A Family This Christmas

by MacKay, Sue

  ‘Marcus, grab the box of tissues so we can wipe the slobber off Jenny’s chin. We can’t take her out in public looking like Socks when she’s thrown up her biscuits.’

  When Jenny picked up her crutches he frowned. He was being selfish, not considering she mightn’t feel up to walking unaided. ‘Want to take the car?’

  ‘No way. I’m just being cautious after spending so long on my foot today. I’ll toddle along behind you all so that by the time I get there you’ll have my chair set up and my wine poured.’ Then a furrow formed between her eyes. ‘We are allowed to take our drinks onto the marina? I hadn’t thought about that.’

  ‘We’ll be fine where we’re going to sit.’ The owner of the bar/café wouldn’t mind them using his parking spot for their picnic. As that was attached to the licensed premises, they’d be legal.

  ‘Good. I’ll start hopping, then.’

  Cam walked beside Jenny, happy to take as long as she needed to get where they were going, steamed fish and chips or not. ‘You’re going to have a few laughs at the marina. On Friday nights there’s always a queue of people wanting to put their boats in the water so they can head out to their beach houses. Tempers get frayed and people try to queue jump. It can be entertaining, especially when someone mucks up backing their boat into the water.’

  ‘Why is it that when you’re backing a trailer or boat and people are watching you automatically make a botch-up of the job? I always do that.’ Jenny’s eyes were wide with anticipation. ‘I’ll enjoy watching others do the same thing.’

  ‘That’s not nice.’ He laughed.

  ‘Not at all.’ Jenny grinned back at him, speeding up his heart rate. When she smiled or grinned those eyes became greener, warmer and sexier.

  Now she asked, ‘Do you own a boat?’

  ‘One quarter of one. I’ve gone shares with my brothers-in-law. None of us uses it a lot, mostly to go to the family property for family holidays. It’s a little bigger than what you’ll see tonight so we’ve got a berth at one of the pontoons. We don’t have to go through the hassle of lining up with everyone else. Or being laughed at by people like you.’

  ‘Spoil my fun, why don’t you?’ Her thick hair swung around her face as she limped along. The long locks shone where the sun caught them, turning the shade almost fire-engine red, and tempting him to run his hand down them to see if his skin burned. Fortunately his brain put the brakes on that idea before he made an idiot of himself. Unfortunately it didn’t stop him from wondering what it would be like to make love to her. His fascination had been growing daily to the point he needed to do something about it. Not actually touch her, but go for a hard run up the hill to the lookout. Get a sweat up doing something physical that didn’t involve sex.

  Who was he kidding? Since last night’s kiss there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that they should get up close and personal, and soon. It wasn’t as though he was alone in his feelings. Jenny had responded to him as quickly as his own body had lit up.

  Sex. Sex had been dominating every last one of his thought processes all day. But wanting to get up close and personal didn’t make it a wise move. Jenny had never denied she’d be on her way soon. At least she’d been honest, which was what he wanted, right? Right. So should he make a play for Jenny? Or should he ignore his feelings?

  Note to self: make up his mind.

  CHAPTER TEN

  ‘I CAN’T BELIEVE how long I’ve been in Havelock.’ Astonishment made her laugh. Of all the places she’d visited she’d had to pick the tiniest to stop and smell the roses, or was that the salt air? But, of course, stopping hadn’t been her doing. She couldn’t deny she was enjoying being here, becoming involved in day-to-day routines with the Roberts family, and visiting Amanda most days. They were becoming firm friends. ‘I might never want to leave.’

  ‘Then don’t,’ Amanda said.

  ‘It’s not that easy.’ Why not? You have to stop some time, somewhere. You can go to Kahurangi and return here afterwards. On the table her cell vibrated as she tried to squeeze the pasta dough through the rollers of the pasta machine. ‘Bad timing.’ She had flour from elbows to chin.

  ‘Want me to grab it?’ Amanda asked.

  ‘Please.’ The phone did ring occasionally these days, usually the twins asking if she was meeting them after school, or had she looked in the laundry cupboard for her mojo yet?

  ‘It’s Cam. Something about an accident.’

  Her heart dropped. Accident? Who was involved? Cam? The boys? She snatched the phone from Amanda. ‘Cam? What’s happened? Are you all right?’

