He heard the concern in Lettie’s voice. She must have followed them into the barn. He wasn’t surprised to know she was there, wanting to find out how their goats got on. ‘They need this for tetanus and Clostridium. It won’t hurt them. Only a slight pinch.’
‘That’s what doctors say when they’re about to inject you. You’ll only feel a little scratch, but it never really feels like that at all.’
‘Will you let Brodie get on with what he’s doing please, Letts?’
‘Sorry, Dad.’
Brodie quickly examined the first animal. She seemed perfectly healthy. He took hold of a small area of the goat’s skin from its neck between his thumb and forefinger and administered the injection. ‘There.’ He patted the little goat for it to move away. ‘Right, next one.’
He soon finished injecting them and once done heard Lettie give a grateful sigh. ‘That’s an enormous relief, isn’t it, Dad?’
Her father gave her a bemused look. ‘This is all perfectly normal and nothing to worry about, Lettie lovey.’
Brodie was happy there hadn’t been any drama. He waited for Lettie to move the animals into another pen and followed her and Gareth back outside to the yard.
‘Do you want to come in for a cuppa, Brodie?’ Gareth asked.
Brodie would have loved to but he hadn’t missed the look of, what – Shock? Disappointment? – on Lottie’s face at her father’s question. He wasn’t sure but it hurt to think that she didn’t want him to hang around now that his work was done. He also had no intention of outstaying his welcome.
‘No thanks. Not today. Maybe another time.’
Lettie gave a tight smile. ‘Thanks for looking after the goats so well.’
‘It was simple enough, I’m glad to say.’ He took his keys from his trouser pocket. ‘Right, I’d better be going. I’ll see you soon.’
As he drove away, Brodie couldn’t help wondering what he might have done to cause the almost unfriendly reaction from Lettie. As far as he was aware he hadn’t said or done anything to offend her. Had he?
12
LETTIE
Lettie stood under the warm shower, her eyes squeezed shut in mortification that anyone, let alone their gorgeous vet, had seen her in such a disgusting state. What must he think of her? She cringed. She would rather he didn’t recognise her than see her looking and no doubt smelling so disgusting. If only she hadn’t fallen over shortly before his arrival, and in goat dung too. The horror of it all.
She soaped her aching body and shampooed her hair for a second time, just to make sure there was no mess left anywhere on her. Brodie must think her such an oddball. So far all she had managed to achieve in the past three and a half weeks was pull a few muscles, wear herself out and not be very helpful to her dad at all. Was she making a fool of herself by trying to do this work? Was she out of her depth? Yes, was probably the answer to both questions.
She reached out and grabbed a towel, drying her face before wrapping it around her hair. Then, stepping carefully out of the shower, wrapped a larger towel around her body before leaning forward and wiping away condensation from the bathroom mirrorwith her hand. There she was, she thought, staring at her pink-faced reflection, obviously exhausted but at least clean at last.
‘You’ve got this,’ she told her miserable reflection. She wasn’t going to give up without a much better fight than the one she had given so far. She could do this.
‘There will be good days and crappy days. Today is simply one of the crappier ones.’ Literally, she thought grumpily.
Resolving to be more positive, Lettie brushed her hair deciding to allow it to dry naturally. She didn’t mind her curls, not any more. When she was younger and first going out to nightclubs she had spent hours trying to straighten it, but she no longer bothered. It was far easier this way.
Dried and dressed in a pair of baggy jeans and a fresh black and white striped T-shirt, Lettie went downstairs. It was such a beautiful day and she had a lot to learn about the farm, so she decided it was the perfect time to go for a walk around the fields. She took a notepad and biro from by the phone to make notes about any jobs she thought might need doing, like the stone walls she had already noticed that needing fixing.
‘We’re just popping out to do some shopping,’ her mother said, stepping out from the walk-in pantry.
Startled, Lettie dropped the pen and bent to retrieve it.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to give you a fright.’ Her mother seemed very happy. Lettie wondered if it was because she was doing her best to learn all she could about the farm. ‘Do you need anything?’
‘No thanks, Mum.’
Lettie knew her father would have given her mother some sort of update on how she was coping. Or, if he hadn’t, he probably would do when they were out.
Her father arrived in the kitchen wearing chinos and a pale blue shirt. ‘You look smart, Dad.’ She hadn’t meant to sound so surprisedbut it was unusual to see him out of his usual farming gear. They must be going somewhere special. ‘Doing something nice?’
‘Mostly shopping.’ He sounded evasive and Lettie decided to drop the matter.
