The Country Vet

“There’s nothing wrong with caring,” Todd said.

“Well, do you think I could at least go along with Donald tomorrow? I’d really like to see this through.”

She twisted her fingers together, wondering if now was the right time to tell her new boss about her ambitions for the future.

“I really want to specialize in horses, as well, and it would be good experience.”

Todd smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’m glad to hear that. I like to encourage ambition in my staff. It will have to be very early tomorrow, though. He has to be in Doncaster by afternoon.”

“Thanks.” Cass removed bottles of medication from her bag, putting them carefully back into the refrigerator. “And I’m sorry for upsetting your clients.”

“Oh, they’ll get used to you eventually,” Todd said.

* * *

CASS SLICED CHEESE on a piece of bread and doubled it into a sandwich. But after the events of the day, she couldn’t even think about cooking—or eating—at all, she decided, placing it back on the plate.

A vivid memory of the sweet little pony filled her mind and sadness welled up inside her. There was nothing more she could have done, however, and tomorrow would prove it.

Flipping open her phone case, she pressed Home on her contacts list. The ringing droned in her ears and she canceled the call, scrolling down to her dad’s cell number. When she heard his familiar voice, warm and vibrant, tears pressed against her eyelids.

“Hi, Dad, it’s just me. How’s Mum?”

Her jovial tone sounded forced, and he obviously knew it.

“You really don’t need to worry, Cass. It was just a scare, a false alarm. She wouldn’t even have told you at all if I hadn’t insisted.”

“I’m not a kid anymore, Dad. I need to know these things. She should have told me right away.”

“That’s what I said, love. Anyway, how are you, and how’s that new job of yours going?”

By the time Cass had related her experience at Sky View to her dad and made him chuckle at her story about the manure-splattered farmer, she felt a whole lot better.

“Now don’t you worry about us,” her dad told her. “Just concentrate on your career. We might come over to see you soon, if we can get anyone to mind the store for a day or two.”

Feeling calmer after talking to her dad, Cass finished her light meal and called it a night, expecting to find sleep elusive. However, her eyes closed as soon as her head hit the pillow, and the next thing she knew, the school bell was ringing in her dreams, calling her in to lessons. She jerked awake, reaching out to turn off her alarm clock, totally in the present as the events of yesterday came back to her.

The sun was hardly over the hills when Cass and Donald set off for Sky View Stables.

The middle-aged vet glanced across at her. “You’re very quiet,” he remarked, nosing his large four-by-four up the narrow lane.

Cass might have been sitting beside him but her head was definitely elsewhere.

He tried again. “You okay, lass? Don’t let Jake upset you.”

Cass started, her thoughts rushing back to the present. “Oh, I’m not letting him upset me. I was just miles away.”

“I could see that. In a nice place, I hope.”

“I’ve always been a bit of a dreamer, I’m afraid—one of my worse traits. To be honest, I was thinking about my mum. She hasn’t been well.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

Noting the kind expression on his face, she felt a flush creep up her cheeks. “Thanks. And...look, I’m really sorry about you having to do this postmortem. I could easily have done it myself yesterday.”

“No worries,” Donald said. “I think I need to apologize on Jake’s behalf. He can be a bit touchy, but he does have his reasons.”

“That’s exactly what Todd said,” Cass murmured. “But surely there’s no excuse for downright rudeness?”

Donald smiled. “I heard that Tom Alston was pretty rude to you yesterday, too, but that doesn’t seem to have got to you.”

Cass twisted around to face him, her interest raised. “What is this reason, for Jake Munro’s attitude? Or is it just an excuse?”

Donald put the vehicle into gear. It juddered violently, throwing Cass into the window.

“Hey,” she cried. “I do want to get there, you know.”

“Sorry, this old vehicle could do with some attention. Anyway, are you sure about that, after yesterday...getting there, I mean?”

Cass’s mouth set into a firm line as she glanced at him, catching his eye.

“Yesterday would have been a tragedy no matter who owned the little mare. I did what needed to be done. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”

“Good for you.” He nodded. “And I guess you’ll be looking forward to saying ‘I told you so.’ Is that why you wanted to come?”

