Summer at Hope Meadows: the perfect feel-good summer read (Animal Ark Revisited Book 1)

by Lucy Daniels

  ‘But I do want,’ Mandy insisted, tucking her hair behind her ears. ‘I’m looking forward to it. Simon’s fine, too. We’ve talked about it lots.’ The phone buzzed in her hand and she looked down at the screen. It was a text from James.

  ‘Hi Mandy,’ it read. ‘We’re having a fantastic time here in Iseo. We have the most wonderful view of the lake from our suite and there is a gorgeous little swimming pool for when we need to cool off. The local wine is amazing – sparkling rosé. We will definitely be bringing a few bottles home. Paul has been really well, thank goodness. You’ll be pleased to know that your injection tip has helped. One more week to go and we’ll be back in York. I can’t wait to hear all your news from Welford. It will be amazing to have you back there. You must tell me all the details. So many memories to revisit. Maybe you can find the time to visit us in York again. We are always glad to see you. I hope your last two weeks in Leeds go well. All my love, James. P.S. Paul says hello.’

  When she looked up, Emily was watching her, eyebrows raised. ‘Anything important?’

  ‘A message from James,’ Mandy replied. ‘They’re doing fine.’ She was relieved to hear that the trip was going well. And how lovely it would be to visit them when they returned. She loved the little café-cum-bookshop that James ran, with its home baking, its books and artwork, and tiny corners perfect for browsing with a mug of fresh coffee. ‘I just need to reply,’ she told her mum.

  ‘Okay, darling.’ Emily drank the last of her coffee, pushed out her chair and stood up. ‘I need to get on. There’s a cat spay I want to do before you head off.’ She left the room and Mandy turned back to her phone.

  ‘Glad everything is going well,’ she wrote. ‘Lots to tell you when you get back! Meanwhile please look after yourself and your wonderful husband and make the most of your honeymoon. I look forward to tasting your wine when you return. Love to Paul. And you, obvs. Mandy xxx’ She clicked ‘send’, put her mug and bowl in the dishwasher and headed upstairs to the bedroom. Most of her stuff would stay here, but there were a couple of things she needed to take back to Leeds.

  An hour later, she was sitting in the car beside her dad with the window open. ‘Bye, Mum!’ she called, with a last glance at the house before she waved at her mother.

  ‘See you soon!’ Emily called after them.

  Adam headed along the lane that led through the village, past the Fox and Goose and down to the green. As they approached the narrow bridge beside Monkton Woods, Mandy saw a tractor and trailer parked in the gateway. A large pile of timber had been emptied onto the verge and she could see a broad-shouldered man hoisting up a log. She couldn’t help but admire the way he balanced the weight of the wood as he strode across and added it to the pile he had already built in the trailer.

  ‘There’s your friend Jimmy Marsh.’ Her father grinned. Mandy turned to look as they passed, belatedly recognising the face beneath the cropped sandy hair.

  ‘He’s not my friend,’ she said. Her eyes followed Jimmy as they pulled away, but he didn’t look up at her.

  The station at York was packed with cars when her dad pulled up at the drop-off point outside. ‘I won’t get out,’ he said. ‘I daren’t abandon the car or it will get towed away.’

  Mandy reached over and kissed him on the cheek before opening the car door. ‘No problem, Dad. Thanks for the lift.’ Grabbing her small case from the boot, she walked around and peered in at the open car window. ‘I’ll miss you.’

  ‘It won’t be long until you’re back,’ Adam replied. ‘I hope everything goes well with your last weeks,’ he said. ‘If you need any help with the move, give me a shout.’ He held up a hand to wave her off and put the car in gear. By the time Mandy reached the main entrance and turned to look back, he was out of sight. Walking in through the archway, she crossed the concourse and made her way over the bridge, clattering down the stairs to the platform under the arched glass roof. She was pleased to see it was only a few minutes until the next Leeds train was due.

  It was an express train and as they flashed through the stations, Mandy realised how much she was looking forward to seeing Simon again. Simon had said he would cook for them both that evening and from experience, he would make something delicious. It seemed no time at all until the train was passing houses again, diving through the black brick cutting before coming out near the square clock tower of Leeds Parish Church. A moment later, they were on the viaduct and Mandy gazed down onto the rooftops of central Leeds until the train drew into the station.

