick wipe down that would be great, thanks,’ Nick said, flashing Brogan a smile before popping his head round the door. ‘Fudge Simpkin, please.’

Dinah Simpkin came scurrying in, an anxious expression on her face.

‘So, what appears to be the problem with Fudge?’ Nick asked as he washed his hands at the sink in the corner.

‘Well, he’s my daughter’s guinea pig and she says that recently, he’s been getting really fat. And I have to admit, I agree with her; he’s gothuge. We wondered if he had something wrong with him that was giving him such a raging appetite, or if the poor thing had some sort of tumour.’

‘Right then, let’s take a look.’ Nick opened the pet carrier, the sweet scent of hay filling the air. He carefully scooped a rather large Fudge up in his big hands. ‘Hello there, Fudge,’ he said, taking a quick look at the guinea pig’s undercarriage. ‘Hmm.’ He caught Brogan’s eye and she detected a barely discernible lift of his eyebrows. ‘Does Fudge have a companion, or does he live on his own, Mrs Simpkin?’

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