Page 5 of Christmas at the Home Farm Vets (Hartfell Village #2)

Hartfell, present day

‘Hi, Oli.’ Erin was desperate to regain control of the conflicting emotions thudding through her and she stuck out a hand, watching Oli’s brows draw together as he took in her arm hovering awkwardly between them.

The last time they’d been this close was seared in her soul and it had nothing to do with the formality she was determined to establish now. ‘So, er, welcome to Hartfell.’

‘You live here?’ His startled gaze leaped past her to the sitting room, and she withdrew her arm.

Lamplight was gently flickering, a cosy blanket cheerful on the chintz sofa.

She’d intended to light the fire before his arrival and now there wasn’t time; her plans to prepare herself were in pieces.

‘I thought I was staying with someone called Elaine. It was in the email.’

‘Nope, it’s definitely me.’ Unfortunately was the word she toyed with adding.

She was going to have to step very carefully around their history; it wasn’t something she planned to share with her colleagues, and she intended to make sure Oli kept up the pretence.

‘Maybe it was a mistake, or you misread it. Elaine is our receptionist, but the email would’ve come from Gabi, our practice manager. ’

‘It was definitely from Gabriela, and she said that I was staying with Elaine. The website was pretty basic when I googled the practice.’ Oli stuffed his phone into a back pocket and shivered.

The evening was already bitter, and Erin reflected if he was just back from Costa Rica, then no wonder he was feeling the cold.

‘The new website is still in development. And like I said, it’s me. You might want to duck, the door’s pretty low.’

His auburn hair was shorter now, still swept back.

The beard she’d been expecting from viewing his Instagram had gone, leaving him with shades of a red-and-gold overnight shadow she remembered from their student days, when he’d stumble into vet school at the last minute after a late night.

His Levi’s were slim fitting with a turn-up and she’d bet her entire life that the black leather biker jacket and lace-up boots hadn’t come from a charity shop or even a high street one.

She tucked a stray curl behind her ear and her pulse kicked as his eyes followed that once-familiar gesture.

Without the shower she’d planned to have she was still wearing her winter work layers, traces of fur from the pets she’d seen earlier clinging to her clothes.

A hoodie over thermals was her go-to, and she’d quickly learned that two pairs of leggings were essential on farm calls.

‘Thanks for the warning.’ His smile was a taut one too and it was scant consolation to realise he was as uncomfortable as her.

He’d only arrived two minutes ago and already she was wondering how she’d ever thought this could work, sharing her home with the man she’d once thought she’d love for the rest of her life.

‘You’re welcome.’ She stood aside as he entered, clutching the leather bag as though it was a shield. Erin slowly shut the door, and it was as though she’d flung open another one right onto their past. Even the walls seemed to be closing in around them, every silent moment crawling into the next.

‘So this is it, home. Pretty basic, but it’s mine and I love it.’ She bit back an apology for the size and state of the cottage. She was proud of it, and of herself for taking this giant leap, even if she’d probably be ready to collect her pension by the time she’d paid off the mortgage.

‘Just yours?’ The surprise had Oli’s eyes seeking hers again and she made herself hold his gaze.

‘Yes. I bought it when I got the job here.’

‘That’s so cool, Erin, congratulations. You always wanted a place of your own, somewhere close to your family.’ He lowered the bag to the floor, easing out a breath. ‘I suppose I assumed you wouldn’t be single.’

‘I never said I was single.’ There was someone but it was early days, and she was not about to reveal that to Oli; her personal life was very much off limits to him.

‘Right.’ He nodded quickly and looked around the room again, as though he hadn’t properly taken in the details the first time. ‘It’s really sweet.’

‘Is that a euphemism for shabby?’ So what if half her stuff had come from a charity shop, and he’d grown up in a country house in Wiltshire when he wasn’t away at school. He’d just have to lump it or leave.

‘Why do you always do that, misinterpret my meaning? And you do it on purpose, as though you don’t want to hear what I’m saying.’

‘Maybe I don’t want to listen to anything you’ve got to say, Oli.’ She crossed her arms; this wasn’t the start she’d envisaged with her new colleague.

