Page 27 of Christmas at the Home Farm Vets (Hartfell Village #2)

‘Yeah. I need to get on with these anyway.’ She waved a hand over the pastry and jar of mincemeat as Oli stepped away. ‘Take your time.’

An hour later she had a dozen golden mince pies cooling on the worktop and he was doing his best to persuade her to let him try one.

She refused again and when it was time to nip back to the practice and check on Marnie, she took the mince pies with her so he couldn’t cheat.

They laughed about it when she returned after settling Marnie, and she was grateful he’d cleared up while she’d been gone.

She thanked him, ready to head up to bed for an early night.

In the morning Erin was happy to have the mince pie tasting coming up to distract her from the call she was making first. It was three days since she’d visited the dairy herd to test the cows for tuberculosis, and returning to assess the results was always an anxious time for everyone.

On Tuesday she’d clipped two patches of hair from the neck of each cow and measured the skin thickness before injecting both sites with different tuberculins.

Marnie was making steady progress and would sometimes purr when they stroked her, which thrilled Erin.

She was hopeful that without a feral mum to guide her, Marnie would lose some of her wilder instincts and learn how to settle into a home.

Harriet was studying for pre-Christmas exams in between taking care of the ponies.

Flo had officially been welcomed into the family and now had her own pink waterproof rug which she wore in the paddock each morning, with a different one for the stable at night.

Gil had scanned her and thought she would give birth in May, and everyone was excited about seeing her with a foal at foot in the spring, when she would be well recovered and enjoying the early grass.

Neither Harriet nor Dorothy had any clue about the stallion who’d sired the foal.

Harriet was hoping for a pony she could keep for riding when it was old enough, ideally one taller than Flo’s thirteen hands as she was already five nine.

Gil was still occasionally muttering about how they’d managed to become a two, nearly three-horse family, but he often popped into the stables to check on Flo, and he didn’t stand a chance against Harriet, Dorothy and Pippa anyway.

When Erin arrived at the farm to complete the tuberculosis test, the cows were herded back through the crush so she could measure the skin thicknesses of each site she’d injected on Tuesday again.

It was a fiddly, cold and noisy morning, and her arms were aching when she finished, thankful to advise the farmer that the second measurements were within normal limits and there were no ‘reactors’.

It was a huge relief that the herd had maintained their tuberculosis-free status, and the cows were released into their barn.

Back at the practice there was a festive air when the staff gathered in the office for the mince pie tasting before afternoon consultations got underway.

Oli smirked when he caught her eye and she flashed him a glance, wondering if he had cheated after all and helped himself earlier, even though Elaine supposedly had all the entries under lock and key.

The seven different mince pies, each cut into manageable quarters for tasting purposes, went down a storm and everyone cast votes for their favourite in a sealed box Elaine had brought in specially.

The results would be announced at the staff party tomorrow and the winner revealed.

Nearly all of Erin’s mince pies vanished, and she didn’t think it was fair to vote for her own, so she chose another homemade batch instead, with perfect sweet short crust pastry and a frangipane topping.

Dorothy arrived towards the end, and she whacked a bowl onto the table in the kitchen already scattered with pastry crumbs.

‘Couldn’t be bothered with mince pies, too finicky,’ she declared, giving Oli a disdainful look.

He’d been round to treat one of her Soay sheep this week and by all accounts, his anyway, it had gone quite well – he hadn’t been banished from her farm at least. She tore off a tinfoil wrapping to reveal a rich, dark fruit cake in a metal tin.

‘Is that a dog bowl?’ Oli whispered to Erin incredulously, and she tried hard to stifle her laugh. ‘It might even be the very one I saw her dogs slurping from the other day.’

‘Could be, but who cares? It’s obviously been well cooked, and Dorothy’s cakes are apparently rare and revered,’ she muttered back. Elaine was thanking Dorothy and trying to persuade Jess to nip to the village shop for some cheese to go with it. ‘I’d eat it.’

‘You might be on your own, not sure I will.’

‘Are you going to tell Dorothy you’re too scared to eat her cake, then?’ Erin watched as Dorothy gave the tin a hefty whack with her palm and the cake flew out to land upside down on the table.

‘No, and don’t you tell her, either. I’ve got the perfect excuse not to.’ Oli drew his phone from a pocket of his moleskin trousers, and checked it. ‘I’ll fetch the cheese, Elaine,’ he said loudly. ‘I’ve got a parcel to pick up from the shop anyway.’

‘Thanks Oli, do you mind?’ Elaine sent him a grateful smile. ‘Jess has got patients due for a health check any minute.’

Erin saved Oli a slice of fruit cake for later, determined to get him to try it. It tasted amazing with a hunk of local Wensleydale cheese, and she nipped off to check on Marnie before her first afternoon consultation.

On Saturday Oli was on call and he spent it mostly at the practice.

Erin was there in the morning too, taking care of Marnie and helping Harriet with the ponies, happy to see Flo brightening with excellent care, food and shelter.

Dorothy had been round to clip her, removing the matted and dirty coat and replacing it with a heavyweight rug to keep Flo snug.

