Coming Home to Jasmine Cottage

by Zara Stoneley

  ‘No. Oh no, he’s not moving in here. And don’t thank me, he needs to move out for Maisie’s sake, but I did think maybe it would be handy for you.’

  ‘It’s fab, and I am thanking you. But, where’s he going if …’

  ‘He can’t move in here, Sal. For a start we’re not that involved,’ Sally raised an eyebrow, which Lucy ignored, ‘and he’s got to think about Maisie. She needs to know she’s the most important person in his life. Being here would complicate things,’ and would give Josie all kinds of ammunition for the battle she was sure lay ahead, ‘and let’s face it what kind of a mother figure would I make?’

  ‘A good one. She loves you. Okay, okay, don’t give me the evil eye. It’s true, but I get the fact it might not be perfect timing. I suppose if her mum gets back to find you two shacked up she might go off bang.’

  Go off bang was probably an understatement. Lucy felt herself go red as she remembered the embarrassment of the last time Josie had knocked on her door to find Charlie there. And that was before Maisie was living with him.

  ‘But where are they going to live?’

  ‘Jim seemed to think he might know a place.’ Jim, it seemed, had the answers to everything. He’d sorted out Annie’s cottage for her to stay in, and now he’d assured Charlie he’d ‘sort something’. His quiet confidence had helped though. Charlie had cheered up knowing he had a plan in place, a way forward.

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Well apparently Elsie Harrington owns some of the cottages in the village, they’ve been in her family for years. Jim said he’d check with her, he thought one was coming vacant soon. It’ll mean Charlie’s got a proper garden for Maisie and Roo.’

  Sally giggled. ‘I don’t know who’s worse, Jim or Elsie Harrington, they both seem to have fingers in every pie. So, we’re all on the move then.’ She studied her feet. ‘You don’t think me and Jamie are rushing things do you? You know, thinking about a house?’

  ‘Rushing?’ Lucy laughed. ‘You’ve got to be kidding, from what I’ve heard everybody expected you to start dating ten years ago.’

  ‘Hang on, I’m not that old! But, well, we’ve only been seeing each other a few months.’

  ‘But you love each other don’t you?’ Lucy spoke softly. ‘You know he’s right for you, and you know each other inside out, don’t you?’

  Sally nodded. Then suddenly smiled. ‘Shall we drink to us all moving then?’

  Lucy shook her head. ‘You’ll drink to anything. But first,’ she nodded her head in the direction of the bureau, and Squeak who had settled down but was keeping a beady eye on proceedings. ‘I did think about just moving them, but I didn’t quite know if they’d be okay in the coop with the others.’

  ‘Are you on guard duty Piper?’ Sally stroked the puppy, who flapped her tail and cocked an ear in her direction. ‘I thought you were picking her up this morning, Lucy?’

  ‘Jim and Charlie persuaded me to take her last night. After two glasses of wine I was in a sentimental, slushy mood. Jim has already taken over midday puppy duties and insisted on meeting her, and Charlie said I need a friend.’

  Sally laughed as Lucy pulled a face, put down her mug of coffee then levered herself out of the very deep and comfy armchair. ‘I knew I’d gained a dog, but where the hell have this lot come from?’

  ‘You didn’t by any chance spend time in the back garden waiting for Piper to do her business last night, and leave the back door open?’

  ‘Probably.’ She felt herself going crimson again. More to the point, they’d let Piper out to explore the garden, and taken the opportunity for a rather long, drawn out, reacquaintance. Time alone had been severely rationed lately. ‘But why would they come in?’

  ‘Who knows what goes on in the tiny brain of a chicken.’ Sally tilted her head to one side, chicken style. ‘She must have hidden some eggs in the garden, these aren’t exactly just hatched.’

  ‘Well they can’t live in here.’

  Sally laughed. ‘At a guess she’s done it before, and Annie’s let her.’

  ‘Well she didn’t write that in her book of instructions!’ Lucy sighed. Annie had left a folder cram packed with useful information on how to look after the house and animals, how to deal with unexpected broods of chicks was not in there.

  ‘Don’t worry, we’ll find somewhere safe for them outside, you could even email Annie and find out what she did last time.’