  Amanda shook her head at her. ‘Of course he is. He’s phoning you, isn’t he?’

  ‘Jenny, I’m fine. But one of the deckhands on Gavin Montrose’s mussel harvester got caught in the ropes that haul up the mussel lines and could lose his arm. I’m heading out by boat immediately. I want you to come with me. This is emergency medicine—your kind of medicine—and the guy needs everything stacked on his side we can possible get.’ Cam spoke urgently, as though his mind was already on the injuries he’d be seeing.

  ‘I’m a little rusty.’

  ‘Is there a reason you shouldn’t do this?’

  ‘No.’ Nothing that sounded good enough for her not to help this guy. So stop vacillating. ‘Pick me up at Amanda’s gate.’

  ‘I’m almost there.’

  Closing the phone, she turned the tap on and started vigorously sluicing the flour off her arms. ‘You heard?’ she asked Amanda.

  ‘Yep, and if you’re not back by the time school’s out I’ll bring the boys here.’

  Toot, toot.

  ‘That’ll be Cam. See you.’

  ‘I hope you don’t get seasick,’ Cam said the moment she clambered into his vehicle. ‘It’s a bit rough out there.’

  ‘Guess we’re about to find out.’ She snapped her seat belt in place. ‘Why are we going by boat? Don’t you have a rescue helicopter on call?’

  ‘They’ll have been called but we’ll reach the harvester long before them. The helicopter has to come from Nelson or Wellington, about half an hour’s flying time once they’re off the ground.’ Cam slammed on the brakes at the wharf. Out of the vehicle, he tossed the keys to a guy coming out of the harbourmaster’s hut and grabbed a medical pack off the back seat. ‘Park it for me, will you, George?’

  They’d barely stepped on the boat and it was pulling away from the jetty. ‘This is going to be a very fast ride,’ Cam shouted against her ear. ‘Want to sit inside?’

  ‘No.’ She gripped the rail hard. ‘I like to see where I’m going.’

  Twenty minutes later they were in the Kenepuru Sound, slowing up to nudge beside a mussel harvester bobbing in the water beside lines held deep by laden mussel ropes. Hands reached down and hauled Jenny aboard with no finesse at all.

  ‘On the other side,’ the dishevelled-looking seaman grunted, and turned to pull Cam onto the deck.

  Threading her way over and around any number of obstacles, breathing salty and fishy air, Jenny focused on what she was about see and the procedures she’d undertake. It all depended on the depth of damage the rope had done. ‘What’s the man’s name?’

  The seaman she was following tossed the name over his shoulder. ‘Haydon Tozer.’ Then the man stopped and turned back to them. ‘The rope’s still holding him down. We were afraid if we cut it then he’d bleed to death.’

  ‘You’ve done the right thing.’

  Haydon opened his eyes to a slit when Jenny reached him.

  ‘Haydon, I’m Jenny, a doctor. This is Cameron, another doctor. We’re going to get you out of here.’ She lifted his good arm so she could take his pulse, all the time assessing the situation. The wire with all its weight had pulverised Haydon’s forearm against a steel barrel.

  Cam was already opening the medical pack and removing a mask as he asked, ‘Can someone tell us what happened?’

  Haydon answered. ‘I was operating the winch when my sleeve got snagged and the next I knew I was cau
ght like this.’

  ‘Someone must’ve been quick to stop the wire.’

  The man who’d hauled them aboard grunted, ‘That’d be me.’

  Haydon sat at an awkward angle so as to relieve as much tension on his shoulder and upper arm as possible. Jenny was surprised he was still relatively lucid.

  ‘I’m going to give you some oxygen, mate.’ Cam held up the mask.

  ‘The arm’s screwed, isn’t it?’ Haydon croaked through his pain, and his eyes drifted shut. It was as though now help had arrived he was letting go the need to stay on top of everything.

  Jenny winced internally. ‘Let’s check out the situation before I make comment.’ But, yes, the sort of weight that rope carried suggested there was no alternative. She glanced at Cam. ‘Pulse slow.’ There was bound to be blood loss, even with pressure being applied by that rope.

  Jenny pulled on gloves. ‘I’m going to give you a nerve block so that you won’t feel a thing while we get you sorted and out of here.’ Which really said she’d already established she’d be amputating.

