Chapter 6
6
Five months later, on a freezing February morning, Jade stamped the heel of her boot against an ice-plated puddle in the yard and wished Aiden Southerland, her vet, would hurry up and get here. He wasn’t usually late. Her opinion of him had gone up over the last few months. Unlike a couple of the vets she’d worked with in the city practice in Bristol, he seemed to care more about the welfare of his patients than how much revenue they brought in. He was always prepared to go the extra mile, coming out uncomplainingly at odd hours if she was worried about any of her animals and refusing to take extra payment.
Jade had a feeling Sarah had been right about Aiden being interested in her. Even though he still hadn’t asked her out, she sensed he was building up to it, which was awkward because, much as she liked him, she didn’t want anything other than a professional relationship.
So far, she’d managed to avoid the issue, but it was getting more difficult. As she waited for him to arrive, she tried to analyse her feelings. Aiden was attractive in a slightly old-fashioned, gentleman-farmer sort of way. He always wore a tweed jacket with leather patches on the elbows and green wellington boots, which never looked dirty; she’d no idea how he managed that when he spent so much time tramping around farmyards. He had neat brown hair, serious dark eyes, and a slightly intense gaze, which she found a bit unnerving. Yet there was no doubt he was kind and generous and shared her passion for animals, particularly dogs.
He let her have drugs at cost and regularly brought over batches of medicines that were close to their sell-by date, which he refused to let her pay for. They had masses in common, and, logically, she knew he’d be the perfect partner. Yet she couldn’t summon any interest beyond friendship despite Sarah’s regular jibes that she ought to get a life beyond the animals. Maybe it wasn’t just Aiden. Maybe she just wasn’t ready for a relationship.
The crunch of tyres on gravel heralded Aiden’s arrival, and his sunshine-yellow jeep drew into the yard. Even that looked immaculate, she thought idly as she went to meet him. He must hose it down every night.
‘Morning, Jade, sorry I’m late, I got a bit held up with a sow at Jackson’s – cold one today, isn’t it?’ He rubbed his hands together as he spoke, his breath clouding the winter air, his rugged, outdoor face wreathed in smiles.
‘You’re not late.’ She smiled back at him. ‘And I’m probably worrying about nothing. But I thought it was better to be safe than sorry.’
‘Always better to be safe than sorry.’ He leaned into the jeep to get his case. ‘And you know you’re my favourite customer.’
‘Right,’ she said briskly, deciding it would be better not to say she was bound to be with all the work she put his way in case he contradicted her. ‘Step this way and I’ll show you your patient.’
The hospital block, warmed by a pair of Calor gas stoves, felt cosy and inviting after the bitterness of the February morning, and Jade hurried ahead of Aiden towards a pen inhabited by a thin lurcher bitch and her litter of pups.
‘I’m just going to borrow one of your babies a second,’ she murmured, stroking the bitch’s soft head. Then very gently she leaned into the pen and scooped up the smallest pup, who was a miniature version of his mother, brindle stripes running through his pale gold fur.
Aiden frowned as he watched her bend over the pen. How could anyone who spent her life in sweatshirts and old jeans have such an instant and devastating effect on him?
Not that Jade could have the faintest idea of how he felt about her, or ever would, the way things were going. He’d been her vet for the last five months, give or take a week, and he’d been meaning to ask her out for most of that time. But he’d never quite found the courage to cross the bridge between professional and personal.
‘This is the pup I’m worried about.’ She straightened and handed him a scraggy lurcher pup. ‘Whoever tied his mum up to the gate last week must have known she was about to whelp, but the poor love was far too thin. This little one only just made it. I’ve called him Tiny. He’s got a slight infection and I’m worried.’
Aiden took the pup, which squeaked and snuffled blindly at his fingers. Forcing himself to concentrate, he examined it carefully.
‘Yes, you’re right. I’ll give him something for that. He’s a little dehydrated, too. Try and get more fluid into him and make sure he gets plenty of Mum.’
