Vets in Love

by Cathy Woodman

  ‘Mel, how’s the pony?’ Matt snaps.

  ‘She’s doing okay, but I still need to talk to you about the horse. In private,’ she adds, glaring at me.

  ‘There’s no need. I’ve put my head over the door and looked at your treatment plan, and it’s fine. Keep it on the penicillin and I’ll check it again in the morning.’ Matt gazes at me. ‘I’m taking Nicci home.’

  To his home or mine, I wonder? On the way back towards Talyton, I’m not sure where we’re going, in more ways than one. ‘It was a bit of a coincidence your mother showing up at the hospital,’ he says, breaking the silence.

  ‘Yes, I was surprised to see her.’ I bite my lip, tasting metallic blood. It’s only a small thing, but considering everything else, it niggles. ‘Matt, why didn’t you tell me you’d left the Bobster with Mel the other night?’

  ‘I didn’t think.’ The gearbox grates as he changes down a gear.

  ‘I want everything in the open,’ and I want him to know how I feel. ‘I want us to be honest with each other from the start.’

  ‘I know, and you’re right, but I didn’t mean to—’ he clears his throat ‘—I didn’t intend to deceive you. I was going to leave the dog with Mel all night – she has a dog too – but your family arrived and I thought I’d rather have the Bobster at home with me.’

  ‘It wasn’t that you saw the opportunity to spend time with Mel?’

  ‘Nicci, all I wanted was to spend the evening with you. I know what you said about her telling your nurse that she was still involved with me—’

  ‘You did speak to her?’ I interrupt.

  ‘She said there was a misunderstanding. She said she was talking in the past tense. Your nurse misinterpreted what she said. It seems reasonable – Claire would be keen to look out for you.’

  ‘But why on earth would Mel raise the subject in the first place?’

  ‘Perhaps Claire did.’ Matt smiles softly at me. ‘You mustn’t be jealous of Mel. I work with her, but it won’t be for much longer. She’s only with us for a couple more months, then she’s off to another practice. She’ll probably become a partner pretty soon. She’s very good.’

  I don’t want to know that Mel is good at anything.

  As we continue along the lane, he rests his hand on my thigh, sending tiny shocks of electricity across my skin.

  ‘I’ll never do anything to hurt you, Nicci, I promise. I do have some standards. And Mel is a nightmare. I would never take her back.’

  I glance at the shadowy profile of his face. Do I believe him? I have to if we’re going to survive as a couple, but can I see my way through this? There are still two months to go until Mel pushes off, giving her plenty of time and opportunity to try to seduce Matt back into her bed, and although I believe him when he says he wouldn’t be tempted, there’s a part of me that can’t bear for a moment longer to think of them continuing to work together.

  ‘I don’t want to take you back to your house,’ Matt says gruffly as we get close to his home. He pulls in at the side of the lane beside a five-bar gate, leaving the engine running. ‘Stay over tonight,’ he whispers, his breath warm against my ear. ‘Please …’

  It’s enough to melt the heart of an iceberg, but not me.

  ‘I want to go home,’ I say, fighting the impulse to throw my arms around his shoulders and bury my face in his neck. ‘Another time.’

  ‘Another time,’ Matt echoes.

  ‘I’ve got to be up to ride Willow in the morning,’ I say, knowing it sounds like a lame excuse. What I really mean is that I need some time to think.

  Chapter Ten

  Only Fools and Horses

  ‘DELPHI,’ I ASK when I’m up at the yard the next day. ‘Could I book a lesson for my niece on one of your ponies?’

  ‘Whenever you like. I’ve got a group lesson of child beginners next Saturday at ten. I should be able to find another pony.’ She smiles. ‘I have more than enough to choose from. In fact, I ought to get around to advertising another one for sale.’

  ‘Delphi, I said Sage would like a riding lesson, not that she wants to buy a pony. Please don’t let that idea even enter her head. She isn’t staying with me for ever and the last thing my sister needs is a pet of any kind.’ I sigh. ‘She can barely look after herself sometimes.’

  Delphi chuckles. ‘It was worth a try. But I do have that rather nice chestnut pony, Tizzy. She’s rather too good for the riding school.’

  ‘Isn’t she the nutty one?’ I have to ask. ‘Sage needs one of the quiet, ploddy ones, like Harry.’

