Making Christmas Special Again / Their One-Night Christmas Gift

‘I do, actually. I mind very much.’

He rolled his finger with a ‘get on with it’ spin.

What was with the attitude? Founders who believed in their charities tended to drop it. Not this guy. Either he’d been royally screwed around at some point or was just plain old chippy. Even worse, somehow, in a handful of seconds, Max Kirkpatrick had slipped directly under her thick winter coat, beneath her cashmere sweater and burrowed right under her skin, making this interaction feel shockingly personal.

The Heatherglen Foundation wasn’t a platform for her to prance about Scotland, giving away her family’s money. It was the one good thing that had come out of the most painful chapters in her life. As quickly as she’d been unnerved by his attitude, she’d had enough. She wasn’t going to beg this man to take her money. He didn’t want it? He couldn’t have it.

She wiped her hands together as if ridding them of something distasteful. ‘I came here with a genuine offer of help and a list of donors as long as my arm. If you’re not interested in stopping Gavin Henshall from paving Plants to Paws over, I’ll be on my way.’

He blinked. Twice.

Ooh. Had she found a chink in the strong, silent man’s armour?

‘I suspect it’ll take more than a few thousand to keep Henshall at bay.’

He was right. She told him how much the last charity she’d sponsored had received.

He blinked again. ‘Can we skip straight to the what do I need to do to get the money part?’

Blunt. But it was a damn sight better than being dismissed as a bit of society fluff.

Her frown must’ve deepened because he suddenly folded into a courtly bow before unleashing an unexpectedly lavish charm offensive. ‘I do humbly ask your forgiveness. Etiquette school clearly failed me. I didn’t mean to be rude, Miss Ross-Wylde. Or is it Mrs?’

‘Ms,’ Esme snipped.

His eyes narrowed. Probably the same way hers had when he’d stiffened at the mention of Gavin Henshall.

He’d found her chink. She’d found his. Normally this would be her cue to run for the hills. But something about him made her want to know what made him tick. Sugar. Why couldn’t Max Kirkpatrick have looked like a troll or been long since married to his childhood sweetheart? She checked his ring finger.

Empty.

Her heart soared so fast she barely knew what to do with herself.

Explain the details. Accept his refusal—because he will refuse—then leave. Problem solved.

She crossed her arms, aiming for nonchalant, not entirely sure if she’d hit her mark. ‘I’ve just been up to speak to the hospital administrator, who has agreed to stall the sale until the new year. If the Christmas ball goes to plan, the hospital is happy to leave Plants to Paws as is.’

‘In perpetuity?’ Max obviously had his own set of conditions.

‘Precisely. The only thing—’

He huffed out a laugh. ‘I knew there was a catch.’

She let her eyebrows take the same haughty position his had earlier. ‘The only thing, Dr Kirkpatrick, is that I require the head of each charity to select two patients whom you think might benefit from a service dog.’

‘Oh. You require it, do you?’

She ignored him and soldiered on. ‘We can offer the patient two weeks of one-to-one training at the canine therapy centre, all expenses included, and a follow-up care package if they have financial difficulties.’

His expression didn’t change, but she could see he was actively considering her offer.

‘What sorts of things do your dogs do, apart from search and rescue?’ Max asked.

She smiled. She might have trouble bragging about herself, but she could big up her dogs until the cows came home. ‘We have service dogs specially trained to work with epileptics, diabetics, people with cancer, people with mobility problems. I imagine you see the full gamut of patients in A and E. I’ll forward you a full list of the services we can provide. We also have emotional support dogs, who work with people suffering from PTSD or anxiety.’

He nodded. ‘Would I have to play any part in this?’

Normally he would, but no way was she inviting Max Kirkpatrick to Heatherglen. He was setting off way too many alarm bells. Before guilt could set in, she reminded herself that she made the rules. She could also bend them.

‘Apart from attend the ball to receive a big fat cheque?’ She shook her head. ‘Not necessary. We’re an all bells and whistles facility, so…’ The lie came a bit too easily. She always invited the charity founder to join the patients and their families up at Heatherglen, but two weeks in close proximity with Max Kirkpatrick at this time of year, when the castle was romantically bedecked for the festive season? Not. Going. To. Happen.

