Czytaj książkę: «The Midwife's New Year Wish»

CHAPTER ONE

‘OK, FOLKS, can we have a bit of hush while I check that everyone’s here?’

Katie Denning flicked the pompom attached to her bright green elf’s cap out of her eyes and consulted her list. It was Christmas Eve and the staff at Dalverston General Hospital were about to perform their annual Christmas carol concert. It was the first time that Katie had organised the event and she was determined that it was going to be a huge success. She’d spent hours working on their costumes but it had been worth it, she decided, looking around the room. Never had she seen such a well-dressed collection of elves and fairies in her entire life!

‘Right, if you could all shout out when I call your names it would be a big help,’ she instructed. ‘I’ll start with the fairies so that’s Anne, Vicky, Linda and Jane.’

‘Here!’ they chorused obediently.

Katie put ticks beside their names then worked her way down the list, ticking off the elves, the reindeer and George, the hospital’s head porter, who’d agreed to be a snowman that year. ‘So that just leaves Santa,’ she concluded, glancing up and frowning when she realised that Jim Carstairs, the surgical registrar who’d offered to play Father Christmas, was nowhere in sight. ‘Has anyone seen Jim today? I hope he hasn’t gone off sick with that flu bug that’s been doing the rounds.’

‘He was in Theatre when I last saw him,’ Vicky explained helpfully. ‘He said to tell you that he’d be along as soon as he’d finished so I don’t know what’s happened to him.’

‘I’ll give Theatre a ring and find out,’ Katie said, hurrying to the phone. She put through a call to Theatre, her heart sinking when one of the staff there explained there’d been a problem with the patient they’d been operating on and that she had no idea how long it would be now before Jim was free to leave.

Katie thanked her and hung up but it was going to cause no end of problems if she had to find a replacement for Jim so late in the day. They could always go ahead without him, of course, but the kids on the children’s ward would be so disappointed if Santa didn’t turn up for his promised visit and Katie hated to think of all their sad little faces. She quickly explained her predicament to the others, sighing when everyone groaned.

‘I know. It’s going to be almost impossible to find someone to take Jim’s place at this stage. I daren’t try and filch anyone else from the wards because we’re already working on minimum staffing levels as it is.’

‘How about one of the visitors?’ Anne suggested. ‘Visiting hour is just about to finish so if you’re quick you might be able to waylay somebody suitable. I’m sure you’ll find someone willing to play the part if you tell them it’s for the benefit of the kids.’

‘Good idea!’ Katie exclaimed in relief. ‘You lot stay here and I’ll see who I can find. If I hang about by the main entrance surely I’ll find someone willing to spare a couple of hours.’

‘Just make sure that you don’t scare the pants off them,’ Pete Gilchrist, one of the paramedics, put in with a grin. ‘It is Christmas Eve, don’t forget, so a few of the visitors might have had a celebratory drink. You could give someone a very nasty turn if they see you loitering about in that get-up!’

‘Cheek! I thought it looked rather fetching on me, too.’

Katie grinned as she smoothed the bright green tabard over her hips. With it she was wearing a pair of green and red striped tights and green felt slippers. She’d pinned her light brown hair under her cap and painted green and red freckles across the bridge of her nose so she could well imagine the shock she might give any unwary visitor who’d been imbibing a drop or two of Christmas cheer.

She rolled her eyes when everyone jeered. ‘All right, I suppose we don’t want to go touting for business so I promise I’ll be careful. Back in a sec!’

She hurried out of the staffroom and made her way to the main entrance. There were a lot of visitors leaving and she smiled to herself when she saw the surprise on their faces as she hurried past. She spotted a couple of children staring at her and waggled her fingers at them, and they laughed and waved back. At least she didn’t look too scary to them, Katie thought with a chuckle.

There was quite a crush in the foyer so she found a quiet spot near the coffee-machine from where she could check out everyone who was leaving. Jim was six feet tall so whoever wore the costume would need to be roughly the same height because there was no time to shorten it. It would also help if he was as comfortably rounded as Jim was, too, although she could probably find some padding at a push. Hair colour wasn’t a problem because she’d managed to borrow a curly white wig from one of the patients on the oncology unit, and age also wasn’t an issue because the thick white beard she’d fashioned out of cotton wool would hide a multitude of sins. No, all she needed was a healthy, six-foot-tall male, willing to help, and everything would be fine.

Knowing what she needed and finding it, however, proved to be two entirely separate issues. As the flow of visitors tailed off to a trickle, Katie started getting desperate. She’d not seen a single man who’d fit the bill the whole time she’d been standing there so now what was she going to do? She could hardly go out into the street and accost people…

Could she?

