Page 4 of Christmas at the Home Farm Vets (Hartfell Village #2)

Oli was impossible to avoid, especially as they shared a floor in Sherlock Court, and they were often together in small groups, or ‘supervisions’, to study.

She’d sneak glances at him, cross with herself for the curiosity he sparked in her, and blush furiously if he caught her.

He’d grin back with that same confidence, and she’d wonder why he bothered with her, certain he saw her as nothing more than a stranger in this hallowed world in which she now lived.

As ever, studying was her salvation, and she threw herself into it.

They were soon immersed in an intensive introduction to the practical and scientific world of veterinary medicine, beginning years of learning in animal husbandry and genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, and physiology.

It was a ten-minute cycle to the vet school from her flat and she was thankful every day that she’d saved enough to buy her own bicycle to get her around town.

She loved the ancient Sherlock Library but found her home in the more contemporary Shakeshaft Library instead.

Every night after she’d eaten she’d head to her usual spot and study until eleven, unless she and Carys went out first. Erin had bonded with Carys, who came from a hardy Welsh farming family, over pizza one night.

She’d recognised a kindred spirit in Carys, another young woman proud of her hardworking background and the sheer effort it had taken to get into Cambridge.

One evening she’d been thrown when Oli had turned up at the library and politely inquired if she’d mind if he joined her.

Flustered, she’d told him no, and he’d settled at a desk near hers, and left before Erin did.

After that he showed up three or four evenings a week, the only time outside of vet school he wasn’t with his friends.

They’d work in silence through the long hours and chat quietly in breaks.

Usually they’d walk back to Sherlock Court together and she came to treasure those moments, feeling strangely as though they didn’t always require words to share a conversation as their bond gradually grew.

Already the end of Michaelmas term was approaching, and Erin was ready for the Christmas break.

These first weeks away had been hugely challenging and she missed her family, even though she’d made friends and spent most of her free time with Carys.

She’d joined Carys for a couple of weekends in Wales, loving having some real farm animal experience to back up her learning.

She was still in regular contact with home, those messages easing the concern always at the back of her mind for her mum’s well-being.

One Saturday morning in late November, she was in the library and sneaking glances at her phone, trying not to worry that her mum hadn’t replied to yesterday’s message.

From experience she knew that meant Heather was likely having a fibro flare-up.

She bit her lip and checked her phone again; her nan hadn’t picked up the house phone when she’d rung it either.

Joyce tended to expect that most callers were scammers or salesmen, and she preferred to avoid both.

Erin sighed and placed her phone facedown again; she was probably worrying unnecessarily.

She’d made a decision when she arrived at Catz not to go home before the holidays, partly because she missed her family so much and returning would be unsettling, but also for a more practical reason – the train was too expensive.

An hour later there was still nothing from her mum and she swore more loudly than she’d meant to as she snatched up her belongings and fled, trying not to panic.

She was going home at the end of term anyway, but she’d already decided this couldn’t wait.

She was racing across Main Court towards her flat when Oli caught her up, a hand going to her shoulder to slow her, and she halted.

‘What’s up? I’ve never heard you say those words in that order before, not even when we had to watch that postmortem of a sheep with liver fluke. What was it you called it? Rank?’

‘What?’ Erin blinked, staring up at him. ‘Give over, Oli, I haven’t got time. I’ve got to get home, like now.’

‘Why?’ Oli’s expression changed to one of concern as the teasing disappeared. ‘Take a breath and tell me what’s wrong.’

‘It’s my mum, she hasn’t been in touch today and she always replies.

Without fail.’ She cast a frantic glance around the courtyard, barely noticing the students casually coming and going, the biting winter air making her shiver.

‘I need to get to the station. There’s a train to Peterborough in a bit and from there I can get to Leeds and then—’

‘Can I help at all?’

‘You?’ Her laugh was a quick one. How did he always do this, hold her with just a look, as though everyone else around them had vanished?

Worry made her tone sharp, and her mind was still racing through trains and transport.

‘I very much doubt it, unless you can magic up a train right now. I probably won’t be there for another twelve hours either way.

Mum has fibromyalgia and it can be really bad sometimes. ’

‘I’ll take you.’

‘What? To the station?’ Somehow Oli was holding her hand, and she stared at their entwined fingers before easing hers free. ‘It’s fine, I can get a bus. But thanks.’

‘Not to the station, to Yorkshire. I’ll drive you because you clearly need to go, and I can help.’ Drizzle that had been in the air turned to proper rain and Oli tugged his collar up against the freezing drops.

‘You’re not serious!’ Erin laughed again, because there didn’t seem to be any other appropriate response. She was searching his face for the tease, but somehow she knew he was serious, and relief was already replacing some of the worry. ‘When?’

‘As soon as you’re ready. You go and get your stuff, I’ll sort out a car.’

‘Don’t you have plans?’

‘Yeah, but they’ll keep. This is important.’

‘Oli, I don’t need you to rescue me. I can look after myself.’

