Once Upon a Christmas (20 page)

Male laughter intruded on her doze and she woke fully and sat up.

Since David had called her from the airport, getting out of bed had proved to be the biggest challenge of every day, but today, for some reason that she couldn’t identify, it didn’t seem so bad.

She dressed quickly and wandered downstairs, curious
as to who Oliver was talking to. Pushing open the kitchen door, she saw him sitting with his feet on the table, chatting to his brother, Tom.

‘Good morning …’ Feeling suddenly shy and wondering if she was interrupting something, Helen started to back away but Oliver was on his feet in an instant, treating her to that easy, sexy smile that seemed to be his specialty.

‘Sit down and I’ll pour you some coffee. This is Tom.’

‘Hi, there.’ Tom gave her a friendly nod and Helen slid into a chair, feeling very self-conscious. Fortunately both brothers dived straight back into their conversation about a rescue that had obviously taken place the week before and, realising that neither of them was taking much notice of her, Helen relaxed and just listened.

Although Tom was a similar build to Oliver and had the same dark hair and blue eyes, he seemed to have a completely different personality. While Oliver was relaxed and friendly, Tom seemed reserved and cool, his handsome face giving away little as he talked.

‘We’re a dog team down until Ellie’s willing to leave the baby,’ he was saying, and Oliver nodded, his gaze flickering to Helen.

‘In bad weather a dog can search much more effectively than a human,’ he explained, leaning over and handing her a steaming mug of coffee. ‘Ellie, one of our staff nurses, is a member of SARDA—that’s the Search and Rescue Dog Association, but she had a baby a few weeks ago so she’s out of action for the time being.’

Helen listened as they chatted about other members of SARDA they’d worked with.

Finally Tom yawned and glanced at his watch. ‘I’d better
make a move. I’m popping into the hospital. I’ve got a couple of ladies ready to pod that I’m not entirely sure about.’ He glanced at his brother. ‘Are you going to be at home later?’

‘I might call in,’ Oliver said casually, his eyes fixed intently on his brother’s face, as if he was trying to communicate something, ‘but of course I’m staying here for most of this month because of the work I’m having done on my, er, roof.’

There was a long silence while Tom looked at his brother and then he stirred. ‘Your roof.’

‘That’s right. My roof.’ Oliver smiled. ‘I’m just lucky Bry’s away so that I can stay here while it’s happening.’

Tom picked up his coat. ‘Amazing planning on your part.’ He smiled at Helen. ‘See you around. Walk me to the car, Oliver, I need to give you that ice axe.’

‘All right, what the hell is going on?’ Tom folded his arms across his chest and glanced back at the house. ‘You’ve moved in here?’

‘Keep your voice down.’ Oliver frowned at him and Tom gave a suggestive smile.

‘Well, that’s fast, bro, even for you. But, then, she is extremely pretty.’

The fact that his brother found Helen pretty bothered Oliver more than he could possibly have imagined, and he gritted his teeth and consoled himself with the fact that he and Tom never fell for the same type of woman.

‘You saw her at the wedding. She was a mess. I didn’t want to leave her on her own.’

‘Right. So this is, of course, a completely altruistic gesture
on your part.’ Tom’s voice was loaded with irony. ‘And what’s all this rubbish about your roof?’

Oliver raked long fingers through his cropped hair. ‘I needed an excuse to not live in my house. I told her I was having my roof done.’

Tom threw his head back and laughed aloud. ‘In the middle of January while it’s snowing? And she believed you?’

‘She’s a southerner. They don’t have proper winters in the south,’ Oliver said, glancing towards the house to make sure that Helen wasn’t listening. ‘I was caught on the hop—I didn’t know what else to say. I just knew that I couldn’t leave her on her own and don’t think she has much experience of fixing roofs.’

‘For your sake, I hope you’re right,’ Tom said, waggling his finger at his brother, ‘or you are in big trouble. So exactly what form did this comfort take last night? Horizontal?’

Oliver glared. ‘Don’t be disgusting.’

‘Ah …’ Tom’s eyes glittered with speculation. ‘My little brother has come over all protective. So I take it you didn’t sleep with her?’

Oliver gritted his teeth. ‘I did not. She’s been through a bad time.’

