The Doctor's Christmas Gift

by Jennifer Taylor

  She stopped because she had no idea what number four should be. She had never gone past the point of forging a successful career before so couldn’t imagine what else she wanted from life. Of course, most women wanted to find someone to love and have a family with, but that was out of the question for her. Love and marriage simply didn’t go hand in hand with a successful career and she had no intention of compromising.

  Catherine screwed the paper into a ball and tossed it into the waste bin. There was an ache in her heart all of a sudden but she refused to think about the reason for it. She had made her plans and nothing and nobody was going to sway her from the course she’d chosen. She was going to make a success of her life, she really was. She didn’t need love or a family to be happy.

  Did she?

  CHAPTER SIX

  ‘SO I told them that I wouldn’t take their wretched job if they paid me double the salary!’

  Catherine smiled politely as the man beside her came to the end of a long and exceedingly boring tale. The lunch party was in full flow and everyone, apart from her, seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. Her friends, Patricia and Max, had spent a fortune having their new flat decorated to their exacting standards. Catherine had made all the right noises when she’d been shown around but she had found herself comparing the tasteful decor to the cosy, lived-in atmosphere Matt had created in his home. She knew in her heart which she preferred.

  Impatient with herself for letting thoughts of Matt intrude yet again, she tried to concentrate as the man beside her began yet another long-winded tale of his triumphs. However, her heart really wasn’t in the conversation so that when someone mentioned Peter Hoskins’s name she was immediately distracted. She couldn’t help wondering if it was the same Peter Hoskins she’d heard of only that week—the husband of her mystery patient, Lauren.

  Catherine frowned as she caught the tail end of the conversation, something about Peter Hoskins having lost his job. She would have dearly loved to verify if it was indeed the same person but it was impossible with the man beside her monopolising her attention. It was a relief when Patricia announced that coffee would be served in the drawing room because it meant that she could make her escape.

  ‘It’s been absolutely lovely, Patricia, but I’ll have to skip coffee, I’m afraid,’ she explained as everyone got up. ‘There’s a few things I need to sort out.’

  ‘Oh, who’d be a doctor?’ Patricia trilled. ‘Never a moment to oneself!’

  Catherine smiled because it was easier to let the woman think what she chose. Although she had known Patricia and Max for a number of years, they weren’t really close friends. She had a sneaking suspicion that they used her to make up the numbers, which could explain why she had been seated next to Mr Boring today.

  She said her goodbyes, politely cutting short her table companion’s attempts to get her phone number. She certainly didn’t want to have to sit through another hour of his monologues! It was a relief to be outside at last even though the weather had taken a decided turn for the worse. There was a bitterly cold wind blowing along the street as she started walking home and the threat of rain in the sky. However, Catherine didn’t hurry as she headed back to her flat. There was nobody waiting for her to get back and nothing to hurry for. The thought was oddly depressing.

  ‘Catherine! Over here!’

  She stopped when she heard someone calling her name and felt her heart lift when she saw Matt leaning out of his car window. She waited for a gap in the traffic then ran across the road to speak to him.

  ‘Hello! What are you doing here?’ she demanded, crouching down so that she could see through the window.

  ‘We’re going to the Christmas fair!’ Hannah announced from the back seat before Matt could answer. ‘Tell her, Daddy!’

  ‘Yes, ma’am!’ Matt replied, saluting smartly as he got out of the car. He took hold of Catherine’s arm and quickly steered her onto the pavement out of the way of the traffic. ‘I mentioned it to you the other day, if you remember.’

  ‘I do,’ Catherine agreed, thinking how good he looked that day. The well-worn jeans clung to his long legs, emphasising his muscular thighs, whilst the heavy, navy sweater he wore with them made his shoulders look broader than ever. Her heart seemed to skip a beat when she realised just how attractive he looked. She fixed a determined smile to her mouth although it wavered a little when she realised Matt was subjecting her to an equally thorough scrutiny.

