Children’s Doctor, Christmas Bride

by Lucy Clark

  He recalled the memo he’d briefly scanned from the hospital’s administration department announcing Summer’s appointment. Her résumé had been attached and had stated her marital status as widow. Was Ballarat supposed to be a new beginning for her and her son? Was she still grieving?

  He shook his head and forced himself to turn his attention away from the woman before him. Katy wanted to be picked up and he naturally pulled the toddler into his arms and gave her a little cuddle, being careful of the bandage around her head.

  He loved kids. Had wanted a gaggle of them but… That was all in his past and he wasn’t going to waste the energy opening an old wound. Not tonight. Not when he’d arranged for the children to come and watch the Christmas-tree lights being turned on. They’d had few bright moments in their little lives lately and this outing was something he’d come up with to try to rectify that situation at least.

  Summer finished her conversation with Bradley and glanced surreptitiously at Jason. He was holding little Katy in the crook of his arm, his strong biceps flexing beneath his light blue polo shirt. He certainly had a good physique—not that she cared about that sort of thing at all. She’d learned the hard way not to fall in love with a man who could grace the pages of the glossy fashion magazines. Men with natural charm, charisma. Men who could talk a woman into believing anything, to make her fall at their feet, only discovering much later what snakes they really were. She’d been there, done that and had the battle scars to prove it. She didn’t need it again.

  At that moment he looked at her and their eyes held. The people around them seemed to fade into the distance as did the noises, the warmer weather, the flies. It was as though they were inside their own bubble of time and space. Nothing could touch them. Nothing could separate them. It was the oddest sensation and one Summer had never felt before in her life. It made her tremble deep within, not from fear but from annoyance. How could she possibly be drawn to a man she didn’t even know? Ludicrous.

  A high-pitched squeal coming from the PA system had both Jason and Summer looking away at the same time. Katy covered her sensitive ears and leaned into Jason as she started to cry. Thankfully, the sound technician sorted it quickly and people started clapping as a local celebrity came to stand, microphone in hand, next to the Christmas tree.

  ‘Here. Let me take her,’ Rhonda said to Jason, and took Katy from him. ‘I have a nice drink of water here for her and that should help settle the immediate pressure in her ears.’

  Jason brushed his hand over Katy’s dark brown curls and smiled at her as she started to quieten down. Summer watched, interested to note her new colleague was obviously a man who liked children. That at least was one point in his favour. She’d thought most paediatricians would have such a quality but she’d come across plenty in her time who had no desire to communicate with their little patients but were simply intent on fixing them up and moving them on. Numbers, not names.

  ‘All right, folks,’ the announcer said. ‘It’s almost time to turn on the lights of our Christmas tree. This will, of course, mark the beginning of the Twelve Weeks of Christmas, Ballarat’s famous yearly festival in the lead-up to the big day in…’ He chuckled. ‘You guessed it, twelve weeks’ time. Everywhere I’ve been tonight, everyone I’ve spoken to has greeted me with a smile on their face and Christmas cheer in their hearts—and we still have twelve more weeks to go! It’s great to see.’

  ‘Excuse me, Mum. I can’t see properly,’ Tommy said. She was about to suggest he stand on the bench next to her when Jason reached out and lifted Tommy off his feet. The boy gasped at the action, his eyes a little wild as he looked at his mother for reassurance.

  ‘Here you go, champ. Up on my shoulders will give you the best view in the place.’

  ‘It’s fine, Tommy,’ she encouraged. ‘You’ll be able to see everything from up there.’ She took his hand and gave it a little squeeze. Slowly, Tommy looked around, still wary, but within another moment Summer saw a light come into his eyes as he realised the truth of her words.

  ‘Wow,’ he breathed.

  The local celebrity with the microphone was announcing the arrival of Miss Ballarat, the winner of the local beauty pageant for that year, and she was driven to the edge of the stage in the back of a white utility truck. When she’d taken her place beside the announcer, he turned to the clapping crowds.

  ‘Are we ready?’ the celebrity continued.