Cass’s response was immediate. “No, not at all. I came because I want to see it through. The guy was obviously very upset. Anyone would be. It still doesn’t give him the right to be so unpleasant.”

“What if I told you that his mother and little daughter were both killed in an accident a while ago,” Donald said quietly, concentrating on the road ahead. “And he doesn’t like people to talk about it, so you never heard it from me.”

A lurch of sympathy left Cass momentarily speechless. “I didn’t realize,” she eventually managed. “And of course the chestnut was his daughter’s pony.”

Donald shrugged. “Yes, but you weren’t to know. It wouldn’t have made any difference, anyway...if she did have a twisted gut.”

Cass fought back a sharp retort, staring out the window but seeing nothing. Jake would understand soon enough, and then maybe next time no one would question her.

“Was it his fault?” she asked quietly.

“Oh, no,” Donald said. “Well, at least not directly. I think he may blame himself, though. He was away, competing in Europe, when it happened.”

“Competing?” echoed Cass.

Donald nodded, carefully negotiating the entrance to Sky View.

“He used to show jump. Top level, too. He gave it up after the accident.”

“So what does he do now?”

Cass’s question fell on deaf ears as Jake Munro’s tall figure materialized in front of the Land Rover, forcing it to stop. He was just as she remembered—ruggedly handsome and fierce, his expression extremely arrogant. Was he like that before the accident? Somehow, Cass thought he probably was.

The tense line of his jaw softened when Donald climbed out of the vehicle. Jake almost smiled.

“Morning,” he called, holding out his hand and ignoring Cass. Donald took it, pumping it up and down, his soft white fingers clutched in Jake’s broad, suntanned grip.

“Bad business,” Donald remarked. “How are you holding up?”

Jake’s response was curt and to the point. “These things happen. I just needed to be sure.”

He looked pointedly at Cass, who held his gaze unflinchingly, raising her chin with an air of defiance.

“I’m already sure,” she said.

“Right, then,” interrupted Donald. “Let’s get on with it.”

Jake watched, arms wrapped across his chest and dark eyes narrowed, until Donald took out his scalpel. Then he turned on his heel and walked away to lean against the paddock fence, resting his head on his forearms. For a moment, Cass felt like going to him and placing her hand on his taut shoulders. No matter how irritating he was, the poor guy was suffering—she could see that.

“Look at this,” Donald said, getting her attention.

Cass had seen enough postmortems and dead creatures in the last few years to make her pretty hardened. They’d gone to a better place—it was only their owners who suffered now. But this pony, Rosie, had gotten to her somehow. She was glad of the blanket someone had so thoughtfully laid over her, relieved not to see her glazed eyes.

Donald was on his knees.

“Look,” he repeated. “Half the gut must have already been dead when you euthanized her. Poor little beggar.”

A shadow fell across them, and Cass glanced up to see Jake. His face was expressionless.

“Good job Cass acted quickly, as far as I can see,” Donald said. “I’ll tidy up here while you go and put the kettle on.”

“I’ll finish for you if you like,” Cass offered.

“Is that it then?” Jake said, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat, turning away abruptly.

“Thanks, Cass,” Donald cut in before she could respond, obviously trying to lighten the mood. He stood up, smiling. “I think I’ll take you on all my jobs.” When they both ignored him, he walked off toward the house. “I guess I’ll go put the kettle on myself, then,” he called.

Jake began to follow him, but stopped to look back at Cass, holding her defiant gaze.

“I really am sorry about Rosie,” she said quietly, her expression softening. “It must be tough for you.”

“What, no ‘I told you so?’” he retorted.

She just shook her head, turning her attention back to the job at hand, and he glared at her for another moment before striding off after Donald.

“No change there, then,” she murmured.Cass finished up and put Donald’s bag back in the Land Rover before following the two men across the yard toward the square, stone cottage. It should have been a pretty building, she thought, but the roses that had once grown around the front door looked half-dead, and the whole place needed fresh paint and some TLC. She found herself wondering what it had been like when Jake’s mother was alive.

A man’s deep voice interrupted her daydream.

“They’ll be round the back in the kitchen.”

Looking up with a start, she saw Bill Munro standing in the shadow of an oak tree at the side of the yard, one hand stroking his bearded chin.

