One Season And Dynasties Collection

‘I can’t think when you do that. I can’t think straight when you touch me. It’s too distracting.’

Brad let out a short laugh, shaking his head.

‘What? What is it?’

‘That word, Cass—distraction. That’s what I thought about you at first.’

Cassidy frowned. A distraction. Hardly a flattering description. But he reached across the table and touched her hand again.

‘You have no idea how I was feeling when I got here. I’d just had the year from hell in Australia. I’d been to the US twice, chasing false leads trying to find Melody. None of them worked. I’d spent a fortune and still had no idea about my daughter. Last Christmas …’ He raised his eyes to the ceiling.

‘Let’s just say it was the worst ever. Then a few of my friends sat me down and had a conversation with me that was hard for all us. They told me I should never give up looking for Melody, but I had to accept I had a life of my own to live. And they came prepared—they had an armful of job ads for all over the world. I’d let my career slide. I’d been consumed by doing everything I could to find my daughter. The job I’d always loved had become a noose around my neck. I didn’t make any mistakes but I’d lost the enthusiasm and passion for the job.

‘My friends knew the career paths I’d been interested in before, and they convinced me it was the right time for a break—a change of scenery and a time for new horizons.’

He gave her a rueful smile. ‘I didn’t come to Scotland with the intention of meeting anyone. I came to Scotland to experience the infamous Scottish winter and the ream of medical admissions that always follow. I planned to just immerse myself in work. To try and give myself a break from constantly checking my emails and phoning the private investigator in the US.’

Cassidy didn’t know what to think. A distraction. That’s what he’d just called her. She couldn’t stop herself from fixating on it. And it gave her the strangest sensation—a feeling of panic.

Maybe this was it. Maybe she should grab her clothes—wherever they were—and get out of here. She needed time to think. She needed a chance to get her head around what he’d just told her. Right now she was suffering from information overload.

Her gaze drifted out the kitchen and onto the coffee table in the living room. She hated that word. It made her feel worthless. As if he didn’t value her. The way Bobby had made her feel when he’d left. He’d never used that word, but that’s the way she’d felt—as if he’d used her as a distraction, as if he hadn’t valued her enough to stay. The same way her parents had made her feel. As if she wasn’t worth coming home for.

The only person who hadn’t made her feel like that had been Gran. Solid. Dependable. Warm and loving. But even that had changed now. Her gran was a mere shadow of her former self. And what about those letters? She really needed to sit down and decide what she wanted to do with them.

‘Cass?’

She was startled. Brad’s forehead was wrinkled. He’d still been talking to her, and she’d been lost in her own thoughts. ‘What?’ she answered quickly.

‘You didn’t hear me, did you?’

She shook her head. ‘You’ve given me a lot to think about. Maybe I should leave? Maybe you don’t need any more distractions.’ Her mind could only focus on one thing and she stood up again, ready to leave.

But he was quicker than her, and it took him less than a second to have her in his arms. His face was just above hers. His stubbled jaw, tanned skin and blue eyes definitely distracted her.

‘I said it was nice to meet someone who enjoyed Christmas so much. Last year is something I don’t want to repeat. I was hoping you would help try to get me into the spirit.’

She blinked. He was using her weak spot. Her Christmas rush. And he was doing it with that lazy smile on his face and his fingers winding under her T-shirt.

She sighed. ‘This isn’t all just going to be okay. I’m going to need some time—to see how I feel.’ Then the sticking point came to the forefront of her brain. ‘And are you still just using me as a distraction?’

His head moved slowly from side to side. ‘I’m not using you as anything. I just want to be around you, Cass. I have no idea where this is going to go. I have no idea what’s going to happen between us. But I’d like to find out. What do you say?’

There it was. That feeling. For five weeks he’d made her feel special. Made her feel wanted and important—as if she were the centre of his life. She wanted to say a hundred things. She wanted to sit him down and ask more questions. But his fingers were trailing up her side …

‘I need some time to think about all this, Brad. You certainly know how to spring something on a girl.’

He pulled back a little. ‘I know, and I’m sorry. I should have told you about Melody.’

Right now she didn’t know what to do. She’d learned more about Brad in the last fifteen minutes than she had in the last five weeks. He was hurt, he was damaged. She had seen that in his eyes. And for the last five weeks he’d come to work every day and been a conscientious and proficient doctor. Could she have done the same?