‘I know you can, but why not let me help,’ he said reasonably. ‘That’s what friends are for.’

It didn’t feel like they were friends to Erin, not really.

Oli wasn’t someone in whom she’d confide, nor would she ever admit that he occasionally featured in her daydreams, which troubled her for multiple reasons, number one being because she wasn’t planning to fall in love. ‘But where will you get a car?’

‘Never mind that. Meet me outside the Porters’ Lodge in forty-five minutes. I won’t be able to hang around as parking’s not allowed so you’ll need to be there.’

‘Okay.’

He took off and she stared for a moment before racing after him, trying to drag her thoughts into some sort of order.

In her flat she dumped her bag and stuffed some essentials into another one, too unnerved by worry over her mum to think through the implications of being driven home by Oli Sterling.

It was a four-hour drive, maybe a bit less on a Saturday afternoon instead of a weekday.

Why would he even do such a thing, for her?

Forty minutes later she was waiting anxiously on the main road outside the Porters’ Lodge, still bemused by the turn of events, when Oli arrived in a small blue Vauxhall.

She grabbed the door and leaped inside before he got into trouble; she didn’t want to cause him any more problems than she already had.

Traffic was worse than she’d expected, the city packed with tourists enjoying the sights of Christmas in Cambridge.

To Erin each minute dragged as though it were ten as they crawled along.

‘Thank you,’ she said eventually, her voice small. ‘I really don’t know why you’re doing this and giving up your weekend. I’ll pay you back for the cost of the car.’

It would take her months to do that; she’d have to eke it out of her maintenance loan and make do with less, but that was nothing new.

Maybe she could get a job for a few hours each week and send him her salary.

She ought to have refused his offer but in those frantic, freezing moments in the courtyard she simply hadn’t known how else to get home in a hurry.

‘You don’t have to do that.’ Oli was queueing at traffic lights, and her stomach did the usual flip as their eyes met. ‘Seriously, Erin, don’t worry about it.’

‘How do you know it’ll worry me?’

‘I dunno. Maybe I know you better than you think.’ He pointed to a pair of paper cups sitting in the drinks holder. ‘Coffee. I thought you might like one.’

‘I don’t drink it very often, I prefer tea.’ She found a smile. ‘I’m a proper Yorkshire lass and we can’t get by without a good brew.’

‘Is that right? So you don’t want it then?’

‘I didn’t say that.’ They both reached for a cup at the same time, and laughed. Erin picked one up, gratefully wrapping her fingers around it.

Now the plan was in motion, her thoughts were racing ahead to home, seeing her family and the old terraced house with its familiar comforts.

And what was she supposed to do about Oli then?

Invite him into the heart and centre of her life, and expose him to its realities?

Or send him away and add the cost of a hotel room to the expense he’d already incurred, because he couldn’t drive straight back to Catz after such a long journey.

Finally they were on a main road, speeding away from the city, and her shoulders loosened some more now they were heading north and nearing her mum with every mile.

‘How long have you been driving? Please don’t tell me you’ve just passed your test and never driven so far in your life.’

‘Okay, I won’t.’ Oli was staring ahead, concentrating as the day darkened. ‘I passed a few weeks after my seventeenth birthday, so I’ve been driving for over a year.’

‘Happy to hear it.’ That settled her, even though she could tell he was good from his quiet confidence.

If they carried on like this, she’d be home and with her mum soon after teatime, a thought which relaxed her some more.

Drowsiness overcame her and when she woke again, she was surprised to see they were approaching Leeds.

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I should be navigating for you. At least helping in some way.’

‘It’s fine, you were obviously tired. And I’ve got a sat nav for directions.’

Erin glanced at the small screen stuck to the dashboard. They had barely twenty miles to go and one more city to navigate. ‘Are you okay? Not too tired?’

‘That’s a first, you asking if I’m okay.

’ Oli’s laugh was a quick one as he paused at a roundabout to let a van pass, and then pulled out to follow it.

The festive streetlights were cheerful, and she couldn’t believe these past few months had passed so quickly and that Christmas was around the corner.

‘I have got a heart, Sterling, I’ll have you know.’ She pressed a hand to the top of her chest. ‘I just don’t always wear it on my sleeve.’

‘Except when you’re treating animals. I’ve seen you in action, don’t forget.’ He threw her a smile. ‘Maybe you’re someone who needs to look after your heart.’

She was amazed he’d noticed how much she loved being around the animals in the hospital, even though most of their learning was theoretical so far. ‘Oli, I just want to say…’

‘There’s no need to thank me again,’ he said. ‘If that’s what you were about to do.’

‘But you didn’t have to drive me home. We’re miles from Catz, and then there’s the cost. And this is one of the nicest things anyone’s ever done for me, so thank you.’

‘You’re welcome.’ His voice was low, a layer of gruffness beneath the practicality. ‘So when we get out of the city can I turn off the sat nav and trust you to take it from there?’

‘It’s my hometown, Oli, I could find my way around with my eyes closed. As long as you keep yours open.’