Springtime at Wildacre: the gorgeously uplifting, feel-good romance (Animal Ark Revisited Book 3)

by Lucy Daniels

  Emily frowned and shook her head. ‘No,’ she said. ‘You can’t think that way. You’ve been working so hard. You deserve your own space …’ she trailed off, turning her eyes to Adam as if appealing to him.

  Adam shook his head, his face worried. ‘You can still move in,’ he said. ‘We’ll manage.’

  Mandy opened her mouth to say she absolutely couldn’t, but Adam gave her a warning look.

  ‘We can talk more about it later,’ he said.

  Mandy reached out and picked up her tea. It was no more than lukewarm, but she tossed it back. She didn’t feel remotely hungry, but she took a piece of Emily’s cake.

  She wouldn’t argue the point now, but surely it wasn’t right for her to move out, at least not before they had a new vet. Was it?

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Mandy slept badly, waking up several times in the night and feeling each time a rush of foreboding about her mum’s illness. She had spent the evening reading about it on the Internet. It was true what Emily had said; she might remain well for a long time, but there could be awful consequences too. Images kept flashing into Mandy’s head: Emily in a wheelchair, or Emily struggling to see. There would be a lot to do, to make sure Emily could stay independent if any of that happened. Mandy found herself looking at Animal Ark and Hope Meadows with new eyes, planning handrails and wheelchair ramps that probably should have been put in anyway. But how could they be, when there was barely enough money in Hope Meadows to cover the feed and bedding, and now they needed to pay a new vet as well? Whining, Sky crawled into bed with Mandy. She hugged the collie close, knowing she needed to rest for now.

  Morning surgery and then two calls had passed in a kind of melancholy haze. At lunchtime, she went out to Hope Meadows. She tried to push yesterday’s lunch at Wildacre to the back of her mind. Adam seemed to think she’d be moving out on schedule, but Mandy wasn’t sure he was right on this one.

  She had found reassurance in her animals. Sky was a concerned little shadow. Hattie and Tablet, the two crossbreed rescue dogs seemed to know something was wrong. Every time she got them out, they clung to her, begging for attention. Even the rabbits had been extra friendly. Mumma’s kittens were now so well grown that they no longer needed milk, but they loved nuzzling Mandy’s face and snuggling up to her.

  Mandy texted James about Frank’s release. She needed to tell him the news about Emily, so she asked him to come to Hope Meadows first. Then, they would meet Raj up near Mr Chadwick’s house. Mandy had decided they should release Frank there. It was close to the place he’d been injured, but not too near the bad corner where Raj had come off the road. Mandy would watch Frank carefully as they released him. He had been flying inside for a few days now. It wasn’t the same as if he had really been able to spread his wings, but she felt certain he would manage.

  James messaged back saying that was fine. She was looking forward to seeing him. He seemed so happy these days.

  She was in the paddock working with Brutus the Labrador, when a van drew up. To her delight, Brutus sat down and looked up at her. She smiled as she reached in her pocket for a treat. When he’d first come to Hope Meadows, he would have barked madly. ‘Come on then,’ she said to him as they set off across paddock. Raj climbed out of the van, slamming the door behind him.

  ‘Hello,’ she called out. Why would Raj have come so early? she wondered. They weren’t due to release Frank until the evening. Had he misunderstood? Raj was picking his way across the paddock and seemed intent on looking at his feet. Did he look nervous? She couldn’t decide. Beside her, Brutus was becoming almost frantic, trying to wriggle his bottom into the ground to show how willing he was to sit. Mandy looked down. ‘You are a really good boy,’ she told him and slipped him another chew.

  Raj came to a standstill in front of them. ‘Who’s this?’ he asked, nodding towards Brutus, who was still behaving perfectly.

  Mandy smiled. ‘This is Brutus,’ she said. ‘He used to go crazy with any kind of distraction, but now he seems only to have eyes for me and my pocket full of goodies.’ Brutus wagged his tail, then for the first time, looked over at Raj. ‘I think we should take him inside. Otherwise I’ll have to give him another treat. Don’t want him ending up the size of a house.’

  Raj laughed. ‘Is that a problem you often have?’ he asked.