  Simon had offered to pick her up, but knowing how busy Leeds centre could be on a Saturday afternoon, she had told him she would get a taxi. She directed the driver past St James’s Hospital and into the network of streets where Simon’s house stood.

  Ringing the doorbell, Mandy was only kept waiting a moment before the door swung open. ‘Hello, gorgeous!’ Simon held out his arms and Mandy dropped her bag inside the door to hug him tightly.

  ‘I’ve missed you,’ she said. His familiar sandalwood aftershave mingled with the scent of cleanly washed clothes and she buried her face in his shoulder, enjoying the warmth of his muscular body pressed against her.

  ‘I’ve missed you, too.’ Releasing her, Simon closed the door, lifted her case and took it upstairs. Mandy followed him and they embraced again, this time with a kiss that left Mandy feeling breathless. They drew apart and she gazed at him.

  ‘We should go down,’ he said. ‘I’ve got some things to show you.’

  ‘Something smells good,’ she said as they made their way back downstairs.

  Simon led her into the kitchen and opened the oven door with a flourish. ‘Vegetable moussaka,’ he said. ‘It’ll be ready soon. I thought we could have a chat about our clinic while it’s cooking.’

  ‘Oh.’ Mandy felt an unexpected swooping sensation in her stomach. She knew they had to start planning the clinic sometime, but she had imagined a lingering, thank-goodness-you’re-home dinner before a long bath and an early night. ‘What did you want to discuss?’ she said and then, realising that sounded even less enthusiastic than she felt, she added, ‘It’ll be great to look at some ideas.’

  ‘Won’t it just?’ Simon grinned, crinkling the skin beside his blue eyes. ‘I can’t wait until it’s us making all the decisions. I’ve been looking at specialist surgical tables,’ and before Mandy could reply, he pulled a slew of technical brochures from a folder beside the microwave.

  As Mandy flicked through the glossy pictures, she couldn’t help feeling a bit overwhelmed. Until she had suggested returning to Welford to help her parents, there had been no set date for the opening of their clinic. She and Simon had talked about it as something for the future. But since he had known she was moving away, Simon had suggested that the natural time to open up would be when Mandy came back to Leeds. Somehow Mandy had imagined waiting longer before taking such a big step. Although she had inherited some money from Emily’s mother, she knew Simon had no savings to speak of. If they wanted to open both a clinic and rescue centre at the same time, it was going to be tough to stretch their finances as well as build up a practice from scratch.

  She looked down again at the raft of brochures. Simon seemed to have researched every kind of orthopaedic surgery in existence.

  ‘I think it’s really important,’ he said, facing Mandy across the table with his hands on his knees, ‘that we start off with the highest possible standard of treatment. There’s a lot of competition, not least from Thurston’s.’ Thurston’s was the clinic where the two of them were currently working and Mandy felt another stab of misgiving. It was one thing leaving the practice to go and work in Welford. It was quite another to set up in opposition nearby.

  ‘I know it will take a lot of work,’ Simon went on, ‘but eventually I’d like to offer something really different. Not just regular orthopaedics, but specialist prosthetics and so on.’ He pushed another brochure in front of her. ‘This company sells all kinds of instruments for the latest types of surgery,’ he
said. ‘I thought I might get in contact with them next week.’

  Mandy wondered how much it was going to cost. For some reason, there didn’t seem to be any prices included. Simon was looking expectantly at her and with determination, she managed to smile.

  ‘It’s great that you have so many ideas,’ she said. And it was, really. After all, it would be exciting, as Simon had said, to be the ones making the decisions about how things were run. Although Mandy enjoyed working for Amy Thurston, there were some things she knew she would do differently. Her course in animal behaviour had taught her different ways to approach frightened animals and sometimes the way she was expected to work was more stressful than it needed to be. As well as working with her rescue patients, she wanted to help Simon when it came to pain relief. That was something else she felt was important and, in the past year, she had attended two different courses to learn how to use the medicines available more efficiently. Their skills would be complementary, she thought. Simon was interested in surgery, while she could ensure that his patients were kept pain-free and mentally stable during recovery.

