Once Upon a Christmas

He slid into his sports car and dropped his head back against the seat.

No doubt, now that word was out that she was going to start dating, flowers would be arriving for her thick and fast.

He growled low in his throat, tension rising in him as he contemplated the impact that her announcement had made.

Why had she chosen to tell the whole pub? Didn’t she know that all the guys lusted after her? That with her long silken blonde hair and her fabulous curvy body, she couldn’t walk across a room without stopping conversations? And he felt every bit as protective towards her as he knew her brothers did.

And now some sleazy guy would come along and take advantage of her, and she was so trusting and inexperienced with men she wouldn’t even notice until it was too late.

Jack reversed the car out of its space, crunching the gears viciously. Well, not while he was available to prevent it happening.

She’d become pregnant in her second year at medical school and neither he nor her brothers had been around to sort the guy out. Damn it, she hadn’t even told them who he was. Just mumbled something about the whole thing being a mistake and refused to even discuss it even though Tom and Oliver had pumped her for hours.

Well, there wasn’t going to be another mistake, Jack thought grimly, his strong hands tightening on the wheel. Because now there was Lizzie’s happiness to think of, too. No one was going to hurt either one of his girls.

From now on, if any guy so much as looked at Bryony the wrong way, if there was even a scent of someone messing her around, he’d step in and floor them.

Satisfied that he was back in control of the situation, he stopped trying to pulverise his precious car and slowed his pace.

All he needed to do now was plan. He needed to know exactly whom she was dating so that he could issue a warning.

Bryony let herself into the house and found her mother in the kitchen. ‘Is she asleep?’

‘Fast asleep.’ Her mother dried her hands on a towel. ‘You’re back early, darling. Is something wrong?’

‘No.’ Bryony unwrapped the scarf from around her neck and tossed it onto the chair. Her coat followed.

‘Bryony, I’m your mother. I can tell when something is wrong.’

Bryony glared at her, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. ‘Jack Rothwell, that’s what’s wrong!’

‘Ah.’ Her mother gave a smile and turned to put the kettle on. ‘Tea?’

‘I suppose so.’ Bryony slumped into the nearest chair and sighed. ‘He is the most infuriating man.’

‘Is he?’

‘You know he is.’

Her mother reached for the tea bags. ‘I know that you two have been very close for almost the whole of your lives,’ she said mildly. ‘I’m sure that whatever it is you’ve quarrelled about will go away.’

‘The man dates every woman on the planet,’ Bryony said, still outraged by his attitude, ‘but when I announce that I’m going to start going out with men, he’s suddenly disapproving. And he had the nerve to lecture me on my responsibilities to Lizzie!’

‘Did he?’ Her mother looked thoughtful. ‘That’s very interesting.’

‘Interesting?’ Bryony shot her mother an incredulous look. ‘Irritating, you mean. And hypocritical. How many girlfriends has Jack Rothwell had since I first met him?’

Her mother poured the tea. ‘Quite a few, I should think.’

‘Half the planet,’ Bryony said flatly. ‘He certainly isn’t in a position to lecture me about morals.’

‘I imagine he thought he was protecting Lizzie.’

Bryony stared at her. ‘From what?’

Her mother put two mugs on the table and sat down opposite her. ‘Jack hasn’t had a very positive experience of marriage, sweetheart.’

‘You mean because of his parents?’

Her mother’s mouth tightened with disapproval. ‘Well, you know my opinion on that. They were grown-ups. He was a child. They should have sorted out their differences amicably. After his father walked out, Jack spent most of his childhood at our house and I don’t think his mother even noticed he wasn’t at home. She was too busy enjoying herself to remember that she had a child.’

Bryony bit her lip, suddenly realising why Jack might have been so sensitive about her dating. ‘But I wouldn’t do that. That isn’t what this is about.’

‘I know. But you understand Jack better than anyone,’ her mother said calmly. ‘He wasn’t thinking about you, darling. He was thinking about his own experiences.’

Bryony bit her lip. ‘Do you think I should start dating, Mum?’

‘Certainly I think you should date,’ her mother replied calmly. ‘I’ve always thought you should date, but you’ve always been too crazy about Jack to notice anyone else.’

Bryony stared at her, opened her mouth to deny it and then caught the look in her mother’s eye and closed it again. ‘You know that?’