‘So what she needs is another man to take her mind off the rat who broke her heart,’ Tom drawled, unlocking his car and throwing his jacket inside. ‘Simple. If you don’t think that’s you, let me know. I’m sure I could cheer her up.’

Oliver’s hands curled into fists. ‘Lay one finger on Helen and I’ll knock you out cold,’ he said icily, and Tom straightened up, the smile fading from his handsome face.

‘Whoa.’ His voice was soft, all the mockery gone as he put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. ‘Are you serious about her?’

Oliver sucked in a breath and suddenly realised that he was. ‘Crazy isn’t it? I’ve only known her for five minutes.’

Tom’s grip tightened momentarily. ‘Well, that’s all it takes for some people.’ He frowned and let his hand drop. ‘Be careful, Oliver. If she’s been that badly hurt she could be bad news for you.’

‘I’ll take my chances. To be honest, the biggest problem at the moment is getting her through the next few days. The only time she seemed to function properly was at the accident last night.’

‘Accident?’

Oliver related what had happened and Tom shrugged. ‘Well, she had something to take her mind off her problems. Sleep with her and it will have the same effect.’

Oliver looked at his brother in naked exasperation, conveniently forgetting the direction his thoughts had taken the night before. ‘Do you ever think about anything but sex?’

‘Not really.’ Tom yawned. ‘I’m an obstetrician. I’m confronted by the by-product of sex on a daily basis.’

But Oliver wasn’t listening. ‘What I need is to find her a job,’ he muttered, an idea forming in his mind. ‘She’s a practice nurse.’

‘You’ve already got a perfectly good practice nurse. You don’t have enough work for another one.’

‘That’s true.’ Oliver’s expression was thoughtful and Tom gave a sigh.

‘What’s on your mind?’

‘I’ve got a plan.’

Tom rolled his eyes. ‘I thought you might have. And no doubt it involves giving the lovely Helen a job. What are you going to do? Fire Maggie?’

Oliver shook his head. ‘No need. I’ve thought of a much better solution.’

‘I daren’t even ask,’ Tom said wearily, and Oliver looked at him.

‘What about you?’ He forced himself to ask the question. ‘Are you interested in her—seriously?’ He held his breath, waiting for his brother to answer, but Tom gave a slow shake of his head.

‘No. She’s very pretty, but …’ He shrugged dismissively and it was Oliver’s turn to frown.

‘You do realise that you haven’t been serious about a woman since Sally, don’t you?’

‘You sound like one of those daytime chat show hosts.’ Tom’s eyes were suddenly shuttered, his face blank of expression. ‘I’m serious about my career. That’s enough.’

Oliver suddenly realised that although they were as close as brothers could be, Tom never, ever talked about Sally. He talked about women and dating and sex, but never about Sally Jenner, despite the fact he’d never been seriously involved with a woman since. Surely after seven years he should be able to talk about her? Unless she still meant something to him. Unless he was regretting the split …

Knowing that he was on dangerous ground, Oliver sucked in a breath. ‘Tom …’

‘This is a pretty serious conversation to be having outside Bry’s cottage on a snowy Sunday morning, don’t you think?’ Tom drawled lazily, turning back to the car and
sliding into the driver’s seat. ‘If you’re still feeling like analysing the meaning of life this evening, you can meet me at the Drunken Fox and we’ll get seriously hammered. In the meantime, I’ve got lives to save.’

He slammed the door, hit the accelerator and roared off at a speed that made Oliver wince.

Making a mental note to force a proper conversation about Sally at some point, Oliver reached into his pocket and grabbed his mobile phone.

His call to Maggie, his practice nurse, yielded the result he was hoping for and he strode back inside the cottage feeling thoroughly satisfied with the way his morning was going.

Pushing open the kitchen door, he was hit by the delicious smell of sizzling bacon. While he’d been outside with Tom, Helen had cooked bacon, made fresh coffee and cut some slices of bread from a loaf.

‘I thought you might like breakfast,’ she said, and he stared at the plate on the table.

‘There’s only one plate.’

She flushed. ‘I’m not hungry.’

Oliver smiled placidly and settled himself at the table. ‘I’ll only eat if you eat, too, sweetheart.’

