Free The Village Vet by Cathy Woodman Page A

leave a message so they can call me back later, a familiar voice cuts in. It’s Jack Miller.
    My instinct is to cut the call because he is the last person I wish to speak to, but the pony’s welfare is at stake so I have no option but to continue, keeping my emotions in check and suppressing my rising resentment as memories of my wedding day come flooding back. Jack might have saved me from making a terrible mistake, but it doesn’t make me feel any better about what he did. He had no right.
    ‘Tess,’ he says. ‘It’s good to hear from you.’
    ‘This isn’t a social call,’ I say sharply. ‘I’m phoning about a pony that’s tethered down by the river.’ I pause. ‘I didn’t think you worked for animal welfare any more. I thought you’d resigned.’
    ‘I was lucky – when I came back from my travels I walked straight back into a job with Talyton Animal Rescue.’
    ‘Does my aunt know anything about this?’ I ask, suspicious now that Fifi has been up to her usual tricks, interfering in other people’s lives.
    ‘You can’t be serious,’ Jack says. ‘Can fish swim? She’s chair of the committee that appointed me. Not only that, your aunt knows everything that goes on around here.’
    So why didn’t she mention it to me? Not for the first time, I wonder about Fifi. She must have known that if I knew about Jack working for Talyton Animal Rescue, I would have turned her down flat.
    ‘It’s a bit of a sideways step, but I wanted to stay in the area.’ Jack hesitates. ‘Is this about the piebald mare, the black and white one?’
    ‘I do know my horse colours,’ I say, a fraction insulted.
    ‘Of course you do. I didn’t mean anything …’ Jack’s voice, familiar yet strange, smooth yet bittersweet like molten dark chocolate, trails off. ‘Frank Maddocks keeps moving her on. The cricket club is up in arms because of the hoof-prints all over the pitch. I’m on my way home, so I’ll come straight down to have a look. Are you with the pony now?’
    ‘I didn’t hang around.’ In spite of my feelings for Jack, I warn him to be careful. ‘Mr Maddocks was quite intimidating. ‘I’m at the pub, the Talymill Inn.’
    ‘I’ll meet you there asap, Tess.’
    Tess? He’s always called me Tess, but the shortening of my name seems an overly intimate gesture from an old friend from whom I’ve become estranged.
    ‘It’s Tessa,’ I say, the skin across the nape of my neck prickling with irritation.
    ‘Okay, I’m sorry,’ Jack says quietly. ‘I’d be very grateful if you could show me where the pony is, or was. Frank is more than likely moving her on as we speak.’
    Bother, I think, gazing dumbly at the screen as it turns blank. Events are conspiring against me.
    ‘Are you all right?’ Katie slides a glass of white wine across the table and sits down opposite me.
    ‘That was Jack. Aunt Fifi rather conveniently omitted to tell me that he’s working for Talyton Animal Rescue.’ I take a sip of wine. ‘She’s made the decision for me. There’s no way that I can move in to the Sanctuary now.’
    ‘Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t turn down a job because of a man, particularly Jack. What’s more, you can’t keep going around looking like a candidate for
Ten Years Younger
. You really have to pull yourself together,’ Katie says, stopping abruptly.
    ‘Katie, what do you mean?’ My fingers tighten on the stem of the wine glass.
    ‘Oh, I’m sorry, it wasn’t meant to sound like criticism. What I meant was that it’s time you thought about moving on with your life.’
    ‘It’s been three weeks since the wedding, that’s all,’ I say, upset at her apparent lack of sympathy. ‘Don’t you understand? I’ve been through three weeks of hell.’
    ‘All right, all right,’ Katie soothes, touching my hand. ‘I understand.’
    I look at her, really look at her, and wonder if she has a clue.
    ‘You need cheering up, Tessa. Let me get you another drink,’ she goes on.
    I glance down