Page 92 of Escape for Christmas
‘That’s his job. Kind of,’ Vee said. ‘He was pleased as punch to be able to help.’
‘Will you at least take this wine and the chocolates?’ Sophie suggested, putting a bottle and some chocs on the kitchen table. ‘And thank him from me.’ The kindness she’d been shown brought her to the brink of tears again, but she held them back.
‘If you insist,’ Vee said.
‘I do. And now I’m going to make us both some lunch. Sit down.’
Vee obeyed. ‘Yes, boss.’
After they’d eaten, Vee left for home and Sophie went upstairs to clean up the room where the cats had been ill. She found it pristine, and ready for letting again when the guest house reopened. Vee had done it while she’d been at the vet’s, which was beyond the call of duty.
Sophie sat down on the bed and finally the tears she’d been trying to hold in since that morning fell. After allowing herself an indulgent cry, she tried to keep busy, tidying thekitchen and doing some of her accounts, resisting the urge to glance at her phone every two minutes. Darkness fell not long after three-thirty, and so she lit the lamps in her flat and flicked through the TV, finding something easy to watch. Sunnyside seemed very big and lonely, and every creak and rattle of the boiler set her on edge.
She didn’t fancy any proper dinner, so she took some unused cold bits from the fridge, trying not to look at the empty cat bowls sitting side-by-side by the door. She was picking at half a pork pie when her phone rang.
‘Brody!’
‘It’s OK. They’re still resting quietly. I’m going to give them another dose of charcoal—’ He broke off and Sophie heard voices. ‘Sorry, have to go. Emergency. Not with your cats.’
The phone went dead.
Sophie’s heart went out to the owner whose pet was an emergency, but she was starting to feel more hopeful that Jingle and Belle were recovering as well as they could. Time ticked by and she flicked through the channels. It was now 8 p.m. and Brody’s evening surgery would be over. He’d be spending the night there, probably on the tatty sofa she’d seen in the staffroom.
It didn’t seem fair that he was watching over her cats while she was here. Surely she could do something?
Taking a plastic box, she went to the fridge and filled it with pork pies, cold sausages and quiche. She raided the hamper for mince pies, chutney and biscuits. She didn’t know if Brody had eaten, but it didn’t matter, and shefigured the nursing team would enjoy the pies and biccies if he wasn’t hungry.
She jumped in the car and drove down the dark lanes to the village.
The lights were all on at the vet’s surgery, but there was only Brody’s Defender parked behind it, so she guessed he was the only member of staff on duty.
Should she be here? In the circumstances?
She felt ridiculous, and out of place. She was bringing supper to a man who was engaged to another woman. Brody hadn’t asked her to come – she was only a client. It felt desperate …
She glanced at the Tupperware box on the passenger seat and her shoulders slumped.
‘Sophie?’
A face loomed in her car window. It was Brody, in scrubs, with a look of astonishment that was hardly encouraging.
Sophie opened the window.
‘I shouldn’t be here, I know. I ought to go home, but I thought: you’re here all night because I let my cats eat something poisonous; and I was climbing the walls at home, so I thought I’d bring you some food in case you hadn’t had any dinner … But now I feel really stupid for doing it.’
‘You’re not stupid, and I haven’t had any dinner. I was about to order in a takeaway, but I’d much rather have what you’ve brought.’
‘You haven’t seen it yet.’ She was opening the door. ‘It’s only leftovers.’ Her pulse spiked. ‘How are the cats?’
‘Still sleeping it off. They’re off the drip and they’ve both had a drink of water. That’s a good sign.’
‘And your emergency? I’ve been thinking about that too.’
‘Spaniel hit by a car. Broken leg. He’s on the mend and he’s in here overnight too, so don’t feel too guilty at me staying.’
Brody smiled and Sophie’s heart did a double back-flip. Why, why,whyhad she fallen for a man who was taken by someone else?
‘You said you had food?’ he added.
