HarperImpulse an imprint of
HarperCollâinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk
First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2017
Copyright © Zara Stoneley 2017
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017
Cover images © Shutterstock.com
Cover design by Micaela Alcaino
Zara Stoneley asserts the moral right
to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library
This novel is entirely a work of fiction.
The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are
the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to
actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is
entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International
and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
By payment of the required fees, you have been granted
the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access
and read the text of this e-book on screen.
No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted,
downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or
stored in or introduced into any information storage and
retrieval system, in any form or by any means,
whether electronic or mechanical, now known or
hereinafter invented, without the express
written permission of HarperCollins.
ISBN: 9780008237967
Ebook Edition © June 2017
Version 2017-07-19
âIt takes a big heart to help shape little mindsâ Author unknown
To Anne, a teacher with a big heart.
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for picking up this copy of Summer with the Country Village Vet, I hope you enjoy your visit to Langtry Meadows with Lucy and Charlie!
This book has been waiting to be written for a long time. Iâve always loved animals (I dreamed of being a vet and following in the footsteps of James Herriot), and you may have noticed that all my books feature at least one four-legged friend. But when I started writing, one quote kept springing to mind -
âNever work with children or animalsâ W. C Fields
I can quite understand the sentiments behind these words! Both can be unpredictable, scene-stealing, mischievous, temperamental â and never quite do what we expect (or sometimes want), but donât we love them for it? They enrich our lives and touch our hearts. Young children and animals donât judge; they give unconditional love, they forgive, teach respect, acceptance, and loyalty. They look to us to do the right thing, to take care of them â and can sometimes give us optimism, and a reason to keep going.
In short, they give us hope â and a few tears of laughter and sadness along the way as well. Which I hope this story also does.
Happy reading!
Zara x
Three little words with the power to take her straight back to her childhood.
Termination of employment.
Lucy Jacobs stared at the words which were shouting out so much more. Failure. Not good enough. You donât belong here. And she was suddenly that small, abandoned child in the playground again. Unwanted. Unloved. Alone.
Swallowing down the sharp tang of bile, she blinked to clear her vision. Smoothed out the piece of paper with trembling fingers that didnât seem to belong to her. Nothing seemed to belong to her, everything was disjointed, unreal. Even the weak, distant voice that she vaguely recognised as her own.
âNo.â Taking a deep breath, she shook her head to dismiss the image. She wasnât a scared child. She was a grown woman now. âThis is a mistake.â Slowly the world came back into focus, even though her stomach still felt empty. Hollow. âThis has got to be a mistake. Youâre kidding me?â Her words echoed into the uncomfortable stillness of the room.
The man opposite gave the slightest shake of his head, as though it was a silly question.
Sheâd never liked this room, or more to the point sheâd never liked him.
Nobody got sacked on a school inset day. Did they?
She blinked hard, trying to ignore the way her eyes smarted and transferred her gaze to the carefully regimented line of pens, before forcing herself to look back up at him. David Lawson. The headmaster of Starbaston Primary School.
Not looking at him would be admitting defeat.
He looked back at her through cold reptilian eyes and still didnât say a word.
âBut Iâve just finished my new classroom display!â It was a stupid thing to say, but the only logical thought that was penetrating her fuzzy brain. âReady for tomorrow.â Tomorrow, the first day of term.
He finally shifted in his seat, his lips thinned and he stared at her disapprovingly. Then sighed. âYou always do plan well ahead, donât you?â