She smiled impulsively, pleased to see the old man. He fell into step beside her.

“You were right, then?” he asked.

“You knew I was.”

He nodded slowly.

“Yes, I knew, but there’s no telling Jake. He had to see for himself.”

“I don’t suppose I’ll get an apology.”

Bill’s bright blue eyes sparkled. “You’ve already sussed him out, I see.”

Cass wanted to tell Bill how sorry she was to hear about his wife and granddaughter, but it wasn’t her business, and she didn’t want him to think she’d been prying.

Bill walked with her toward the kitchen door. “Staying around here long?” he asked.

Cass shrugged, smiling. “I hope to. I like the beautiful wild countryside and the tranquility.”

“You’re staying at the B and B, I believe?”

She glanced at him in amusement.

“Does everyone know everything around here? It’s temporary, while I look for somewhere to rent.”

“What, you mean a cottage or something?”

“Something,” she responded. “I’m not really sure, to be honest. I could do with a place for six months or so. I’m only on a six-month contract at the moment—a kind of trial period, I suppose you’d call it.”

She placed her hand on the dull brass handle in front of her, pressing it down with a sense of foreboding. The door was scratched and dirty, and desperate for a coat of paint. She looked over at Bill.

“Are you coming in?”

He turned away, shaking his head.

“Better things to do. I’ll no doubt see you soon.”

“No doubt,” she agreed.

As Cass pushed open the door, a heavy sadness weighed her down. There was an emptiness to this place, a total lack—or loss—of love. She had a definite feeling that Jake and his dad spent most of their time avoiding each other and found herself wondering what Sky View had been like when Jake’s mother and daughter were around.

Entering the kitchen, Cass saw the two men at once. They were deep in conversation, their heads lowered as they studied something on the table. She stepped inside, taking in her surroundings. The room was large and bright with sunshine, a lovely, homey place despite the clutter that crowded every available surface.

“Hi,” she called awkwardly.

Donald glanced up, smiling. “We’re just looking at stud books. There’s coffee in the pot. Help yourself.”

Cass poured a mug and added milk, sipping it slowly without looking at Jake. “So...” she said. “I guess you’re a breeder.”

Jake ignored her, but Donald filled the gap. “Only a couple of foals a year at the moment, but he buys and sells a lot of young stock. Don’t you, Jake?”

Forced to join in the conversation, Jake met her gaze. His eyes were like his dad’s, but without the sparkle. “Just trying to make a living,” he said.

The sound of Donald’s chair scraping across the floor as he stood up broke the ensuing silence. He reached for his jacket, slinging it over his shoulder. “Come on then, Cass,” he told her. “I don’t mean to make you rush your drink, but I’m supposed to be in Doncaster by early afternoon. I’ll see you soon, Jake, hopefully in better circumstances.”

“Is he always so antisocial?” Cass asked as she and Donald clambered into his four-by-four.

Donald concentrated on the narrow lane ahead of them, slowing down and pressing on his horn to chase away a small, black-headed rough fell sheep. It stood in the road and stared at the vehicle with yellow-ringed eyes.

“You’d think they owned the road,” he declared as it sauntered off.

“I guess they do around here,” Cass remarked thoughtfully. “Was it long ago, the accident that killed Jake Munro’s family?”

“About twelve months, almost to the day. Lucy was a lovely little girl, only five years old. Her gran, Gwen, was one of those salt-of-the-earth people who would do anything to help anyone. Such a tragedy. He has a son, too—Lucy’s twin, Robbie. He went to live with his mother after the funeral. The whole business totally destroyed Jake. He gave up competing altogether, but he’s still a top-class trainer, specializing in problem horses.” A wry grin flashed across his face. “I think it’s the horses that keep him going, but as you already know, he doesn’t have much time for people.”

“You can say that again. He doesn’t even seem to have time for his dad.”

Donald frowned. “I don’t think either of them has half begun to get over their loss. He’s a great guy, Bill. He used to be in on all the local action, you know, committees and things. He raised a lot of money for charity a couple of years ago. Now I guess he’s just kind of empty.”

“It takes a long time to get over a tragedy like that,” Cass said. “If you ever really do, that is.”