Who did he really have here as a friend? Who was there for him to talk to, to share with, apart from her?

More importantly, did she really want to walk away right now?

It would be the sensible thing to do. She was already feeling hurt, and walking away now could save her from any more heartache in the future. But she’d still need to work with him, she’d still see him at work every single day. How would she cope then? And how would she feel if she saw him with anyone else?

The thought sent a chill down her spine. She didn’t want to see him with anyone else. In her head he was already hers. And even if this didn’t go anywhere, why shouldn’t she enjoy what they had right now? She certainly wouldn’t mind a repeat of last night. The sooner, the better.

Her hands wound around his neck. ‘How about we try to create some new Christmas memories—some nice ones—ones that you could only experience here with me in Scotland?’

He nodded his head slowly. ‘That sounds like a plan. What do I have to do in return?’

A thousand suggestions sprang to mind—most of them X-rated. She couldn’t stand the pain she’d seen in his eyes earlier. But this definitely wasn’t what she’d signed up for. She had to think about herself. She didn’t want to end up hurt and alone. She didn’t want to end up without Brad.

‘I’m sure I’ll think of something,’ she murmured as she took him by the hand and led him back to the bedroom.

CHAPTER SIX

15 November

CASSIDY hurried up the stairs. Her cardigan was useless this morning, and her new-style uniform wasn’t keeping out the freezing temperatures. She touched one of the old-fashioned radiators positioned nearby the hallway. Barely lukewarm. That was the trouble in old stone buildings with antiquated heating systems; the temperature barely rose to anything resembling normal.

The true Scottish winter had hit with a blast over the last few days. This morning, on the way to work Cassidy had slipped and skidded twice on the glistening pavements. She dreaded to think what A and E had been like last night.

Brad had been on call, so she hadn’t seen him. He’d phoned her once, around midnight, to say he was expecting a few admissions and to chat for a few minutes. But things had felt a little strained—just as they had for the last week. She still couldn’t get her head around all this. Not least the part he hadn’t told her he had a daughter.

But the thing she was struggling with most was how much she actually liked him. It didn’t matter her head had told her he was ultimately unsuitable. For the last few weeks she’d spent every minute with him. And no matter how confused she was, one emotion topped the rest. She was happy.

Brad made her happy. Spending time with him made her happy. Talking to him every day made her happy. Working with him made her happy. Cuddling up on the sofa with him made her happy. Kissing made her very happy, and anything else …

Her heart sank as she saw the bright lights and bustling figures at the end of the corridor. It wasn’t even seven o’clock in the morning and her normally darkened ward was going like a fair.

She strode into the ward, glancing at the board. Jackie, one of her nurses, came out of the treatment room, holding a medicine cup with pills and clutching an electronic chart.

‘What’s going on, Jackie?’ She could see instantly that the normally cool and reliable member of staff looked frazzled. Jackie had worked nights here for over twenty years—it took a lot to frazzle her.

Jackie looked pale and tired, and she had two cardigans wrapped around her. ‘What do you think?’ She pointed at the board. ‘I’ll give you a full report in a few minutes, but we’ve had six admissions in the last few hours and we need to clear some beds—there are another four in A and E waiting to come up.’

Cassidy nodded quickly. ‘What kind of admissions?’

Jackie pointed at the window to the still-dark view outside. ‘All elderly, all undernourished, two with hypothermia and the other four all with ailments affected by the cold. Just what we always see this time of year.’

The stream of elderly, vulnerable patients reminded Cassidy of her gran.

‘You rang?’ Lucy appeared at Cassidy’s side.

‘I heard you needed to transfer four patients to my ward. Thought it would be easier if I just came along, got the report and then transferred them along myself.’

Cassidy nodded. ‘Perfect.’ She walked over to Jackie and took the medicine cup and electronic chart from her hands. ‘Introduce me to this patient and I’ll take over from you, then you can hand over to Lucy before we do the report this morning.’