  Did he think the plum-coloured sweater she was wearing with her new grey wool trouser suit suited her? she wondered. And did he like the way she’d done her hair that day, twisting it into a knot on the crown of her head, a style which showed off her slender neck and delicate ears?

  Yes and yes again, a voice inside her declared triumphantly. He liked everything he saw!

  Catherine quickly cleared her throat and heard Matt clear his as well. For some reason that seemed to make her vocal cords tie themselves in knots all over again so that she had to do it a second time but so, too, did he. The situation was in serious danger of turning into a farce, she thought, her heart hammering wildly inside her chest. It was a relief when Becky unwittingly saved the day.

  ‘Why don’t you come with us to the fair, Catherine? There’ll be loads of things to buy. My class is selling Christmas cards and wrapping paper so you could buy some there to save you having to go to the shops.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ she demurred, not sure it would be wise to put herself under any more pressure. There was no point pretending that Matt didn’t have the strangest effect on her so surely it would be more sensible to limit the amount of time they spent together?

  ‘That’s a good idea! Do say you’ll come, Cathy.’ Matt turned to the children. ‘We’d love to have Catherine come with us, wouldn’t we, kids?’

  It was hard to refuse when Hannah and Becky added their pleas to his. Catherine held out for a few seconds longer but it was almost a foregone conclusion that she would have to give in eventually. Was that why Matt had enlisted the children’s help? she wondered as she slid into the front seat of the car after Becky quickly vacated it. Because he knew how difficult it would be to refuse them?

  ‘It’s amazing how hard it is to refuse a child, isn’t it, Cathy?’

  Matt’s voice was low enough not to carry to where the children were sitting in the back. Catherine looked at him in surprise and had to laugh when she saw the wicked smile he gave her.

  ‘You conniving wretch, Matt Fielding! There should be a name for people like you who use their children to their own ends.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sure there is. Still, all’s fair in love and war, as they say.’

  He treated her to another dazzling smile as he started the engine. Catherine took a deep breath. She wasn’t even going to try to work out what he’d meant by that!

  ‘Do you really need another teddy bear, Hannah?’

  Matt’s tone rippled with exasperation and Catherine tried hard not to laugh. They were standing in the middle of the school hall where a selection of stalls had been set up. As it was so close to Christmas, the children had decorated the hall with yards of shiny tinsel and everywhere looked very festive. There was a huge variety of goods on sale, ranging from home-made cakes to second-hand toys. Hannah had made a beeline for the toy stall as soon as they’d arrived and had managed to buy no less than three ragged teddy bears in the short time they’d been there.

  ‘Yes,’ Hannah stated emphatically. ‘My teddies need lots of new friends to play with. Please, can I buy him, Daddy? Please!’

  ‘OK, you win. How much is he?’ Matt counted out the requisite 50 p. He shook his head as the little girl went racing off to make her purchase. ‘We have a cupboard at home absolutely stuffed to bursting with teddy bears. Hannah seems to believe it’s her mission in life to rescue every rejected bear, no matter what deplorable state it’s in.’

  ‘It just proves what a kind heart she has,’ Catherine stated with a sad lack of sympathy for his plight.
‘I mean, would you really prefer to watch that poor old ted being carted off to the rubbish dump when you’ve got a nice warm cupboard going spare?’

  ‘Prefer it? I’d drive the wretched bear there myself!’

  His tone was so wry that she laughed. Matt pulled a face. ‘Anyway, never mind trying to make me feel guilty. You tell me how you would feel about having to set to and perform major surgery after a full day at work.’

  ‘Major surgery. What do you mean?’ Catherine frowned and heard him chuckle.

  ‘A lot of these rehomed teddies need surgery to patch up their wounds and that task falls to me. Then, of course, there are the ones who just need a bandage on their arms or legs, and some who only have a headache.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘I have almost as many teddy-bear patients at home as I have real ones in the surgery!’

  Catherine couldn’t stop laughing. Tears streamed from her eyes as she pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle her mirth. ‘Don’t! The thought of you playing doctor to a row of stuffed toys doesn’t bear thinking about!’

