feeling more alone than she had since she first came to the city, a heavy longing for that place and all it stood for came creeping out, saturating her in painful memories.
Containing a sob, Ellie turned her attention to the motionless fox cub. Its heart still beat softly as it clung on to life. She couldn’t let it die. She had to find a vet...but where was she? She glanced around, spotting a road sign. Tarnside. Her fingers shook as she scrolled through her cell phone, searching for vets in the area and tapping out the number of the first one she saw.
The receptionist’s voice was clear and calm. “Hello, Tarnside Veterinary Center. How can I help you?”
Ellie mumbled her message. “I need a vet at once. I’ve found an injured fox in the side of the lane, near the sign for Tarnside, and it needs help urgently.”
“Well you’re not too far from Cravendale, the wild animal sanctuary. They should be able to help you. Perhaps you could get it into your car and...”
“I don’t have a car...that’s the whole point.”
The receptionist hesitated. “Well, I suppose I could call them for you.”
“I’ll give you my number in case they can’t find me,” Ellie suggested, relief washing over her. “And please, tell them to hurry.”
* * *
CROUCHING IN THE DIRT on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere, stroking the rough fur of a wild creature while waiting for help she could only hope would come, all felt vaguely surreal. The atmosphere reminded Ellie of everything she used to love as a child—clear, fresh air, animals and country aromas. These were the things she had tried to put out of her mind when she’d left home at nineteen for a new life in the city.
She had always been passionate about drawing and painting, so when she was offered a place at an art college in Manchester, it had seemed like the perfect opportunity to do something she loved and escape the heartache that had overtaken her life. In Manchester, she had carved out a completely different scene with new friends and new goals. And it had suited her for a while, given her a chance to distance herself from the pain that had turned her life upside down in a matter of months. In fact, if she was honest with herself, Matt had been a kind of escape, too. Suddenly, though, she was beginning to feel as if her plan was backfiring.
She stood, pacing impatiently, the memories she had unwittingly unleashed swirling around inside her head and bringing guilt and regret. Maybe she should have stayed at home for her dad—not that he wanted her there. He had totally shut her out after her mum’s funeral, as if just looking at her was too painful for him.
The rumble of an engine brought Ellie’s thoughts swiftly back to the present, and she raised a hand to shade her eyes from the afternoon sun, peering down the lane. A green 4X4 appeared—a utility vehicle, muddy and battered, totally functional. It stopped right beside her and a tall young man jumped out of the driver’s seat. He had floppy blond hair, a wide-open smile and eyes she could die in. A sharp pang tore through Ellie’s heart. No, it couldn’t be... She turned away before he could recognize her, dropping back onto her knees beside the cub, trying to control her shaking hands.
“Andy Montgomery, at your service,” he announced, immediately focusing on the injured fox. “Now let’s see what we have here.”
His voice still sounded so familiar after all this time; deeper, perhaps, but with that same bright, melodic lilt. Relieved to have a second to pull herself together, Ellie concentrated on breathing steadily as she watched him run his skilled fingers over the little animal’s unresisting body.
“Right,” he said eventually, jumping up. “There’s a nasty wound across its chest, but as far as I can tell, no broken bones. We’d better get it to the rescue centre as quick as we can.”
Ellie hesitated, building herself up to the inevitable. It must have been almost six years since she’d last seen Andy... Six years since he’d broken her heart. The heavy anger she’d clung to back then kicked in, and she stood up slowly, running her hand through her cap of blond curls. Her hair had hung in a long blond mane down her back when she was dating Andy, she remembered, but that had been a part of the old Ellie Nelson.
“Of all the vets in the world, Andy Montgomery?” She steeled her gaze as she met the eyes of the person she had once loved so much. “What a coincidence. I’m glad you finally qualified—I wondered if you would.”
She had the momentary satisfaction of seeing his tall frame freeze. His face paled with shock.
“Ellie?” he breathed, as if unable to believe his eyes.
“That’s me,” she responded, trying to ignore the wild hammering under her rib cage. It must be just the shock of running into him so unexpectedly.
“You wouldn’t have been my first choice,” she told him, her voice forcedly calm and casual. “But you’re here now, so I guess I’m just going to have to put up with you. Come on, let’s see to this poor little fox.”
Andy shifted quickly back into professional mode, carefully lifting the limp form off the road.
“If you could open the back door for me, please...”
Ellie rushed to do his bidding, watching as he placed the cub in a mesh cage.
“It may look vulnerable,” he told her. “But we can’t forget that it’s a wild creature. If it wakes up, it could panic.”
They traveled in silence, Ellie desperately trying to nurture the anger that had kept her going when her whole world had turned upside down. Andy just stared at the road ahead.
It had been years since that awful day when he’d told her he’d met someone else, Ellie reminded herself. So why did it suddenly feel like yesterday?
“So...how have you been?” Andy’s voice cut through the stifling atmosphere.
“Fine.”
“I was so sorry to hear about your mother...”
She wanted to shout at him, to tell him that if he’d been there to support her through the black days after her mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer, perhaps it would have been easier to bear. Instead, she just stared at her hands, trying to control the rush of emotion that still tore her apart every time she thought about her mother.
The silence fell again, awkward and unbreachable.
“Ah, this is it,” Andy said with obvious relief as the sign for Cravendale Animal Sanctuary appeared. “I’m only a volunteer here, so it’s lucky I was around when we got the call. We don’t have a resident vet. Now let’s get the poor thing in as quick as we can.”
Ellie hung back as he gently lifted the fox cub’s cage and headed for the side door of a low stone building. What to do now? She’d just have to call a taxi.
“Come on, then,” Andy said, looking back at her. “Do you want to see this through or not?”
“Oh...yes, please,” she mumbled, hurrying to catch up.
* * *
THE MAKESHIFT CLINIC was utilitarian, but it had an ad hoc feel, with well-used equipment and mismatched decor.
Noting Ellie’s scrutiny of the place, Andy shrugged. “Most of the fixtures and fittings are from the clinic where I work. You’ll know it, of course—Low Fell in Little Dale.”
“What?” Ellie looked at him in surprise. “You mean you’re back home again? But your family moved away.”
“They may have moved on, but Little Dale will always be home to me...although I seem to spend almost as much time here these days. Anyway, when they renovated a few months ago, they let me pick what I wanted. Some of the equipment’s a bit dated, but the donation was a lifeline for the center. Now, let’s get this little guy onto the table and see what we can do for him.”
Ellie was mesmerized by the way Andy dealt with the injured cub. After giving it a