  ‘Why didn’t I think of that? Although sometimes I don’t hear from her for days.’ Lucy picked up her laptop and tapped out a quick message, then took a deep breath and peeped over the top at Sally. ‘I’ve got another confession. Last night, as well as acquiring a dog, a house full of chicks and sorting everybody else’s housing requirements out, I did something else.’

  ‘You didn’t?’ Sally leaned forward.

  ‘I did. I emailed the estate agent in Birmingham,’ she’d done lots of things after leaving school on an Ofsted-induced high, ‘and,’ deep breath, ‘said I’d accept the offer on my place.’

  ‘Really?’ Sally put her coffee down and jumped up to give her friend a hug, which sent the chicks back under the bureau cheeping in alarm, Piper shot into the kitchen, her tail between her legs, and the hen went back onto full squawking alert.

  ‘Well it is ideal really isn’t it?’ She crossed her fingers behind her friend’s back. ‘We’ve got fab feedback from Ofsted so hopefully the school is secure for a few years, and while I’m here at Annie’s I could start to do up the cottage.’ She frowned. ‘Although if it falls through, I am a bit worried about finding somewhere else in the village, but according to Jim they’ve not quite finished that new estate and there’ll be a few small affordable houses going up. He said they had to include one or two in the plans.’

  ‘Oh yes,’ Sally was still smiling, ‘and if anybody knows it will be Jim! I’m sure it won’t fall through though. Oh I am so pleased, now I feel like you’re really going to stay.’

  ‘I am.’ Lucy nodded. ‘I’m really going to stay.’

  Chapter 7

  ‘You’ve no idea how good it is to be back in the old saddle.’

  Charlie looked in astonishment at the man who was sitting in the chair he normally occupied in the small staffroom at the back of reception. He had a mug of coffee in his hand, their appointment book spread on the table before him, and looked at home. Which he was. Charlie felt a twinge of what felt alarmingly like a territorial feeling and had an irrational desire to snatch the book away.

  He’d got used to running the place as though it was his own. And it wasn’t. ‘I wasn’t expecting you back yet, Eric. I didn’t realise you were fit yet.’

  A wide smile spread over his employer’s face. ‘Well I’m not, if you believe the doctors. But being locked up in that house with my wife and nothing to do but read the newspaper is driving me nuts.’

  ‘So, you’re back at work then.’ He eyed the book again. Eric’s management style was flamboyant, to put it politely. Despite Sally’s best efforts to keep him in order, it had been apparent to Charlie when he’d started work at the practice that efficiency wasn’t a word in the man’s vocabulary. Eric liked to freewheel and see what happened. ‘Wonderful.’ He squinted and tried to see if any of his carefully arranged appointments had been rearranged.

  Eric pushed the book away. ‘Very rigid this is, not that you’ve not been doing a splendid job, but a bit of give and take always works wonders. Fluidity.’ He laughed and slapped the table. ‘That’s the word you need, fluidity.’

  It wasn’t the word Charlie wanted. He wanted organised, methodical.

  ‘Now I notice you’ve blocked all this off for surgery, well what if there isn’t any?’

  ‘Well we use the time to stock take, cover emergencies, and there’s always somebody t—’ He was about to say ‘turns up’ but Eric cut him short.

  ‘Ah well, now there’s going to be two of us at it we can change that. Don’t you be worrying about it though, lad, we can sort all that later when I
’m back on my feet properly. Only reason I’m in is I thought young Sally here,’ he winked at her, and rather disturbingly she blushed. ‘Deserves a bit of a break. Not had one since I had my accident, have you, dear girl?’

  Oh hell, did that mean he was going to lose his efficient receptionist-cum-veterinary nurse, and gain the ‘fluid’, disorganised Eric? He looked helplessly at Sally, who gave an almost imperceptible shrug of her shoulders and looked guilty.

  He was being mean. She deserved some time off, she’d uncomplainingly held this place together since Eric had been trampled by a herd of cows and ended up in hospital. Without her the practice would have sunk.

  ‘Yes, yes, Sally definitely deserves a break.’ Please, please don’t let it be for long though. ‘But I could always get a temp in to cover.’

