Deciding to wait and see if he spotted Tina out and about instead of troubling Lettie for her number, Brodie was delighted to see her a couple of days later at the small supermarket in the village.
As luck would have it, he was about to enter the shop when he noticed Tina pushing her son out of the shop door in his buggy. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, he rushed over to speak to her.
‘Hi, Tina.’ He noticed four heavy-looking bags, two hanging from her elbows and another two hooked onto the sides of the buggy handle. ‘That lot looks cumbersome. If you don’t mind me walking with you, I’ll carry them for you.’
She considered his offer and for a moment she seemed to be about to refuse.
‘Or I could give you a lift home, if you’d rather?’ he added.
‘Thanks, but I don’t have Noah’s car seat. It’s only down the lane there, so it won’t take me long. Honestly.’
‘Then I’ll carry the bags for you.’ He didn’t think the buggy could cope with the weight although he assumed Tina had done this many times before.
Her face lit up. ‘Really? You don’t mind?’
He took the bags from her, careful not to let the buggy tip up. ‘I’m happy to.’
They began walking and Brodie was about to bring up the subject of a job, when Tina spoke. ‘I feel badly that I’m taking you away from whatever it was you were about to do.’
‘I was only popping into the store to buy something for my supper later. I like to get down to the beach as soon as I can after finishing work on days when the tide is just right, which I noticed it was when I drove along the Five Mile Road earlier.’
She frowned. ‘And now I’ve taken you from your shopping.’ She stopped walking. ‘Give those back to me and go and buy your food.’
‘Really, it’s fine.’
‘No, I insist. I can manage from here.’
Brodie realised he needed to let her know the real reason he had stopped to help her. Although, he would have offered to help, having seen her struggling with the bags anyway.
‘I was hoping to catch you at some point,’ he admitted.
Tina frowned suspiciously, then raised her eyebrows and smiled. ‘Is this about Lettie?’
Lettie? Why would he be stopping Tina to talk about her? ‘No, er, I was wanting to ask you if you might be interested in working a few hours each week. At the practice.’
Tina stared at him for a moment, clearly taken aback. ‘Me? But I haven’t worked for a vet before.’
‘Shall we walk on again?’ he suggested as the circulation in his fingers threatened to be cut off by the heavy bags.
Tina glanced down at his hands then grimaced. ‘Yes, good idea.’
‘I don’t need a veterinary nurse, but someone to do a bit of admin, answer phone calls, file records, that sort of thing.’
‘Like a receptionist, you mean?’
‘Yes. Bethan Davies, my practice nurse, has been covering reception as well as her other work, and I’ve been doing it too, but it’sunsustainable if I want to keep my clients happy and especially if I’m hoping to grow the practice.’
They walked on in silence for a little while. ‘I’m this way.’ Tina pushed open a wooden gate and led the way to the door. ‘You can leave those on the path. I’ll settle Noah and fetch them in a bit.’ She opened the door and turned to him. ‘I would ask you in for a coffee, but I suspect you’d rather go back to the store and do your shopping.’
Unsure whether she was looking for an excuse not to invite him in, Brodie relented. ‘Thanks, I would.’ Not wishing to leave until he had some sort of answer, Brodie slowly lowered the bags onto the pathway. ‘I’ll leave you to have a think about the work. If you have any questions, you can call me at the practice, or leave a message with Bethan and I’ll get back to you.’
‘Sorry, I should have said, I’d be very interested in working for you.’
He was lost for words for a few seconds. ‘That is brilliant news. I’m delighted.’
‘I’d need to know what days you’ll want me and the hours, of course. And, um…’
‘The pay. Yes, well, if you like I can email a few details to you.’ She gave him her email address and Brodie typed it into his phone. ‘Regarding hours, I’ll be happy to fit in with you. I’m aware you’ll probably need to arrange childcare. You could let me know what suits you and we can take it from there.’
