Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Buoyed up with excitement, Jack walked along the lane hoping for a glimpse of Bets and Tiggy.
Normally she walked to the practice this way, invariably rushing because she was nearly always late.
He hadn’t been able to sleep last night, rehearsing what he’d say to her today.
Maybe she was having a lie-in after last night’s triumph.
He wondered what time she’d got to sleep.
Frustratingly, he hadn’t been able to have a conversation with her last night in the pub; she’d been surrounded by her fellow comedians when she wasn’t being mobbed by her fans, and that guy Jamie had hung around being a bit proprietorial for Jack’s liking, buying her drinks all night.
But then again, he wouldn’t have wanted to steal her moment.
After twenty minutes, he gave up. There was no sign of her and now he was officially late.
‘Wasn’t Bets amazing last night?’ said Margaret when Jack walked into the practice. Above her, across the front of reception, was a big hand-painted banner which read, ‘Well done, Bets.’
‘I was crying with laughter,’ she continued.
‘Yeah, she was amazing,’ Jack said with a smile, hiding the warm glow of pride in his chest and the secret knowledge that he was in love with her.
With Bets the woman, not the girl he’d grown up alongside, the friend he’d taken for granted.
Assuming that she would always be there for him, instead of him being there for her.
He’d been a selfish prick. He needed to tell her all this and how proud of her he was, which was why he’d hoped to catch her on his way to work.
‘Is she in yet?’ he asked.
‘Oh, yes, she was in early. Needed to see your dad and Devon about something.’
Tiggy staggered to her feet from the basket under the desk, shot him one of her usual baleful looks and stood, giving him the evil eye.
‘Morning to you, too, Princess Tiggy.’
Margaret studied the dog, who stood there not giving an inch. ‘She doesn’t like you, does she?’
‘She just doesn’t know me yet,’ said Jack, giving Margaret a cheerful wink. ‘Most women come round in the end.’ He wished. He very nearly crossed his fingers.
‘Usually just the bitches,’ said Diane appearing in the doorway, smirking at her own joke.
‘Ouch,’ said Jack, but no more. Diane’s attitude was starting to get to him.
Everyone else seemed to have got over his and Bets’ break-up.
Only Diane insisted on keeping the unpleasantness going and …
he realised he was letting her. This was not an employee-and-employer relationship, and what had happened between him and Bets had nothing to do with her.
‘Actually, Diane, could I have a word, please.’
Her brows raised in surprise.
‘Now?’
‘Yes, now.’ He stalked into Consulting Room 1 and closed the door behind them.
‘Do you have a problem with me?’ he asked.
She tightened her jaw mutinously and gave him a defiant stare.
‘No,’ she mumbled eventually.
‘So why the constant rudeness?’
Her shoulders lifted in an indifferent shrug. ‘Can’t help it if I tell it like it is.’
‘Tell what like what is?’ asked Jack, reining in his irritation.
‘You. Thinking you can swan back in here, like nothing’s changed.’
‘Plenty has changed,’ he said in a low angry voice. ‘I’m now your boss for one thing. You are aware that I could one day be a partner in this practice.’
‘Only because you’re the boss’ son.’
‘And Devon?’
She shifted her feet but didn’t reply.
‘I’ve earned my place here. I worked hard to qualify and now that I’m back, even though I’m only covering for Jane, I’m working just as hard as anyone else, so I’ll ask you again. What is it that I’m doing that has earned this rudeness?’
Her lips pressed together, a tight line of disapproval. ‘You messed Bets about.’
‘And that is between Bets and me, no one else. She’s agreed to work with me, so why can’t you?’
‘She’s too soft-hearted. You broke her heart and, coming back, you’ve rubbed her nose in it. You should have stayed away.’
‘I’ll say again: if Bets has a problem with me, then that’s up to her to say.’
‘Too bloody late now. She’s leaving,’ Diane snarled.
‘What?’
‘She’s leaving,’ repeated Diane, a flash of unpleasant triumph in her face. ‘She’s talking to your dad and Devon about leaving, right now.’
Jack simply stared at her as the bottom fell out of his stomach, or at least it felt like that. A dozen questions flooded into his brain.
Diane smirked again. ‘Anything else, Mr Ashcroft?’
His own words were tight now. ‘No, Diane.’
Leaving. Bets was leaving. But she couldn’t. She belonged here. Jack tugged at the collar of his shirt. Leaving where? The village? The practice? Where was she going?
With his thoughts racing, he followed Diane and her poisonous smirk into reception and then headed upstairs to where he knew he’d find his father and Devon having their pre-work coffee and catch-up.
They were both in the kitchen, talking in hushed voices. Geoffrey looked up as Jack walked in.
‘Ah, just the person we wanted to see.’
‘It’s all right, I’ve already heard. Bets is leaving.’
Geoffrey raised an eyebrow. ‘Did you now? Let me guess. Diane.’
‘Yes.’
‘I keep telling you she’s a troublemaker,’ said Devon, a scowl twisting his mouth.
‘I know, I know. But she’s—’
‘Been here so long, she thinks she’s more important than anyone else, including us,’ finished Devon. ‘In any other place she’d have had umpteen disciplinaries.’