Jackie nodded happily. ‘That’s great. If we get these patients transferred, I’ll give you a proper handover before the beds get filled again.’ She shrugged her shoulders. ‘Brad’s around here somewhere. I saw him a few moments ago. He hasn’t stopped all night and …’ she smiled ‘… our normally tanned doctor is looking distinctly pale this morning.’ She winked at Cass. ‘I hope he hasn’t been having too many late nights.’

Cassidy froze. The words sank in quickly. She didn’t think that anyone knew about Brad and herself. But she should have known better. Word always spread quickly in a hospital like this.

She tried to regain her composure and pretend she hadn’t heard the comment—best not to make a big deal of these things and hope the gossip would disperse quickly.

Half an hour later, with the report given and Jackie quickly leaving to go home, Cassidy gave a sigh and went to make a cup of tea. The breakfast trolley had just rolled onto the ward. The auxiliary nurses and domestics were helping the patients, and her two staff nurses had started the morning drug round.

Lucy appeared at her side. ‘Make one for me, too, please. I’ve just taken the last patient round to my ward.’

Cassidy nodded and put two tea bags into mugs. She could kill for a skinny caramel latte right now.

Lucy nudged her. ‘So, spill. What’s happening with you and Dr Wonderful? I haven’t seen you for over a week.’

Cassidy bit the inside of her lip. There was no point beating around the bush. Lucy would only pester her until she told anyway. She poured the boiling water into the cups.

Lucy nudged her again. ‘Come on. Is the prediction going to come true? Are you going to be a Christmas bride?’

Cassidy dropped her teaspoon into the sink. ‘What? Are you mad?’ She’d forgotten all about smelly-cat woman and her mad predictions.

‘What’s wrong? I thought things were going swimmingly between you and surf boy. Come on, you must have done the dirty deed by now—surely?’

Cassidy felt the instant flush as the heat spilled into her cheeks. It was just a pity her body didn’t know how to tell lies.

‘I knew it! Well—tell all. Is he wonderful?’

She took a deep breath. ‘Do you want me to answer everything at once?’

‘I just want you to say something. Anything. What’s wrong, Cass?’

‘Well, in that case …’ She counted off on her fingers. ‘No, I definitely won’t be a Christmas bride—and I’d forgotten all about that rubbish. Yes, I’ve done the dirty deed. Yes, it was wonderful—or it was until the next day when he told me he had a daughter.’

‘A daughter? Brad has a daughter?’

Cassidy nodded slowly.

‘Why hasn’t he ever mentioned her? What’s the big secret?’

Cassidy picked up her tea and leaned back against the sink. ‘The big secret is he doesn’t know where she is. Her mother vanished with her two years ago. Apparently she fell in love with some doctor from the US and didn’t tell Brad anything about it. He thinks she didn’t want to get into a custody battle with him, so basically she did a moonlight flit.’

Lucy looked stunned and shook her head slowly. ‘Wow, he’s a dark horse, isn’t he? I would never have guessed.’

Cassidy sighed again. ‘Neither would I.’

There was silence for a few seconds. Lucy touched her arm. ‘Whoa, you’ve got it bad, girl, haven’t you?’

Cassidy closed her eyes. ‘You could say that.’

Lucy stepped in front of her, clutching her steaming cup of tea with one hand and wagging her finger with the other. ‘What happened to Cassidy Rae and “I’m never going to fall in love with another foreign doctor”? Where did she go? And what’s the big deal about Brad having a daughter? She’s lost. The US is a big place, and chances are she might never be found.’

‘Cassidy Rae met Brad Donovan. That’s what happened. And as for his daughter, I’ve no idea what will happen. But one thing is for sure—ultimately he won’t stay in Scotland with me.’

Lucy leaned forward and gave her a hug. ‘Cassidy, you might be making a whole lot of something out of nothing.’

Cassidy stopped for a few moments. Maybe Lucy was right. He hadn’t managed to find Melody so far—and that was with a private investigator working for him. Maybe he would never find her? Maybe she could just forget about Melody and start to focus on them again?

But she still had an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Brad wouldn’t stay in Scotland—whether he found his daughter or not. Why on earth was she pursuing a relationship with a man who wasn’t right for her?

She shook her head. ‘A daughter isn’t nothing, Lucy. It’s a whole big something. What happens if we get serious, and then he gets a call to say his daughter has been found? I’ll be left high and dry while he jets off somewhere to find his lost child. It’s hardly the ideal setup for a lasting relationship.’