She nodded, her eyes anxious, and he placed the pup gently back into the run. ‘He’s tougher than he looks, Jade. He’s got this far, I’m sure he’ll be fine.’
She looked at him and he was momentarily lost in her eyes. They changed colour according to her mood, going from soft brown to almost black. Today they were very dark.
‘Thanks, Aiden. I’m so pleased. I know it sounds mad, since I’m not exactly short of dogs round here, but Tiny’s a bit special. Probably because he kept me up all night when he arrived. Does that make sense?’
‘Perfect sense.’ He cleared his throat. ‘How are the rest of the crew? Is there anything else you’d like me to take a look at while I’m here?’
‘I had another horse come in the other day.’ She frowned. A strand of dark hair had come loose from the band she tied it back with and Aiden ached to reach out and brush it back with his hand.
‘A horse? That’s unusual. Cruelty case, was it?’
‘No. I was a bit surprised, actually. The owners were very keen to get rid of him and he’s not just some shaggy pony. He’s part thoroughbred. The last sort of horse you’d expect to end up in a place like this. Come on, I’ll show you.’
They left the litter of puppies and went out into the small courtyard and on up towards the stables.
Aiden followed her, cursing his shyness, and wishing he had the nerve to ask her out to dinner.
As far as he could tell, she didn’t wear make-up, but her skin always looked perfect, and the most she ever did with her shoulder-length dark hair was tie it back off her face. She had a strong face, an air of confidence that drew people to her, but there was a touch of aloofness too that said, ‘don’t take liberties, don’t get too close’. Or maybe that was just his paranoia. He’d never had much confidence with women.
She was different around animals; softer. It was people she kept at arm’s length; well, men anyway, Aiden thought. Or maybe it was just him.
He was no closer to working out what made Jade tick than he’d been on the first day he’d met her.
‘I’m Jade Foster,’ she’d said when she’d called into the practice at the tail end of the previous summer. ‘I’ve just opened an animal rescue place up at Duck Pond Cottage. And I’d like to discuss your rates.’
Aiden’s illusions about her being some romantic animal lover had swiftly dissolved as she’d negotiated payment periods and discounts with the skill of a drugs rep.
When she finally got up to go, she’d shaken his hand again. ‘It’s been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr Southerland.’
‘Call me Aiden, please,’ he’d said, but that was the closest he’d ever got to being personal with her. She was always pleasant, happy to talk about neutering programmes or treatments or her plans for the sanctuary, but on a personal level he was still at first base.
‘Actually, Aiden, I’ve decided to get some help with the place,’ Jade said conversationally as they walked up towards the stables in the fading light. ‘Paid help, I mean. I’ve put a card up in the post office, and Mike, at the Red Lion, said he’ll keep an eye out for me, too.’
He looked at her, startled. There were dozens of volunteers who came in on an ad hoc basis to walk the dogs and help out in reception, mostly mothers from the surrounding villages, nagged by their offspring and the lure of animals.
‘I’ve got enough on my plate with the fund-raising and looking after this lot,’ she went on. ‘I can’t keep up with the heavier jobs. Most of the fencing in this place is rotten and the guttering is coming off the older kennel block. With hindsight it was a mistake to buy second hand.’ She sighed. ‘Not to mention the drainage problem.’
‘Maybe I could help you out with some of that,’ he heard himself saying. ‘It would be a pleasure.’
‘That’s very sweet of you, Aiden, but you haven’t got time.’
He tried not to feel rebuffed. Changing tack, he said, ‘Can you afford to employ someone then? I thought it was touch and go on the financial side.’
‘I can afford someone for a while and I was thinking I could throw in somewhere to live. I’ve got a spare room.’
‘Good idea,’ Aiden said, although he wasn’t sure it was. His heart was thumping uncomfortably. Did she mean to share her cottage with a stranger?
They went past the paddock railings, which looked pretty solid to him, and Jade switched on the stable lights. A chestnut horse stuck his head over the door of the middle stable and whinnied at them.