  ‘I’ll get her on one of the old kick-alongs.’ Delphi pauses. ‘Are you sure you’re all right?’

  ‘Quite sure,’ I say, biting hard on my lip.

  ‘Are you up for a dressage lesson later today? Only I’m going to see a horse tomorrow and I’m not sure I’ll be back in time.’

  ‘How about now?’

  ‘In twenty minutes. The indoor school will be free at ten.’

  ‘That’ll give me time to get Willow tacked up.’

  Riding takes my mind off Matt, for a while at least. Delphi is a hard taskmaster, tramping around the centre of the indoor arena, yelling instructions, many criticisms and a few compliments. She has one tone of voice: loud. I ride straight and tall with a long whip for dressage, touching it against Willow’s sides now and then to reinforce the signal from my leg. She doesn’t need much encouragement because she likes to work, and at the end of half an hour her neck is damp with sweat and my head feels prickly under my hat.

  ‘That’ll do,’ Delphi shouts. ‘We’ll work on the half-passes again next time. Orf you go – unless you want me to wash Willow down.’

  ‘I’ll do it,’ I say. ‘Thanks, Delphi.’

  ‘In that case, I’ll go and grab Dark Star. He really needs working every day.’

  As I walk to cool the horse down, thoughts of Matt flood back into my head. I hope I haven’t put him off by going on about Mel and the dog, and what it appears that Mel said to Claire. I grab my mobile and call him while I’m walking Willow, partly to find out how he is, partly to hear news of Beauty – assuming it’s best to hear news straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak – and partly to see if we can arrange to meet up again.

  He’s well, and Beauty is up and about and on intravenous fluids until she’s ready to be offered food and water by mouth.

  ‘Have you forgiven me?’ he asks.

  ‘As you suggested, there was nothing to forgive,’ I say.

  ‘I should have thought about how it would look.’ He pauses. ‘Shall we try again?’

  ‘That’s what I was calling you about. And I didn’t have a chance to try any of your cake.’

  ‘Ah, and you won’t now,’ he says, his tone teasing again, ‘because I’ve eaten it.’

  ‘You’ll have to bake another one.’

  ‘I’ll do that. When are you free?’

  When Matt is free, I’m not and the earliest we can meet is next Saturday, which is almost a week away.

  ‘I do want to spend some time with you, Nicci, because what with my work and your riding, we don’t have much opportunity.’

  ‘Are you putting in a complaint?’

  ‘Yes, I am.’ He’s joking, but there’s an edge to his tone. I think he’s beginning to resent my all-consuming hobby already, even though he’s too cool to admit it.

  ‘You can join me at the yard whenever you like. You can help me, mucking out and cleaning tack.’

  ‘I’d hate to do anything that makes my shoulder worse,’ he says cheekily.

  ‘Why don’t you meet me at the yard next Saturday afternoon? My niece is having her first riding lesson and the Bobster can have a run around. I can drop Sage back home and we can go out for a pizza, or something.’

  ‘Or you can come back and have cake at my place.’

  ‘I can’t wait.’ Saying goodbye, I jump off Willow and lead her back to her stable, making the most of the brief respite from my overcrowded house. Occasionally, I wond
er if I could bed down in one of the foaling boxes Delphi keeps free for emergencies.

  Willow stands quietly. I whip off the saddle and place it on the lower half of the stable door, then swap the bridle for a head-collar and leave her with the rope slung over her neck. I don’t bother to tie her up – she isn’t going far. I give her a wash down, concentrating on the sweaty bits behind her ears, her chest and saddle patch. She shakes her head and flicks her skin when the cold water from the hose touches her, but eventually she relaxes, standing with her head low, her eyes closed and her lower lip hanging down.

  ‘Willow, Henry might have had a point when he said you looked like a donkey.’ I stroke her and scratch her withers and she utters a sigh of deep contentment. I love this horse. She appreciates my company and she loves to work. I wish I could write a prescription for every patient I saw to spend half an hour once or twice a day with a horse like Willow, not one like Dark Star, though, I think as I catch sight of him sidling around the outdoor school. Unlike Willow, his presence raises the blood pressure rather than lowering it. Prescribing a session with Dark Star when he’s in a bad mood could be fatal.

