A Place Called Home
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Eleanor Jones
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16,1K
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25
Chapter One
ELLIE CLUNG TO her seat, fingers wrapped fiercely around soft cream leather as the hedgerow spun by her window in a blur of mottled greens. For a moment the fuzzy images brought her paintings sharply to mind...until the fast-moving vehicle hit a sharp bend in the road. Then all she could think of was survival.
She tightened her grip, fear rising as she watched Matt fighting for control. His jaw was set, his profile firmly etched, displaying his annoyance at having had to leave work midafternoon to come and pick her up. But if they were going to get back home in one piece, then she had to say something, no matter how angry he was.
“Come on, Matt... I’m sorry that my car broke down, but if you keep driving like a madman, you’ll put us both into the hedge. If I’d known you were going to be like this, I’d have gotten a ride into the village with the tow truck, then caught a bus or something.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I could hardly leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere. You just don’t understand...” Matt increased his speed as the road leveled out. “I’m putting together an important deal and I need to get back to the office.”
“When aren’t you putting together a deal?” groaned Ellie. “But if you keep up this speed, you’re not going to be there to finalize it anyway—you’re going to be in the hospital.
“I can handle this car with my eyes shut,” Matt insisted, his voice softening as he mentioned his beloved BMW. “And what were you doing in this miserable place?”
“I told you yesterday I was going on a painting excursion today. There’s a chance I might be able to show some of my pieces at an exhibition in a couple months, and I need more material.”
Matt swung the wheel hard right, a sparkle of elation in his eyes as the powerful car responded.
“About that...” he began, concentrating all his attention on the road.
“What about it?”
The vehicle straightened out and he glanced across at her, a hint of amusement in the curve of his lips. “Your new paintings...”
Ellie frowned. Matt rarely took any notice of her work.
“No offense, Ellie, but are you really sure you’re going the right way with it? All those faded blurry bits make the pictures look kind of strange. Why can’t you just paint nice scenes with proper animals, if that’s what you want to concentrate on?”
Respecting the fact that Matt had gone out of his way to pick her up, Ellie had been trying to stay reasonably calm. His derogatory comment about her work, however, made her blood boil. Plus, he knew nothing about art.
“I don’t tell you how to do your deals,” she retaliated. “So why don’t you just keep your opinions on my painting to yourself. For your information, I’m taking a contemporary slant on animals and the countryside, and if you had any interest at all you would have noticed that I’ve been changing my style for a while.”
Matt turned his attention back to the road, negotiating another tight curve in the narrow lane. The car swerved sideways, tires screaming and Ellie tightened her grip on the seat, wishing she was anywhere but here.
“Slow down, Matt!” she yelled.
“And maybe you should keep your opinions on my driving to yourself,” Matt responded. “I’m perfectly in control.”
“Until we hit a tree or a tractor or something. Are you trying to kill us both?”
As they cleared the corner, Ellie took a breath, leaning back. She and Matt may have been engaged for only a few months, but these days it felt more like a lifetime. They seemed to be pulling in different directions, arguing about anything and everything. Determinedly shrugging off her irritation, she tried again.
“Look, Matt...I know it’s a pain for you having to come out here, and I do appreciate it...”
He cut her off midsentence. “No, Ellie, you have no clue how much of a pain it is for me to drop everything in the middle of a big deal. But I’m not so selfish that I’d leave you stranded. In fact...” He glanced across at her, his gray eyes cold as ice. “Sometimes I think you don’t actually have much of a clue about anything to do with me.”
“What!” Ellie froze. “I don’t have much of a clue about you? You’ve got that the wrong way around. If you understood anything at all about me, you’d know that my stupid paintings are actually beginning to do quite well. In fact, Mel says...”
“And that’s another thing,” he blurted, pushing his foot down on the gas again. “I’m sick of you going on about this Mel bloke. I’m your fiancé, remember.”
“How could I forget that? Clearly, though, you’ve forgotten that Mel is the owner of the gallery that might be exhibiting some of my paintings, and she just happens to be a woman.”
For a fleeting instant, she detected a flicker of amusement in his face as her information sank in. He glanced across at her, his expression softening, but before she could respond, a bright flash of russet against the vivid green of the grass shoulder up ahead caught her attention.