Donald pulled over outside the vet clinic, leaving his engine running. “Oh, Bill will get there,” he insisted. “Jake, now, I’m not so sure about. Anyway, thanks for your company, but out you get. I’m late as it is. You’ll have to come and have dinner with us one night. Meet the brood. I’ll get Jenny to give you a call.”

Cass got out of the vehicle, glancing back inside before she slammed the door. “Thanks, Donald,” she said. “I’d like that.”

Somehow it felt as if she’d just made a friend.

CHAPTER THREE

TODD WAS IN the surgery going through some paperwork. He looked up when he heard Cass come into the room, peering impatiently at her over his glasses.

“How did it go?”

She shrugged. “I knew how it would go. The poor little pony was in a bad state.”

He went back to his work, leaning forward over the desk.

“Well, that’s good then. Oh, and Mary Park is in the waiting room. Would you mind having a look at her dog? She doesn’t have an appointment but she’s a bit upset, says someone ran him over.”

“Of course,” Cass said, pulling on a white coat and pushing open the door into Reception.

The woman sat on a chair that was too small for her large frame. A bright-eyed Yorkshire terrier she clutched wriggled in her arms.

“Mrs. Park, is it?” Cass asked with her best professional smile, pushing all thoughts of Jake Munro and his tragedy out of her head. “What can I do for you?”

“Mary,” she said, struggling to her feet. “Call me Mary. It’s Poppy here. He ran into the road in front of a car...”

“Well let’s go into the examining room and I’ll check him out,” Cass suggested, already leading the way.

After a thorough examination of Poppy, Cass looked up at his worried owner with a broad grin.

“Well, Mary, you’ll be pleased to know there’s absolutely nothing to worry about. He has a scuff on his shoulder, that’s all, and he may be feeling a bit bruised.”

The woman’s round, pleasant face contorted into an expression of pained relief. “But are you sure?”

Cass picked up the little dog, settling him in his mistress’s outstretched arms.

“One hundred per cent. Now don’t let him run out into the road again. He might not be so lucky next time.”

Todd appeared just as they were leaving the examining room.

“I’m glad that Poppy seems to be okay,” he said.

“You’ve taken on a good vet this time Todd,” Mary told him. “She’s sorted my Poppy out good and proper.”

“Glad to hear it.” He held the front door to let her out.

“There wasn’t actually anything wrong with him,” Cass admitted as it shut behind them.

Todd grinned. “You’ll soon get to know Poppy—he’s one of our most regular visitors. Oh, and...” He paused. “I know you aren’t really supposed to be on surgery, but I’m afraid I have to pop out, so would you mind? There’s a bit of a line building up, I’m afraid.”

* * *

BY LUNCHTIME CASS had seen two cats with fur balls and one with a ripped ear, an elderly, bedraggled hamster, five more dogs and a parrot that was pulling out its feathers.

I can really identify with that parrot, she thought as she started to tidy up. Suddenly a sit-down and a coffee seemed very appealing. She was about ready to leave when Sally, the receptionist, popped her head around the door.

“You have a visitor,” she said. “And he doesn’t seem to have a pet.”

Cass frowned. Whoever would be visiting her at the clinic? She didn’t even know anyone around here yet.

Sally hesitated.

“I’ll send him in, shall I?”

“He?” Cass echoed as Sally’s perfectly made-up face disappeared again. Could it be Jake Munro coming to apologize, perhaps? Fat chance of that. Cass’s mind wandered back to the moment when she first saw him, and something tightened in her throat. He had seemed... What, she asked herself, what had he seemed?

“We meet again,” said a familiar voice, and Cass looked up in surprise to meet...not quite the icy blue eyes that kept haunting her thoughts, but something very similar.

“Bill,” her visitor announced, holding out his hand. “Munro. Remember, from Sky View,” he added, as she stood with her mouth open.

“Of course.” She placed her hand in his calloused palm. “How could I ever forget? What can I do for you?”

“Well, it’s really more what I can do for you.”

“For me?”

He nodded. “Yes... You said you needed somewhere to rent, and I have a vacant cottage. It’s small, but it’s a pretty little place and quite enough space for one.” His bushy gray brows drew together. “I take it there is only one?”

Cass laughed. “Oh, yes, just me, I’m afraid. I have enough trouble trying to sort myself out.”