  Matt glowered at her pun. ‘I don’t know if I take kindly to being mocked like this, Dr Lewis. Have you forgotten your Hippocratic oath? You swore to do your best for all your patients, and as far as I recall there was no mention of the fact that those patients couldn’t be bears.’

  ‘I’m sure there wasn’t.’ Catherine mopped her streaming eyes and grinned at him. ‘I honestly and truly can’t recall there ever being an exclusion put on teddy bears!’

  ‘Then I rest my case. Now, seeing as you saw fit to mock me, you deserve to be suitably punished.’ Matt took her arm and steered her towards the door. ‘Out into the cold for you, my girl. It’s time we went to check out the car boot sale and see what treasures we can find, rather than lurking in here while we keep warm.’

  ‘Oh, no! Not the cold-weather punishment. I don’t think I can stand it,’ Catherine declared, pulling up the collar of her jacket as they exited the school hall. She couldn’t help thinking how unlike her it was to join in the fun like this. Usually she wouldn’t have dreamt of going along with such nonsense but it was hard to stand on her dignity with Matt. He had a positive talent for making any situation seem acceptable.

  Maybe the thought should have worried her but she was enjoying herself too much to want to put a stop to what was happening. She let Matt lead her outside to where quite a large number of cars had been parked in the playground. Catherine was surprised by how many people had turned up for the sale, and by how clued-up they all seemed to be as she listened to them haggling over prices. She mentioned it to Matt, who grinned.

  ‘You aint seen nothing yet, kid! I pride myself on being a good haggler. Come on, let’s see if I can put my talents to good use and buy you something.’

  Before Catherine could protest that she didn’t want him to buy her anything, he’d headed over to one of the cars and started searching through the goods on offer. She hung back, feeling a little awkward at first. However, she soon got into the swing of things and began poking around in the motley assortment of items for sale.

  ‘How about this?’ she asked, pulling a small trinket box out of a basket of odds and ends. The box was covered in seashells arranged in a concentric pattern and it really appealed to her even though several of the shells were missing.

  ‘Mmm, let’s have a look.’ Matt took the box from her and opened the lid. ‘Looks as though the missing shells are all in here so it shouldn’t be difficult to repair it,’ he advised her sotto voce.

  Catherine took it from him. ‘It’s pretty, or it could be if it was cleaned up. How much do you think it costs?’

  ‘Let’s find out.’ He waved to stall holder and asked the price, shaking his head when the woman named a sum he obviously considered too expensive. He halved it then added on a few pence when the seller refused his offer.

  Catherine bit her lip as she listened to him haggling. For some reason it seemed really important that she got the box. She was actually holding her breath as she listened to Matt haggling over the price because she didn’t want to lose it.

  She needn’t have worried. A few minutes later the box was hers and both Matt and the stall holder looked extremely satisfied with the sale. Catherine shook her head in amazement. ‘I would never have had the nerve to haggle like that. How do you do it?’

  ‘Having a thick skin helps,’ he declared, looping a casual arm around her shoulders as he led her away from the car. ‘But it’s really a question of being an ace negotiator, of course.’

  ‘Oh, of course!’ She was achingly conscious of the weight of his arm on her shoulders yet it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling—far from it. There was something deeply reassuring about feeling Matt’s arm there as he steered her through the crowd, as though they could achieve anything if they stood shoulder to shoulder against the world.

  She shivered when it struck her how stupid that thought was. The only person she could rely on was herself and she mustn’t forget that. She would never put herself in the position her mother had been in and allow any man to let her down.

  ‘Hey, you’re shivering. Let’s get back inside before you catch a chill.’ Matt didn’t wait for her to reply as he hurried her back inside the hall. He closed the door then rubbed his hands together. ‘It’s really freezing out there. How about a cup of coffee to warm us up?’