  ‘Nonsense. I might not be fully fit, but I’m up to chatting to the clients and helping out where’s needed with the operations. Can’t do the farm visits of course, Charles, but I can hold the fort here for you. Do my bit as receptionist.’

  Charlie gave what he knew was a weak smile. ‘Great to see you back in action, I know you’ve been missed by all the clients.’ This had to happen sooner or later, Eric easing himself back into work. It was him, Charlie, who was the interloper.

  ‘Don’t you worry.’ Eric chuckled. ‘She’s here for a couple of weeks or so to give me a chance to bed in, then we’re not losing her for long, just a long weekend isn’t it Sally?’

  ‘It is. I’ll be back on the Tuesday. Honest.’

  Charlie tried to inject some real feeling into the smile that was stuck to his face.

  ‘Wonderful, glad that’s settled.’ Eric rubbed his hands together. ‘Now, settle down with a coffee. I’ve bunged some extra bookings in for this morning, thought we could just make it open surgery and we’ll pick them off in the order they arrive rather than messing around with fixed times.’

  Charlie stifled a groan.

  ‘Daddy I’ve got tummy ache, I don’t want to go to school.’

  They all turned to look at Maisie, who was stood in the doorway in her pyjamas, clutching a teddy bear.

  ‘Come on Maisie, let’s get you up and dressed, Becky’s going to do you a special breakfast.’ Charlie had popped down, hoping to check up on a dog that had been in overnight, then go back up to the flat to wake Maisie up. He’d been completely thrown by the sight of Eric.

  ‘I feel sick.’

  He felt a bit queasy himself.

  ‘I’ve got a special medicine we give to dogs that feel sick, makes them very sick, gets it out of their tummy.’ The little girl stared in alarm at Eric. ‘Would you like some?’

  She took a step back, panic on her face, and Charlie scooped her up. It was going to be a long day. ‘Let’s get you to Becky’s and see how you feel. Then we can go and look at this new home later, can’t we? Although,’ he paused, ‘if you’re too poorly I suppose we’ll just have to stay here until …’

  She bit her lip. ‘I’ll try and be brave, I’ll go to school.’

  ‘Good girl.’

  By the time he’d got her dressed, persuaded her that Roo was too busy to attend lessons, and decided which toy she had to put in her bag, they were running late. ‘We can go in the car to Becky’s, or run?’

  ‘Run, Daddy. It might make my tummy hurt go away.’ She scrambled down the stairs and gazed up at him, her big brown eyes wide. ‘If we move to a nicer house, will Mummy come back?’

  ‘Mummy is doing some very important work,’ his voice came out rough-edged, all he wanted to do was gather her to him, make her promises, ‘but she loves you lots and she’ll be back as soon as she can. And it doesn’t matter where we live, but I’m sure she’s dying to see your new room, wherever it is.’ He checked his watch. ‘Come on piggy back time.’

  By the time they stopped outside Becky’s, he was exhausted but Maisie was giggling and had forgotten all about her stomach ache and worries about when Josie would come back.

  ‘See you later, be good for Becky and for Lucy.’

  ‘She’s Miss Jacobs in school, not Lucy. Honestly Daddy.’ Maisie shook her head in disapproval and grabbed hold of Becky’s hand. ‘I thought you would know that.’

  ***

  By the time Charlie got back to the surgery, the waiting room was full. News had soon spread round Langtry Meadows that Eric was back in action, and they’d all flocked there to find out for themselves if the rumours that he’d lost a leg and developed a lifelong fear of running animals in the accident were true.

  Serena Stevens, blonde hair immaculate, low cut top flaunting her cleavage and pink high heels matching the tote bag on her knee was first in the queue. Inside the bag was Twinkle, her Chihuahua, who raised a lip in a warning snarl the moment she spied Charlie, before ducking back into the safety of the rather posh tote.

  Serena turned the colour of her shoes. ‘Oh Charlie, I feel terrible, but I’ve somehow managed to book in to see Eric. You know what I’m like, too much going on in my head.’

  ‘It’s no problem at all, Miss Stevens.’ Charlie hoped the huge sigh of relief hadn’t escaped. ‘I’m sure Eric will be delighted to see you and Twinkle, he deserves it after all he’s been through.’ And after what he’d done to the appointment book. ‘He’ll have you sorted in a jiffy.’