  The crowd started counting down from twelve—given that this was the start of the twelve weeks of Christmas—the atmosphere becoming electric with anticipation as they neared the end. Katy had stopped fussing and was happily sitting on Rhonda’s lap, drinking from her special drinking cup. Alyssa was crouched down between Sally and Sasha, the twin girls holding each other’s hands with mounting anticipation as they counted backwards. Bradley was clapping in time and Tommy…her son was completely captivated by everything he saw.

  She could see quite clearly that he was happy and she wanted to know how she could get him to be like that on a permanent basis. Ever since his father’s death, Tommy had become even more closed off than he’d been before, even more reserved, and she could completely understand why. He hadn’t even spoken of his father since that fateful day. Summer had tried so many different things to try to help him, had consulted with child psychologists, had done everything she could think of—including moving to a new town—and now he was smiling. Not only smiling but laughing.

  ‘Three. Two. One.’

  The switch was flicked. The lights sizzled to life, illuminating one very large Christmas tree. There was a collective gasp of awe and delight from the crowd before everyone broke into a spontaneous round of applause.

  It was magical. It was encompassing and for a moment it was as though everyone—just for a second—forgot all their worries and problems as they applauded the beauty and splendour of the sight before them. Summer was no different and smiled up at her son, so happy that he was enjoying himself.

  Then her eyes met Jason’s. The longer he stared at her, though, the more she began to feel a little uncomfortable. He seemed to be searching for something and what it was, she had no idea. Was he trying to sum her up? To figure out what sort of person she was? What sort of doctor she was? What sort of mother she was? Finally, he spoke. ‘Makes you feel as though everything is right with the world. Just for a moment,’ he murmured.

  Summer nodded, a little surprised by his words. ‘That’s exactly what I was thinking.’

  He didn’t look away. ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if that feeling could continue?’

  ‘It does—for the very young and the very old.’

  ‘While those of us in the middle have to struggle through from one battle to the next.’

  ‘A telling statement,’ she remarked.

  ‘And one you appear to understand.’

  Her nod was small and she was a little astonished at the turn the conversation had taken.

  ‘Is that why you’ve come here, Summer? Is that why you’ve moved to Ballarat?’

  ‘To fight another battle?’ she asked rhetorically.

  ‘No. To try to capture the sense of awe and wonderment. To find a way to harness it, to make it last.’

  Summer found herself sighing. ‘If only I could. It would indeed be nice but in all honesty, Dr Daniels, I’m just looking for a little bit of peace.’

  ‘A telling statement,’ he remarked, using her earlier words, and he was rewarded with a smile, although it wasn’t one that met her eyes. He knew she was a widow so life couldn’t have been easy for her since her husband’s death. Add to that fact that she was now raising her son on her own and he knew—without knowing anything else about her—that she would be facing quite a few more battles in her future. ‘I hope you find your peace,’ he said softly as he lifted Tommy from his shoulders. Summer was surprised at the tenderness she heard in his voice but instantly dismissed it. Charisma. She didn’t need it.

  ‘There you go, champ. Enjoy the show?’ Jason as
ked Tommy.

  ‘Yes. Thank you very much. It was…awesome.’ Tommy then turned and started talking more animatedly than before to Bradley, the two of them recounting everything that had just transpired.

  ‘Tommy seems to be a good kid,’ Jason remarked. ‘Very… polite.’

  ‘He is. My saving grace. I’d be lost without him.’ She looked at her son as she spoke.

  ‘Yet you’re worried about him.’

  She looked back up at Jason. ‘What mother isn’t worried about their child?’

  He nodded and appeared about to say more when they were interrupted by Alyssa who was anxious to get the children back to the hospital before the traffic on the roads started to bank up.

  ‘But this is Ballarat, not Sydney,’ Summer pointed out with a small smile. ‘Surely peak-hour traffic here would last all of…oh, I don’t know…about five to ten minutes?’

  ‘No. It’ll be at least fifteen with these crowds,’ Jason remarked, deadpan.

