Summer with the Country Village Vet

He loved these quiet times, with a patient that had turned the corner. This was the good bit; this was what the job was all about. It didn’t matter where in the world he was, animals were animals and moments like this made all the long hours and difficult decisions worthwhile.

‘Ready to face the wrath of the Langtry Meadows women are you, Charlie?’

Charlie gave the cat one last rub behind the ear then glanced up at Sally, his receptionist, animal nurse and general answer to all his prayers.

Two months earlier he’d arrived at the Langtry Meadows Veterinary Centre expecting to be faced with the same officious, bossy receptionist he vaguely remembered from his childhood when he’d sneaked into the surgery to see the animals, borrow his dad’s bag of tricks and pretend to be a vet – although that was pretty silly as she’d been considerably older than his father. He’d still been pleasantly surprised to meet the ever-friendly, and amazingly helpful Sally.

Her mid-length brown hair hung in straight, glossy sheets either side of her solemn face which lit up when she smiled, her large brown eyes as steady as a Labrador’s and the frown lines on her forehead evident whenever she was concentrating. Within a few days Charlie had fallen in love with her, in a totally un-romantic way. She was efficient, kind and knew everybody in the village – which smoothed the path and allowed him to concentrate on the animals. Which was just how he liked it. Perfect.

Eric had played a masterstroke the day he had persuaded Sally to join the small veterinary practice, and Charlie hoped he realised it.

He rolled his eyes, and secured the catch of the cage. ‘How many?’

‘Only three so far.’ Sally giggled. ‘Don’t worry, once you’ve been here a few months they’ll lose interest, but we don’t often get a hunky new man in the village.’ She tipped her head on one side, ‘and the fact that you’ve come back means the nosey old bags want to come and interrogate you as well.’

‘I’d have thought they’d got more interesting things to think about.’

Sally laughed. ‘You’re the talk of the village shop, and the pub, and in the doctor’s waiting room …’

‘Shush.’ He held a hand up to stop her. ‘I don’t think I want to know.’ At least Lucy, the other newcomer in town, had the advantage that she had no history here, so there was no gossip to be had.

‘Though if it’s any consolation the magazines in the surgery are so old, and Dr Jones is so bloody slow, it’s no wonder they’ve had to resort to talking about you. Last time I was in there the other hot topic of conversation was whether Jim Stafford was cheating at the last gooseberry show, apparently his were massive. Swollen out of all proportion.’

‘Thanks, Sal, I feel much better now you’ve lowered my level of importance to an over-inflated soft fruit.’ Jim had actually seemed quite protective of the cover teacher. Maybe he wasn’t the only one who was affected by her light floral perfume and softly curved body. He shook his head to dismiss the thought. She wasn’t even his type. She was more what you’d call athletic than womanly, and she was blonde, and a bit well, well he couldn’t put his finger on it, but not his type. Definitely not his type.

He’d never been a player, but maybe that was the antidote he needed. Except not with her. A teacher. The prickle of sweat that sprang up on his brow left him feeling clammy. He really had to get a grip.

‘Talking of soft fruit, Holly rang to say she wants that colt of hers castrated.’

He switched his brain back to concentrating on work, his saviour. ‘Why doesn’t she go to the large animal practice in the next village? Most of the farm clients go there, and they’ve got a great horse vet.’

‘It’s you they love.’ Sally winked. ‘And you’re getting quite a reputation as the man to go to for,’ she made a snipping gesture and he winced, ‘snipping off testicles.’

Balls were what he felt like he’d been lacking himself lately. Agreeing to come back here, and admit he was a failure professionally as well as in his private life wasn’t doing him any good at all, not that any of them knew about the private bit. Yet. She’d looked at him like she knew though, Lucy. And he’d nearly said more than he’d intended.

‘I remembered this place as a quiet backwater, full of farmers with tight wallets who never visited a vet unless they had to.’ If he was honest, he’d expected to be bored witless, and in need of a hobby.

‘Ahh, you thought you could put your feet up, didn’t you Charlie boy?’ He hadn’t actually wanted to put his feet up, keeping busy was what he needed now, but he’d never expected it to be this hectic. ‘Thinking of taking up golf were you?’ He shifted guiltily. ‘Well in case you’ve missed it, most of your clients are females, and they don’t tell their hubbies until the bill needs paying.’

‘Well I wish they’d at least book appointments and not turn up at all times of day and night.’ He’d got used to the way his town centre practice had run like clockwork, efficiency itself. Here, the waiting room was constantly busy, often between surgery hours when he was struggling to catch up on operations and paperwork. ‘They seem to think I haven’t got a life.’