Lucy took a sip of her tea, watching Cassidy carefully. ‘That’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say anything like that.’

‘Like what?’

‘The whole words—”lasting relationship”. I never even heard you say that about Mr Spain. You must really like our Dr Donovan.’

‘I guess I do.’ There. She’d said the words out loud. And to someone other than herself. It almost felt like a confession.

A little smile appeared at the corner of Lucy’s mouth. ‘That’s what Lynn and I were talking about at Belinda the fortune-teller’s house. We’d already pegged Brad for you and thought you’d make a nice couple.’

Cassidy stared at her as memories of that night and their knowing nods sprang up in her brain. ‘You’ve got to be joking.’

Lucy shook her head, looking quite pleased with herself. ‘No. We thought you’d be a good fit together. And we were right.’

Cassidy put down her mug and started to fiddle with her hair clip. ‘Well, you can’t exactly say that now, can you?’

‘Yes, I can. I still think you’re a good fit.’ She folded her arms across her chest. ‘So what’s been the outcome of Brad’s big disclosure? Did you run screaming from the room? Have a tantrum? Go off in a huff?’

Cassidy lowered her head. ‘That’s just it. There’s not really been an outcome. I’m still seeing him and we’ve talked about it a few times—but we’ve really only skirted around the edges.’ She shrugged her shoulders. ‘I’ve no idea what the big outcome will be.’ She shook her head, ‘I don’t think he knows either.’

Lucy’s brow puckered. She nipped Cassidy’s arm. ‘Who are you, and what have you done with the real Cassidy Rae? The one that always knows precisely what she, and everyone around about her, is doing?’

‘Don’t, Lucy. Don’t remind me how much of an idiot I’m being.’

Lucy’s face broke into a smile as she tipped the rest of her tea down the sink and rinsed her cup. ‘I don’t think you’re being an idiot, Cass. For the first time in your life I think you are head over heels in love.’ And with that comment she walked out the ward, leaving a shocked Cass still standing at the sink.

The rest of Cassidy’s shift was bedlam. Every patient that was admitted was elderly and suffering from effects of the cold. It broke her heart.

‘Is this the last one?’ she asked as Brad appeared next to another patient being wheeled onto the ward.

He shook his head and ran his hand through his rumpled hair. ‘Nope. I’ve just been paged by the doctor on-call service. They’re sending another one in. Ten patients in the last twenty-four hours, all suffering from some effects of cold.’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘You don’t see this often in Australia. I think I’ve only ever looked after one case of hypothermia before. Today has been a huge learning curve.’

‘Why so many?’

‘The temperature apparently dropped to minus twenty last night. Some of these patients only get social-care services during the week—so some of them weren’t discovered until this morning. The sad thing is, only two had heating systems that weren’t working. The rest were just too scared to put them on because of the huge rise in their heating bills.’

Cassidy waited as they moved their patient over into the hospital bed. He was very frail, hardly any muscle tone at all, his skin hanging in folds around his thin frame. She bundled the covers around him. ‘Go and see if you can find any spare duvets or blankets,’ she asked one of the nursing auxiliaries.

Brad handed over his chart. ‘Frank Johnson is eighty, lives alone and has a past history of COPD and heart disease. You can see he’s underweight. He hasn’t been eating, and when he was admitted his temperature was thirty-four degrees centigrade. He’d got so confused he’d actually started taking his clothes off, as he thought he was overheating. He was barely conscious when the social-care staff found him this morning.’

Cassidy nodded. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard this. She looked at the IV fluids currently connected—often the patients admitted with hypothermia were also dehydrated. ‘What’s the plan for him?’

Brad pointed to the chart. ‘He’s been in A and E for a few hours, and his temperature is gradually climbing. It’s thirty-six now, still below normal, but he’s certainly less confused. Try and get some more fluids and some food into him. I want four-hourly obs and refer him to Social Services and Dietetics. We’ve got to try and get him some better assistance.’ He waved his hand around the ward.

‘In fact, those rules apply to just about everyone that’s been admitted in the last twenty-four hours.’ He looked down at his own bare arms, where his hairs were practically standing on end. ‘It doesn’t help that this place is freezing, too. What’s going on?’