She chewed her lip and lifted the bacon from the pan onto the plate. ‘I don’t—’

‘Helen.’ His tone was patient. ‘You didn’t eat a thing yesterday and you need some energy for what’s happening today.’

Her eyes flew to his. ‘What’s happening today?’

‘I need to make some calls and I need you to come with me.’

‘Me?’ She looked surprised, as well she might. ‘Why me?’

Because he had things to do and he had no intention of leaving her sitting brooding in the cottage.

‘You were very good at that accident last night,’ he said casually, cutting two more slices of bread and putting them on her plate. ‘You’re obviously a fabulous nurse and once you’ve eaten something I have a proposition to make.’

She sank into a chair opposite him. ‘A proposition?’

‘Yes.’ Oliver forked bacon onto the bread and pushed the plate towards her. ‘Eat.’

‘But …’

He smiled placidly and took a huge bite out of his own sandwich. ‘Eat.’

She did as she was told, although her bite was more of a nibble. ‘What’s your proposition?’

‘I need a practice nurse.’

She put the sandwich down on her plate. ‘I’m not looking for a job, Oliver, I don’t think I can.’

‘Let me finish.’ He smiled at her, wishing that he could do something to bring colour to her cheeks. Even after a decent night’s sleep, she still looked pale and tired. ‘It would just be temporary. Our practice nurse has gone to Australia for a month to see her new granddaughter. We’re pretty desperate.’

Helen frowned. ‘But surely if you knew she was going …’

‘It was a sudden decision on her part,’ Oliver said glibly, consoling himself with the fact that it
had
been a sudden decision, so he wasn’t exactly lying. ‘It would be impossible to find someone just for a month.’

‘You want me to work in your practice for a month?’

‘It would be great if you could,’ Oliver said fervently,
realising that if she said no he was in serious trouble. He’d just given his delighted practice nurse a month’s leave and there was no way he could withdraw the offer. If Helen refused to step in, his partners would lynch him.

‘I—I don’t know,’ she stammered, lifting her coffee mug and then putting it down again without taking a sip. ‘I hadn’t even thought about work, to be honest.’

‘Well, what are you going to do all day if you don’t work?’

‘I don’t know.’ She stared at her hands as if she hadn’t actually given the subject any thought until that moment. ‘I thought I might read a few books, go for walks …’

Oliver remembered her footwear and resolved to check the way she was dressed before she went for a walk. The mountain rescue team spent an inordinate amount of time rescuing people who’d ventured into the hills in unsuitable foot gear.

‘I’ll take you for walks,’ he promised. ‘I’ll show you the area. When we’re not working.’

She coloured slightly. ‘But—’

‘I’ll do you a deal.’ His gaze was steady on hers. ‘You help me out of my crisis and work in my practice and I’ll show you the Lake District. I guarantee that by the time I finish you won’t want to set foot in grimy, traffic-clogged London again.’

She smiled and he could tell she was wavering. ‘I don’t know anything about working in a rural practice.’

Oliver shrugged. ‘It’s exactly the same as working in any other practice. People still get sick with the same things and have the same problems as they do in London. Our practice nurse runs an asthma clinic once a week and does
the immunisations with the health visitors. All the usual sorts of things. And if you have any worries you can always come to me.’

‘What about your partners?’ She bit her lip. ‘Wouldn’t they want to interview me or something?’

Oliver shook his head. ‘I have two partners—Ally Nicholson, she’s the wife of Sean, one of the A and E consultants. They were both at the wedding. And then there’s Hugh Bannister. He’s great, too. Once I tell them how brilliant you are, Ally and Hugh would just be grateful to you for helping out.’

She sat silent for a moment and he could see that she was weighing up the pros and cons.

‘I haven’t brought a uniform with me.’

‘I’ll call Ellie,’ Oliver said immediately. ‘You two must be about the same size and she won’t be using hers for a few months. It will be fine.’

Helen looked at him, clearly unsure what to say now that final excuse had been dealt with.

‘All right,’ she said finally, ‘if you’re sure you want me.’

Oh, he definitely wanted her.
In his practice and in his bed, preferably every day for the rest of his life.

Reminding himself that he had to take it one step at a time, Oliver pushed her sandwich towards her.

‘Great. When you’ve finished breakfast, get some warm clothes on. There are some patients I want to see.’