Sally arched an eyebrow, obviously trying not to laugh.

‘Okay, I haven’t got a life. I admit it. But can’t they at least take the farm animals up the road?’

‘They’re loyal to Langtry Meadows, Charlie. They want to support Eric, and anyway, there’s been bad feeling between us and them, since they pulled that stunt at the county show.’

He held up a hand. ‘I don’t want to know.’ He was going to keep a professional distance, not be dragged into village politics. ‘But we had a trailer load of piglets the other day, and a very persistent man with a lamb in the back of his estate car.’

‘They think it’s quicker to come to you, than call you out. You have to admit they’ve got a point.’

‘And since when did we have alpacas in the village? I’m sure it wasn’t like this when Dad was here.’

When he thought about it though, his dad had been in and out on calls constantly, but he’d just taken it for granted. His mother had always been there for him, even if his father hadn’t been. And he’d loved it when Dad had brought home a stray lamb, or a dog that needed careful monitoring and a warm spot by the Aga.

‘I suppose I better make a start then.’

‘Geriatric hamster, or the cat from hell first?’

He peered round the door, trying to see if he recognised anybody in the waiting room. ‘It depends on who owns them.’ Dealing with the animals was the easy bit, keeping some of the owners at arm’s length was a different matter. ‘Oh hell, Serena Stevens is in again,’ he withdrew, and dropped his voice to a whisper, ‘what is it this time?’

Sally giggled. ‘She wants to discuss babies.’

The back of his neck went clammy, then common sense kicked in. He really should be able to handle any talk of babies and young children by now. ‘Babies?’ The word was raspy, and Sally gave him a strange look.

‘Puppies! I don’t think she’d risk seeing her own boobs droop. She rather thinks that Twinkle should experience motherhood before it’s too late, she wants her to experience sexual thrill and maternal joy.’ The sparkle of laughter was back in Sally’s eyes. ‘You should see your face! Anyway, don’t worry, even if she is broody I don’t think she’s signed you up as sperm donor yet, and I’ve got your back, I won’t let her get her wicked way with you.’

Some people lived their dreams vicariously through their children, Serena was intent on living it through her dog – a very sensitive long-haired Chihuahua who lived a life of luxury, mainly in one of Serena’s large designer tote bags.

He was just wondering whether he could get away with referring her to another vet, on the grounds of his complete lack of understanding when it came to such delicate matters, when the buzzer on the door announced another customer.

Holding the door open, and peering in was a girl in jodhpurs. ‘Soz to bother you, it’s just that Jasper’s caught himself. You couldn’t whip a quick stitch in could you?’

Jasper was a horse. The same horse that was often seen bolting through Langtry Meadows, the animal that had been responsible for his very unconventional introduction to the new primary school teacher, the thought of which made him come over all hot and bothered again.

He took a deep breath and looked at Holly. She smiled back in a winning way. She was the capable, unflustered type, so he knew ‘a quick stitch’ could be shorthand for ‘he’s bleeding all over the car park and could drop dead if you don’t hurry up’.

He was ashamed to realise though that even stitching up a hyper-horse was actually far preferable to discussing sex with the immaculately groomed Serena.

‘Of course we can have a look, Holly. How are you?’ Sally was already tapping away at her computer and Charlie saw a busy day ahead. ‘What’s he done now?’

‘Overreach, the silly sod. If he concentrated on what he was doing instead of being so bloody nosey then he’d know where his feet were.’

Ahh, not so bad then, the downside being that he was going to be stitching an area well within kicking range.

‘Typical male.’ Sally smiled.

‘Thank you for your continued efforts to keep my feet firmly on the ground.’

‘You’re welcome, Mr Davenport.’ She looked back in Holly’s direction. ‘Are you still up for drinks tomorrow night?’

‘Sure am. Eek, stop it Jasper.’ She was yanked backward, the door clanging shut behind her and they heard a clatter of hooves on the tarmac. Two of the customers got up and tried to peer through the window.

‘I’ll put the kettle on shall I ladies? I’m sure you won’t mind waiting a few minutes while Charlie sorts this urgent case out?’ Sally scanned the waiting room with a professional eye. ‘You can watch him in action of course.’ Serena glanced at her watch and made reassuring cooing noises at Twinkle who was growling in indignation.

‘Of course not, I do like to see a man in action.’ The owner of the cantankerous cat, who’d also got a cantankerous husband always loved an excuse to stay out of the house as long as possible.

Serena gazed admiringly. ‘You’ve got such sensitive hands, you really shouldn’t have to deal with such big, dangerous animals.’