Chapter 12
Lettie stood under the warm shower, her eyes squeezed shut in mortification that anyone, let alone their gorgeous vet, had seen her in such a disgusting state. What must he think of her? She cringed. She would rather he didn’t recognise her than see her looking and no doubt smelling so disgusting. If only she hadn’t fallen over shortly before his arrival, and in goat dung too. The horror of it all.
She soaped her aching body and shampooed her hair for a second time, just to make sure there was no mess left anywhere on her. Brodie must think her such an oddball. So far all she had managed to achieve in the past three and a half weeks was pull a few muscles, wear herself out and not be very helpful to her dad at all. Was she making a fool of herself by trying to do this work? Was she out of her depth? Yes, was probably the answer to both questions.
She reached out and grabbed a towel, drying her face before wrapping it around her hair. Then, stepping carefully out of the shower, wrapped a larger towel around her body before leaning forward and wiping away condensation from the bathroom mirror with her hand. There she was, she thought, staring at her pink-faced reflection, obviously exhausted but at least clean at last.
‘You’ve got this,’ she told her miserable reflection. She wasn’t going to give up without a much better fight than the one she had given so far. She could do this.
‘There will be good days and crappy days. Today is simply one of the crappier ones.’ Literally, she thought grumpily.
Resolving to be more positive, Lettie brushed her hair deciding to allow it to dry naturally. She didn’t mind her curls, not any more. When she was younger and first going out to nightclubs she had spent hours trying to straighten it, but she no longer bothered. It was far easier this way.
Dried and dressed in a pair of baggy jeans and a fresh black and white striped T-shirt, Lettie went downstairs. It was such a beautiful day and she had a lot to learn about the farm, so she decided it was the perfect time to go for a walk around the fields. She took a notepad and biro from by the phone to make notes about any jobs she thought might need doing, like the stone walls she had already noticed that needing fixing.
‘We’re just popping out to do some shopping,’ her mother said, stepping out from the walk-in pantry.
Startled, Lettie dropped the pen and bent to retrieve it.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to give you a fright.’ Her mother seemed very happy. Lettie wondered if it was because she was doing her best to learn all she could about the farm. ‘Do you need anything?’
‘No thanks, Mum.’
Lettie knew her father would have given her mother some sort of update on how she was coping. Or, if he hadn’t, he probably would do when they were out.
Her father arrived in the kitchen wearing chinos and a pale blue shirt. ‘You look smart, Dad.’ She hadn’t meant to sound so surprised but it was unusual to see him out of his usual farming gear. They must be going somewhere special. ‘Doing something nice?’
‘Mostly shopping.’ He sounded evasive and Lettie decided to drop the matter.
‘Well, I hope you have fun.’
She watched her parents leave the house and soon after drive away. Happy to be alone, Lettie walked outside looking forward to spending a few hours alone.
That evening she made the most of her parents before they left for their holiday. She was sitting outside in the beer garden at the back of the pub with Tina, and Lettie couldn’t help wishing Brodie had never returned to the island. Despite her best intentions, her emotions clearly had no plan to do what was best for her, and she still had a massive crush on him.
‘You’re very thoughtful,’ Tina said narrowing her eyes. ‘Are you going to tell me what’s happened, or am I going to have to guess?’
Lettie knew Tina would keep something to herself if she shared it with her. They had been best friends for years and she had to confide in someone. ‘The new vet.’
‘He’s gorgeous, isn’t he? I bumped into him at the store earlier and he has the bluest eyes. He looks extra cute wearing those glasses too, I thought.’
Lettie nodded her agreement. A bit too cute for her liking, she decided.
‘When he looked at me I briefly forgot why I had gone into the shop. Embarrassing it was, I can tell you.’
‘Only if he noticed.’ Lettie saw disappointment in Tina’s face and realised she had said the wrong thing. She knew only too well how it felt not to be noticed by him. ‘Remember that school Halloween disco when we were about fifteen?’
‘The one I missed because my dad had grounded me for staying out too late the previous weekend?’ Tina gasped. ‘Not the one where you had your first kiss?’
Tina knew her too well. ‘That’s the one.’
Tina gazed at her silently, tapping her finger against her lips thoughtfully before her eyes widened. ‘Don’t tell me he’s the guy who kissed you?’
Lettie closed her eyes, recalling the humiliation of that night when so much had seemed possible, but only for a very brief time. His rejection of her still stung. ‘That’s the one.’
Tina’s mouth dropped open. ‘No,’ she whispered.
‘I wish he wasn’t, but he is.’
Tina sat back in silence. She waited for Tina to think things through, then, seeing her friend’s expression change, she could tell Tina had worked out exactly why this was such a bad thing.
‘So, he’s not only gorgeous, and has already kissed you, but he doesn’t remember either you or that kiss? Is that it?’
Lettie let out a long, miserable sigh. ‘It is.’
Tina touched her arm sympathetically. ‘Oh Lettie, that’s horrible.’
‘Exactly. If that isn’t bad enough, imagine how mortified I’m going to be when he works out where he knows me from.’
Her friend shook her head. ‘Why would he do that?’ She took a sip of her drink. ‘If he hasn’t remembered you yet, then maybe it won’t ever come to him?’
If only life was as simple as that, Lettie thought wistfully. ‘Because when we first met, he was convinced he knew me from somewhere, that’s why.’
‘Ah, I see. Tricky.’
‘Yes.’ She covered her face with her hands. ‘Why does he have to be the farm’s new flippin’ vet?’
‘Maybe when you’re in sole charge of the farm you could move to another veterinary practice?’
‘If only it was that easy,’ Lettie groaned. ‘I couldn’t do that.’
‘Why not?’
Lettie tried to picture Brodie’s reaction if she did go to another vet. It wouldn’t be fair, not when he was trying to build his reputation here and hadn’t actually done anything wrong. Anything he was aware of. ‘Because he would surely want to know why. And, even if he didn’t ask, I know my father would be angry. He already likes him and thinks he’s good at what he does, so it isn’t really an option.’
‘I’d never think of you as forgettable though,’ Tina said thoughtfully. ‘It’s very odd.’
‘Embarrassing, is what it is.’
Tina gasped. ‘I bet I know what’s caused his confusion.’
Lettie shrugged. ‘Go on then, enlighten me.’
‘It’s your name. He’s trying to think where he knows Lettie Torel from, not Violet Torel.’ Lettie winced at the name she hated so much. Why had her mother let her father persuade her to call Lettie after her paternal grandmother? ‘Don’t pull that face. Those older names are becoming more popular now.’
‘Well this particular one wasn’t when I was at school.’ Lettie shuddered. ‘Maybe it was the thought of going out with someone called Violet that put him off me.’ Could it be that? she wondered.
Tina picked up her drink and raised her glass. ‘Whatever his reasons, maybe his memory is so lousy he’ll never work out where he knows you from. And if he does, so what? We all kissed people in high school. You two can just have a laugh about it and move on, right?’
If only it was that easy, Lettie thought, but raised her glass anyway. ‘Cheers to that.’