“Watch out!”
His automatic reaction was to stand hard on the brakes. As if in slow motion, the car skidded out of control, sliding helplessly toward the terrified creature that was running in terror alongside the gray stone wall, desperate to escape the oncoming vehicle. To Ellie, it was as if time was temporarily suspended. The inevitable thud made her stomach turn, and suddenly she found her voice, screaming at him to stop, her door already half open. As the car came to a standstill, she leaped out, running back to where the animal now lay motionless in the dirt.
“Matt,” she cried. “It’s a fox cub, and it’s hurt.”
Dropping onto her knees, Ellie peered at the little creature. It looked so young, so vulnerable. She reached out to find a pulse, her heart lightening as she felt a fluttering against her fingers.
The black BMW reversed until it was next to her, and Matt’sface appeared in the window.
“Push it into the hedge and get in the car,” he ordered. “It’s just a fox. Vermin. It’s obviously going to die, anyway.”
For Ellie, it suddenly seemed so important to try and save the innocent creature.
“Just go, Matt,” she told him. “Finish your deal. We knocked the poor little thing down, and the least I can do is to try to save its life.”
Matt rolled his eyes. “Get in the car, Ellie, and don’t be so soft. People hunt foxes, you know—we’ve probably done the local farmers a favor.”
“No.” She looked at him fiercely. “I mean it. Just go. I’ll get a taxi or something.”
For a moment, he stared back at her, then he shrugged, raising his eyebrows in mock despair. “All right, if that’s what you want.”
As she watched the big black car roar off up the lane, Ellie felt as if Matt was driving right out of her life...and she really didn’t care. When she’d first met him, while she was working in a bar to fund her painting career, he had seemed so different; mature and fun and very far away from the place she was trying to forget...and the heartbreak it represented. But as she sat at the side of the deserted lane, 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 couple of shots, he set about cleaning and suturing the gaping wound.
“You know, some vets would have just put it to sleep,” he remarked, finishing off the dressing with a satisfied smile.
“Well, then, it’s lucky I picked you.” Ellie smiled, but instantly regretted her own words.
He shot her an amused glance. “Thanks for that. Now I’ll just give him a long-lasting antibiotic shot, and we’ll get him into a cage before he decides to come to. Would you pass me that dog carrier behind you?”
He placed the fox gently back into the cage, fastening the latch.
“I think you might get a shock when our little guy recovers consciousness. He may seem cute, but I think we’ll find he can be pretty vicious when he gets all his faculties back. He’ll be scared, too, and that can make animals lash out.”
“Have you always done work with wild creatures?” Ellie asked, intrigued by Andy’s obvious expertise.
He shook his head. “Not really, although at Low Fell we do get the occasional case brought in. It wasn’t until I came across this place that I really started working with them. To be honest, it’s become a bit of a passion of mine. Paula, the woman who runs Cravendale, has such high hopes for it. She works so hard to get funding.”
Ellie nodded. “So it’s a charity?”
“Paula started it up by herself, using her own money, but she managed to get charity status a couple of years ago, which means she can run fund-raisers and all other activities to get enough money to keep it going. People even pay to adopt pets.”
“What, you mean take a wild animal home?”
“No, they just pay a small fee to board and feed an animal, and she sends pictures and letters about how it’s doing. Some people come to visit, too. It can be anything from a hedgehog to a badger or even a snake. When, or if, it recovers and gets released, the money stops, but Paula usually has another animal available for them to take an interest in.”
“She sounds like quite a businesswoman, this Paula of yours,” Ellie said, wondering about the woman’s relationship with Andy.
Andy smiled, carefully picking up the cage. “Not really, she just does what she has to do for the animals. She should be here soon, so you’ll probably get to meet her. We’ll just get this guy settled.”
“Will he stay here for long?” Ellie asked, uncomfortably aware how close she was to her ex as she followed him along a narrow corridor.
“Probably not,” he said. “We’ll let him recuperate for a while, and when he’s better, someone will take him back to where you found him and set him free.”
When they reached a long, narrow indoor enclosure obviously converted from an old farm building, Ellie peered into the cage, surprised to see the little fox already groggily trying to stand, its sharp white fangs bared back from pale pink gums.