‘I’m your mother. Of course I know that.’

‘He doesn’t notice me.’

‘You’re a huge part of Jack’s life,’ her mother said mildly. ‘He virtually lives here. But that’s going to have to change if you really are going to date other men.’

Bryony curled her hands round her mug. ‘But I don’t want it to change my friendship with Jack.’

‘One day you’ll get married again,’ her mother said quietly, ‘and I can’t see any man wanting to see Jack lounging in your kitchen every time he comes home from work. Of course your friendship is going to change.’

Bryony stared into her mug, a hollow feeling inside her. She didn’t want things to change. Despite their row, she couldn’t imagine not having Jack in her life.

But she couldn’t carry on the way she was now, for Lizzie’s sake.

‘Then I suppose I’ll just have to get used to that,’ she said, raising her mug in the air. ‘Cheers. To my future.’

Her mother lifted her mug in response. ‘May it turn out the way you want it to,’ she said cryptically, and Bryony let out a long breath.

She wasn’t really sure what she wanted.

But she knew Lizzie needed a daddy.

The next morning she was woken by her pager.

‘Is that a callout?’ Lizzie was by her bed in a flash, her eyes huge. ‘Is someone in trouble on the mountain?’

Bryony picked up her pager and was reading the message when the phone rang. Lizzie grabbed it immediately.

‘Hunter household, Elizabeth Hunter speaking,’ she said formally, the angle of her chin suggesting that she was very proud of herself. She listened for a moment and then a smile spread across her face. ‘Hello, Jack! Yes, Mummy’s right here … I’ll tell her. Will I see you later?’

Bryony pulled on her clothes and sprinted to the bathroom to clean her teeth. By the time she’d finished, Lizzie was off the phone.

‘There’s a party of Duke of Edinburgh Award boys overdue,’ she said importantly. ‘They’re sending out the whole team but Sean wants you and Jack to be an advance party. Jack is picking you up in five minutes.’

‘Five minutes.’ Bryony hurried through to the kitchen, grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and dropped some bread in the toaster. ‘Get your school things, sweetheart. Jack and I will drop you at Grandma’s on the way past and she can take you to school.’

Lizzie sprinted off and Bryony sent up a silent prayer of thanks that she had her mother close by. How did single parents manage without mothers?

By the time Jack hammered on the door, Lizzie was dressed and was standing by the door with her schoolbag, munching toast.

She stood on tiptoe and opened the door.

‘Hi, there.’ Jack stooped and swung her into his arms, squeezing her tightly. ‘Are we dropping you with Grandma?’

‘We certainly are.’ Bryony walked into the hall and picked up her rucksack and the other bits and pieces that she’d piled by the door, avoiding Jack’s gaze. She was grateful that Lizzie was there. At least it prevented her from having to continue the conversation from the night before.

She was still hurt and angry by Jack’s response to her announcement that she was going to start dating.

They piled into the mountain rescue vehicle and Jack drove down the lane that led to Bryony’s cottage and turned onto the main road.

‘So what’s the story?’ Bryony twisted her blonde hair into a ponytail and pushed it under a woolly hat. Then she rummaged in her bag for her gloves.

Jack kept his eyes on the road. ‘Two boys have been reported overdue. They should have been back down last night but they didn’t appear.’

Bryony frowned. ‘So why did no one call the team last night?’

‘They were camping and didn’t leave their plans with anyone so no one noticed until their friends stumbled into camp this morning and raised the alarm. The weather was foul last night, which is doubtless why Sean is worried.’

Lizzie stared at him, her eyes huge. ‘Have they called the helicopter?’

‘Yes, sweetheart.’ Jack glanced at her with a smile. ‘But the weather is pretty awful so Sean, the MRT leader, wants your mum and me to get going up that mountain in case we can help.’

‘Why do you and Mummy always go together?’

Jack turned his attention back to the road and pulled the vehicle up outside Bryony’s mother’s house. ‘Because your mum and I have always worked together in the mountain rescue team,’ he said lightly. ‘When your mum trained, I was her buddy. I looked after her.’

‘And you still look after her,’ Lizzie said happily, jumping down from the vehicle and grabbing her school-bag.

‘I don’t need looking after,’ Bryony said crossly, glaring at Jack and calling after Lizzie, ‘Sweetheart, ask Grandma to give you some more breakfast. I’ll see you later.’