Katie didn’t hesitate as she hurried outside. She didn’t want to have second thoughts about the wisdom of what she was doing because there wasn’t time. There had to be at least one eligible male in the town who could play Santa! She raced across the car park towards the main road then yelped in alarm when a car door suddenly opened directly in front of her. She managed to side-step the obstruction and ground to an ungainly halt as she glared at the hapless driver.

‘Why don’t you look what you’re doing? You could have knocked me over just now!’

‘I’m really sorry but I didn’t see you.’

The voice was deep and tinged with amusement but Katie was in no mood to appreciate the joke. The concert was due to start in less than half an hour’s time and her star performer was missing. She scowled at the man as he climbed unhurriedly out of his car. ‘Then you should be more careful in future.’

‘Oh, I shall. I’ll make a point of checking for lowflying elves every time I park here from now on.’

This time he didn’t attempt to hide his laughter and Katie’s mouth pursed. ‘And so you should. It could have been a child you almost flattened with that door.’

‘It could indeed. Good job it was only an elf. I mean, you’re supposed to be immortal, aren’t you, so no harm would have been done.’ He smiled calmly at her as he took a bag out of the back of the car and locked the door.

Katie glowered back, not sure she enjoyed being the butt of his jokes. Normally she had a very good sense of humour but she was too stressed to appreciate his clever remarks at that moment. ‘Oh, ha, ha, very funny. I’d split my sides laughing if I had the time to spare.’

‘Thank you. I didn’t realise that I could appeal to an elf’s sense of humour as well as everyone else’s. It’s always good to know that you can spread a little happiness as you pass through this life, isn’t it?’

With that he sketched her a wave and headed towards the hospital’s main entrance. Katie glared after him, wishing she had the time to tell him exactly where he could get off…She blinked when it suddenly struck her what she was seeing.

Six feet tall.

Male.

Apparently fit and obviously not in a hurry if the way he was sauntering up the path was anything to go by. He fitted her requirements to a T and she wasn’t about to let him slip through her fingers because he had a particularly irritating sense of humour!

She charged after him and grabbed hold of his arm so that he was forced to stop. ‘What are you doing for the next hour?’

‘Why? Are you thinking of initiating me into your elfin coven?’

‘It’s witches that have covens, not elves!’ she retorted.

‘Are you sure?’ He tipped his head to the side and regarded her thoughtfully. ‘So what do elves have then? A brotherhood? A family? A—?’

‘Oh, for pity’s sake, I don’t know!’ Her fingers gripped his arm as she struggled to regain control of her normally even temper. ‘I’ve no idea what elves do in their private lives. I’m really not interested! I just want to know if you can spare an hour to help give some sick kids a decent Christmas.’

‘What exactly did you have in mind?’ he asked with a marked lack of enthusiasm. However, Katie wasn’t about to let that deter her.

‘I need someone to play Santa at the Christmas carol concert. One of the surgical team was going to do it but he’s stuck in Theatre and can’t get away.’

‘Surely there must be someone else who could take over from him.’

‘You’d think so, wouldn’t you?’ She snorted in disgust. ‘I mean, it’s not asking much, is it? All I need is a man who’s roughly six feet tall so he’ll fit the costume and who’s willing to smile at the kids and do a bit of ho-ho-hoing…’ She stopped and stared at him. ‘You can do all that, can’t you?’

‘Smile at the kids or go ho-ho-ho?’

‘Both,’ she snapped, because she really didn’t appreciate all these wisecracks.

‘I suppose I could manage it at a push. It all depends on the fee, of course.’ He looked consideringly at her. ‘What’s the going rate for playing Santa these days?’

‘You’d expect to be paid!’ she exclaimed in dismay. ‘But it’s for the sake of the children.’

‘No actor worth his salt would work for free,’ he told her seriously. ‘And that includes anyone playing Santa Claus at a Christmas carol concert.’

‘But—’

‘Tell you what, why don’t we leave the subject of payment until later?’ He grinned at her. ‘You can judge me on my performance and then decide what you think I’m worth.’

‘Well, I suppose it will be all right,’ she conceded grudgingly, wondering where she was going to find the money to pay him. The costumes had cost a small fortune and she’d had to dip into her savings to pay for the material…

‘That’s settled, then. Let’s shake on it.’ He held out his hand. ‘My name’s Nick, by the way. Rather appropriate in the circumstances, isn’t it?’