Her mouth continued talking while her brain scrambled to catch up. ‘We run the training sessions at our canine therapy training centre. There’s also a medical rehabilitation clinic my brother runs in the main building. I have a week-long slot from December fifteenth up until the twenty-third of December, when we hold the ball. I understand the timing could be awkward with Christmas and family obligations, but as the developer is so keen to get construction under way, I thought we’d best get cracking. The patients could take the dogs home over the holidays then return for a second week of training sometime in January. If that suits.’

She watched his face go through a rapid-fire range of emotions. All of which he erased before she could nail any of them down.

‘I’m fine with that,’ he said evenly. ‘As long as we make a few of my guidelines clear.’

Esme couldn’t help it. She laughed. ‘Excuse me, Dr Kirkpatrick. If I’m not mistaken, I’m the one helping you here and as such—’

‘As such,’ he cut in, ‘I don’t want you steamrolling my charity into something it isn’t.’

‘And what makes you think I plan on doing that?’

‘Bitter experience.’

The second the words were out of his mouth Max regretted them. Hearing Gavin Henshall’s name had a way of catapulting him straight back into the scrawny fourteen-year-old kid who’d mown lawns, taken out rubbish and thrown himself at all the rest of the chores his stepfather had set him as if his life had depended on it, only to discover he’d changed the goalposts. Again.

Military academy, apprenticeships over the summer holidays, boot camp. No matter what he’d done or how hard he’d worked, he had never been permitted into the house to shield his mum from the emotionally abusive relationship she’d unwittingly married into.

Not that he blamed her. They’d both fallen for Gavin’s smooth lines. He’d promised her love, respect, a house with a big garden on the right side of town. A proper education for her ‘shockingly bright boy’, the son he’d always hoped to have.

How the hell Gavin had convincingly passed off the lies still astounded him. The only plus side of the cancer that had taken his mother’s life was that it had freed her, at long last, from Gavin. It was more than he’d been able to do.

He shook his head and forced himself to focus on the here and now.

Esme Ross-Wylde didn’t strike him as a steamroller socialite. The type of do-gooder who blithely floated round the city flinging gold coins for the ‘have nots’ to do her bidding. Sour memories teased at his throat. Money brought power and no one had made that clearer to him than Gavin. ‘You earn your keep? You’re in. You don’t? You’ll have to learn how to make a real man of yourself.’

‘What’s your role in all of this?’ Max had already been hit by one bombshell today. This one—the Henshall H-bomb—was making it harder to harness any charm. If he was going to tell everyone who cared about Plants to Paws it was going to survive, he needed to trust it was a genuine offer. Trusting a woman who could clearly cut and run from any scenario that didn’t suit her was a tall order.

‘Apart from being Mrs Claus, you mean?’ She pursed her lips in a way that suggested he’d definitely hit a sore spot then said, ‘As well as running the foundation, I’m a vet and an animal behaviour specialist. I also pick up poo, in case that’s what you’re really asking.’

It was all he could do not to laugh. Brilliant. Esme Double-Barrelled-Fancy-Boots picked up poo. It was a skilful way to tell him there was a vital, active brain behind the porcelain doll good looks. A woman who wanted to be mistress of her own destiny as much as he’d worked to be master of his.

‘That it?’ He knew he was winding her up, but…his flirting skills were rusty. Rusted and covered in a thick layer of dust if he was being honest.

Her smile came naturally, clearly more relaxed when talking about her work. ‘The vet clinic is the only one in our area and the therapy centre’s busy pretty much round the clock. The service dogs are trained to aid patients with specific tasks they are unable to do themselves. Like press an alert button for someone having an epileptic seizure, for example. Much like a dog who works on a bomb squad or for drug detection, they are not for the general public to cuddle and coo over.’

‘That’s the therapy dog’s job?’ Max liked hearing the pride in her voice as she explained.

‘A therapy dog’s main role is to relieve stress and, hopefully, bring joy—but often on a bigger scale. Retirement homes, hospital wards, disaster areas. An emotional support dog tends to provide companionship and stress relief for an individual. People with autism, anyone suffering from PTSD. Social anxiety. That sort of thing.’