  The guy’s eyes opened for a brief moment then he nodded once.

  Together she and Cam went through the ritual of checking off the drug dosage. As she plunged the needle into a muscle in Haydon’s shoulder, Jenny was aware of the tension emanating off the crew, who stood to one side. She wondered how long they’d stay watching when she and Cam got the scalpels out. Hell, her stomach was rolling with nausea at the thought of removing Haydon’s arm, especially in a less than ideal situation.

  ‘You’re doing great,’ Cam said quietly, as he handed her swabs to clean the skin at the site where she’d amputate.

  Thank goodness for that. Cam’s calmness steadied the last of her nerves. She briefly locked gazes with him and nodded.

  ‘I’ll hold him from behind.’ One of the crew stepped forward.

  ‘Great.’ Cam tightened a ligature just above Haydon’s elbow to slow to a minimum the blood loss that would occur as she operated. Drawing from his calmness, Jenny pressed the scalpel blade deep. As she worked to free their patient, Cam wiped up the blood that escaped the ligature’s restraints.

  It took for ever. Haydon slipped into semi-consciousness.

  She’d never cut Haydon free. He’d die here. She worked harder.

  At last. She stepped away so Cam could place a pad over the stump and tape that in place.

  A loud thumping from above announced the arrival of the rescue helicopter moments before the downdraught from the rotors lashed them.

  ‘Doesn’t the pilot know not to come so close?’ she snapped, as she leaned over Haydon to protect him.

  ‘I guess he doesn’t have a lot of choice, given he’s got to land the paramedic on this harvester,’ Cam said a moment later, when the air settled again.

  ‘How’s our man doing?’ she asked, feeling for a pulse.

  ‘He’s one toughie. Let’s get him out of here.’

  Then the paramedic was standing beside them, taking note of the details of the operation. ‘We’re taking him to Wellington. There’s an orthopaedic surgeon already on standby.

  There was a whirl of activity, getting Haydon belted onto a stretcher and raised to the helicopter. Jenny cleaned up the accident site and retrieved everything, placing it all in a bag to go to Wellington with Haydon. Then it seemed only minutes later she was climbing down into the boat and dropping onto a seat in the cabin. She slashed the back of her hand across her forehead. ‘Phew. Glad that’s over.’

  Cam sat down beside her and reached for her hand. ‘Me, too.’ His thumb rubbed softly back and forth over her palm, like a windscreen wiper. ‘Thanks for coming with me. I’d have hated being alone for that one.’

  ‘Some things in medicine never get easy, do they?’ She leaned her head against his shoulder. ‘It’s really only just begun for Haydon, though.’

  ‘He’s strong. Somehow I think he’ll make the most of the situation and get on with living.’

  ‘You make it sound easy.’ Jenny stared at the floor. Was it that easy? Did picking up the pieces and getting on with her life all come down to attitude? ‘Thanks for hauling my tail out here. It’s been good for me. I felt like a doctor, thought like one, and acted competently.’ That surprised her, and now she was very grateful for having had the opportunity. Could she be Dr Bostock again?

  ‘You are a doctor. That was the neatest amputation I’ve witnessed, and given the circumstances you can be very proud.’ Cam squeezed her hand and settled further down on the seat. ‘I could do with a strong coffee about now.’

  ‘Me, too.’

  *

  ‘You look pleased with yourself.’ And absolutely gorgeous. Cam studied Jenny as he handed her a glass of wine. He looked forward to this half-hour with her at the end of each day when he could relax, talk medicine or boys or fishing. Not that she was into fishing, but she had let him ramble on about it last night until he’d caught her nearly falling asleep.

  ‘Today, helping Haydon, it all came naturally, like I’ve never stopped practising. Following on from helping Lily the other day and, yeah, I do feel as though I’m getting my mojo back. Havelock’s good for me.’

  Cam thought so. Jenny looked more relaxed, less drawn than she had that day he’d brought her home with him. ‘I enjoyed working with you.’ He’d like the opportunity to do it again, though not if it meant someone had to lose an arm. He sipped his wine. ‘I wonder how Haydon got on in surgery?’

  ‘Can you find out?’

  ‘I’ll try, though not all medical personnel are forthcoming with details when they don’t know me. So what did you do with the rest of the afternoon?’