‘I…um…Yes, I suppose it is.’ Katie hastily shrugged aside her concerns about paying his fee because she really didn’t have the time to worry about it right then. She took his hand and quickly shook it. ‘I’m Katie Denning and I’m a midwife on the maternity unit.’

‘Interesting job,’ Nick observed lightly as he released her. ‘So what do you want me to do? Didn’t you mention something about a costume?’

‘Oh, yes, of course.’ Katie glanced at her watch and groaned when she saw how late it was. ‘We’ll have to get a move on, though. We’re due at Women’s Surgical in fifteen minutes.’

She bustled up the path, murmuring her thanks when Nick opened the door for her. She took him straight to the porter’s lodge which had been turned into a makeshift dressing room that day and quickly unhooked the long red robes she’d made from the picture rail. Dalverston General had been built in the Victorian era—one of the many workhouse hospitals that had flourished in those days—and parts of the building still bore the evidence of its grim past. She saw Nick frown as he looked around the room and immediately guessed what he was thinking.

‘The rest of the hospital is very modern,’ she assured him. ‘All the wards and theatres are in the new part of the building so it’s just a few odd places, mainly to do with the admin side of things, that are still sited in the old section.’

‘Thank heavens for that!’ he exclaimed, tossing his bag onto a chair and shrugging off his heavy quilted jacket. ‘I was just beginning to wonder what I’d let myself in for.’

Katie wasn’t sure what he meant by that. However, a glance at the clock warned her that she didn’t have the time to investigate it right then. She quickly took the robes off the hanger and handed them to him.

‘These should fit you length-wise but you’re a lot slimmer than Jim so I’m going to have to pad you out round the middle. Can you start getting ready while I see what I can find?’

‘Will do.’

He obediently dragged his sweater over his head and Katie hastily averted her eyes when she was suddenly presented with the sight of a very tanned and very muscular abdomen. She quickly left the room, trying to blot out the image of that fit male body because she had more important things to worry about than her new Santa’s superb physique.

Five minutes later she was on her way back with a couple of pillows and some bandages that she’d borrowed from the orthopaedic ward. There were just ten minutes left before the concert was due to start and she muttered a silent prayer that Nick would be dressed as she backed into the room. The timing of the concert was crucial if they weren’t to disrupt the whole routine of the hospital. The day staff were due to go off duty at six o’clock when the night staff would take over. Several of the carol singers were on night duty, herself included, so it was vital that they finished on time. It was little wonder that her stomach was churning with nerves when she turned to see how Nick was faring, but she needn’t have worried. Not only had he changed into the robes but he’d put on the wig and the beard as well. He looked so stupendous, in fact, that Katie gaped at him in amazement and he chuckled.

‘So how do I look?’ He performed a slow twirl, his hazel eyes gleaming with laughter as he turned to face her again. ‘Think I’ll pass muster with the kids?’

‘Oh, definitely!’ Katie could barely contain her delight. ‘You look absolutely fantastic. You’d think those robes had been made specially for you, in fact. All you need now is the padding and you’ll be the perfect Santa every child dreams about.’

‘We aim to please.’

He swept her a laughing bow and her breath caught when she realised all of a sudden just how handsome he was. Even with that ridiculous beard there was no hiding the fact that he was an extremely good-looking man so that she was all fingers and thumbs as she set about fashioning a paunch for him.

‘Here, let me help you. It’s a bit tricky trying to do it all by yourself. If I hold the pillows in place you can just wrap those bandages around me.’

Nick quickly unbuttoned his robe and held the pillows against his tanned midriff. Katie took a steadying breath before she started to wind the bandage neatly around his waist. This wasn’t the right moment to panic, she told herself sternly. She didn’t have the time!

‘You may need to fasten them on a bit higher up as well.’ Nick jiggled about, grimacing when the pillows immediately doubled over in the middle. ‘See what I mean? Wrap some of that bandage round my chest as well. That should do the trick.’

Katie sucked in another breath as she set about bandaging the pillows to his upper torso. It was harder to reach around him now because he was so much broader around the chest and a spasm of awareness shot through her when her fingers encountered warm, bare flesh. It was a relief when the last bit of bandage had been fastened into place.

‘That’s better.’ Nick buttoned up the robe, nodding his approval as he patted his newly acquired paunch. ‘I look a bit more like the kind of Father Christmas the kids will be expecting, don’t I?’

‘You look great,’ Katie muttered, quickly moving away. She’d fitted all the male members of staff for their costumes but not once had she felt as aware of them as she’d felt of Nick just now and it was rather alarming to have to admit it. She’d promised herself that she wouldn’t rush into another relationship after what had happened with David. The next time she got involved with someone she would take her time and get to know him properly. Maybe there was an excuse for what she’d done because she’d been so lonely after her parents had died that she’d not been thinking clearly. However, she intended to learn from her mistake and not repeat it.

