loyal to Langtry Meadows, Charlie. They want to support Eric, and anyway, there’s been bad feeling between us and them, since they pulled that stunt at the county show.’
He held up a hand. ‘I don’t want to know.’ He was going to keep a professional distance, not be dragged into village politics. ‘But we had a trailer load of piglets the other day, and a very persistent man with a lamb in the back of his estate car.’
‘They think it’s quicker to come to you, than call you out. You have to admit they’ve got a point.’
‘And since when did we have alpacas in the village? I’m sure it wasn’t like this when Dad was here.’
When he thought about it though, his dad had been in and out on calls constantly, but he’d just taken it for granted. His mother had always been there for him, even if his father hadn’t been. And he’d loved it when Dad had brought home a stray lamb, or a dog that needed careful monitoring and a warm spot by the Aga.
‘I suppose I better make a start then.’
‘Geriatric hamster, or the cat from hell first?’
He peered round the door, trying to see if he recognised anybody in the waiting room. ‘It depends on who owns them.’ Dealing with the animals was the easy bit, keeping some of the owners at arm’s length was a different matter. ‘Oh hell, Serena Stevens is in again,’ he withdrew, and dropped his voice to a whisper, ‘what is it this time?’
Sally giggled. ‘She wants to discuss babies.’
The back of his neck went clammy, then common sense kicked in. He really should be able to handle any talk of babies and young children by now. ‘Babies?’ The word was raspy, and Sally gave him a strange look.
‘Puppies! I don’t think she’d risk seeing her own boobs droop. She rather thinks that Twinkle should experience motherhood before it’s too late, she wants her to experience sexual thrill and maternal joy.’ The sparkle of laughter was back in Sally’s eyes. ‘You should see your face! Anyway, don’t worry, even if she is broody I don’t think she’s signed you up as sperm donor yet, and I’ve got your back, I won’t let her get her wicked way with you.’
Some people lived their dreams vicariously through their children, Serena was intent on living it through her dog – a very sensitive long-haired Chihuahua who lived a life of luxury, mainly in one of Serena’s large designer tote bags.
He was just wondering whether he could get away with referring her to another vet, on the grounds of his complete lack of understanding when it came to such delicate matters, when the buzzer on the door announced another customer.
Holding the door open, and peering in was a girl in jodhpurs. ‘Soz to bother you, it’s just that Jasper’s caught himself. You couldn’t whip a quick stitch in could you?’
Jasper was a horse. The same horse that was often seen bolting through Langtry Meadows, the animal that had been responsible for his very unconventional introduction to the new primary school teacher, the thought of which made him come over all hot and bothered again.
He took a deep breath and looked at Holly. She smiled back in a winning way. She was the capable, unflustered type, so he knew ‘a quick stitch’ could be shorthand for ‘he’s bleeding all over the car park and could drop dead if you don’t hurry up’.
He was ashamed to realise though that even stitching up a hyper-horse was actually far preferable to discussing sex with the immaculately groomed Serena.
‘Of course we can have a look, Holly. How are you?’ Sally was already tapping away at her computer and Charlie saw a busy day ahead. ‘What’s he done now?’
‘Overreach, the silly sod. If he concentrated on what he was doing instead of being so bloody nosey then he’d know where his feet were.’
Ahh, not so bad then, the downside being that he was going to be stitching an area well within kicking range.
‘Typical male.’ Sally smiled.
‘Thank you for your continued efforts to keep my feet firmly on the ground.’
‘You’re welcome, Mr Davenport.’ She looked back in Holly’s direction. ‘Are you still up for drinks tomorrow night?’
‘Sure am. Eek, stop it Jasper.’ She was yanked backward, the door clanging shut behind her and they heard a clatter of hooves on the tarmac. Two of the customers got up and tried to peer through the window.
‘I’ll put the kettle on shall I ladies? I’m sure you won’t mind waiting a few minutes while Charlie sorts this urgent case out?’ Sally scanned the waiting room with a professional eye. ‘You can watch him in action of course.’ Serena glanced at her watch and made reassuring cooing noises at Twinkle who was growling in indignation.
‘Of course not, I do like to see a man in action.’ The owner of the cantankerous cat, who’d also got a cantankerous husband always loved an excuse to stay out of the house as long as possible.
Serena gazed admiringly. ‘You’ve got such sensitive hands, you really shouldn’t have to deal with such big, dangerous animals.’
Charlie stared blankly at the computer screen. Being cornered by a herd of rampaging bullocks was a safer bet than Serena and her Chihuahua.
‘Oh no, no, not at all, do you want a hand with the coffee?’ A slim woman in her thirties, who Charlie had never seen before, stroked a hand over her son’s head and looked down at the box he was clutching. This had to be the geriatric hamster, and from the look of discomfort on the woman’s face she was obviously expecting the worst – and was more than happy to put the moment of judgement off. The trouble with hamsters, Charlie knew, was that with a life span of rarely more than three years they had a habit of leaving grieving children in their wake. ‘Do you want to sit here with Mario, Harry?’ Harry nodded, and shooting Charlie a distrustful look clutched the box even tighter.
Another clatter of horseshoes on tarmac reminded Charlie that Jasper wasn’t going to be an easy customer. With a sigh he went into the operating room and sneaked out through the back door to examine his patient.
As he bent closer to make a preliminary check of the wound, Charlie was suddenly excruciatingly aware of a pair of bright pink wellingtons, which he could see out of the corner of his eye as Lucy edged closer. He was used to being observed, but this felt different, it was as though he was still back at college – trying to impress. He had to get a grip, this was ridiculous. What did it matter if she thought he was some uncooperative, incompetent idiot?
‘Is that the horse that tried to flatten me when I came for interview?’ She’d moved in so close he could smell her perfume again, which was far too disconcerting.
‘Oh you’re kidding?’ Holly put a hand to her mouth. ‘Oh God, was it you in that cute little car by the pond?’
‘It was.’ Lucy stepped back abruptly as Jasper attempted a pirouette, and joined the rest of his clients who, keen for entertainment, had drifted out from the waiting room and were now lined up at a safe distance.
‘We’d just gone past those damned alpacas and one stuck its head through the fence and made faces at him, you don’t like those weird things do you honey?’ She kissed the end of Jasper’s nose and