  He didn’t deserve it, he didn’t deserve the tiny bad-tempered dog at all. He glanced up at Sally, who’d made a funny explosive little noise, which turned into a cough and a splutter.

  ‘I’ll just go through and get ready for surgery, I do hope it’s nothing serious with Twinkle.’

  Sally was staring fixedly at her computer screen as he passed, and he bent to whisper in her ear. ‘You’re laughing. Tut, so unprofessional. I don’t know about having a weekend off, we should sack you.’

  She grinned, then span round on her seat and followed him through to the back. ‘See, there are benefits to Eric being back, like not having to deal with the lady in red.’

  ‘By the look of it they all want to see him.’

  ‘So you can have a quiet morning.’ She paused, her tone softened. ‘You’ll love working with him once you get used to his ways.’

  He raised an eyebrow. ‘I know, he’s a great vet and a nice man.’ But so disorganised. Right now he didn’t know if he could cope with that on top of all his other problems. ‘And we’ve got half the inhabitants of Langtry Meadows crammed into the waiting room.’ Eric loved to chat, they’d be there all day. ‘Plus he’s managed to fit two more farm visits in for me this afternoon, oh no,’ he groaned, ‘not alpaca castrations again, and,’ he peered at Eric’s scribbled note that had been pinned to a cupboard, ‘what does this say? Charlie – initiate Judas! Is there a hidden meaning in that message?’

  Sally giggled. ‘Student not Judas you idiot. There’s a student asked if he can come and see the practice before he applies for veterinary college, Eric said you’d have a chat to him.’

  ‘How can you leave me? The place will be chaos by the time you get back.’

  ‘I’ll sort it.’ She patted his arm reassuringly. ‘Now go and get in your consulting room, first off is a dog that can’t stop grinning, unlike you Mr Grumpy.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘Got a stick stuck between its teeth.’ She did a remarkably good impression. ‘Now shoo.’ She pushed him in the direction of the room and went back to her desk.

  Eric’s open surgery was more successful than Charlie had expected, although with two vets handling the list of clients it was bound to move things along more quickly. The rumble of Eric’s deep-throated chuckle reached him from time to time through the thin walls of the surgery making him smile, and it was also nice to be able to seek a second opinion from the more experienced vet, if he wanted it. He actually found himself whistling by the time the waiting room was empty and his stomach was rumbling for some lunch.

  ‘Quite a team aren’t we young man? Now if you two will excuse me I’m going to get off home and have a rest, taken it out of me a bit being on my feet all morn
ing. I’ll be up to a full day by next Friday though, and I’ll be fine when Sally’s off on her travels.’

  ‘Going away are you Sal?’ Sally blushed at Charlie’s question, which was a bit out of character, but there again she’d been acting a bit strangely since Eric’s reappearance anyway. Maybe she was a bit in awe of him. They were obviously fond of each other, but she no doubt had a different relationship with Eric to the one she had with him.

  ‘Well I need to do something with my four days of freedom, don’t I?’ She didn’t look up from the pills she was counting out, and Charlie had a distinct feeling she was avoiding giving him a straight answer.

  After working his way through the afternoon visit list, Charlie headed back to the surgery to find Sally tidying up the visit and operations books, which were now littered with Eric’s illegible scrawls, and a few crossings-out.

  ‘Well I’m glad you can read his handwriting.’

  ‘I’ve had plenty of practice.’ She smiled. ‘Looks like you can finish early and pick Maisie up from school.’

  ‘What do you mean? I’ve still got one cat to neuter, and one that needs its teeth cleaning.’ He checked his watch. ‘It’s going to be a bit of a push.’ They normally did all the operations in the morning, to give the animal’s time to recover and return home late afternoon, but these cats had been taken in by a busy rescue centre and the owner had been relieved when Charlie had said he’d fit them in late and drop them back in the evening.

  ‘Oh Eric popped back and did them. He said after some lunch and a power nap he felt much perkier.’

  ‘Did he?’ Charlie looked at her in surprise. ‘That was good of him.’

  ‘He asked about Maisie, after seeing her this morning, I mean I didn’t say anything I shouldn’t, or gossip.’