Must Be Love Read Online Free PDF

another look out of the window. When I turn back, Emma’s laughing at me. ‘What? What is it?’
    ‘You haven’t quite let go of your city ways, have you? Look at you pacing up and down. Chill out, Maz.’
    She’s right, I think. It’s been eight months since I moved down from London to East Devon, and you might have thought I’d be used to the country lifestyle and the way everyone seems to keep to Devon time, which is at least half an hour behind GMT. However, I’m not complaining – I picture my tall, dark-haired, lightly tanned and utterly gorgeous man – it has its compensations.
    ‘Shannon’s here.’ Frances pops her head round the door. ‘Shall I show her in?’
    ‘Yes. Thanks, Frances,’ Emma says, and a young woman, dressed in black from top to toe, comes stomping into the staffroom. She hesitates, peering through a heavy black fringe, her eyes large with lashings of eyeliner and a hint of fear.
    ‘Come on in, Shannon,’ Emma says, raising her eyebrows almost imperceptibly in my direction. ‘We don’t bite, do we, Maz?’
    I’m not sure I can say the same for Shannon. She looks as if she’s just stepped out of a coffin.
    Emma introduces us and tips the three-legged cat off the sofa so Shannon can sit down. Tripod stalks away, mortally offended. Ginge stares over the edge, looking infinitely superior. However, as soon as Shannon sits down, Tripod returns and jumps up onto her lap. Emma tries to shoo him off.
    ‘He’s all right,’ Shannon whispers, as he butts his head against her chin. ‘I don’t mind.’
    I do, though, I think, smiling to myself. Soon after I arrived in Talyton to work as Emma’s locum while she and Ben took a well-earned holiday, I saved Tripod’s life when he was hit by a car, and sometimes I wish he’d show a morsel of gratitude and pay some attention to me, instead of curling up with anyone who walks in off the street.
    ‘I didn’t want a practice cat’ – Emma pulls two stools up from beneath the worktop – ‘but Maz sneaked him in while I was away.’
    ‘He’s lovely,’ Shannon says, and I wish she’d make an effort to speak up a bit. Her complexion is pale – at first I thought she was unwell, but it’s make-up – and her lips are dark purple. I catch a glimpse of an ebony stud where her hair parts across her ear lobe, and wonder what Izzy will make of her. I’m not sure what to make of her myself. I suppose she’s a goth, or an emo, I’m not sure which, and now I’m feeling old and out of touch, and I’m only thirty-one.
    ‘So, what makes you think you’d like to be a vet nurse?’ Emma asks, sitting down.
    ‘I wanna work with animals,’ is Shannon’s mumbled reply, but there’s nothing wrong with that, is there? It’s exactly how I felt at her age.
    ‘It isn’t all about the animals. You’ll have to be able to get along with us and the rest of the team at Otter House.’ Emma’s eyes seem drawn to Shannon’s outfit, a black tunic over a black skirt. ‘We’re a happy bunch here. Cheerful …’ Her voice trails off as if she, like me, can feel the pall cast by Shannon’s presence. She’s brought the cold in with her.
    ‘How do you think you’ll cope with clients who are angry or upset?’ Emma goes on.
    A flicker of uncertainty crosses Shannon’s face. She wrings her hands and clicks the joints of her long, lean fingers.
    ‘I dunno. Mum says the customer is always right.’ Shannon smiles for the first time, revealing a perfect set of teeth, not the vampiric fangs I was imagining. ‘Except when they’re wrong.’
    ‘I see,’ Emma says slowly when there’s clearly no more forthcoming. ‘How much experience have you had with animals?’ Shannon doesn’t respond with so much as a blink. ‘I’ve met Daisy, your mum’s dog, a few times.’
    ‘I’ve got a house rabbit called Angel,’ Shannon says eventually.
    It’s the first time I’ve interviewed anyone for a job, and it’s more difficult than I thought. I’m not