They waited until Bryony’s mother opened the door and then Jack gave a wave and hit the accelerator.

Suddenly Bryony was very aware that it was just the two of them and she stared out of the window, for the first time in her life not knowing what to say.

‘We think we know where they are,’ Jack told her, flicking the indicator and turning down a narrow road. ‘It’s just a question of what state they’ll be in when we get there.’

Which was why Sean had sent them as the advance party, Bryony thought. He wanted doctors. Which meant that he was anticipating trouble.

She picked up the map. ‘What’s the grid reference?’

He told her and she traced it with her finger. ‘They’re in the ghyll?’

‘Sounds like it.’

Bryony looked at him in concern. ‘But the water level is terribly high after all that rain we’ve had …’

‘That’s right.’ Jack’s voice was even and he brought the vehicle to a halt. ‘Which is why we need to get a move on. Personally I doubt they’ll be able to fly a helicopter in this. Sean has called the whole team out, but we’re going on ahead.’

He sprang out of the vehicle and reached for the equipment that they’d need. They worked quickly and quietly, each knowing what the other was doing.

‘You ready?’ Jack lifted an eyebrow in her direction and she nodded.

‘Let’s go.’

Jack set off at a fast pace and Bryony followed, knowing that speed was important. After a night out in the open in the wet and temperatures below freezing, the boys would be in serious trouble.

They had to reach them fast.

The path grew steeper, the mist came down and Jack shook his head. ‘It’s November, it’s freezing cold and the visibility is zero.’ He hitched his rucksack more comfortably on his broad shoulders and squinted into the mist. ‘Who the hell chooses to climb mountains at this time of year?’

‘You do it all the time,’ Bryony pointed out, checking her compass again. ‘One of these days we’re going to be out here rescuing you.’

‘Never.’ He winked and gave her a sexy grin. ‘I am invincible.’

Bryony rolled her eyes. ‘And arrogant.’ She stopped dead and he looked at her questioningly.

‘Why have you stopped?’

‘Because your ego is blocking my path.’

Jack laughed and then the laughter faded. ‘Listen, Blondie, about last night—’

‘Not now,’ Bryony said hastily. She really didn’t want to tackle the subject again so soon, especially not halfway up a mountain.

‘I just wanted to apologise,’ he said softly. ‘I was out of line. You’re a brilliant mother and I know you’ll do what’s right for Lizzie.’

Stunned by his apology, Bryony lost her ability to speak. She’d never heard Jack apologise for anything before.

‘Let’s forget it,’ she mumbled, and Jack nodded, his blue eyes studying her closely.

‘All right. We’ll talk about it later.’ He glanced up the path and frowned. ‘There is no way that helicopter is going to fly in this.’

‘So we evacuate them down the mountain.’

He nodded and then turned to her, his eyes twinkling wickedly. ‘Why did the blonde stare at the can of frozen orange juice?’ He leaned forward and tucked a strand of hair back under her hat. ‘Because it said “concentrate”.’

Bryony tipped her head on one side and stared back at him. ‘Why are men like government bonds?’ He lifted an eyebrow, his eyes dancing, and she smiled sweetly. ‘Because they take for ever to mature. Now, can we get on with this rescue?’

They stuck to the path and the mist grew thicker. Jack’s radio crackled to life and he paused and had a quick conversation with Sean back at base.

‘They’re sending out the whole team,’ he told her when he came off the radio, ‘but I reckon we must be nearly at the place where they were last seen.’

Bryony stood still, listening, but all she could hear was the rush of water. The freezing air snaked through her clothing and she shivered.

‘If they didn’t have any protection last night, they won’t have stood a chance,’ she muttered, and Jack nodded, his handsome face serious.

‘Better find them, fast.’

He started up the track again and then stopped, squinting down into the ghyll. ‘Do you see something?’

‘What?’ Bryony stepped towards the edge but Jack reached out a strong arm and clamped her against him.

‘If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather you didn’t go over the edge, too,’ he said dryly, keeping his arm round her as he peered through the mist into the ghyll again.

Bryony held her breath, painfully conscious of his hard body pressed against hers.

‘I don’t see anything.’ She wondered when he was going to let her go and was about to ask when she spotted a flash of red below them. ‘OK, I see something.’