Cassidy gave him a weary smile. ‘Old hospital, old heating system. This place is always like this in winter.’

‘Tomorrow I’m going to bring in a sleeping bag and walk about in it. Do you think they’ll get the hint and try to sort this place out?’

She laughed. ‘That would be a sight to see. But good luck. Look at all the staff on the ward—all wearing two cardigans over their uniforms. I hate long sleeves—it’s an infection-control hazard. But the temperature in this place is ridiculous. I can hardly tell them to take them off.’

‘If you come into my office, I can think of an alternative way to heat you up.’

Cassidy’s cheeks instantly flushed and she looked around to check no one had heard his comment. ‘Brad!’

He gave her a wicked smile. ‘We both know cold temperatures can cause confusion, and it wouldn’t do for the doctors and nurses to be confused. I’m just trying to keep us at the top of our game.’

She titled her head to one side. ‘Dr Donovan, if the cold is getting to you, I’ll even go so far as to make you a cup of coffee. That should heat you up.’

‘And if I’d prefer something else?’

‘Then you’ll just have to wait.’ She folded her arms across her chest. It was almost time for the shift change—time to go home. And Brad must be due to finish as he’d been on call the night before. He looked knackered. As if he could keel over at any moment. But he could still manage to give her that sexy smile and those come-to-bed eyes. And no matter how much she told herself she should walk away, she just couldn’t.

‘I have something for you.’

‘What?’

He pulled something from the pocket of his pale blue scrubs. A pair of rumpled tickets. Cassidy recognised the insignia on them instantly. Her mouth fell open. ‘The skating rink! You remembered.’

‘Of course I remembered. You said you wanted to go skating the night the ice rink opened in George Square so I bought us some tickets.’

She stared at the tickets. There it was again. Just when everything in her head was giving her lots of reasons to end this relationship. Just when she hadn’t been alone with him for a few days and felt as though she was starting to shake him out her system—he did something like this.

Something thoughtful. Something kind. Something that would matter only to her. He’d even managed to plan ahead—a trait distinctly lacking in most men she knew.

‘So are we going to capture the spirit of Christmas?’ he whispered in her ear.

One look from those big blue eyes and he was instantly back in her system. Like a double-shot espresso. ‘You bet ya!’ She smiled at him.

20 November

‘I don’t think we need an ice rink. These pavements are bad enough,’ Brad grumbled as he grabbed hold of Cassidy’s waist to stop her skidding one more time.

She slid her hand, encased in a red leather glove, into his. ‘Don’t be such a grump. And look at this place, it’s buzzing! Isn’t it great?’

Brad looked around. He had to admit Glasgow did the whole Christmas-decoration thing well. There were gold and red Christmas lights strung along the length of Buchanan Street, twinkling against the dark night sky, trying to keep the late-night shoppers in the mood for Christmas. The street was thronged with hundreds of people, all wrapped against the bitter-cold weather, their warm breath visible in the cold night air.

But even though the lights were impressive, he couldn’t take his eyes off Cassidy. She seemed to have a coat for every colour of the rainbow. And in the last few days he had seen them all.

But it was her grandmother’s red wool coat that suited her most, even though it probably wouldn’t withstand the freezing temperatures of tonight.

This evening Cassidy had layered up with two cardigans beneath the slim-fitting coat. She had accessorised with a black hat and scarf and red leather gloves, with a pair of thick black boots on her feet. But even in all those clothes it was her eyes that sparkled most.

As they turned the corner into George Square, the lights were even brighter.

An international Christmas market filled the edges of the square, immediately swamping them in a delicious array of smells. The ice rink took up the middle of the square, with a huge Christmas tree—still to be lit—at one end and an observation wheel at the other. Around the edges were an old-fashioned helter-skelter, a café/bar and a merry-go-round. Families were everywhere, children chattering with excitement about the lights being switched on.

For a second Brad felt something twisting around his heart. He wished more than anything that Melody could be here with him now. He’d never experienced Christmas in a cold climate, and he’d love it if his daughter could see this with him. He’d even seen an ad posted on the hospital notice-board the other day about a Santa’s grotto with real, live reindeer down on the Ayrshire coast. If only he could take Melody to see something like that. The thought instantly clouded his head with difficult memories and yearnings.