A Roll in the Hay, стр. 15
“You sure?”
“Of course,” Margo replied. “What it really was, and I know we’ve sort of talked about it before, but I didn’t want to make it a big deal… We’ve had a couple of times that, well, they didn’t stick. I had to get to twelve weeks this time before I told anyone. I wouldn’t have even told Adam, honestly, if he hadn’t seen the pregnancy test in the bin.”
“Oh, Margo.” Tess got up to hug her best friend. “Say no more. We’re fine. The practice is fine, and it’s only going to get even better going forward. Okay?”
“You’re the best, mate.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Susannah could have kicked herself for not remembering whose beautiful golden Lab that was, although naming him after a breakfast food was absolutely inane. There wasn’t much chance she would forget now, though, not with daggers being stared into her back the entire time she talked with Joan.
The pocket-sized vet showed up, and they were soon having some hushed and emotional conversation with lots of gesturing and then hugging. Just more justification for not hiring the Sisterhood of the Travelling Stethoscope.
“I need a spot of catering,” Susannah said, smiling that Joan had started on her double espresso the minute she walked through the door. “Now, it’s next week, so there’s no rush, but you always do a lovely spread, and it’s a little beyond what Babs can manage with the pub kitchen.”
“I’ve always said you should rip that tiny tin can of a kitchen out and start over,” Joan said. “I wanted to the whole time I worked there. Make it into a nice little gastro pub. It would do good business for the town too. Bring in more people stopping on long drives.”
“Yes, thank you, Joan. Always a pleasure to get a business lesson from you. But if I email you with numbers and dietary requirements today, can you fit me in for lunch next Tuesday? Morning drop-off is fine; we have the fridge space. Just sort it out with Finn as needed.”
“And I suppose you got permission from Her Majesty?”
“Babs gave her blessing, yes. Not that I need it from either of you. This is just business, and we need to pull together in a small place like this.”
Joan nodded. “You’re really not going to make any changes to that place, even now? It’s stuck in a time warp.”
Susannah held her hands up, accepting the charge with a silent guilty plea. “You know how I feel about The Spiky Thistle. It’s the one part of the estate that doesn’t require constant upkeep, that doesn’t have a to-do list a mile long. Besides, there’s something to be said for preserving a little bit of our history. Jimmy always loved it just as it is.”
“People would talk if they knew you were such a romantic. Preserving a whole pub in amber for the sake of your husband’s memory. It’s not guilt over changing everything else, is it? People have been gossiping about some of the plans that have been doing the rounds, and I thought you might have mentioned that in passing. Those of us who’ve run your businesses like to be in the loop. God knows Babs will expect it.”
Susannah waited until the coffee changed hands. She didn’t want to end up wearing it. “Not often I hear you refer to the good old days. Or acknowledging you ever were an ‘us’ with dear old Babs. When are you two going to finally see sense and talk to each other again?”
Joan held one hand out to the side and bent it towards the floor as though checking the temperature. “Well, it seems hell hasn’t frozen over yet, so it won’t be today.”
“Here.” Susannah handed over a five-pound note for the coffee. “Keep the change.”
Joan narrowed her eyes but accepted the cash. “You send me that list before dinner, you hear? Or I might get too busy.”
“I will. Thank you.” It was ridiculous that Susannah had to negotiate small tasks like this, but there was bad blood between Joan and Finn that there was little point in raking over. Sometimes being the boss meant Susannah rolling up her sleeves and taking the path of least resistance; she’d learned that much in business so far.
When she was done talking with Joan, there wasn’t much reason to hang around, but Susannah decided the free table in the corner was as good a place as any to set up her laptop and sip at her coffee. She was definitely not watching when Joan bustled out of the kitchen with a plate of macaroni that actually looked pretty appetising.
Susannah lost interest when the dish landed in front of Tess, aside from watching Waffles stare at it like the least Tess could have done was pick something with meat in it.
The other vet must have gone back to work.
Susannah took a long sip of her coffee, the heat on her tongue a warning shot for the jolt of caffeine her system was crying out for. Maybe it was time to start looking into rescue dogs to rehome on the estate. The stables were one big part of it, but the whole point was to provide a sanctuary for as many animals as possible. God knew Susannah had the land for it. She could start with greyhounds, though they were skinny, nervous things. She’d been around animals enough to know they trusted her, so a bit of jumpiness could probably be overcome.
Any hope of peace and quiet was shattered when Finn appeared, looking really quite agitated. The sight of a rolled-up newspaper in their hands was enough to make Susannah’s stomach sink.
She glanced around, saw how many people in the café had noticed the commotion of Finn’s arrival, and made a decision. “Not here.”
It came out as more of a hiss. Striding out of the café, laptop under her arm, Susannah didn’t have