  He let the light, uplifting sound of her laughter wash over him like a summer breeze. Who was this woman? This woman who he’d be working with? She was beautiful, intelligent and caring. Add to all of that that her sense of humour seemed to be on the same wavelength as his own and Jason realised he could find himself in real danger yet again if he wasn’t careful.

  Thankfully, though, he knew that looks could be deceiving. That beauty could only be skin deep and that intelligence could be used for bad as well as good purposes.

  Still, towards Summer Hoyts he would maintain a polite and professional distance because that way he’d at least be able to ensure his own sanity.

  CHAPTER TWO

  RHONDA pushed Sasha’s wheelchair, Alyssa had Katy in her arms and Sally by her side. Jason pushed Bradley’s wheelchair and somehow Summer seemed to fall into step beside them, Tommy’s hand firmly in her own as they walked through the crowds back towards the main street where most of the cars were parked.

  Tommy was still chatting to Bradley, a little more relaxed than before, and Summer was pleased to see he’d found a new friend. She heard him promising to bring some of his new model cars to the hospital as soon as they’d been unpacked.

  ‘What’s Sydney like?’ Bradley asked, excitement in his face. ‘I’ll bet it’s totally buzzin’ and, hey—have you been to the Opera House? Or the Sydney Harbour Bridge? Have you seen the bridge?’

  Tommy merely shrugged. ‘We could see both the bridge and the Opera House from our penthouse where we lived.’ There wasn’t much enthusiasm in her son’s tone because to him the classic Australian icons weren’t all that special. Not when you saw them day in, day out.

  ‘Penthouse?’

  ‘It’s just where we lived.’

  ‘Yeah, but have you driven across the bridge? I think that’d be totally buzzin’. I want to go to Sydney one day when I’m bigger and I’m gonna drive my own car over the bridge.’ Bradley’s delight wasn’t to be brushed aside.

  ‘My driver used to drive me over the bridge every day to get to school.’

  ‘You had a driver?’ Bradley was now in awe. Jason was listening interestedly as well. So Summer had lived in an inner-city penthouse, one which had afforded a good view of the harbour. He knew how expensive those places were and what sort of income you needed to live there. Did she come from money? Had she married money? She certainly had the quality about her, the one that said she was used to giving orders and having them followed. And if she’d been living a life of luxury, what on earth was she doing here in Ballarat? The more he thought about her, the more questions he seemed to have.

  ‘Yeah. It was no big deal,’ Tommy continued. ‘We had a maid and a cook and a butler as well but we don’t have them now. It’s just me and Mum.’

  Summer was busy trying to decipher her son’s tone, to give her some sort of clue as to his feelings. He was obedient, careful and intelligent but he also played his cards close to his chest. She’d tried to talk to him, to get him to open up, but apart from talking to her about his love of cars and showing her the things he built out of his building bricks, Tommy didn’t ever venture his opinion or thoughts.

  She knew it no doubt stemmed from her husband’s attitude that ‘children should be seen and not heard’. There was also the fact that as heir to the Hoyts fortune, he’d been told from a very early age that his destiny was to run the family business, to take his rightful place in society, that nothing mattered more than money and status.

  Tommy had also been given everything he’d ever needed or ever wanted as far as material possessions went, but he hadn’t been given love and approval from his father and she was positive that was one of the main things he’d always craved.

  Summer was so busy concentrating on Tommy that she completely missed the way Jason’s eyebrows had arched at Tommy’s disclosure. So Summer had definitely lived the designer, closed-set lifestyle in Sydney. He’d picked it up from her clothes and the way she carried herself but he hadn’t realised she’d come from that much money. Why Ballarat? What had made her come here? The question didn’t seem to go away, no matter how hard he tried to shake it.

  Perhaps she had friends here? Family? Or had she simply done something completely spontaneous and stuck a pin in the map of Australia and moved to wherever it had landed? No. Her kind were rarely spontaneous. Then again, the answer could be as simple as she’d needed to make a fresh start after her husband’s death. Somewhere new. Somewhere different.

