Page 32 of Christmas at the Home Farm Vets (Hartfell Village #2)

Monday was hugely exciting because Marnie came home, and Erin wasn’t sure how she’d ever thought Bramble Cottage had been complete without her.

She’d nipped into town early and bought everything she needed, including the cosiest bed she could find, a soft nest of cream fur that she hoped Marnie would find comforting.

It still chilled her to think of the kitten huddled beside a ditch, starving and sick with no one to care for her until Dorothy came along.

Erin had no idea how she’d settle, having spent those first weeks of her life living with a feral mum.

Marnie would be coming into the practice for now, until she gradually got used to Erin leaving her at home alone.

Oli arrived home soon after Erin and they were both distracted by Marnie, taking turns to sit beside her bed on the sofa.

She was wary and unsettled after the change in routine, and still weak, but Erin was heartened that she ate a small feed and went to her litter tray afterwards.

However much she wanted Marnie to understand the cottage was home now, and she’d be loved and cared for, it was a huge change in her circumstances.

Busy serving chicken arrabbiata from the slow cooker, she was also watching Oli with Marnie and trying not to like the sight too much.

The kitten was soon tired, and she curled in her bed as they ate on their knees.

‘So I spoke with Gil,’ Erin said casually. ‘And he said it’s fine for me to take the weekend off.’

‘You’re sure?’ Oli shifted to look at her. ‘Because I know how you feel about personal relationships at work, and when this gets out – and it will – everyone’s going to wonder about you and me.’

‘You don’t want me to come?’ She tried to quash a flare of panic before it took hold. Had he changed his mind, didn’t want her there?

‘What? No, of course I do. I want you to be there with me, as long as you want the same thing.’

‘I want to be there, Oli, to support you,’ she told him softly. ‘We’ll deal with work when we have to, and anyway, there’s nothing to tell. We’re just friends and I’m your plus-one for a party.’

He found her hand but stopped short of threading his fingers between hers.

Gradually the barriers between them were being diminished and Erin was aware she’d broken another one down when she’d offered to accompany him to his sister’s engagement celebration.

Revealing their plan to Jess was trickier, as Erin also had to ask her friend if she’d mind taking care of Marnie for the weekend.

Jess agreed at once and alongside a knowing wink, told Erin she hoped they had a brilliant time.

Last night Jason had sent her an apology after Raf’s video message, but Erin knew it didn’t matter anymore.

In her reply she’d suggested they call it a day as they both had different priorities and there seemed little point in continuing.

He’d responded a few hours later, informing her there were no hard feelings and to give him a call if she changed her mind.

She’d read the message twice, wondering how she had ever thought he might be someone with whom she could envisage any kind of future.

There was no shared life to divide, no real sense of an ending.

They’d made no plans for the holidays together, no cosy nights in front of the fire and a festive movie, or wintery walks around Christmas markets.

She also felt a little untethered around Oli without Jason’s presence in the background, as though she needed him there to help keep her feelings about Oli in check.

Already this was Oli’s last week, with just another ten days until Christmas.

As the weekend approached, she and Oli kept an eye on Marnie at work, depending on which of them was in the practice or out on calls.

At home they took turns to feed and play with her; she was becoming used to being handled, and once she’d sat on Erin’s lap and purred contentedly.

He was endlessly kind and patient, emptying the litter tray if he was first down in the mornings and feeding her.

He seemed to find as much pleasure in Marnie’s company as Erin did, and on Thursday evening she’d gulped back tears when she’d come downstairs and found him sprawled on the sofa asleep with Marnie curled on his chest.

It hadn’t taken long to decorate the little Christmas tree in its pot outside the front door, but they’d done it together, and it was a cheerful reminder of the season every time she came home.

She’d reluctantly cancelled the festive movie night with Jess as having a houseful of guests might be too much for Marnie right now.

On Saturday, she was surprised at how difficult it was to leave Marnie with Jess, who was staying overnight in the cottage so as not to disrupt the kitten’s routine too much.