  Delphi is hauling back on the reins, keeping his neck tightly arched so his chin almost touches his chest. He looks as if he’s about to explode with tension, spattering white foam from his mouth, his coat dark with sweat, and snorting as he trots along, pounding his feet and sending up showers of grit that seem to wind him up more than ever.

  ‘Steady,’ Delphi says, her voice run through with desperation, ‘steady there. Nicci,’ she calls, ‘would you come and open the gate?’

  I abandon Willow to let Delphi out of the school. She dismounts and gives the horse a jab in the mouth.

  ‘He’s a bit of a headcase,’ I say, recalling the pony I had on loan when I was thirteen, a New Forester called Pepper. I lost count of how many times I fell off.

  ‘I’m going to school this creature to within an inch of his life and then I’m going to sell him. He’s no use to me.’

  ‘It’s a shame.’ Dark Star is a charismatic horse and I’ve grown to admire his fighting spirit as I’ve got to know him better as Willow’s stable-mate, although I still don’t trust him.

  ‘I thought he’d make a fantastic dressage horse, but he hasn’t the temperament,’ Delphi continues. ‘Why don’t you have a ride on him sometime and see what you think?’

  ‘Er, no thanks,’ I say quickly. I’m just too busy, and besides, I want to stay in one piece.

  ‘You can’t rely on Willow being around for ever. You could do with a second string to your bow, and Dark Star fits the bill.’

  ‘On paper, maybe.’ His breeding is perfect. ‘I’m not looking for another horse. I’m concentrating on Willow – she’s all the horse I need.’

  ‘Can you say the same for Matt?’ she says wickedly in that crystal-cut accent of hers. ‘Is he all the man you need?’

  ‘Delphi,’ I exclaim as she throws me Dark Star’s reins and I hang onto him while she drags his saddle off, hangs it over the stable door and sponges him down with cool water from a bucket. If this was an attempt to endear him to me, it doesn’t work because he’s on his toes, fidgeting, switching his tail and scraping his front foot on the concrete.

  ‘Have you thought about changing his feed?’ I ask Delphi.

  ‘I’ve stopped his oats.’ She hesitates. ‘Are you seeing Matt later?’

  ‘No, and I’m not talking shop when I do see him, if that’s what you’re asking.’

  ‘It’s only a tiny thing, Nicci, just to ask him if he can get me some bromide to calm the horse down.’

  ‘Delphi …’ I don’t want to hassle Matt with veterinary questions when he isn’t at work. It’s happened more than once and I don’t want him to feel I’m taking advantage.

  ‘I can pick it up from the hospital one morning. I’ll send you a text to remind you.’ She throws a light rug over the horse’s back and takes the reins from me, leading him into his stable.

  *

  ‘I can’t wait,’ Sage says, jumping up and down on our way to Tack n Hack the following Saturday afternoon. ‘I’m going to ride a pony.’

  And I can’t wait, I think, smiling to myself, because I’m going to see Matt again at last. He’s meeting us in the car park at the yard so we can spend time together. The Bobster comes too and the four of us walk inside the shop, which is filled with all kinds of horsey gear: gleaming bits and stirrups, hand-crafted leatherwork, bridles, saddles and brushes. I buy various beauty products for Willow – specialist shampoos for grey horses, mane and tail conditioners and hoof oil to make her feet shine. The last thing I bought her was a pink browband inset with crystals.

  The bell rings, calling one of Delphi’s army of horse-mad girls to the front.

  ‘Hi, Nicci. Can I help you?’

  ‘I’d have thought you’d know exactly where everything is,’ Matt teases. The scent of his aftershave mingles with the aromas of wax and saddle soap.

  ‘Sage here needs a hat, jodhpurs and boots.’

  The girl looks at Sage. ‘I hear you’re riding Harry today. I learned to ride on him too. He’s lovely.’

  Sage blushes and smiles.

  ‘I’ll go and find a couple of hats for you to try on,’ the girl goes on. ‘The jodhpurs are all on the rack over there.’

  ‘Shouldn’t you borrow the kit for a while to make sure she likes it?’ Matt says.

  ‘What do you mean “Make sure”? Of course she’s going to like it. It’s in her genes,’ I say, grinning. ‘Lighten up, Matt.’

  ‘I’m afraid horses do tend to run in families, usually down the female line,’ he agrees. ‘Wouldn’t you prefer to take up something like chess or tiddlywinks?’