  ‘Not really,’ Mandy said. ‘I save all his food for the day and use it for training. It works really well for most Labradors.’ They walked back across the paddock together. Brutus trotted at Mandy’s side, looking up at her.

  ‘He seems very well trained,’ Raj said.

  Mandy felt very proud as Brutus trotted into his kennel, without even glancing at the other dogs, and lay down on his bed. He was so different from the crazy, growling bundle that had arrived only a few weeks earlier.

  ‘Would you like a coffee?’ she asked Raj as they walked back through to reception. He still hadn’t told her why he’d come.

  ‘I don’t really have time,’ he said. She got the same impression of nerves that she’d had when he first arrived. ‘I wanted to ask you something,’ he said. He pulled himself up straight and took a deep breath. ‘I’d like to invite James out for a meal,’ he said. ‘Only it’s not long since he lost Paul. I just … Well, I just wondered what you thought?’

  Mandy couldn’t help but be astonished, and then rather flattered that Raj had come to ask her. She also couldn’t help looking at Raj slightly differently. She’d never considered him as boyfriend material. But he was a nice man, quite attractive, and an animal lover.

  ‘I know it’s difficult,’ he said, shuffling his feet. ‘I probably shouldn’t have come. I’d just made a delivery up the road.’

  ‘No, I’m glad you came,’ Mandy reassured him. ‘It’s difficult to know how to act when someone’s been bereaved, I know.’ It was hard enough for her as James’s friend. Harder still if Raj was hoping for something more.

  She turned his question over in her head. James did seem to have been happier recently. Was it possible he liked Raj too? He hadn’t mentioned anything, but they’d obviously seen each other a few times since Frank’s accident. And had Raj really come to the squirrel hunt for Mandy’s sake, or had he come to spend time with James? Either answer was pleasing, she realised.

  She would give a lot to see James happy. It had been almost unbearable to see her friend in so much pain. But she had to be honest. ‘I don’t really have any idea what he’ll say.’ She paused, thinking. ‘I don’t see why you shouldn’t ask, though. I don’t think he’ll be upset. He has dated a little since Paul died, but I’m not sure what he’s ready for yet. Does that help?’

  Raj smiled and let out a sigh of relief. ‘Thank you so much,’ he said. ‘Good, yes. Thank you! I really like James, you know? The last thing I want is to upset him.’

  Mandy watched him as he marched out, his shoulders back and his head held high. She found herself grinning, wondering with amusement whether he would have been quite so interested in Frank, had James not been part of the package. Then again, he’d been distraught when they first found him in the lane. If he really did love animals as much as he seemed to, it would stand him in good stead with James.

  Mandy put Raj’s question firmly out of her mind when James arrived at Animal Ark that evening. She had to tell him about Mum.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ James said, the minute he saw her.

  Mandy gave him a small smile. ‘You always know when something’s the matter, don’t you?’

  James became very still when she told him. He loved Emily dearly, Mandy knew, but despite his obvious upset, he was able to talk to her calmly.

  ‘One of Mum’s friends was diagnosed ten years ago,’ he told her. ‘She’s still quite well, though I know she feels terribly tired a lot of the time.’ They were sitting in the comfortable chairs where she usually chatted to potential owners.

  ‘I’m just so frightened for her,’ Mandy admitted. She pushed her lips together. So many times this afternoo
n, she had felt tears approaching, but she’d had to hide them.

  ‘I know. And I know that feeling well.’ James leaned over to take Mandy’s hand.

  Of course he does, after what he had to watch Paul go through.

  ‘How did you handle it?’ Mandy asked. ‘I don’t want her to know how scared I am.’

  ‘You just always have to think what she needs,’ James said. ‘Like at work, when you just have to stay calm and give the animal what they need in that moment. That’s what you have to do with Emily. Extra stress and fear won’t help her. You just being yourself, as normal as possible, is what she needs.’

  He’s right.

  Mandy nodded. ‘Thanks, James.’ She looked at her watch. ‘We should be getting on.’

  ‘Okay, we can talk more in the car if you’d like.’ James pushed himself to the edge of the chair and stood up.