“He’s on his feet,” she cried, holding back a sudden rush of tears as relief flooded in. “He really is going to be okay, isn’t he?”
Andy nodded, putting the cage down in the center of a large pen and opening the door. “Hopefully he’ll be good as new in no time.”
They watched the terrified fox cub take its first cautious steps out into the open. It turned to stare at them, yellow eyes gleaming with fright and ferocity.
“It’s hard to tell if he’s angry or scared stiff,” whispered Ellie.
“There’s not much difference between fear and ferocity in the animal kingdom,” Andy said. “Ferocity is often born through fear. We’d better leave him alone to settle down.”
Carried away as she’d been by the fox cub’s plight, it wasn’t until they were back outside in the afternoon sunshine that Ellie took full stock of her situation. She was in the middle of nowhere with the ex-boyfriend she professed to hate, with no means of getting home.
“Well,” she said, her tone curt and distant. “I suppose I need to thank you for your help. Do I owe you anything?”
Andy raised his hands. “Of course not. It’s a wild creature, and it was my duty to help. It’s what we do here.”
Warmth flowed through Ellie’s veins. “My fiancé told me it was vermin and that I should leave it to die.”
Andy sighed. “There are farmers around here who would have said exactly the same thing.”
“Especially chicken farmers,” Ellie said, smiling.
“So did he leave you behind?”
She found herself jumping straight to Matt’s defense. “He had to get back to work.”
“But he is coming back for you, right?”
“I’ll probably just get a taxi, at least to the train station. He’ll be tied up until late.”
“I can drop you off somewhere, if you like,” Andy offered. “Where do you live now, anyway?”
Every fiber of Ellie’s being recoiled from spending time with Andy. They were over a long time ago, totally finished, and being near him brought out too many painful memories.
“The outskirts of Manchester,” she told him. “But you don’t need to drive me. If you could just give me the number for a cab...”
He looked down at her, a familiar twinkle in his soft brown eyes.
“You’re a city girl now? Well, I would never have imagined that. And with a fiancé who works in an office.”
“I went to art school in Manchester.” She bristled. “And now I’m an artist... Well, a wannabe artist, really. I have a part-time job, as well. My first exhibition is coming up soon, though. At least, I hope so.”
“You always did used to be painting or drawing something—usually animals, I remember. I’m glad you’ve made a success of it. What do you paint now?”
“Still mainly animals and the countryside, but lately I’ve been trying out a more contemporary style.”
“That settles it,” Andy said, walking toward the door. “You are still a country girl at heart. Come on, you may as well get a ride with me.” He paused. “You can’t bear grudges forever, Ell...and it was a long time ago.”
Ellie ignored his familiar shortening of her name. “I don’t bear a grudge,” she insisted. “What happened between us was only a teenage fling, anyway wasn’t it?”
Andy nodded. “I guess it was,” he said. For the briefest moment, her eyes met his and glanced away. How could he believe that? He may have met someone else and revealed himself as the liar and cheat he really was, but how could either of them be so dismissive of what they once had? Her anger came back full force. Andy Montgomery owed her big-time.
“Okay,” she agreed. “I will take you up on your offer of a ride. Sure your wife won’t be jealous, though?”
“Young, free and single, that’s me,” he told her, fumbling in his pocket for his keys.
“So she dumped you, then. After all that?” She couldn’t help the barbed retort.
He laughed lightly. “Actually, no, I dumped her. To be honest, that relationship didn’t mean much...”
The breath froze in Ellie’s throat and was replaced almost instantly by a hot rush of anger. She had almost come to terms with the fact that Andy had fallen in love with someone else, but to find out that the whole thing had meant so little to him seemed somehow worse.
Oblivious to her reaction, he shot her a broad smile. “I was married, though...for a while.”
She raised her eyebrows, smothering her turbulent emotions. What did she care? Andy Montgomery was just a piece of her past. “And I take it that didn’t work out, either?”
“I guess I’m not the marrying kind. When is your wedding, anyway? Have you set a date?”
