by Kate Hardy
The spirit of Christmas was well and truly alive in Anna Maskell. Peace and love and kindness. She was making a difference to their patients and their families, and she’d made a huge difference to his life.
Quietly, he slipped back to his office and removed the beard and red suit, then came back in his usual clothes to join in with the singing. Even the parents who’d initially looked utterly stressed at having their child so sick that they had to be away from home at Christmas seemed to have relaxed a bit, thanks to Anna.
Finally, at the end of her shift, she came into his office and took his hand. ‘Thank you for being so brilliant today.’
‘Given how opposed I was to the idea in the first place, I’m blown away by how much I enjoyed it,’ he said. ‘Seeing them smile and look a bit hopeful, and forgetting how ill they were feeling—just for a little while. If I’m here next year, and Robert wants a break, put me down for being Santa on the ward.’
‘Really?’
‘Really. I’ve agreed to cover the rest of Nalini’s maternity leave, and after that if she wants to come back part time then we might be able to work out some kind of job-share.’
‘That,’ she said, ‘is the best Christmas present of all.’
He smiled and kissed her. ‘No promises. We’ll see how it goes. But, even if we don’t end up working together when Nalini comes back, we can still try to co-ordinate our shifts in different hospitals.’
‘Absolutely,’ she agreed. ‘Are you sure you’re ready for a Maskell family Christmas?’
‘I am,’ he said. ‘And it was amazing of your parents to ask my parents and my sisters to come for Christmas dinner, too.’
She grinned. ‘The more the merrier. And everyone’s chipping in with desserts and trimmings, so all Mum really has to do is cook the turkey. There’s enough room for all the children to run around together and play.’ Her grin broadened. ‘Dinner and games. It doesn’t get more perfect than that.’
‘Indeed.’ Though Anna didn’t know quite everything, he thought. As far as she was concerned, the jeweller was still making the pretty engagement ring they’d chosen together, based on a Celtic knot and with a single tanzanite in the centre. He’d had it delivered to her parents the previous day, along with half a dozen bottles of champagne, in strictest secrecy. Because today wasn’t just Christmas Day. He’d been exchanging texts with Anna’s sister, too, over the last week, and between them they’d come up with the perfect song to go with the delivery of the ring. Jojo had reassured him that it was on her phone, it was on Becky’s phone too as a back-up, and she’d play it as soon as he gave her the nod.
He really hoped he’d pitched this right.
When they reached her parents’ house, everyone was already there, the children were playing raucous games, a mix of Christmas songs was playing, and the gorgeous scent of Christmas dinner filled the air.
Alison, Anna’s mum, greeted them warmly, and Tony, Anna’s dad, shoved a glass of wine into their hands.
‘Everyone’s in the living room,’ Alison said. ‘Go and say hello.’
‘Do you need a hand in here first?’ Jamie asked.
‘No, because you’ve both done a full shift already. Go and have fun.’ Alison shooed them out of the kitchen.
Jamie and Anna greeted everyone, and were deep in conversation when Tony called, ‘Everyone, dinner is about to be served—time to come and sit at the table!’
This was what it felt like to be a part of a big, noisy family again, Jamie thought. And he absolutely loved it.
Everyone chattered during dinner, wearing the paper hats from their crackers and taking it in turn to make everyone else laugh and groan with the cracker jokes.
Jamie helped to clear the table before coffee, but had already primed Mark, Anna’s oldest brother, to make her stay put and talk while he was in the kitchen.
Out of Anna’s sight, Alison gave him the box to put in his pocket, and he hugged her. ‘Thank you so much for helping me.’
‘You make my baby happy,’ she said simply, ‘and that’s what matters to me.’
Jojo came into the kitchen and waved her phone at him. ‘Ready?’
‘I think so.’ Though right then he felt incredibly nervous—as nervous as he did before the trickiest operation, all his exams and his driving test, except all rolled into one.
‘Hopefully you’ve practised it enough to know the words,’ Jojo said with a grin. ‘But Mum, Becky and I will have your back for the chorus.’ She ruffled his hair. ‘We should’ve made you put the T-shirt and white trousers on and do it properly, but Anna-Banana loves you anyway so you can get away with it. But you do have to dance. That’s not optional.’
‘Go get your girl, sweetheart,’ Alison said, patting his shoulder.
Together, they walked into the dining room, where everyone was still chattering and laughing. Alison tapped a spoon on a glass, and the room fell silent in expectation.
Jojo hit ‘Play’ and the beginning of ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ came on.
Jamie sang along and danced, not caring that his voice was slightly flat and he couldn’t reach the high note on the chorus, because Jojo, Alison and Becky were singing along with him.
He sang the next verse; then, as he’d arranged with Jojo, she stopped the song and he dropped to one knee.
‘You have chased my grey skies away,’ he said, ‘and you make the sun shine for me, Anna Maskell. I love you, and I want to wake up with you every day. Will you marry me?’ He whipped the box out of his pocket, opened it and held it out to her.
‘I don’t believe you just did this—and to George,’ she said, crying and laughing at the same time. ‘Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you.’
Everyone cheered, and between them Anna and Jamie’s fathers poured the champagne and their mothers poured sparkling grape juice for the children.