  He shook his head, doubting she’d stay. After the glitz and glamour of Sydney, she’d find Ballarat dull and boring in comparison. Besides, it was none of his business and he’d do well to stop trying to speculate what had prompted her to come here. The point was that she had come to Ballarat, she had been offered and had accepted the position of resident paediatrician, which was just what the department, and more importantly, himself, required. Starting Monday, his own workload would be halved and between the two of them and their two training registrars, they’d be able to get on top of things that had been moving far too slowly in the past.

  That was all he needed to be worried about. She was here. She was willing to do the job. Her past didn’t concern him… and neither did her future.

  They’d arrived at the two hospital vans, which were equipped to take wheelchairs, and Alyssa turned to face Summer.

  ‘If you’re not busy, why don’t you come back to the hospital with us to have a look at the ward, meet a few of the other patients?’

  ‘Uh…’ Summer glanced at Jason but he was busy helping Bradley out of the wheelchair and into the van. ‘I don’t know if that’s possible at the moment.’

  Tommy looked up at her with wide eyes. ‘Please, Mum? Bradley and I can talk for a bit longer and it would be good manners to accept.’

  Summer looked down at her son. He rarely asked for anything and the fact that he was asking to spend more time to converse further with Bradley tugged at her heartstrings. He had made a friend. That was a breakthrough in itself. She found herself accepting Alyssa’s invitation.

  ‘At least it will stop me from getting lost on Monday.’

  ‘Can I go in the van with Bradley?’ Tommy asked again.

  ‘If that’s OK with Dr Daniels.’

  ‘Sure,’ Jason replied.

  ‘That would be…totally buzzing,’ was Tommy’s reply, and Summer smiled in surprise to hear those words coming out of his mouth. ‘Thank you, Dr Daniels.’

  ‘No problem, champ, and you can call me JD or Dr JD if you like. That’s what the other kids do. Climb aboard.’

  Tommy looked to Bradley and both of them said, ‘Totally buzzin’,’ in unison before laughing as though it was the funniest thing in the world. Tommy climbed into the back of the van and buckled himself into the seat next to Bradley.

  ‘Where did you park?’ Jason asked her.

  ‘I didn’t. Tommy and I caught the bus. It goes from right outside our apartment into the centre of the city, dropping us off right near the mall.’

 
; He was surprised at that. He’d half expected her to hire a limousine from Melbourne. He was intrigued to find she appeared quite practical. Although perhaps her chosen mode of transport was more of a novelty, given that she was used to having a driver to take her everywhere. ‘Sounds as though you did your homework.’

  ‘I’m not one for surprises, especially where public transport is concerned.’

  ‘You don’t drive?’

  ‘Oh, I do. I just couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of driving in a strange town and parking in unfamiliar car parks. Plus, I knew I’d avoid this.’ She indicated the people around them, all getting into their cars and having to wait to exit their spots.

  ‘Fair enough. Well…’ He opened the passenger door for her. ‘If you’ll permit me, ma’am, I’d be more than honoured to be your driver for the evening. After all, being from the hospital, we get priority parking and I know these streets very well.’ He held out his hand and Summer found herself hesitating for a moment, knowing if she touched him again, her body would no doubt be smitten with tingles as it had been before. However much she wanted to reject touching him, she knew it would be impolite and she was never impolite. She took his hand, accepting his help, and wasn’t disappointed in the tingles. ‘Thank you, Dr Daniels.’

  ‘Jason. We’re quite informal here.’

  She watched him walk around to the driver’s door and then check that everyone was buckled in before heading off. She still preferred to call him Dr Daniels because at least that way she felt as though she had more distance between them yet she also knew it would make her stand out more if she didn’t do as he asked and call him by his first name.

  ‘So where’s your apartment?’

  ‘Two blocks from the hospital. The administrator was very helpful in assisting us to find something nice and close. There’s a school bus which goes from the end of our street to Tommy’s school so that’s a bonus.’