Margaret McDonagh – Their Christmas Vows (страница 2)
Despite her wariness with people, she had particularly bonded with Annie Webster, one of the A and E doctors. It gave Callie hope that she had been right to come here, putting her troubled past behind her. However, the gossip about Frazer McInnes, the doctor Archie had paired her with, worried her. One hungry-looking casualty nurse had been outspoken on her views of the alleged romeo, but her unsubtle comments about Frazer’s supposed prowess and love-them-and-leave-them lifestyle had made Annie roll her eyes in distaste.
‘Take no notice of Olivia and her claimed conquests, Callie. She has her eye on every man around here under sixty, but that doesn’t mean they return her interest. Frazer may be one of Strathlochan’s most sought-after bachelors, and he certainly enjoys a good time, but he’s a lovely guy. He’s also a great doctor,’ Annie had reassured her.
At least, Callie assumed the words had been meant as reassuring. They just hadn’t entirely had that effect. Everything she had heard about Frazer McInnes made her nervous and brought fresh waves of doubt. But she would keep up her guard and reserve judgement until she met him. And today was the day. All her struggles and preparations had led her here, to the moment she would begin her exciting, long-dreamed-of new job as flight paramedic, when all the extra training and hard work she had done would pay off. Professionally. Personally she still had a very long way to go.
Hesitating outside the entrance, she twisted the narrow gold band on her ring finger before sliding it off and fixing it to a chain around her neck, out of the way for work. She didn’t like what it said about her, the fact that she was insecure enough to wear it, using it as an emotional shield, a protective screen. She’d hoped she had come further than that these last eighteen months. Apparently not. A shiver—one that had nothing to do with the cold—rippled down her spine.
Hearing noises in the hangar, she pulled herself together and sucked in a steadying breath, trying to calm the nerves that were rampaging inside her. Time to head inside and prepare for her first proper shift. And face her first meeting with the man who would be her work partner for the foreseeable future.
Dr Frazer McInnes jogged across the frosty car park towards the base, his Border terrier, Hamish, trotting at his heels. If the forecast was to be believed—and from the icy blast that had greeted him this morning it was—he had arrived back in Strathlochan after ten days in Perthshire, climbing Monroes with friends, just in time. He loved this time of year—the run up to Christmas, the festive spirit, the parties, the fun—but it also brought a lot of hard work, and the extra-harsh weather this December was a warning that there could be even more problems than usual ahead of them. Not that hard work bothered him.
He loved it. Loved what he did. The buzz of being a flight doctor, of never knowing what was going to happen next, always brought a burst of adrenalin. It was what everyone said about him—that he worked hard and played hard. As far as he was concerned life was for living, and he always planned to live it to the fullest.
The holiday had been great, but he had a smile on his face as he pushed through the door, anticipation at being back with the team and getting on with the job bubbling inside him. Hearing chat and laughter coming from along the corridor, he stowed his belongings in his locker and then made his way to the crew room, where the team going off-shift were preparing to hand over to his own before heading for home. He paused for a moment, soaking up the atmosphere, sketching a wave to his pilot, Craig Dalglish, who was helping himself to a mug of coffee in the refreshment area which housed food and drink supplies, a fridge-freezer and a microwave. The rest of the large but comfortable room was filled with easy chairs, sofa, tables, a work space, a small pool table, a piano, shelves of books and a TV with assorted DVDs.
As Hamish, unofficial base mascot, made himself the centre of attention and reacquainted himself with his adoring public, Frazer glanced around the room, his smile broadening as he spied his quarry. In her forties, married with two teenage boys, Mel Watson was his friend and colleague. They had a great working relationship and were always playing pranks on each other. In fact, he owed her for that last practical joke before his holiday, and with her rear end pointing straight at him as she bent over to reach something, he’d been gifted with the perfect opportunity to get his own back. It was way too much temptation to resist.
Silently, he moved up behind her and teasingly fondled her shapely curves. For a millisecond unease nudged his brain that the delectable feminine form beneath his hands wasn’t as familiar as it should have been. The next moment …
The blow caught him unprepared. Delivered with surprising force and accuracy, it drove all the air from his lungs and dropped him like a sack of potatoes. Stunned, he landed on his backside, a grunt of shock escaping as he sprawled unceremoniously on the floor. His assailant—
Silence descended on the room for several drawn-out moments. Then his colleagues laughed uproariously at his plight. Their reaction, however, made the woman even more angry, and he regretted the flash of humiliation he could see in her eyes. He’d never do anything to show someone up. This had all been a ghastly mistake. His hand went to the point of pain at his midriff, where her elbow had delivered the killer blow, and he tried to suck some much-needed oxygen back into painfully starved lungs so he could speak.
But she didn’t wait around to concern herself with his apology … or his recovery. Instead, she stepped around him, giving him a wide berth, then marched from the room. It was an impressive march, too, for such a tiny thing. Now he had seen the whole impressive package, he couldn’t understand how he had ever mistaken the stranger for the taller, more robust Mel, who was also a decade or more older than the firebrand who’d just decked him. As he sat there, bemused and bewildered, his friends’ merriment continued at his expense. Only Hamish came to check on his well-being. Thankful for at least one display of loyalty, Frazer scratched the dog behind the ears, his fingers sinking below the harsh outer coat to the softer one below.
‘Trust you to make such a great first impression, Frazer,’ Craig, the pilot on his flight team, tormented him.
‘Yeah, I wish I wasn’t going home,’ Rick Duncan, a paramedic coming off-shift, added with evident enjoyment. ‘I’d love to be around for the fireworks to come. You’ve met your match now, buddy.’
Still winded, Frazer frowned. ‘Who
‘The new flight paramedic.’
A sick feeling of dread settled inside him at Craig’s grin. ‘Whose?’
‘Yours!’
‘Damnation.’ Groaning, he levered himself up off the floor, his dignity well and truly shot to pieces.
Rick’s smile was distinctly unsympathetic. ‘That’ll teach you. See you guys in three days—if you’re all still alive!’
‘Welcome back, Frazer,’ Craig chuckled as Rick and the others left. He poured a second mug of coffee and handed it over. ‘Here, you’re going to need it. Archie wants to see you.’
Frazer gratefully accepted the caffeine fix, and wondered what their boss, a former flight doctor himself, and now base director, would have to say. ‘Where’s Mel? What’s been going on around here? I’ve only been away ten days.’
‘Archie will explain.’
‘Terrific.’
He took a slug of hot coffee, wincing at the burn on his tongue and down his throat. He had the distinct feeling he was not going to like whatever news was to come … and that the mistake he had just made with the new paramedic was going to return to haunt him. A few moments later he walked along to the office to learn his fate and rapped on the door.
‘Come on in, Frazer,’ Archie called. The older man looked up with a smile, running one hand across his receding hairline. ‘How was the holiday?’
‘Wonderful. But it’s good to be back.’
Archie nodded. ‘Good to have you back. Take a seat.’
‘So what’s the story with Mel?’ he asked, pulling a chair up to his boss’s desk.
‘She’s grounded, Frazer. Health reasons.’