‘I only meant it’s amazing you’ve already bought your own home, and I think it’s charming.’ His lips quirked in a wry smile. ‘I’m nowhere near that, not sure I’ll ever be.’

She ignored that and brought them back to more practical matters. ‘So the bathroom is just off the hall, next to the kitchen.’ She pointed, to make it clear.

‘Downstairs?’ Oli’s smile faltered.

‘Yep. I hope you didn’t get the wrong impression in the email about the accommodation as well.’ Erin straightened her shoulders, making the most of every single inch of her five feet five.

‘My fault,’ he said lightly. ‘I didn’t read it properly, just took in the basics. It was quite long. It definitely said Elaine, though. I would have remembered if your name had come up.’

She wasn’t going to be drawn in again by his charm and that easy grin.

When they’d first met, she’d imagined him more at home in a city bank like his father, not lambing a sheep in the middle of a freezing February night or performing emergency surgery on a cow in a filthy byre high on a moorland farm.

But her perception of him at Catz had changed as she’d come to understand him better.

In the veterinary hospital she’d seen for herself his love of animals, and the care and compassion with which he treated them.

‘I’ll show you to your room.’ She half wondered if the sight might have him hotfooting it back into the night in search of the nearest hotel instead. ‘You’ll need to duck in the kitchen too, and on the stairs.’

She resisted the urge to rush as he followed; there was nowhere far enough to run from how she felt about him.

Upstairs, the landing was a small square space with another step into the bedrooms. The two doors were identical, each with a top half glazed and covered with a chintz curtain pinned in place over the glass.

She opened the door to his room and squeezed inside so they wouldn’t get trapped together on the landing.

The mattress on the spare bed was the best she could afford when she’d moved in, so it had cost next to nothing and wouldn’t be winning awards for comfort any time soon.

‘This is you,’ she said, heat racing back into her face as she hit the light switch. Having Oli sleeping a few feet away, just the other side of a thankfully thick wall, was a reality she had so far refused to confront.

‘Right,’ he replied slowly, his incredulous gaze landing on hers. ‘I thought it would be a…’

‘Double? Nope, definitely a single. Something had to give to make room for the wardrobe and I chose the extra guest. Hope that’s okay.’

Erin made sure it wasn’t a question on purpose.

Maybe he did have a partner somewhere, but whether he’d read Gabi’s email in full or not, she’d been very clear about extra guests.

None, not without approval she didn’t plan on giving.

There was a limit to how much she could take, sharing her home with Oli, and him sleeping with someone else under her roof was it.

‘I suppose it’ll have to be.’ Oli dropped his bag beside the bed and went to the window.

She hadn’t done a thing with the tiny garden yet and so it was still a swirl of wild borders stuffed with clambering roses and last summer’s perennials nudging ever closer to a pocket-sized lawn.

Not that he could see it through the dark.

‘Do you want a hand with your stuff?’

He turned, leaning against the windowsill and resting both hands on it to regard her, shoulders hunched. ‘Thanks, but there’s not much more. I travel pretty light.’

‘Okay.’ She stepped back onto the landing, needing to get out of his space.

‘I know the email said that your rent doesn’t include meals, but I wasn’t sure how late you’d be, and the village shop closes at five.

I’ve made a curry if you’d like to share.

Just for tonight.’ Her toes were curling at the thought of eating together but she hated the thought of him going hungry.

The slow cooker, a moving-in present from her mum, was Erin’s salvation.

Most days she drove home through the Dales dreaming of the hot meal simmering in her kitchen.

‘That’s really kind of you, Erin, but I’ve got plans for tonight.’

‘Plans? But you’ve only just got here!’ She snapped her mouth shut before it fell into a gape. He produced that disarming grin she was so familiar with, and now she was glad she’d given him a single bed with its cheap mattress.

How did he already have plans in Hartfell?

He’d only been here five minutes, and it had taken her weeks to pluck up the courage to go into the village pub for a meal on her own and begin the tentative effort of making new friends.

But then she remembered how much he loathed being alone, a payoff from his days at boarding school and missing home.

‘Yeah, sorry. A mate from Catz farms near here and I’ve arranged to head over. You remember Rob, has that place out in the wilds? Mad about Rough Fell sheep. I haven’t seen him since graduation. But thanks for thinking of me.’