Max nodded. The smiles on the faces of patients when they were reunited with their pets out here in the garden spoke volumes. Pets brought joy. Too bad people couldn’t be counted on to do the same.

She continued, ‘We’re obviously highly selective, but find that dogs who come from animal rescue centres are particularly good for emotional support, learning and PTSD. The bigger dogs are wonderful with ex-soldiers who might need a service and emotional support dog all in one big furry package.’

He gave a brisk nod at that one. A few guys from his platoon could probably do with a four-legged friend. He still didn’t know how he’d managed four tours in the Middle East without as much as a scratch. Physically, anyway. Emotionally? That was a whole mess he’d probably never untangle. ‘And your brother? The one with the medical clinic?’ Max crossed his arms again. ‘How much of a say does he have in who I choose?’

A flicker of amusement lit up her blue eyes. One that said, You think I let my big brother push me around?

‘My brother’s a neurologist, but his clinic is predominantly for rehabilitation. The foundation has pretty much always been my baby, so…’ There was a flicker of something he couldn’t identify as she paused for breath. Something she was leaving out. When she noticed him watching her she quickly continued, ‘You’ll see for yourself when you come up to Heatherglen—’ She stopped herself short.

‘I was under the impression I wasn’t invited.’ He wasn’t hurt by it. Had been relieved, in fact, but…he had to admit he was curious. And he wasn’t thinking about the castle.

Her cheeks were shot through with streaks of red. ‘Normally the head of the charity comes up, but I just assumed with the dates I have available being so close to Christmas… I just—I didn’t think it would be feasible for you to come along and observe, so…’ The rest of the sentence, if there had been any, died on her lips.

Max pulled up the zip on his fleece and glanced across at the hospital where an ambulance was pulling in. His break was coming to an end and this was already getting more complicated than it should be. No point in watching the poor woman squirm. She obviously had a big heart and he shouldn’t play hard to get. The future of Plants to Paws was on the line. ‘Don’t worry about it. My dance card’s been full for a while.’

‘I see.’ She tucked a stray curl behind her ear.

Max’s thumb involuntarily skidded across his fingertips wondering if her hair felt as soft as it looked. He forced his voice into fact-finding mode. ‘So where would the patients stay? If we go ahead with this.’

‘At Heatherglen.’ Esme reluctantly met his eye. ‘The castle has been partly remodelled as a residential clinic and we’ve refurbished the old stables as a training centre and kennels.’

‘No more hunts, then?’

Her brows dived together as her eyes finally met his frankly. ‘You’ve been to Heatherglen?’

‘Not for a long time.’ He felt her eyes stay on him as he knelt down to give Skye another cuddle. The last thing he was going to tell her was that that long-ago day at Heatherglen was one of his handful of good memories from his childhood. Guilting her into an invitation she didn’t want to give wasn’t his style. Especially if it meant the ultimate outcome was helping patients with the added bonus of sticking one to Gavin Henshall. The money he’d give to see the look on Gavin’s face when he found out he wouldn’t get his precious car park.

‘So…’ Esme’s voice trickled down his spine again. ‘Does this mean you’re considering my offer?

He stood up and looked her square in the eye. ‘If it means saving this place, let’s do it. How do I get in touch with you?’

Esme shook her head. She might need her ears checked. Did Max Kirkpatrick just say he wanted to touch her?

An image pinged into her mind. Ice skating by moonlight. Her mittened hand in his bigger, stronger hand. The two of them skating away beneath the starlit sky until he pulled her to him and… She screwed her eyes shut and forced the image back where it had come from.

‘Email? Phone?’ he prompted.

Oh. Right. That kind of contact. She handed him a card. ‘From here it’s pretty easy. We’ll do two video calls with you and the patients once you’ve picked them.’

‘For what purpose?’

‘It’s how we introduce the dogs to the patients before training at Heatherglen gets under way. It gives me a good feel for who they are before they arrive. If you could take part in the calls, that would be greatly appreciated.’

‘Why do you need me?’