Ellie hesitated, her heart racing. Had they set a date? Had they ever even discussed a wedding? Her mind slid back to the night Matt had proposed. They had been seeing each other for just a few weeks; he was exciting and fun and so sure of himself. “Let’s get engaged,” he had cried in front of all his friends, and Ellie had felt a new door opening in her life. A door, she suddenly realized, that hadn’t actually opened after all. Come to think of it, neither of them had discussed marriage again after that, apart from the ring. She felt for the diamond on the third finger of her left hand, rubbing it gently. Was that what it had all been about then? The engagement? Did Matt really want to take their relationship to the next level? Did she? Slotting her confusing thoughts into the back of her mind, she looked up at Andy. What right had he to make her question her intentions?
“No,” she said. “Not yet.”
He stopped beside his battered green truck, holding her gaze for an endless moment.
“Make sure he’s the right one, Ell,” he said quietly.
Anger brought a flush to Ellie’s face. “And what gives you the right to offer me advice?”
He shrugged. “Just saying.”
“Don’t bother. You already messed my life up enough without trying to interfere in it now.”
He flashed her another one of his ever-ready smiles. “So you’re still angry with me? It’s been what—five, six years? Well, I suppose any emotion is better than none.”
“Don’t kid yourself, Andy.” She yanked open the passenger door, not wanting him to see how much he’d rattled her. “I was well over you years ago. You just make me remember home, that’s all.”
Before Ellie had a chance to climb into the truck, a small blue car drove up next to them.
“Paula’s back,” Andy said. “Come on, you’ll have to say hello at least.”
Slamming the door shut again, Ellie followed reluctantly.
Paula Carr was one of the most dazzling women Ellie had ever met. She wasn’t classically beautiful, but she radiated an inner warmth.
Paula hurried toward them, and when Andy reached down to give her a peck on the cheek, she smiled, squeezing his forearm. Her fair, shoulder-length hair shone in the sun, and her eyes were glowing. She’s in love with him, Ellie realized suddenly. She pushed away the knot in her stomach. What did she care? Andy Montgomery meant nothing to her anymore, and she felt sorry for any woman who came his way. It was obvious that he never stayed with anyone for too long, not even the woman he married.
“Paula, meet Ellie,” said Andy, placing a firm hand on her shoulder. Ellie sidestepped, uncomfortable with his touch.
“She found the fox I called to tell you about, on the side of the road.”
“I’ve got to confess,” Ellie said, “I didn’t exactly find it. My fiancé’s car clipped it. I feel terrible.”
Paula smiled, all-forgiving. “These things happen. At least you bothered to call for a vet—it sounds like you saved its life. Come on, then, show me the poor little thing.”
On the way back to the enclosure, Paula and Andy fell into a conversation about some creature or another, totally on the same wavelength. Totally suited for each other, Ellie thought. Unlike her and Matt? The idea niggled uncomfortably.
The cub was curled up in a dark corner, as settled as it could be in its new environment.
“We’ll have to keep an eye on it now,” said Paula, confirming what Andy had said earlier. “And perhaps before too long it can be released. Thanks again, Ellie, for saving it.”
Ellie squirmed. “Well, it was kind of my fault...our fault...so it was the least I could do.”
Paula shook her head. “Accidents happen to everyone. There’s no use in laying blame. It’s how you deal with the aftermath that really matters.”
“Right, then,” Andy interrupted. “I’m off to give Ellie a ride somewhere. I’ll be back in the morning, Paula, and in the meantime, call if you need me.”
“You’re a godsend, Andy.” Paula smiled. “I’ll go and get some food for the new arrival.” She stood in the doorway as they walked away.
“Aren’t you going to say goodbye to her?” Ellie asked, nudging Andy’s arm.
He frowned, raising one hand in farewell without looking back. “I’m in and out of here all the time, and Paula doesn’t need all the niceties. I’ll check on your fox in the morning, so if you give me your number I can let you know how it’s doing.”
Ellie paused. This would open contact between her and Andy again...contact she’d relinquished long ago.
Andy pulled his cell phone from the pocket of his jeans.
“No...” she heard herself saying. “It’s okay. I don’t need to bother you. The number for Cravendale is there on the sign. I can phone and ask Paula how it’s doing.”
Was that disappointment she could see in his face?
“Suit yourself,” he said, his voice distant. The voice of a stranger, thought Ellie, when he had once been her whole world. How could that happen?
