The Vet from Snowy River by Stella Quinn

CHAPTER

11

He wasn’t sure what madness had led him to try and plant his lips on Vera’s. He could kid himself and blame it on the euphoria of having Poppy safe under the Cody roof, but that hadn’t been the reason.

Vera was the reason.

There was a stillness to her that had drawn him in from the moment he’d laid eyes on her standing stiff and uncomfortable behind her cake cabinet; and there she’d been, in his shadowed hallway, light from the dusty bulb turning her auburn hair into flame, and those watchful eyes of hers doing something to his willpower that was, frankly, baffling.

He’d been leaning forward to check if she tasted as good as she looked before he’d had time to consider what the hell he was doing.

Kissing women he barely knew was not part of his homecoming plan.

Family was. Heritage was. Which was why he was at the locked door of the old cottage on the foreshore waiting for Marigold and Kev to get the heck here already.

He looked at his watch. He had a cranky pig with mastitis who was due for another shot of antibiotics before lunch, and an even crankier sister who had filled his afternoon list with more appointments than he could count.

Still. Taking a moment by the lake on a spring morning, with a wide stone step to sit on and a sun-warmed timber door at his back … he smiled. He’d had worse mornings.

His mind drifted back to the kiss he’d nearly bestowed on Vera, and how she’d tilted her head, turning the moment from sweet to awkward in a heartbeat. So, kissing him wasn’t part of her life plan, either, but for a second there? When her eyes were on his and her lips were so close?

He rubbed his hand over his face. Oh yes. For a second there his blood had roared in his ears and his lungs had seized and the look in Vera’s eyes had switched from watchful to startled to something way, way sweeter.

She was a puzzle.

If he was a prudent guy, he’d accept the rebuff, sling his stethoscope round his neck and get on with the things he ought to be thinking about … like his vet practice. Like building himself a life in Hanrahan that Poppy could feel proud to be a part of.

But prudence didn’t warm a guy’s heart, not like the new café owner seemed to. Besides … there was no rush to decide, was there? He was in Hanrahan, she was in Hanrahan, and neither of them were going anywhere.

‘Somebody’s looking pleased with themselves this morning.’

He squinted into the sun, and there was Marigold, standing over him in a floaty whatsit that made her look like a giant cuttlefish. ‘Hi, Marigold. Thanks for meeting me.’

‘Don’t thank me yet, my love.’

Ominous words from anyone … but particularly ominous when they came from the town’s busiest woman. He was here to access the historical society’s archives, currently tucked up in storage boxes in the community hall while the electrics were replaced, for old photos of the Cody building. If Marigold thought he’d be slipping into some lycra and joining her yoga class as thanks, she was mistaken.

‘You bring your hard hat?’

‘Excuse me?’

Marigold bustled past him up the stairs and pulled a massive bunch of keys from within the folds of fabric floating by her sides. She jiggled a stout, three-inch-long iron key into the rusty lock, gave the door a heave with her shoulder, and braced herself across the doorway.

‘This is a construction zone, Josh. No-one’s allowed inside without permission from the project manager—that’s me—and appropriate safety gear.’

‘I just want to look in the historical archives, Marigold. You asked me to meet you here.’

She gave his cheek a pat. ‘Safety first,’ she said, in a pious tone which was at odds with the wink she dropped him. ‘Luckily, I have spares. Here you go.’

She reached in the door, handed him a hard hat, then spent a minute cramming another down over her beehive of strenuously lacquered hair.

‘Why do I get the feeling you’re conning me?’ he said.

She led him inside. ‘Because you’re not stupid. Of course I’m conning you. Kev and I have been wondering how we were going to get this ceiling replaced after the electrician’s done with his rewiring, and then you called.’

‘Bloody hell.’

She grinned. ‘Bloody serendipity, more like. Come on, at least have a look and give me some advice. It’s not every day a brawny young man with carpentry skills asks to be allowed into the community hall’s inner sanctum. Most of our regulars are on the shady side of sixty and I could hardly send them up a ladder with sheets of gyprock, could I now?’

‘You know there’s a mother pig with a ferocious infection waiting for me, Marigold. I may be brawny, but I’m also busy.’

‘That’s what makes you perfect, my love; busy people get things done. Now, what do you think?’

‘Let’s see the archives first. If we’re striking a deal here, at least let me see what I’m getting out of it.’

She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘A man who likes to negotiate. Excellent. Well then, let’s see. What are you looking for, exactly?’

‘Photographs or mentions of the buildings on the Dandaloo Street side of the square. The front of our building was remodelled in the seventies as a storefront and I’m looking to restore it to its original condition. I’m also interested in any content about the old quarry.’

‘Up at Stony Creek?’

‘Yes. I imagine local stone was used, and I’d like to know for sure where it came from.’

‘This is excellent, Josh. We’ve a stack of photographs, and old diaries with sketches, land title records, details of the routes used by horse-and-cart traders before the roads went in. Mind you, we have a lot of information so narrowing it down to the bits you need might take a little digging.’

Yikes. ‘Digging through paperwork, that sounds like fun.’

‘Let’s add that into our deal.’

It was his turn to narrow his eyes at her. ‘Are you offering?’

‘You repair these patches in the ceiling so we can get the community hall opened up again for the good people of Hanrahan—well, and the bad people too, as we are open to all—and I’ll get Kev to go through these old boxes and pull out anything he thinks you might need to see.’

He frowned at her. ‘It’s a deal. On one condition.’

‘Coffee deliveries? You need an assistant? No deadline?’

He considered. ‘All of the above would be welcome, but no. I’m looking at your ceiling. That plasterboard is a bodgy add-on. What say we rip it out and see what condition the original ceiling timbers are in? There may even be pressed metal up there. This cottage is Hanrahan’s history … why don’t we restore it the right way rather than take the cheaper option?’

‘Joshua Cody, present me with your cheek. You, my love, are getting a kiss.’

‘It’s not necessa—’

Too late. Marigold was bestowing him with a kiss and a hug and he spent a moment clawing his way out of the acres of chiffon billowing around him.

‘I’ll have to do the work at nights and weekends,’ he said.

‘I know, that’s fine.’

‘And Poppy’s here at the moment, so I’ll make a few plans and such, but I won’t start the work properly until she’s headed back to school.’

‘Understood.’

‘What’s our budget? You want me to rustle up an estimate of costs before I rip anything out?’

‘If you would, my lamb. I know I like to swan about as though I make every decision, but the committee approves expenditure.’

He eyed her a moment. ‘You’re being awfully agreeable in this negotiation, Marigold Jones. Am I missing something? Have you another dastardly plan up your sleeve?’

She chuckled. ‘You know me so well, Josh. But in this case, no, I’m not about to spring another surprise in your direction. I’m just so happy we’re both getting what we want. Isn’t that a great feeling?’

He took a breath. ‘When I’ve got all I want, I’ll let you know.’