‘This is Ashley,’ Jade said, undoing a padlock before sliding back the bolt. ‘He can undo them,’ she explained, ushering Aiden into the stable ahead of her. ‘So if I don’t padlock him in, he lets himself out and causes chaos.’
‘What sort of chaos?’
Perhaps he should ask her out now. If they were dating then he could offer to pay for someone to come in and do the jobs she’d mentioned. He’d offered to do this once before, but she’d turned him down flat. She might feel differently if they had more than a purely professional relationship. Spurred on by the consequences of not acting and with his heart pumping madly in his chest, he blurted, ‘Jade, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.’
‘I think the Hendersons may have got rid of him because he was – er – over-sexed.’
They spoke at the same time and he gestured for her to go first.
‘He keeps chasing after Rosanna. He lets himself out, and then he lets her out and… Well… You don’t need me to spell it out for you.’ She hesitated. ‘Rosanna’s in season at the moment and she’s a terrible flirt, but this horse is supposed to be a gelding. He looks like a gelding – well, he does to me. Does he look like one to you?’
Aiden looked at the horse’s nether regions and agreed that he’d definitely been castrated.
‘I’ve tried keeping them apart, but it’s tricky because he can get out of anywhere. Dawn, my most prolific volunteer, caught them in the hay barn the other day. They’d bent the lid of one of the feed bins, but they certainly didn’t have food on their minds. They…’ She broke off and looked at him and he could feel her discomfort. ‘I’ve got enough to do without dealing with over-sexed males,’ she added briskly. ‘Sorry, what was it you wanted to ask me?’
‘Oh, it was nothing important.’ Aiden avoided her eyes and glanced back at Ashley. There was an awkward pause.
‘So what do you think his problem is?’ Jade asked. ‘Could it be hormonal?’
Aiden switched into professional mode.
‘Sometimes you get what’s called a rig. He might have been gelded when he was younger, but perhaps he had an undescended testicle. Then he’d look like a gelding, but he’d still have all the normal urges.’
‘I see.’ She looked interested and she was evidently completely unaware of the effect this conversation was having on him.
‘There’s a test that can be carried out. I’ll look into it for you. I can speak to my Uncle Seth, he’s more of an equine specialist than I am. He’s a vet now but he used to be a jockey.’ In an attempt to disguise his embarrassment, he knew he was talking far too quickly, but she didn’t seem to notice.
‘Thanks, Aiden, I’d really appreciate it. It’s embarrassing having two horses – well – mounting each other in the field when there are people walking about with kids. Talking of kids, I’ve got to pick Ben up from school. I’m babysitting for Sarah tonight. So I’m going to have to love you and leave you.’
They came out of the stable together and he watched her hurry away from him, her hips swinging tantalisingly. He’d have to ask her out soon. Either that or suggest she found herself another vet. There were only so many cold showers a man could take.
‘We’re going to the Red Lion for tea,’ she called back over her shoulder. ‘I want to see if Mike’s found me a handyman yet and I promised Ben a pizza as it’s Friday and there’s no school tomorrow. Pop by if you’ve got any news about Ashley. It’s quite urgent.’
‘I’ll give my uncle a call today. Why don’t I swing by and give you and Ben a lift to the Red Lion?’ he said before he had time to think about her refusing. ‘Then I can update you. And it’ll save you driving.’
‘OK, great, thanks. About six. That should see me done here.’ She gave him another quick smile and then she was gone, driving out of the front gate in her Land Rover in a spray of gravel.
Aiden had an urge to punch the air but restrained himself. It was hardly a date. She’d have Ben with her and much as he liked the youngster, he’d far rather have taken Jade out on her own. Still, it was a start.
Maybe he could raise the idea of a proper date while they were there. Yes, good plan. Tonight he would ask her out, come what may. If she hadn’t liked him, she wouldn’t have suggested he join them, would she?