The blacksmith had also called and trimmed her hooves to a manageable length that no longer caused her pain.

Posy wasn’t too thrilled with her neighbour and would thump her stable door, demanding to be fed first.

Yesterday Erin had reminded Jason about the party, and he’d said he would meet her there as he had a full day of clients and might arrive at the last minute.

She didn’t mind too much; she understood what working all hours looked like and wasn’t in any position to object seeing as she’d once had to leave a date early when she’d been on call.

She could check on Marnie while she was at the party and hopefully on Monday she’d be bringing her home, at least overnight.

Until Marnie settled in the cottage, she might have to take her into work during the day and pop her in a kennel, as Gabi and Gil often did with their dogs.

Once Erin was ready she went downstairs and found Oli waiting, standing in front of the fireplace. He tugged his sweater straight to give her the full effect.

‘Don’t say a word. I’ve got a long-sleeved T-shirt on underneath in case it gives me a rash.’

‘Can I not even say it’s totally you?’

Even with the years of separation since university, every detail of his face was still fixed in her memory.

The tiny scar below his left brow he’d got falling off his bike and the faint dusting of freckles, brows a shade darker than his hair.

The black sweater suited his colouring perfectly, with a grimacing green sprout sporting a set of antlers above rows of white snowflakes alternating with miniature Christmas trees and prancing reindeer.

‘Never in my life did I imagine I’d catch you wearing something like that.

Are you actually going to keep it on all night?

’ Erin slipped her coat on. She’d gathered her curls at the nape of her neck into a loose ponytail and she hadn’t missed his own stare as he took in her altered appearance.

The comfortable work clothes and cosy lounging clothes she usually wore had vanished, and she felt more feminine in her favourite winter skirt, a dark green floral asymmetric one worn with long leather boots, despite her own ugly sweater.

‘Isn’t that the point? So are you saying I don’t look good in it?’ Oli raised a brow, and Erin felt the kick in her pulse at his lazy tone.

‘You look passable. Like you’re going to an office Christmas party.’

‘Passable? Wow.’ He clutched his heart. His gaze swept down her scarlet jumper to the glittery silver and black Christmas pudding adorned with a gold ribbon across her chest, and her stomach fell away.

A tingle darted across her skin, and she was remembering standing before him at the May Ball in her bra above her black pencil skirt, the desire in his eyes. ‘Whereas you look…’

‘Don’t say it,’ she warned, finding a scarf to wrap around her neck. ‘Either because it’s rude or not appropriate for colleagues.’

‘Erin, you and I are way more than colleagues,’ he said softly, reaching past her to open the front door. ‘You know we are.’

He closed it behind them, and they set off to walk to Home Farm.

A huge star attached to the top of the church tower was glittering, brightening the sky and the still, cold evening.

A merry group spilled from a holiday house opposite the green, heading for the pub.

The door opened and Erin heard the cheery seasonal music drawing them in, a reminder of Christmas around the corner.

‘So is Jason…’

‘How did…’

‘Sorry. You first.’

‘I was going to ask how the collie is doing, the vomiting one. I saw it came back for a follow up.’ She was doing her best to ignore the quiver of anxiety at the thought of Jason being with her tonight.

It had been very kind of Gil and Pippa to include partners, but she and Jason were so new, and she hoped he wouldn’t bang on about work and his clients all night.

‘Yeah, it was fine, and none of the other dogs on the farm have been ill, so it was likely something she ate, as you thought. They’ve got a three-year-old bitch who’s due to whelp in two weeks, so they’d separated her in case she picked anything up.’

‘I know the one you mean, I scanned her last month. That’s good news.’

They strolled past the green and across the bridge towards the church and the school next door, festive decorations outside homes cheerful and welcoming.

At the entrance to the practice they swung left halfway up the driveway to the farmhouse instead.

It shone from every mullioned window, jolly Christmas lights draped around the huge, studded wooden front door.

Oli knocked while Erin was scanning the car park for signs of a dark van.

‘I might wait here for Jason.’ She folded her arms against the chill. A vehicle was approaching, though she knew from the size it wasn’t his.

‘Are you sure?’ Oli gave her a doubtful look. ‘Because it’s literally freezing, and we both know you could be a while.’

‘Oli, you’ve met him once!’ Frustration with both men spilled into her reply. ‘Could you just stop with the judgements, please?’

The door was pulled back and Pippa was there, welcoming them above the music and trying to prevent the dogs swarming all over them.

Erin and Oli dropped down to greet Lola and springer spaniel Maud, well used to seeing them in the practice with Gil and Harriet or around the yard.

Oli had treats in his pockets and he offered some to both dogs, who gobbled them up.

‘Friends for life,’ Pippa said fondly, managing to persuade the girls back inside. ‘Come in and have a drink to warm you up. I take it you’ve walked? Gil’s mulling cider and he’s unearthed his gran’s old jam pan so we’ve got bucket loads.’

‘After you,’ Oli said smoothly to Erin, and she shot him a filthy look as she followed Pippa, unwilling to miss her own staff party because the man she was dating hadn’t seen fit to arrive on time.