Esme bridled. If he was going to persist in questioning every single thing she said and did, she was right to keep him away from Heatherglen. ‘If a couple of video conferences and formal wear is too much of a sacrifice to secure two free, incredibly talented service dogs for patients who would normally have to wait years to receive one… I completely understand.’ She gave him her most nonchalant smile, hoping it disguised just how intense she was finding all of this. The penetrating looks. The pointed questions. The downright yumminess of him. The last time someone had had this visceral effect on her… Oof… She shuddered as she felt Max’s dark eyes continue to bore into her.

‘Why do I need formal wear for a conference call?’

‘It’s for the Christmas ball. You’re req—’ She stopped herself from saying required. She didn’t like being bossed around and had the very clear impression he didn’t either. ‘It’s really useful if the founder of the charity comes along and speaks with the donors.’

‘Schmooze, you mean.’ A flash of a smile appeared. ‘You might want to reconsider that. It’s not really my forte.’

‘So I noticed,’ she said dryly.

He laughed and once again that strangely comfortable feeling she got from banter with him made the day seem a bit less cold.

‘I can pick any patients I want?’ He asked.

‘Doctor’s choice.’ She nodded. ‘The harder the better.’

Her eyes dropped to just below his waist.

Oh, good grief.

Work. She should think of work. Work was not sexy. Complicated patients to match to hard-working service dogs. Also not sexy. Big brothers. They definitely weren’t sexy. Work, complicated patients and big brothers. Okay. Her heart rate began to decelerate. She liked bringing in clients Charles knew nothing about. He was far too serious for his own good and this was her annual chance to pop a little spontaneity into his life. And her own.

She followed his gaze as it drifted across to the hospital, his mind obviously spinning with options.

She got the feeling he was going to test her. Good. Maybe this would be the year that signing over the proceeds from the charity ball gave her back that magical feeling she’d lost all those years ago when her brother had been killed in action, she’d married a hustler and just about everything else in her life had imploded.

‘You’re not going to bend on the Christmas ball thing, are you?’ A smile teased at the corners of his mouth.

‘Nope!’ She grinned. ‘And let me know if you don’t have a tuxedo. You’ll need one for the ball.’ She gave him what she hoped was a neutral top-to-toe scan. ‘You’d probably fit into one of my brother’s if you don’t have one. I’m sure we could stuff socks in the shoulders if you don’t fill it out.’

What was she on? He’d make a fig leaf look good. Which was an image she really shouldn’t let float around her head quite as gaily as it was.

‘If I go formal, I wear a kilt, thank you very much.’

A kilt! Yum. She had a weakness for a Scotsman in formal kilted attire. Her brain instantly started undressing and redressing him. What she saw she liked very much. Too much. Was it too late to uninvite him to the ball as well?

Yes. Yes, it was. Besides, as much as seeing Max Kirkpatrick in a kilt could very well tip her into the danger zone of dating outside her brother’s ‘pre-approved’ choices…she needed him. The donors loved hearing about the charities from the founder.

‘A kilt will do very nicely,’ she said primly.

He gave her a sharp sidelong glance as if he’d been following her complicated train of thought, then took a step back and said, rather formally for someone who’d just been flinging about witty banter, ‘In which case, Ms Ross-Wylde, I’d be delighted to accept your offer to participate in two phone calls and the ball.’

It was a pointed comment. One that made it clear he’d understood loud and clear she hadn’t asked him up to Heatherglen. A wash of disappointment swept through Esme so hard and fast she barely managed to keep her smile pinned in place as she rejigged her vision of what the next few weeks held in store. Training patients. Absolutely normal. The hectic build-up to Christmas. Ditto. The Christmas carnival being set up out at the front of the castle that would, once again, be a good opportunity to practise with the dogs and their handlers.

It was ridiculous of her to have imagined for as much as a second that she might finally make good on that fantasy to skate by moonlight, hand in hand, with someone who genuinely liked her for herself. Let alone share a starlit kiss.

‘Delightful.’ Brisk efficiency was the only way she’d get out of this garden with a modicum of her dignity intact. She called Skye to her side. ‘We’ll expect them on the fifteenth and you on the twenty-third in Glasgow.’

She turned and gave a wave over her shoulder so he wouldn’t see the smile drop from her lips.