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ she agreed, trying to shake off the feeling of sadness which had filled her. Maybe it appeared that some relationships would last for ever but she’d seen the statistics and knew just how many foundered. She’d also witnessed at first hand the devastation it caused when a marriage broke down and had sworn that she would never put herself through that kind of torment. She had been right to make the decision not to get romantically involved with anyone and it would be wrong to change her mind no matter how tempted she was.

  ‘What about the children? Will they want a drink?’ she asked, quickly changing the subject. She looked at the crowds milling around and frowned in concern. ‘Where’s Hannah? I can’t see her anywhere.’

  ‘Don’t worry, she’ll be fine,’ Matt assured her. ‘Before we go out anywhere the children and I make a contingency plan.’

  ‘A contingency plan?’

  ‘Yes. The thing I wanted to avoid was becoming an overly anxious parent. It isn’t easy because something happens to you when you have children and your ability to spot danger at every turn seems to multiply a hundredfold.’ His tone was light but Catherine sensed that it hadn’t been easy for him to deal with his fears about the children’s safety.

  ‘I imagine it’s hard to give children enough freedom and yet make sure that they’re safe,’ she suggested.

  ‘Exactly. I don’t want the girls growing up terrified of the world we live in. They have to be allowed to do things on their own—within certain limits, of course. That’s why whenever we come to an event like this we make a plan so they know what they are allowed to do.’

  ‘So what was today’s plan?’ Catherine asked, trying to match her tone to his even though it had touched her deeply to realise again how much thought he put into raising his daughters.

  ‘That neither of them must leave the school grounds under any circumstances. Obviously, Becky, being that bit older, has a bit more freedom than Hannah, but she still has to follow the rules. As for Hannah, well, I’ve drummed it into her that she must stay with me or Becky at all times. She’s probably helping Becky on the Christmas-card stall so let’s go and find them.’

  They made their way across the hall and, as Matt had predicted, the children were both busily working on the stall. Becky was taking the money while Hannah was wrapping up the cards after they were purchased. Both girls looked delighted to see them.

  ‘Hi! What have you bought?’ Becky demanded, relinquishing her place behind the counter to one of her classmates.

  ‘This.’ Catherine held up the trinket box for her inspection, smiling when Becky gave an appreciative whistle.

  ‘Cool! I bet
that cleans up really well. What do you think, Dad?’

  ‘I think you’re right. Actually, that box was probably made around the same time our house was built. Shell work was very popular in Victorian times,’ he explained.

  ‘Was it?’ Catherine studied the box. ‘I hadn’t realised it was so old. Maybe you should have it for the sitting room. It would fit perfectly in there.’

  She offered him the box but Matt shook his head. ‘No way! It’s your first bit of treasure trove so you must keep it as a talisman.’

  ‘A talisman?’

  ‘To bring you good luck the next time you come treasure-hunting with us, of course.’

  He seemed to think it was a forgone conclusion that she’d go with them again and it seemed wrong to make a fuss in front of the children. She let it pass but made up her mind that she would make sure he understood it had been a one-off event as soon as she got the chance.

  ‘Right, so who’s for tea and cakes?’ he asked.

  ‘Me!’ Hannah shouted, jumping up and down. She caught hold of Catherine’s hand and towed her towards the tea stall, which was doing a roaring trade that day. ‘Come on, Catherine. You, me and the teddies will find a table.’

  Catherine let herself be led away, leaving it to Becky and Matt to fetch the tea. They were in luck because there was a couple just leaving and she and Hannah managed to get their table.

  ‘Busy today, isn’t it?’ the woman commented as she picked up her bulging shopping bags so they could sit down.

  ‘It is. It looks as though you’ve found plenty of things to buy,’ Catherine observed lightly.

  ‘Oh, I always do.’ The woman laughed as she glanced at Hannah. The child was busily arranging the teddies on one of the chairs so that they could join in the tea party. ‘I see your little girl has had a good day, too!’

  ‘Oh, but she isn’t…’ Catherine didn’t get the chance to correct her as the woman moved away. Hannah giggled and she turned to look at her. ‘That lady thought you were my mummy, didn’t she, Catherine?’