  ‘The thing I’m most looking forward to,’ she said, ‘is being able to treat my patients without causing them stress. I’ll be able to keep them in until they’re properly ready to go home. And I can work on rescue animals alongside our regular patients.’

  Simon frowned. ‘That’s a nice idea in theory,’ he said. ‘But we won’t have unlimited kennel space at the beginning. And you’ll need to concentrate on your clinical work until we start to make a decent profit. Nursing the patients needs to be left to the nurses.’

  Mandy looked at him, but he had taken back the pamphlet about the surgical table and was making a great show of examining it carefully. Did Simon expect her to put the rescue part of their venture to the side at the beginning? She had known there would have to be some compromises, but he didn’t seem to be offering to make any himself.

  ‘So what’s next?’ she said. ‘I’m due back in Welford in a couple of weeks, of course. Should we wait and see how things go there before we make any definite plans? I know Mum and Dad have been looking, but there are precious few candidates for mixed practice nowadays. I don’t want to leave them in the lurch like Shula did.’

  ‘Of course, you must help them out for as long as necessary.’ Simon stood up, returning the glossy magazines to the ring binder. ‘Your parents will need your help for the summer at least. But I don’t think that should stop us from making plans of our own.’ He leaned on the counter, his face glowing with enthusiasm. ‘I thought I might start looking at possible premises. We need to get some idea of whether it will be better to rent or if we could afford to buy straight away. We’ll probably have to get some work done as well. It’s not likely we’ll find anything that is set up perfectly. It’ll all take time.’

  ‘I suppose it’s a good idea to start looking how much everything will cost,’ said Mandy. Maybe if Simon did that, he would realise they needed to wait a bit longer and build up some more savings. ‘We don’t have to rush into anything though, do we?’

  For a moment, Simon’s face fell. ‘I know you have to help your parents out,’ he said. ‘But I want you back here as soon as possible.’

  ‘I know,’ Mandy said. ‘It’s just …’ She thought for a moment. ‘I think we need to sit down together and work out exactly what we both want, before we make any firm decisions.’

  ‘Of course we will,’ Simon assured her. ‘I just don’t see the need to wait too long.’ He grinned at her. ‘Are you hungry?’ he asked. ‘I think dinner should be ready.’

  Mandy nodded. ‘Starving.’ The delicious scent from the oven had been tantalising her for the past half-hour and, before Simon could say anything, she leaped up and rummaged in the cutlery drawer.

  Simon looked amused. ‘Hold your horses with those forks.’

  Taking them from her, he dropped them back into the tray, then took her hand and led her into the lounge. In front of the bay window, which overlooked the park, he had set up a round table with a chair at either side. The table was set with dark green table mats, white napkins and bright silver knives and forks. A square plate in the centre was studded with different sized candles, each one burning with a tiny flame.

  ‘I wanted to celebrate your return properly,’ he murmured. He handed Mandy a sheet of paper with a handwritten menu and bowed, his eyes sparkling.

  Mandy looked down at the menu. ‘Goat’s cheese and watermelon salad,’ she read, ‘followed by vegetarian moussaka, then home-made chocolate brownies …’ Dropping the paper on the table, she flung her arms around Simon and hugged him tight. ‘You know the way to this woman’s heart!’ she whispered. ‘How would you feel if I suggested we take the brownies upstairs with us?’

  Simon wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her closer. ‘Tonight, Amanda, your wish is my command.’

  Chapter Five

  It seemed very strange to walk back into the Monday morning rush at Thurston’s. Though it had been busy at Animal Ark, there was an intensity in Leeds that felt almost stifling to Mandy. In place of Helen juggling reception and nursing duties, there were two dedicated receptionists on the desk all the time. Five nurses worked alongside the same number of vets. Life was conducted at high speed, both inside and out.

  Mandy had called at Starbucks on her way in. The physical proximity of so many bodies in the coffee shop had felt smothering and she had been glad to escape. Rounding the end of the desk, she slid a Frappuccino into Angela’s hand. The dark-eyed receptionist smiled at her through her phone conversation, setting the cup down on the desk. ‘Thanks,’ she mouthed. A moment later, she pressed the button to end the call.