  It didn’t take them long to get Frank ready. They wrapped him in a blanket to move him into the cage he would travel in. Between them, they lifted it out to the car. Frank stood on his perch, fluffing his brown feathers. He twisted his neck to gaze all around as if drinking everything in with his big, dark eyes.

  ‘I feel like a selfish person,’ Mandy said as James climbed into the car beside her. ‘I can’t say this to anyone else, but after Mum said she was ill, I found myself wondering how it would feel if she was in a wheelchair. It should have been all about her, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how it’d affect me.’ She put the car in gear and pulled away slowly. She didn’t want Frank to be shaken any more than she could help.

  James reached over and squeezed her shoulder. ‘I think it’s quite normal,’ he said with a sad smile. ‘I used to do the same when Paul was ill. I’d find myself wondering how it would be when he was in hospital or worse, when he had died. Then I felt awful because I should only have been thinking about him. But illness doesn’t only affect the person who’s ill. It affects those around them too. You’ve said you don’t want to move into Wildacre until they’ve sorted out a new vet. That doesn’t sound like the action of someone selfish to me.’

  Mandy blinked away the tears that had formed in her eyes. James was always so honest with her. If he said he thought it was normal, he was probably right. She found herself thinking about Raj. He too had been very thoughtful. Would he ask James out tonight? For a moment, she wondered about asking James what he would say, but Raj had come to her in confidence.

  ‘How do you think Frank will feel when we let him out?’ James asked a moment later, sounding determinedly cheerful. Mandy was glad of the change of subject.

  Raj was waiting for them in his van outside Mr Chadwick’s house.

  ‘You managed to find it okay then?’ James asked, smiling at Raj. He certainly looked happy, Mandy noticed. She wondered what Raj had decided. He could hardly ask James out there and then with Mandy in tow. They walked round to the back of Mandy’s car.

  ‘So how’s he been?’ Raj asked. He peered through the back windscreen, trying to get a glimpse of Frank.

  ‘Great,’ she said. ‘He’s been raring to go the past few days, but I had to be sure he was strong enough.’ She lifted the back door of the car and watched with amusement as James and Raj made a rush to carry the cage between them. ‘We should get him well clear of the road,’ she told them.

  Frank clung to his perch as Raj and James manoeuvred his cage up and over a stile. He stretched himself up into a tall, thin posture and the long feathers at the base of his bill lifted. He was scared, Mandy realised. ‘Poor Frankie,’ she murmured. ‘Not long now.’

  The field they had climbed into was gently sloping. Further down the hill, there was a small area of woodland. A few cattle stood looking at them from the far side of the fence that ran down the side of the pasture. A stream flowed out from a pipe that ran under the road, its water burbling softly down the hill.

  ‘What a lovely place,’ breathed Raj as they set the cage down. He grinned. ‘Lucky Frank,’ he said.

  Frank seemed to have calmed, now the cage had stopped moving. He surveyed the surrounding land with his feathers fluffed back out. The sun was about to set. Mandy reached down and opened the cage door. Frank paused for only a second. Then his eyes fixed on something and he flapped his wings. Lurching from his perch, he cleared the cage. A moment later, he was swooping across the empty field and over towards the woodland.

  ‘Goodbye, Frank,’ James said. His voice was wistful. They stood there for a few minutes more, watching as the sun dipped over the horizon, but Frank didn’t reappear.

  ‘Well that’s that then,’ said Raj. He too sounded sad.

  Mandy glanced from Raj to James and back, and a flicker of mischief passed through her mind.

  ‘Do you two mind taking charge of getting the cage back over the wall? Thanks,’ Mandy said with a grin at Raj, who looked rather startled. James too looked surprised. Mandy wanted to laugh. Normally, she would be the last person to ask someone else to do the heavy lifting. Despite his confusion, James bent willingly enough to help Raj lift the cage.

  Mandy was up and over the stile in a moment and walking, at what she hoped was a fast but non-suspicious pace, away from the two men. Hopefully she’d be out of earshot in a few steps. If Raj wanted to take advantage of the sunset, and the beautiful hillside, it was up to him.

  She was crossing the road on the way back to her car when she saw Mr Chadwick coming towards her. He waved a hand. Even in the twilight, she could see he was grinning.