‘To Anna and Jamie,’ Tony said. ‘Every happiness. And happy, happy Christmas.’
‘Anna and Jamie. Happy, happy Christmas,’ everyone chorused.
* * *
If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Kate Hardy
A Nurse and a Pup to Heal Him
Heart Surgeon, Prince...Husband!
Carrying the Single Dad’s Baby
Unlocking the Italian Doc’s Heart
All available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Taming Her Hollywood Playboy by Emily Forbes.
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Taming Her Hollywood Playboy
by Emily Forbes
PROLOGUE
‘TOTO... I’VE A feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.’
The familiar phrase from The Wizard of Oz popped into Oliver’s head as he sat in the all-terrain vehicle surrounded by nothing but red dirt. The heat in the vehicle was stifling but he knew it was worse outside. He could see the shimmering mirage of the heat as it rose off the baked land. A trickle of sweat made its way down his back, sliding between his shoulder blades as he looked out of the window and wondered what he was doing at the end of the earth.
He wasn’t in Kansas, and he sure as heck wasn’t in Hollywood either. Hollywood was clean and tidy, ordered and structured. A lot of the work on movie sets in today’s world was done indoors, with air-conditioning and green screens, and any dirt, gore, murders, blood and disasters were manufactured. Here the dirt and dust and heat were all too real. Too authentic. It made him wonder about everything else—the murders, blood and disasters—it was too easy to imagine
all kinds of skulduggery occurring in this seemingly endless land.
He shrugged his shoulders; they were sticky under his clothing as he returned his focus to the task at hand. He’d always had an active imagination but he was sure he’d be able to handle this place—it was only for six weeks. The dirt and dust would wash off at the end of the day, he was used to a certain level of discomfort in his job, and he certainly wasn’t precious—although the heat was a little extreme, even for him. It had a thickness to it which made breathing difficult, as though the heat had sucked all the oxygen from the air. It felt like the type of heat you needed to have been born into, to have grown up in, to have any chance of coping with it. Of surviving.
It must have been well over one hundred degrees in the shade, if there was any shade. The place was baking. Hot, dry and not a blade of grass or a tree in sight to break the monotony of the red earth. The landscape was perfect for the movie but not so great for the cast and crew. Adding to Oliver’s discomfort was the fact that he was wearing a flame-retardant suit under his costume in preparation for the upcoming scene. But it was no use complaining: he asked to do his own stunt work wherever possible and he was sure his stunt double would be more than happy to sit this one out.
The sun was low in the sky but the heat of the day was still intense. He closed his eyes as he pictured himself diving into the hotel pool and emerging, cool and fresh and wet—instead of hot and sticky and dripping in sweat—to down a cold beer. He would love to think he could have the pool to himself but he knew, in this overwhelming climate, that was wishful thinking; he’d just have to do his best to avoid sharing it with any of the single women from the cast or crew. He didn’t need any more scandals attached to his name. His agent, lawyer and publicist were all working overtime as it was.
He started the engine as instructions came through his earpiece. It was time to capture the last scene for the day’s shoot.
The stunt required him to drive the ATV at speed towards the mountain range in the distance. A ramp had been disguised in the dirt and rocks that would flip the vehicle onto its side for dramatic effect. The whole scene could probably be done using CGI techniques and a green screen but the film’s director, George Murray, liked as much realism as possible and he had chosen this part of the world for filming because of its authenticity and other-worldliness. It was supposed to be representing another planet and Oliver could see how it could feel that way. He had grown up all around the world but even he’d never seen anywhere that looked as alien and hostile as this.
The setting sun was turning the burnt orange landscape a fiery red. The shadows cast by the distant hills were lengthening and turning violet. He knew the dust thrown up by his tyres would filter the light and lend a sinister aspect to the scene.
He waited for the call of ‘action’ and pressed his foot to the accelerator. The vehicle leapt forwards. He waited for the tyres to gain traction and then pushed the pedal flat to the floor. The ground was littered with tiny stones, making it difficult to maintain a straight course. He eased off the speed slightly as the vehicle skidded and slid to the left. He corrected the slide without difficulty and continued his course but, just as he thought he’d succeeded, there was a loud bang and the steering wheel shuddered in his hands.
He felt the back of the vehicle slide out to the right and he eased off the speed again as he fought to control it, but the tail had seemingly picked up speed, turning the vehicle ninety degrees to where he wanted it. To where it was supposed to be. He let the wheel spin through his fingers, waiting for the vehicle to straighten, but before he could correct the trajectory the vehicle had gone completely off course. The front tyre dropped into a trough in the dirt and Oliver felt the wheels lift off the ground.
The vehicle began to tip and he knew he had totally lost control. All four wheels were airborne and there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t fight it, he couldn’t correct it, and he couldn’t control it.
The ATV flipped sideways and bounced once. Twice. And again.
It flipped and rolled and Oliver lost count of the cycles as the horizon tumbled before him and the sun’s dying rays cast long fingers through the windshield.
Had he finally bitten off more than he could chew?
Copyright © 2019 by Emily Forbes
ISBN-13: 9781488048425
Mistletoe Proposal on the Children’s Ward
Copyright © 2019 by Pamela Brooks
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