‘We’re not talking about that now,’ said Geoffrey, ignoring Devon’s impatient eye-roll. ‘Bets has asked for a four-week sabbatical.’
‘Oh,’ said Jack, the tension in his shoulders melting away. ‘So she’s not leaving.’
‘No, would you believe – well, not hard after her rather brilliant performance last night – she’s been offered a part in a TV show playing a veterinary nurse. They need someone who’s good with animals and saw her and she fits the bill. She’s keen to go.’
‘Wow,’ said Jack, trying to take it in. ‘That’s amazing.’
Bets doing something different. Escaping from her boundaries.
‘What an incredible opportunity,’ he said, wanting to go and congratulate her.
Last night on stage she had been so brilliant and he wanted her to know how fantastic she was.
He wanted her to know that he saw her, saw her in her own right.
‘Unfortunately’—Jack’s attention sharpened at his brother’s tone—‘we’ve had to tell her that it’s probably going to have to be a no. If her job’s still available when she comes back then, of course, it’s hers, but it’s just not practical.’
‘Practical,’ echoed Jack, conscious of a sharp pain in his belly. ‘But Bets is—’
‘Indispensable,’ said Geoffrey with a sad frown. ‘I just don’t see how we can do without her.’
‘And besides,’ added Devon, ‘Diane would be the first to bellyache if we let Bets go off on a four-week sabbatical. We’d be setting a precedent which I have no doubt Diane would take full advantage of. I’m afraid, much as we all love Bets, it’s just not practical.’
‘Sadly, I’m inclined to agree,’ said Geoffrey.
Jack stared at his dad and then Devon. ‘Seriously?’ he asked. ‘That’s it? You’re going to make her resign?’
‘No one’s making anyone do anything.’ Devon sighed again and Jack almost sympathised with his predicament … but only almost. Bets had been their most loyal employee and was part of the family.
‘There must be some way we can accommodate her,’ he pleaded.
‘We’d be a nurse down,’ said Devon shaking his head.’ We’re stretched as it is, trying to support three vets – four if we expand and you decide to stay.’
Jack quirked his eyebrow at that; he didn’t recall being invited to stay. Jane’s pneumonia had been convenient for him but she was due back at work next week, and so as far as he knew he’d be back to his filling-in-as-and-when status.
‘Diane isn’t as good as she thinks she is, and neither she nor Sandra are able to take on any more hours – they’ve both got children – so it wouldn’t work for them.’
‘But,’ said Jack, ‘surely … there must be a way round it. I mean, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Bets.’
Both Geoffrey and Devon looked at him. ‘If you’ve got a solution, I’d love to hear it,’ said Devon. ‘Bets is the best veterinary nurse and she’s a good friend but … she understands.’
‘You’ve already told her.’
‘We told her it was unlikely. I’m going to speak to Jonty over in Leighton Buzzard, see if he’s got anyone who might like some extra hours.’
Jack thought for a minute. ‘What about me?’
‘What about you?’
‘I’ll be a nurse.’
‘You?’
‘Yes. When Jane comes back. You weren’t expecting me back. We’ve got capacity on the vet side, just not the nurse side.’
‘And would you take a pay cut commensurate with your role?’ asked Devon with a sarcastic arch of one brow.
‘Yes, I would,’ said Jack. ‘Bets deserves this chance. If I can help, I will.’
Devon looked at his father. ‘Logistically, he has a point.’
There was silence in the room as they all considered the idea and then Geoffrey clapped Jack on the back with a broad smile. ‘Do you know what? I think you’ve hit on an admirable solution.’
‘Yes,’ said Devon, giving Jack a careful appraisal. ‘We could work that into the rota so you could still do some veterinary work.’
‘It’s a win-win all round,’ declared Geoffrey, ‘and it will stop any grumblings among the rest of the staff. Diane is going to be delighted.’
‘Don’t,’ said Jack with a groan. ‘She’s going to love bossing me around.’
‘Excellent. Excellent.’ Geoffrey rubbed his hands together in satisfaction, beaming. Jack knew he had a soft spot for Bets. ‘We’re all agreed. I’ll go and let Bets know what we’ve come up with.’
‘Wait, Dad. Don’t tell her why you’ve changed your mind. She doesn’t need to know. And you can tell the others later.’
‘Your choice,’ said Geoffrey. ‘And I think the right one. You wouldn’t want her feeling beholden to you.’ Still smiling at the thought of being the bearer of good news, Geoffrey walked out of the room and they heard him clattering down the stairs in haste to find her.
Devon leaned back against the kitchen counter. ‘What’s brought on this attack of altruism?’
‘Guilt,’ said Jack, turning to face his brother.
‘Guilt?’
‘Yes, and regret. I didn’t put her first the way I should have done. Didn’t appreciate what I had until it was too late.’
‘Must be love.’
‘It’s her turn to shine and I’m going to let her.’
‘Even more altruistic. Don’t you want her back?’
‘I’m not sure she wants me back. We both need to do our own thing.
There’s a job … I’m interested in. Long shot.
’ He was due to hear that afternoon if he’d progressed to the interview stage.
‘In fact if I got it, it would be a bloody miracle. But if this is what Bets wants, I’m not going to stand in her way. Like I said, it’s her turn to shine.’