  ‘I thought it was your car,’ he said. ‘What brings you up here?’

  Mandy reached the car and leaned on the bonnet. Perhaps James and Raj would be a few minutes yet, she thought. ‘We just came over to release an owl I’d had in the centre,’ she explained. ‘He was injured on a road near here, but we patched him up. I thought he’d like it up here.’ She glanced back towards the wall. Muted voices sounded from the far side. ‘James and Raj are just bringing the cage,’ she explained.

  To her surprise, when she looked back at him, Mr Chadwick looked worried. ‘That’s a pity,’ he said. Mandy frowned. ‘Oh, I don’t mean it’s a pity he’s better.’ Mr Chadwick shook his head. ‘I just mean this might not be the best place for him now.’

  Mandy’s heart sank. Why on earth not?

  She’d met people who objected to certain species of wildlife being nearby, but Mr Chadwick hadn’t struck her as one of those types. And besides, who could object to a lovely tawny owl?

  Mr Chadwick was grinning now. ‘You see, Marissa Bowie was looking for somewhere to build her factory,’ he said. ‘We got talking and I offered her the house and the grounds. All this here. She didn’t want to work with Sam Western any more, so she and I are going into business together.’

  Mandy stared at him, trying to keep her jaw from hitting the ground. ‘You’re volunteering your home for the factory?’

  Mr Chadwick grinned at her. ‘I am indeed,’ he assured her. ‘We’ll be going through all the proper channels of course, but after all the years I’ve lived here, I’m pretty sure there are no endangered species. It is a pity about your owl, though,’ he said.

  Mandy turned a little to look back over to the field where they had released Frank. The moon was rising in the clear sky. It looked huge as it hung low over the hills. ‘It shouldn’t be a problem,’ she said. ‘He’s a tawny owl. They’re very adaptable, unlike the squirrels. If he doesn’t like the noise from the building work or from the factory, he’ll just move and find a new hunting ground.’

  Mr Chadwick looked relieved. ‘That’s good,’ he said. ‘Marissa Bowie seems lovely,’ he said. ‘And I really wanted to make sure Welford still got its factory. All the people who were hoping for jobs will still be close enough.’ He looked round at the scattered houses that made up the hamlet. ‘And the neighbours here are far enough away that we won’t disturb them.’

  ‘But where are you going to live?’ Mandy asked. For a split second, she wondered if he was going to say he was moving in with Marissa
Bowie. It had been a strange few days. Almost nothing would surprise her, but if he had any more than business plans with Ms Bowie, he wasn’t letting on. ‘I’ve bought a small flat in the middle of Welford,’ he said. ‘It’s been lovely getting to know your Gran and Grandad and they’ve introduced me to so many people. I want to be down in the village so I can see more of them all.’

  Mandy heard a scuffling noise and looked round. Frank’s cage was perched on top of the wall. James appeared and began to manoeuvre himself past it. Then Raj appeared. He seemed to be grinning.

  ‘I’ll let you go,’ Mr Chadwick said as James climbed down. Once on the road, James reached back up to take the weight of the cage as Raj worked his way over. If Mr Chadwick was wondering why Mandy wasn’t helping, he didn’t say anything. He patted her on the shoulder as if very pleased to have told her his news, then headed back down the path towards his front door.

  James seemed breathless as they got back into the car to drive back to Animal Ark. He and Raj had said their goodbyes in a civil tone. Mandy couldn’t tell for certain what had happened, though Raj looked happy. She put the car into gear, took off the handbrake and set off down the hill. She would wait, she thought. They were almost halfway home before James spoke.

  ‘Raj asked me out,’ he said.

  ‘Wow, he did?’ Mandy did her best to sound nonchalant. They rounded a corner and she reached out a hand to change gear, keeping her eyes on the road ahead.

  ‘I didn’t know what to say.’ James sounded almost bewildered. ‘He said his brother was starting a restaurant in a country hotel halfway between York and Bakewell. He wants me to go with him to the opening night.’ He stopped.

  ‘Well, that sounds lovely,’ Mandy said. The headlights lit up the road ahead with its high walls and grassy verges. ‘What did you say?’ she asked. Though her eyes were on the road, her attention was all on James.