Page 2 of A New Family at Puddleduck Farm (Puddleduck Farm #6)

When Sam woke up, bright sunlight was streaming through the gap in the faded flower-patterned curtains.

On full alert, he reached for his phone and stared bleary eyed at the numbers.

Eighta.m. That couldn’t be right. He never slept past seven.

Never say never. They didn’t have a routine any more.

Shit. He was due at the Post Office at ten thirty.

There was Ninja to see to, the puppies to clean up, and any other jobs he could do to make Phoebe’s life easier before he left her with Lily.

He tugged on his jeans and a sweatshirt.

The September mornings were getting cooler, and a few minutes later he was downstairs and standing in the doorway of the farmhouse kitchen where he got an enthusiastic greeting from Roxie, who was all spots and wags.

Phoebe was at the Aga, toasting bread in a flat metal toasting rack on the hob which you turned halfway through to brown the opposite side.

The delicious scent of toast hit Sam’s nostrils and his mouth watered.

‘Morning, love. Why didn’t you wake me? And why are you using that? Has the toaster broken?’

‘Because you need the sleep, and no, but I like toast like this. Maggie always used this rack. I swear it’s nicer. It doesn’t dry out as much. And the Aga’s on anyway. Might as well make use of it, the price of gas, these days.’

Sam crossed the flagstone floor of the big old kitchen to Lily, who was lying on her back on her play gym on the floor. He crouched down to speak to her.

‘Hello, gorgeous.’

Lily blew bubbles at him, and his heart melted.

Phoebe took a plate of buttered toast over to the huge old wooden farmhouse table.

It could seat twelve and had been in situ for as long as both Sam and Phoebe could remember.

When Maggie had handed over Puddleduck Farmhouse to Phoebe and Sam she had refused to take it with her, saying they’d need six men to carry it, and where would she put it in her nice new bungalow anyway?

‘I’ve had an idea about the pups, Sam. I’m going to call Jade Foster at Duck Pond Rescue. I think she might take them. She’s younger than we are. She’s probably got more stamina.’

‘And she hasn’t got one of these,’ Sam said, tickling Lily’s tummy. ‘That’s a great idea.’

‘She can only say no.’ Phoebe handed him a slice of toast. ‘Cherry jam?’

‘Perfect.’

He straightened up. ‘Has madam been fed?’

‘Fed and changed. The pups are fed too but I haven’t done a clean.’

‘I’ll sort them out before I go to work.’

‘Thank you. I’ve got a catch-up meeting with Max and Seth this morning. Seth wanted a chat about an anomaly.’

Seth Harding, who’d once been Phoebe’s boss, but who now worked part time for her as his retirement job, and Max Jones, who was her junior vet, were holding the fort while Phoebe was on maternity leave.

‘What kind of anomaly? Is everything OK?’

‘I think so. Seth said it was nothing to worry about but he wanted to put me in the picture about something. Don’t worry, they’re not overstepping the mark. I told them if there were any problems I need to know.’

‘All right. Well, hopefully it’s not a problem.’ Sam knew as well as Phoebe did that Seth, who lived in a tweed jacket and flat cap, was the master of understatement. If there was an outbreak of Foot and Mouth, Seth would probably call it an anomaly – or a minor mishap!

‘OK. You’re right about this toast. It’s really good.’ He looked at her, taking in the dark shadows beneath her eyes. ‘Are you OK, honey? You will keep me posted if Seth’s anomaly turns out to be anything serious.’

‘Course I will. Give your mum and dad my love.’

* * *

Soon after Sam had left for Hendrie’s, Phoebe strapped Lily into her front-loader papoose – those things were a godsend – called a delighted Roxie, who had definitely had her nose put out of joint since the arrival of Lily, but who was immensely good-natured about it, and went out of her stable-style back door into the bright autumnal day.

The air held a hint of coolness and smelled of the countryside which was all around them.

It was lovely being able to walk to her practice, which was less than a minute on foot from the house through a yard which had gates leading off it that opened out onto the various pathways and fields of what had once been a dairy farm run by Maggie and her late husband, Farmer Pete.

When Pete had died just before the couple took retirement, Maggie had turned the farm into an impromptu animal sanctuary, which had become more official across the years.

It had been Maggie who’d persuaded Phoebe to set up her own veterinary practice here four years ago.

Maggie, who’d always hated the label Gran, had persuaded her to convert an old barn into the spanking new practice that was Puddleduck Vets.

Sam’s dad, who was a kitchen fitter, had helped with the refurb.

Sam and Phoebe hadn’t been an item back then.