‘Me, too.’ Jack released her. ‘There’s a path here but it’s narrow and slippery. Think you can manage, Blondie? You have to put one leg in front of the other and not fall over.’

‘It’ll be a struggle, but I’ll do my best,’ Bryony assured him earnestly, relieved that their relationship seemed to have restored itself to its usual level. ‘What about you? Think you can find your way without asking for directions?’

They kept up the banter as they picked their way down the path, and finally they reached the bottom and immediately saw the boys huddled together by a boulder.

Jack closed the distance in seconds and dropped to his haunches, his expression concerned. ‘Hi, there—nice day for a stroll in the mountains.’

‘We thought no one was ever coming,’ the boy whispered, his teeth chattering as he spoke. ‘Martyn keeps falling asleep and leaving me on my own.’

‘Right. Put a bivouac tent over them.’ Jerking his head to indicate that Bryony should deal with the conscious child, Jack shifted his position so that he could examine the other boy.

He was lying still, moaning quietly, his cheeks pale and his lips blue.

Jack spoke to him quietly and checked his pulse while Bryony checked the other boy for injuries. Once she was satisfied that he was just cold and shaken, she erected the tent and helped him to scramble inside a casualty bag.

‘What’s your name?’

‘Sam.’

‘Well, Sam, that will keep you warm until we can get you off this mountain,’ she assured him, and he gave a little sob.

‘Martyn fell. His leg is awful. I saw bone.’

Bryony slipped an arm round him and gave him a hug. ‘Don’t you worry about that now,’ she said softly. ‘We’ll sort him out and get you both home. I’m going to pour you a hot drink and that will warm you up.’

She grabbed the flask that she’d packed and poured thick creamy chocolate into a mug.

‘Here—drink this. I’ll be back in a sec.’ Aware that Jack was going to need her help, she slid out of the tent and moved over to him.

‘Sam says that his friend fell.’

Jack nodded, still checking the child over. ‘He’s got a compound fracture of his tib and fib and he’s bleeding a lot. We need to get a line in, Blondie, and then splint that leg.’

Bryony reached for the rucksack and found what they needed, aware that Jack was on the radio again, updating Sean on their position and the condition of the boys.

By the time he’d finished on the radio Bryony had a line in. ‘Do you want to give him fluid?’

Jack nodded. ‘And then we need to splint that leg. It will help the pain and reduce blood loss.’ He leaned over the boy, talking quietly, explaining what they were doing, and Bryony gave a sigh. He was so good when anyone was in trouble. A rock. And he always knew what to do. Her confidence came from being with him.

She covered the wound on the leg with a sterile saline-soaked dressing while Jack carefully removed the boy’s boot.

He placed his fingers on Martyn’s foot, feeling for a pulse. ‘That’s fine—let’s splint this leg. We’re just going to give you something for the pain, Martyn, and then we’re going to put your leg in a splint. Then we’re going to warm you up and get you off this mountain.’

Bryony gave a shiver. The temperature was dropping fast and even in her top-quality gear she could feel the cold.

By the time they’d splinted the boy’s leg, Sean had arrived with the rest of the mountain rescue team.

‘Nice day for a walk,’ he drawled, glancing around him at the thick mist. ‘The views are fantastic.’

Bryony smiled. ‘Absolutely fantastic,’ she said sarcastically. ‘Enjoy your stroll, did you?’

Sean grinned in appreciation. ‘Didn’t want to rush things,’ he said, lifting an eyebrow in Jack’s direction. ‘Well?’

‘We need a helicopter but I don’t suppose there’s any chance of that.’

‘You suppose correctly.’

Jack sighed and checked the pulses on the boy’s foot again. ‘So we’d better carry them off, then. Good. I needed a workout.’

It seemed to take ages to organise both boys onto stretchers but eventually they managed to carry them out of the ghyll and started down the mountain.

By the time they reached the valley floor the mist had cleared and it was a sunny day.

‘I don’t believe this,’ Bryony muttered, tugging off her hat and shaking her hair loose. ‘What is it with our weather?’

Both boys were loaded into the mountain rescue team ambulance and then transferred to hospital under Sean’s supervision while Jack and Bryony followed behind.

‘Are you working today?’ Jack glanced across at her and she nodded.

‘Yes. I’m on a late. Why?’

He returned his attention to the road. ‘I thought you had a date.’