“So what do you say? I was about to put it in the hands of a rental agency, but if you need somewhere...”

“Well, I do, but what about your son? He and I didn’t get off to the best start. I don’t think he would appreciate me living nearby.”

“Jake?” snorted Bill. “It has nothing to do with him. The cottages are how I make my income, and I’ll rent them to whoever I like. Anyway...” His face creased in a smile. “It’s not as if it’s right on the doorstep of Sky View. More like just around the corner.”

Cass felt happiness bubbling up inside. She belonged somewhere at last. “Well, then, I would love to come and see it,” she said. “After work today, perhaps? I don’t have a shift tonight, and for once I’m not even on call.”

“Any time is okay by me,” Bill said. “Say around seven?”

“See you at seven,” she agreed. “Just tell me where to go.”

* * *

IT WAS A BRIGHT, sunlit evening, the kind where the whole world seems abuzz with joy. Cass felt some of that joy as she drove toward Sky View. She had a good job, a job she could really come to love, and now she might even have a new home. Not a shared flat, but her very own place, here in some of the most beautiful countryside she’d ever seen.

The wind blew in through her open window and she breathed in the country scents as she left the village, humming softly to the strains of a modern love song. Love! It was totally overrated as far as she was concerned. Her fellow students had been constantly falling in and out of love, one minute wandering around with their heads in a euphoric cloud and in the next, totally inconsolable.

Sometimes Cass worried that there was something wrong with her because she’d never really fallen for anyone. There had been boyfriends, of course, but they’d been kind of lukewarm relationships, more friendships than love affairs. Her mind wandered back to the day Jamie had told her it was over. She had been seeing him for almost six months, but when he finally plucked up the courage to tell her he had met someone else, all she’d felt was a sense of relief.

Her only real passion had been the same since she was twelve years old—the passion to become a vet that had arisen on the day Bud died in her arms. Everything else had taken second place since that day, as if she’d been driven by the desire to make amends for her lack of knowledge.... And now that she’d fulfilled her goal, now that she had the opportunity to stop and reflect, love and romance still didn’t figure in her scheme of things.

Her parents had lived to work, with little time to spare for their child. Cass felt she had inherited that drive from them, as if her ambition overrode everything else. She couldn’t picture herself having the time to give a husband and children the attention they needed. She’d once thought that when she was finally qualified as a vet, she’d be able to slow down and start a family. But now that she’d finished school and begun her career, she wanted to push herself further. Beyond honing her skills, she wanted to specialize in equestrian medicine and become highly respected for her expertise. Did that make her selfish? she wondered. Surely it would be worse to have a family and neglect them.

As she carefully negotiated the narrow lane that ran across the steep Lakeland fell side on a wonderful summer’s evening, those early years at college seemed so very long ago. All the nights spent in a tiny, basically furnished room, poring over books and files and forgetting to eat while her flatmates went out partying. They told her she was crazy, but she didn’t care. In fact, if it hadn’t been for her mother packing up a huge box of groceries for her on the rare occasions when she went home to visit, Cass reckoned she might just have wasted away.

Turning away from the past, Cass peered over the steering wheel, looking for the sign to Sky View. Bill Munro had told her to take a sharp right down a narrow grassy track once she’d gone through the gate. She nosed her car along the path, then rounded a corner to see a pretty little stone cottage. Her heart raced. Could this really be it?

Bill appeared just as she switched off the engine. He raised one hand in welcome while fumbling in his pocket with the other, withdrawing a set of keys.

“Hi,” she called, falling into step beside him, trying to look calm but struggling to control her excitement.

He flashed her a smile. “It’s very small, you know.”

“It’s so pretty,” she exclaimed as the front door swung open.

“And there is no central heating, just old-fashioned electric heaters,” he warned.

Cass locked her fingers together. “Is there a fire?”

“Better than that,” Bill declared. “There’s a wood-burning stove and a good stack of dry logs in the shed around the back.”

As a vision of herself basking in the warm glow of burning logs after a hard day at work slid into her mind’s eye, a smile spread across Cass’s face. “I’ll take it,” she said.

“But you haven’t seen everything yet,” Bill reminded her. “And you don’t even know how much I’m going to charge.”