  ‘Had a coffee with Amanda and Shelley.’

  ‘You’re making friends with the whole village.’ Maybe Jenny could settle here after all. She certainly didn’t scoff at the people she met just because they were fishermen or factory hands. ‘How was Shelley?’

  ‘In a bit of a state about Haydon. No one seems to understand how it happened. They’re so careful on that boat. She and Gavin have had a top rating for health and safety on their harvester and today’s incident has gutted them. For Haydon as much as for them.’ Her smile dimmed.

  ‘There’ll be an investigation by OSH.’ Occupational Health and Safety would go over that harvester thoroughly.

  ‘Shelley’s flying across to Wellington in the morning to see Haydon and help with whatever he needs. I think they’re going to suggest he comes back to stay with them when he’s discharged,’ Jenny added.

  ‘That doesn’t surprise me at all. It’s how it is around here.’

  She blinked at him. ‘I have first-hand experience of that.’ Her smile was cute and warming. ‘I don’t know how lucky I am sometimes.’ Jenny twirled her glass between her fingers. ‘I’ve been reminded of that today.’

  Interested in getting to know more about what made her tick, Cam asked, ‘Is this to do with why you are always restless? Why you’re always talking about moving on when you don’t need to?’

  Her eyes darkened, her fingers whitened on the stem of her glass, and her lips mashed together as she stared out across the lawn.

  Reaching for the glass, he removed it before the stem snapped and did some damage. ‘Jenny?’

  ‘I’ll definitely be gone by the thirteenth.’ Her voice was dead.

  ‘Gone?’ Within five days? Just when he’d begun to believe she might fit in here full time. What was going on? What had happened to her that was so bad she put up the shutters when he asked about her past? Did it have something to do with her twin? Draping an arm over her shoulders, he tucked her against him. ‘Talk to me, Jenny. Tell me what happened. Tell me why you stopped being a doctor, why you’re on the move.’

  She pulled away, stood up. ‘I’ll get dinner ready. I’m sure the boys will be starving when they get home from Amanda’s.’

  ‘Wait. Talk to me,’ he repeated. ‘You’ve been with me for more than two weeks. We’re becoming friends. I’d like to get to know you
better. Is that such a bad thing?’

  She stared down at him as though she’d never seen him before. ‘I can’t talk about it. Okay?’

  Not at all. ‘Can’t or won’t?’

  ‘Does it matter? My sister died, my life stopped. That’s all you need to know.’

  ‘No, that answer’s for others, not for me.’ The hand he took in his was cold and shaky. All his doing, but he wanted to help her, to bring out that humour and fun that she occasionally let slip. Wanted to find the real Jenny Bostock. ‘What’s special about that particular date?’

  She jerked her hand free, stepped further away from him. ‘Which bit of leave it alone don’t you get, Cam?’ Her voice rose on his name. ‘I am not prepared to talk about what happened. Ever. To anyone.’

  That was so not healthy. But she wasn’t about to have a heart-to-heart with him. That was so clear it glittered. Which hurt big time. What was apparent, though, was that this involved her sister. Anniversary of her death maybe? Fighting the urge to follow Jenny into the kitchen and keep trying to get her to talk, he sat staring out across the back yard and sipping his now tasteless wine.

  Note to self: try to help Jenny through whatever has turned her life upside down.

  He glanced inside, saw the saddest woman he’d ever encountered. The woman he suspected was coming to mean a lot to him. As in love? Did he love Jenny? Enough to get involved with whatever was tearing her apart?

  Yes, he thought he did. Scrub that, he knew he did. Somehow, when he’d been trying so hard to keep her arm’s length, she’d sneaked under the radar and stolen his heart.

  To hell with it. Striding into the kitchen, he gently removed the stirring spoon from her hand and took her in his arms. ‘I’m here for you, okay?’ He didn’t give her time to answer, just leaned down and captured her mouth with his.

  Jenny stood absolutely still, not returning the kiss, but neither did she withdraw.

  On her lips he tasted wine and Jenny, a heady mix that zoomed straight down his body, switching on his arousal. Somehow he didn’t think this was the time for bedroom activities. His kiss had been about sealing his vow to look out for her, about showing he cared.