Bryony looked at him warily. ‘That’s tomorrow, but I don’t know if I’m going because Mum has to go and visit someone in Kendal so I don’t think she can babysit.’

‘I’ll babysit for you.’

Bryony stared at him. ‘You?’

‘Why not?’ His eyes were fixed on the road. ‘I often babysit for you. It gives me a chance to talk to my godchild. I like it.’

Bryony looked at him suspiciously. ‘But last night …’ She broke off and bit her lip, not really wanting to bring the subject up in case it rocked the peace that had resumed between them. ‘Last night you said that you didn’t think I should be dating.’

‘And I’ve already apologised for that,’ he said, flicking the indicator and turning into the road that led to the hospital. ‘And to make up for it, I’ll babysit for you. What time do you want me?’

Still feeling uneasy about the whole thing but not knowing why, Bryony gave a shrug. ‘Seven-thirty?’

‘Seven-thirty is perfect. There’s just one thing …’ He pulled up in the ambulance bay and yanked on the handbrake. ‘You haven’t told me who you’re going out with.’

There was something in his smooth tones that made her glance at him warily but his handsome face was impassive.

She paused with her hand on the door. ‘David.’

‘David Armstrong? The paediatrician?’ Jack’s expression didn’t change but she sensed something that made her uneasy.

‘Look, Jack—’

‘I’ll be there at seven-thirty. Now, let’s get on. I need to get antibiotics into Martyn and call the surgeons. That wound is going to need some attention.’

And with that he sprang out of the vehicle, leaving her staring after him.

Jack was going to babysit while she went on a date?

It seemed harmless enough, generous even, so why did she have such a strong feeling that something wasn’t quite right?

CHAPTER THREE

‘MUMMY you look pretty.’

‘Do you think so?’ Bryony surveyed her reflection in the mirror, wondering whether the dress was right for the evening that David had in mind. He’d said dinner in a smart restaurant, but she never went to smart restaurants so she wasn’t that sure what to wear.

In the end she’d settled for the little black dress that her mother had given her three Christmases ago and which she’d never worn.

She’d fastened her hair on top of her head, found a pair of pretty, dangly earrings and dabbed perfume over her body.

And she had to admit that she was looking forward to going out with a man.

So much so that when the doorbell rang she opened the door with a wide smile.

‘Hi, Jack.’ Her face glowed and she stood to one side to let him in. ‘There’s a casserole in the oven. I assumed you wouldn’t have eaten—’

‘I haven’t eaten.’ His eyes slid down her body and he frowned, his expression suddenly hostile.

Bryony felt the confidence ooze out of her. She’d thought that she looked good but, judging from the look on Jack’s face, she obviously didn’t.

‘Come through to the kitchen,’ she said quickly, suddenly wishing that she’d worn something different. Obviously the black dress didn’t suit her. ‘We’ve got time for a quick drink before David gets here. He was held up in clinic.’

Jack’s mouth tightened with disapproval. ‘So he’s going to be late, then.’

‘Well, only because a child with asthma was admitted at the last minute,’ Bryony said mildly, tugging open the fridge and reaching for a bottle of wine. ‘You know how it is.’

‘Do I?’

Instead of settling himself at her kitchen table as he usually did, he prowled round the room, his eyes constantly flickering back to her dress.

Trying to ignore his intense scrutiny, Bryony poured two glasses of wine and handed him one. ‘Here you are. Cheers.’

He took the wine and put it on the table, his eyes fixed on her legs.

Bryony felt her whole body warm with embarrassment. She hardly ever showed her legs. She usually wore trousers for work because they were more practical, and when she went to the pub with the rest of the mountain rescue team she wore trousers, too.

But tonight, for the first time in ages, she’d put on a pair of sheer, black stockings and she was beginning to wish she hadn’t.

‘You hate it, don’t you?’ she croaked, and his eyes lifted and welded to hers.

‘Hate what?’

She swallowed. ‘The way I look. My dress. Me. You’re staring and staring.’

Jack let out a breath. ‘That’s because I don’t think you should be going out with a man dressed like that,’ he said tightly. ‘It sends out all the wrong messages.’

She frowned at him, totally confused. ‘What messages?’

He tensed. ‘Well—that you’re available.’

‘Jack,’ she said patiently, ‘I am available. That is the message I want to send out.’