  ‘Any chance of a quiet morning?’ Mandy asked. The waiting-room was heaving, but it was still possible if there were enough vets on duty.

  ‘No such luck,’ Angela replied, checking that the name tag on her light blue tunic was straight. ‘Momal is going to a funeral and David is sitting an exam. Peter wants you to spay a cat first thing. There are two booked in. You can anaesthetise them together, then do one each. After that, he wants help anaesthetising a dog and a rabbit. Momal was meant to be assisting. Simon and Samantha are covering your consultation duties.’

  Despite Angela’s scepticism, the timetable didn’t sound too daunting. Mandy was interested in anaesthesia. Most of the time, the nurses carried out monitoring duties once the operation was underway. It would do no harm to keep her hand in.

  ‘What about the afternoon?’

  ‘You’ve got a visit to Miss Kitty with Geoff Hayes,’ Angela told her. Mandy felt a tremor of apprehension. She had visited the client known as Miss Kitty with Geoff, the local animal welfare officer, just before she had left for Welford. The state of the old woman’s flat had come as a shock. Mandy knew about hoarding, but nothing had prepared her for the piles of unwashed dishes and rubbish, or the stench of excrement and urine-soaked floors. It had been all she could do to keep from gagging. But despite the surroundings, the cats themselves had looked surprisingly healthy. There was no doubt in Mandy’s mind the woman loved them. Mandy and Geoff had agreed that the lack of sanitation could not continue, so they had laid down several conditions, measures for improvement, which Miss Kitty had promised to carry out. Mandy hoped, rather than expected, that she had complied.

  Peter was waiting in his green scrubs and surgical cap for Mandy in the prep room. There were two cat boxes on the table beside him. ‘I know it’s not ideal,’ he admitted, ‘but if we can get them anaesthetised, we can operate at the same time.’ Between them, they injected both cats and prepared them for surgery. Then, one on each table in the big theatre, they began. Twenty minutes later, both cats were back in their baskets.

  ‘Thanks for doing that.’ Peter peered in at Mandy’s patient, which sported a plastic collar and a warm blanket. ‘This morning was going to be a bit tight, even if Momal had been here. Have you seen the other patients?’ he asked.

  Mandy shook her hea
d. Angela had mentioned two spays, a dog and a rabbit. Despite the fact that rabbit spays could be tricky, it didn’t seem an excessive amount of work for one morning, even if Peter had done both cats himself. ‘Why?’ she said.

  ‘Come and see.’ They lifted a cat basket apiece and carried them through into the recovery area. Then Mandy followed Peter into the dog kennels.

  Stopping in front of one of the upper cages, Peter made a face as he looked through the glass. ‘This is our next patient, Widget,’ he said.

  Mandy stepped forwards. What was causing Peter so much angst?

  ‘Her owner describes her as a Chorkie.’ Peter’s voice held exasperation.

  On the other side of the glass stood the most minuscule dog Mandy had ever seen. ‘What on earth is a Chorkie?’ she asked, frowning.

  ‘At a guess, a Chihuahua crossed with a miniature Yorkie. Traditionally, we’d have called it a cross-breed.’ Peter shook his head. ‘I’m all for hybrid vigour, but if the whole aim is to produce minuscule puppies, any health benefits go right out of the window. Her pelvis is so narrow, she’d probably die if they tried to breed from her.’

  Mandy looked again at the tiny dog. It couldn’t weigh more than a couple of kilograms. They’d have to weigh it on the exotics scale. She rubbed her forehead as she planned the operation. Would even the smallest tube fit the trachea? ‘What about fasting?’ she asked. ‘These tiny dogs are prone to hypoglycaemia, aren’t they?’

  ‘She hasn’t eaten or drunk for four hours,’ Peter told her. ‘That’s the longest I dare leave her without anything. Come on, let’s get started.’

  It was difficult getting the catheter into the vein. It was harder still, titrating the anaesthetic to effect. Peter scrubbed as Mandy made the final preparations, wrapping as much of the dog’s tiny body as she could in bubble wrap to avoid heat loss. While she relished the challenge of complicated cases, no adult dog should be this small. Peter, expert surgeon that he was, struggled with the scale of trying to remove the ovaries from an incision he could barely get his fingers through.