Page 8 of Never Too Late to Date

Squeezing into the small room with the others, Vicky didn’t clock the man standing at the front until he turned round. Oh no, not the cat whisperer.

What was he doing here, and why was he standing on the wrong side of the surgical table? He really was arrogant. She hoped Angeliki gave him short shrift when she turned up. Vicky’d enjoy seeing him getting put in his place. She looked around the room and counted to six. Everyone was here, waiting. Maybe Angeliki had been held up by an emergency at her surgery.

Grumpy Man coughed and faced his audience.

‘Hello, everyone.’ His eyes roamed along the line, narrowing slightly in surprise as he alighted on her. ‘I am Alexandros, better known as Alex the Vet.’

Vicky swallowed. What the hell? It was oppressively hot in the small space. She’d have to open a window in a minute.

‘Some of you may already have met Angeliki, and I’m sorry to disappoint you if you were expecting her.’

He waited a beat before continuing. Was he expecting them all to clap or something?

‘We’re a double act of sorts. We both volunteer here, and you can usually catch one or other of us at certain points during the day.’

She’d much rather catch Angeliki, any day. Him, not so much.

‘Any questions you have about the care of the animals, please ask us.’

A pointed look came her way.

‘It’s better to ask than get it wrong.’

How dare he? Who did he think he was? She’d wipe that condescending smile off his face at the earliest opportunity. She’d not had such a strong feeling of animosity towards anyone, male or female, for ages. But he was far from finished.

‘Sometimes, we may ask you to assist with minor operations.’

This hadn’t been mentioned before. A couple of the younger volunteers looked startled.

‘Obviously, it isn’t compulsory, and only if it’s something you feel comfortable with.’

He looked closely at the row of new volunteers.

‘Has anyone here had any experience of a surgical environment, animal or human? We need all the help we can get.’

The room went silent. Vicky stared at the floor for a moment and considered saying nothing. She’d done a gruelling ten-year nursing stint in operating theatres, and she’d pretty much seen everything there was to see that could be done with a scalpel. He’d never know if she didn’t confess, but she couldn’t lie about her background. It wasn’t the animals’ fault that he was an arse. She reluctantly put up her hand.

His gaze lingered as their eyes met.

‘You?’

He seemed as unkeen on the idea as she was.

‘I w— am a nurse.’ She didn’t want to use the past tense for some reason. ‘A considerable chunk of it was spent assisting in theatres. I’m sure I can adapt my skills.’

The man in front of her took a moment before recovering his icy composure. He’d make a pretty good robot.

‘I see. That would be useful. Please give Maeve all the details.’

The sound of a phone ringing filled the room. It had to be his. They’d been instructed to turn theirs off to concentrate on the vet’s words of wisdom. Not that Maeve had put it like that, exactly…

‘Sorry… Got to take this.’

Vicky recognised the Greek for OK, entáxei, among the outpouring of words. He rushed for the door, waving as he went.

‘Emergency back at base. Hope to see you all soon.’

Not if I see you first was her overriding thought. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any unfortunate animals needing operations at the sanctuary any time soon. She’d have to find out from Angeliki what made him so unpleasant. But she wasn’t going to waste another moment of her free time thinking about him and his atrocious bedside manner.