She cleared her throat, hoping that Nick couldn’t tell how jittery she felt. ‘You just need to put your hood on now and then you’re ready.’

‘Right.’ Nick pulled the hood over his head then looked at her. ‘How’s that?’

‘I’m not sure…I think your wig’s a bit crooked.’

‘Better?’ he asked, quickly adjusting it.

‘No, it’s still not right. It looks as though it’s drooping over your right eye.’

‘You’d better do it, then.’

He sat down on a chair, obviously expecting her to adjust the wig to her own satisfaction. Katie went and stood in front of him, hoping he couldn’t tell how loath she was to touch him in case the same thing happened again. Using the very tips of her fingers, she tweaked the wig into place then hastily stepped back when he reached for the mirror.

‘That’s better,’ he declared, studying his reflection from various angles. ‘What about the beard, though? It looks a bit uneven to me. Maybe you should fix that as well?’

‘It’s fine,’ she assured him because she really couldn’t face the thought of having to set to work on his beard next…

She bit her lip because she could just imagine how stressful it would be to smooth that cotton wool around his mouth. What on earth was the matter with her? she wondered desperately. Why was she having all these crazy thoughts about a stranger? It was impossible to say so it was a relief when Vicky poked her head round the door.

‘How did you get on, Katie? Did you manage to find—? Oh, wow!’

Katie summoned a smile as Vicky came into the room. ‘So what do you think of our new Santa?’

‘Brilliant!’ Vicky declared in obvious admiration. ‘I don’t know who you are in real life, Santa, but I’d let you bounce me on your knee any day of the week!’

‘Thank you.’ Nick grinned at her, his teeth gleaming whitely even through the snowy folds of his beard. ‘I could return the compliment. In fact, the next time I need a fairy to assist me you’ll be at the very top of my list!’

Katie quickly battened down her irritation when Vicky giggled. There was no point wishing that she’d been wearing one of the fairy costumes because that would be stupid. She headed for the door, deeming it wiser to stick to the task at hand. ‘It’s time to make a start so shall we go and find the others?’

Vicky hurriedly followed her out of the room. However, Katie couldn’t help noticing that she hung back so she could walk with Nick. They passed a couple of late visitors who were leaving and she gritted her teeth when she heard Nick give a booming ‘ho-ho-ho’ as he wished them a merry Christmas. He seemed to be adapting to the role rather too easily, she thought sourly, then realised how perverse that thought was. The fact that Nick seemed to have a preference for fairies rather than elves wasn’t a good enough reason to wish he’d make a hash of things!

The idea was so ridiculous that Katie chuckled then hurriedly turned it into a cough when she saw Nick staring at her. ‘Bit of frog in the throat,’ she explained, leading the way into the staffroom where the rest of the party was waiting. She quickly introduced Nick to everyone by telling them simply that he’d offered to play the part of Santa without going into detail. If he did demand payment then she’d have to work something out, but she wasn’t going to spoil everyone’s afternoon by mentioning money.

They went straight to Women’s Surgical, where they were given a rousing welcome. Even the patients who were really ill seemed to cheer up as they worked their way through their repertoire of carols. Nick turned out to have a surprisingly good voice so that Katie was forced to admit that no matter what it might end up costing her, it could be worth it. He carried them through ‘Once In Royal David’s City’ and took the lead in ‘Silent Night’, singing the lovely old carol with such feeling that there were several members of staff as well as patients with tears in their eyes when they left. It was the same in each ward they visited. However, it was in the children’s ward where he really came into his own.

Katie was frankly amazed by his aplomb as they went from bed to bed so that Nick could wish each of the kids in turn a merry Christmas. He was a natural and she couldn’t believe how lucky she’d been to find him, a sentiment echoed by several members of the group as they made their way back after the performance was over. It had been a resounding success and it had been all down to Nick for pulling it together.

Katie waited until they were back in the staffroom then clapped her hands and called for order. ‘I just want to thank you all for today. It was brilliant and everyone loved it.’

She turned to Nick, who was surrounded by a group of admirers. ‘The biggest thanks, though, must go to you, Nick. I don’t think we could have found a better Santa!’

Everyone cheered and Nick grinned. ‘It was my pleasure, although I’ll be very glad to get out of this costume, I can tell you. Now all that’s left for me to do is to claim my fee.’

Before Katie had time to realise what was happening, he stepped forward and swept her into his arms. ‘I think a kiss should just about cover it.’