  ‘Tiddlywinks?’ Sage starts giggling. ‘What’s that?’

  ‘In the days before computers, all we had to play with were plastic counters,’ Matt says gravely.

  ‘If it doesn’t involve ponies I’m not interested,’ Sage says. She puts her fingers in her ears. ‘La la la la la.’

  ‘I can’t imagine you playing tiddlywinks,’ I say, amused at the idea of Matt flicking counters across the floor for fun.

  I stop to pick out two pairs of jodhpurs from the children’s rail. ‘Here, try these on, Sage.’

  Matt and I wait outside the refurbished changing room while Sage changes into a grown-up beige pair, followed by a fun pair in pink and navy.

  ‘Aren’t you worried she’ll hurt herself? What does her mum think?’ Matt says quietly.

  ‘Matt, you’re being a spoilsport. What’s got into you today?’ I reach my arm around him to give him a hug for being a great big softie.

  He shrugs. ‘I don’t know. I’m sorry. I don’t want to ruin Sage’s big day when she’s been looking forward to it.’

  ‘I like these best.’ Sage appears in the beige jodhs. ‘They’re like your best ones, Nicci.’ She does a quick canter around the shop, hanging onto imaginary reins, and pulls up at the till with a snort and a stamp of a hoof.

  Matt looks at me, one eyebrow raised.

  ‘Of course, I never used to do anything like that,’ I say, but he knows I’m fibbing. ‘Although I did once perform a complete dressage test in the dentist’s waiting room.’

  I offer to buy Sage a stick, but she doesn’t want one because she swears she will never hit a pony.

  ‘I think it’s cruel,’ she says.

  ‘Sometimes ponies need a reminder of who is the boss,’ I point out. ‘A good rider uses a stick as a guide, and never in anger.’

  I can see that she remains to be convinced. I set her up with a hat and boots and she’s ready for her first lesson with Harry, one of the little grey Welsh ponies who looks like a miniature version of Willow.

  Harry is a good pony. He knows Sage is a beginner and ambles around on the lead rein with his nose level with his knees. If he was any more relaxed he’d fall over.

  Delphi asks Sage to give him a kick and she gives him a very half-hearted flap of her legs
.

  ‘Harder,’ shouts Delphi. ‘Give him a smack. Oh, you haven’t got a stick.’

  ‘I don’t want one,’ Sage yells back.

  ‘Your niece is a feisty one,’ Delphi observes lightly. ‘I can see I’m going to have to whip her into shape.’

  I’m sure Delphi will have plenty of time to teach her how to ride because, when the lesson is over, Sage is determined to come back for a second one the following weekend. Sage and Matt feed mints to Harry, Willow and Dark Star while I join Delphi in the office, where she writes the time of Sage’s next lesson in the diary.

  ‘Have you heard the rumours?’ she asks. ‘I wondered if Matt had said anything to you. I didn’t want to ask him in case they weren’t true – I don’t want to make a fool of myself.’

  ‘What rumours?’

  ‘The one about the houseman being pregnant. According to Neil, the farrier who was at Westleigh doing some corrective shoeing the other day, Mel is almost three months’ gone.’

  ‘I would have heard if Mel was pregnant,’ I say. ‘Matt wouldn’t have been able to keep that to himself – it would cause a certain amount of disruption at the hospital as she wouldn’t be able to take any X-rays because of the risk to the baby. He would be grumbling like mad.’ A dark thought enters my head. ‘Unless …’ No, if she is pregnant and the dates are right, it can’t possibly be Matt’s baby because he split with her back in March. She would have conceived at the beginning of May.

  ‘Oh well,’ Delphi shrugs before staring at me expectantly.

  ‘No,’ I say, holding up my hands. ‘I’m not asking him.’

  ‘You haven’t seen her at the surgery then?’

  ‘She’d hardly book in to see me, would she?’

  ‘You’re a doctor.’

  ‘I’m Matt’s current girlfriend and Mel doesn’t like me one little bit.’ I pause. ‘Delphi, I’d let sleeping dogs lie if I were you. It’s no one’s business, but Mel’s.’

  ‘Have you heard that one of Henry Belton-Smith’s grooms is taking him to an industrial tribunal for unfair dismissal?’ Delphi continues. ‘I thought you’d be interested.’