Falling for the Village Vet by Rachel Dove

Author:Rachel Dove
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-05-12T21:49:19+00:00

* * *

She felt like necking the whole thing down. It had started so well. She’d cleaned the house, put on a nice outfit. She had reasoned with herself that while she had been a bit shifty about this ‘date’ with Chris, she could use the opportunity to see how dating would feel. Judging by the fact that they’d not even lifted a fork, and were already quarrelling, she knew the evening would be a bit less fun than she’d thought. Mr Hyde was here again, it seemed, and he was ripping a slice of bread into smaller and smaller pieces with his fingers. As if it were a murder victim he were disembowelling. He noticed her watching, and huffily he stilled his hands. She took a sip of her wine and picked up her cutlery.

She’d only just taken a mouthful when he spoke again.

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make things awkward.’

‘I know.’

‘I just don’t like talking about any of it.’

‘I know that too.’ She lowered her fork. ‘The thing is, sometimes you have to.’

His jaw clenched, but she pressed on.

‘Tell me something about Karen—nothing medical or sad. You must have good times you remember.’

He sat back in his chair, running his hand through his hair. It left it tufted up at odd angles, softening his look now he’d seemingly lost his flash of anger. Susannah watched as he composed himself, practically seeing the grief winding around his body like a wisp of smoke. He needed to talk about it, realise his anger.

‘She wouldn’t have liked it here, in Puddle Lake.’

Susannah smiled, sitting back and eating some of her stew. She wanted him to talk and not feel gawked at. ‘Really. City girl, eh?’

Chris smiled. ‘Oh, yeah. She would never consider something like this to be interesting enough. She needed top Wi-Fi, good coffee shops, and access to work. We were both like that really, but I always thought about slowing down.’

‘What did she do?’

‘She was a solicitor. We met at university. We ended up with a bunch of mutual friends, and we all just kind of went through it together. A few of us paired off.’

‘Driven woman; I’m impressed. Sounds like you had a lot of fun.’

‘We did.’ He seemed to be remembering that himself. ‘We did, yeah.’

‘Good. Eat your stew; it’ll get cold.’

They sat and ate in silence for a while, the dogs all seemingly asleep now. Chris checked in on Melody, and Susannah refilled her wine while he was gone. She held out the bottle in his direction when he retook his seat. He took it from her and filled his glass.

‘Thanks. She’s fast asleep. I think we’re safe for tonight.’

Susannah puffed out a breath, blowing strands of hair across her face. She blew again to dispel them and saw that he was smiling at her.

‘What?’

‘You make me laugh.’

Susannah’s brows were up in her hairline, and that made him laugh again. ‘You do! It’s true. I’m used to you now.’

‘You make me sound like an old sock or something,’ she countered with a huff.

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