As a third-year nurse well on her way to being fully qualified, Erin had absolutely no qualms about Jess, but it was still hard, to close the door and get into the pickup.

Jess had hugged them both, told them not to rush back tomorrow.

For Erin, making the offer to accompany Oli to the party had been an instinctive one when he’d been feeling vulnerable and unsettled, and she hadn’t needed to think twice.

But sitting beside him as they set out for Imogen and Alex’s house on a grey and sludgy day, it felt very different and also familiar.

They’d come a long way since they’d shared a long journey that first Michaelmas term at Catz.

They’d graduated university and were members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, had survived the pressure of exams and those early years in practice when theory had threatened to vanish when presented with the sudden realities of the swift and tough decisions they had to make.

She cast a sidelong glance at Oli as she drove, and her stomach dropped with a longing she’d been trying for days to deny.

Since Imogen’s visit and Erin’s break up with Jason, there had been a subtle shift in their relationship, as though they were both afraid to ignite a flame that might never burn out.

She was beginning to dread him leaving in just three days, when she would wake each morning in the cottage without him, and once again their lives would lead them along different paths.

They grabbed a quick lunch from the services and set off again, and once they’d left the motorway it was still another forty-five minutes to the house.

Imogen and Alex lived a few miles south of the town in a new-build they’d moved into three months ago.

Erin glanced at the sat nav and her nerves fluttered again.

She knew Oli had messaged his sister to let her know Erin was coming, but she had no idea what his family would make of her being at his side for such a personal and special event.

‘So has Imogen said anything about the house, what it’s like?

’ She glanced at Oli again; that familiar profile, the hair swept back from his face and the scattering of freckles over his skin.

She liked the growing beard and thought it suited him, and when she’d teased him about it the other day, they’d both fallen silent when he’d laughingly informed her it wasn’t coming off until he was living somewhere warmer.

‘Not much. Just that they love it and it’s small. Probably still cost a fortune down here.’

‘How did she and Alex meet? I know Imogen’s an architect, you mentioned that.’

‘He’s a builder, they met on a project about three years ago after she moved back from London.’

The roads became quieter as they headed into the countryside, and although it was beautiful, for Erin it couldn’t match the wildness of the Dales they’d left earlier.

Here all was gentle meadows and neat red brick houses, not the stone barns and moorland farms she was used to.

Following the directions, she turned into a wide driveway, a huge sweep of flawless green lawn and a small lake set before a curved row of more contemporary and perfectly elegant, red brick houses.

‘Nice,’ Oli remarked, and she laughed.

‘That’s quite the understatement; they’re stunning.’ She didn’t imagine she’d find any charity shop chintz sofas in the impressive show house near the entrance. She took a deep breath, forcing away more comparisons with her own home. ‘Which one is theirs?’

‘Nothing quite so grand, Imogen said it’s a terrace in the courtyard around the back. Alex has left his car at his parents’ place so we can use his parking space.’

‘Are you okay, about seeing your dad later?’ Erin’s hand found his, resting lightly on his thigh, and his fingers tightened around hers, holding them in place. The contact had been natural, born out of a desire to impart support, but still she felt the thrill of his touch dancing across her skin.

‘Think so,’ he said quietly. ‘I’m delighted for Imogen and Alex of course, and I am glad we came. I suppose a party is a good place to see Dad and Christina, given that everyone will be busy chatting to someone else.’

Erin drove past the first row of houses and turned right into a beautiful courtyard, made up of three blocks of immaculate terraces, low evergreen planting and matching red brick paving interspersed with gravel parking places.

Alex and Imogen’s house was at one end of the furthest block and Erin parked in the allocated spot.

She covered a yawn as they got out – she’d done a couple of hours’ consulting this morning before they’d left to save Gil a job – and she and Oli both stretched.

Checking her phone, she beamed at a message from Jess, holding it out so Oli could see.

‘Don’t think Marnie’s missing us.’