Phoebe had been sworn off men at the time, and Sam had just come out of a relationship.

It was funny how things worked out. For the longest time Phoebe had thought Sam was too much of a good friend for there ever to be any chemistry between them.

Not that there was much chemistry around with a newborn on the scene. With one arm around Lily, safely tucked up in her papoose, Phoebe pushed open the glass reception door of Puddleduck Vets and checked there were no dogs in the front section of the waiting room before ushering Roxie in ahead.

Marcus, her youngest member of staff, was behind reception just to the left of the door, beavering away on the computer system.

‘Hey, boss.’ His face broke into a grin. ‘Good to see you, and the little one. Is she behaving?’ He stood up to see as Phoebe got to the desk.

‘Depends on what you mean by behaving. She’s not giving her mum and dad much sleep. Are you, my darling?’

‘I bet.’ Marcus looked fondly at Lily. ‘Gorgeous though, isn’t she?’

‘She is. Although I think I might be biased.’

Marcus wasn’t your average youngster. He could be intense and was much more serious than a lot of twenty-something lads.

Which also made him incredibly reliable and conscientious.

For a long while he’d even insisted on wearing a suit to work every day, and calling everyone Mr or Mrs. But he’d loosened up a lot since he’d started dating Natasha, the sanctuary manager.

They both adored animals; they were perfect for each other.

The door that led through to the back of the surgery opened and Seth popped his head around it. He gave her a beaming smile. ‘Ah, Phoebe, I thought I’d heard your voice. Have you come for that chat?’

‘Yes, please, if you’ve got time.’

‘Perfect timing. Max is doing morning surgery but he’ll pop in between appointments if he can. How’s the gorgeous Lily? I swear she gets bigger every time I see her.’

‘She certainly gets heavier. Shall we come through to the back? We should probably make the most of her being quiet.’

‘Roxie can stay in reception with me,’ Marcus said, giving the delighted dalmatian a treat. ‘You sit yourself down there, girl.’

She plonked her bottom down instantly in the felt dog bed – Marcus was brilliant with animals, and that was before he’d done an animal behaviourist course and taken up dog training as a sideline.

Phoebe followed Seth through to one of the back rooms, which was lined with built-in crates for patients who were either recovering from or awaiting surgery.

As far as she could see it was currently empty.

At the far end of the room in a partitioned-off area was a tiny office-cum-dispensary.

Jenna, who helped to cover reception as well as being Phoebe’s vet nurse, was making up a prescription.

She came out to coo over Lily briefly, before turning back to what she was doing.

‘So what’s this anomaly?’ Phoebe asked Seth curiously.

‘It’s easier to show you, lass.’ He strode towards the corner of the room and opened the door of the biggest crate, which they kept for the larger dogs. Phoebe followed him, realising that it wasn’t empty after all, but contained an oblong box about three feet long with a glass door.

‘It’s a vivarium,’ Seth said in explanation.

‘It’s temporary. We needed somewhere heated for this little fellow.

’ He pointed and Phoebe bent curiously. She’d expected to see a reptile of some description – very occasionally one was brought in, although they usually referred them on to an exotic animal vet.

They didn’t really have the experience to treat them in house.

But instead of a reptile, Phoebe found herself looking at a circular, pale, almost white-coloured bundle of prickles.

It was small enough to fit in the palm of an adult hand, and looked like a spiky conker case, but it was the wrong colour.

‘What on earth is that?’

Seth leaned over the vivarium. ‘I’ll show you.

’ Very gently, he scooped up the prickle ball and brought it out.

Phoebe had been right about it fitting into the palm of his hand.

Seth wasn’t a big guy physically, he’d been a jockey in a previous life, but there was plenty of room for the little creature.

Seth manoeuvred it expertly until Phoebe could see amongst the prickles a tiny dark pointy snout and two black button eyes and she realised she was looking at a hedgehog, although it wasn’t like any hedgehog she’d ever seen before.

‘Oh, my goodness, is that a baby?’

‘Nope. He’s fully grown. Meet Bumble. He’s an African pygmy hedgehog. Cute, isn’t he?’

‘Wow, yes. He’s absolutely adorable.’ Phoebe leaned in for a closer look and Lily mumbled, as if in agreement. ‘What’s wrong with him?’

‘Nothing contagious, don’t worry. I wouldn’t have brought you two back here if there was.’ He met her gaze. ‘No, he was just suffering the consequences of an owner who didn’t know how to look after him.’ He put the tiny hedgehog carefully back into the vivarium and straightened.