Stupid, stupid girl. The last time she’d let her heart rule her actions she’d ended up humiliated and alone. She’d been a fool for letting herself think that Max Kirkpatrick could be the one who would bring that sparkle of joy back into Christmas.

CHAPTER TWO

MAX WASN’T SURE who was more nervous. Him or the twelve-year-old kid squirming like a wriggly octopus on the wheelchair beside him. His eyes flicked to the chair behind them. Euan’s mum was there. Carly. Timid as ever. Gnawing on a non-existent fingernail, her eyes darting around the office he’d managed to commandeer for the video call.

The poor woman. She didn’t look as though she’d had a good night’s sleep in years. The same as his mum back in the pre-dictator days. Getting Carly here today had been a feat and a half. How on earth she was going to get two weeks off work was beyond him.

‘You ready for this?’ Max asked. He wasn’t. He was no stranger to sleepless nights, but he definitely wasn’t used to erotic dreams. Or a guilty conscience. There was a hell of a lot more information he should’ve told Esme that would’ve explained his spiky behaviour when she’d appeared at Plants to Paws last week, but having jammed himself into an emotion-proof vest quite a few years back, sharing didn’t come easily. Sharing meant being closer to someone. Opening up his heart. There was no point in doing that because he’d learnt more than most that opening up your heart and trusting a person meant someone else got to kick the door shut.

It had happened with Gavin. And with his fiancée. Now very much an ex-fiancée. And out on the battlefields of Afghanistan where lives had been lost because he’d trusted his commanding officer and not his gut.

He gave Euan and Carly as reassuring a smile as he could. They were living breathing reminders that if everything Max had been through hadn’t come to pass, Plants to Paws wouldn’t exist and Euan wouldn’t be getting this once-in-a-lifetime chance to get his life back on track. Not the world’s best silver lining, but… ‘Start small, aim high.’ One of his mum’s better sayings. ‘Forgive him, Max…’ being one of the worst. There was no chance Gavin Henshall deserved his forgiveness. Not after everything he’d done.

Euan’s mum fretted at the hem of her supermarket uniform. ‘Could you run us through what the call’s going to involve again, please?’

‘Absolutely. It’ll be similar to the one Fenella’s going to have tomorrow.’

‘She’s the poor woman with epilepsy?’

Max nodded. Fenella had first came into A and E on a stretcher after a horrific car accident. Since then the forty-one-year-old had come in with cuts and bumps after experiencing severe epileptic seizures resulting from the head trauma she’d suffered. The poor woman was nearly housebound with fear. A service dog could change her life.

‘She’ll be getting a dog specifically trained for her requirements.’

‘And Euan’s dog will be trained to help with his…situation?’ Carly asked.

Bless her. She never could bring herself to say PTSD.

‘My crazy brain, Mum. My crazy brain!’ Euan pulled a wild face and waggled his hands.

The poor woman looked away. She blamed herself for what her son was going through, as parents so often did, when, in reality, the attack on Euan had simply been very, very bad luck. The kind of bad luck that could change his life for ever.

Max looked Euan square in the eye. ‘Esme knows what happened and will find a dog that can be there for you. It’ll make being at home on your own more relaxing.’ He glanced at Esme’s email again, trying not to picture her lips pushing out into a perfect moue as she concentrated. He cleared his throat and continued. ‘She mentions having a chat with the headmaster at your school. Some therapy dogs are permitted, so…if you need it, he might be coming along to school with you.’

Euan’s antsy behaviour suddenly stilled. The poor kid. The past couple of times he’d shown up in A and E had been for black eyes and cuts from fights at school. Despite the best efforts of the headmaster, it definitely wasn’t Euan’s safe place.

His story set the bar for cruel cases of mistaken identity. He’d been walking home from school about eighteen months ago when a local gang had mistaken him for someone else and had near enough pulverised the life out of the poor blighter.

Even in the war zones he’d been in, Max struggled to remember a kid who’d met the wrong end of a fist to such ill effect. He was a poster boy for PTSD. He bunked off school regularly. He had frequent panic attacks. His nightmares woke everyone in the flats around them, the screams were so piercing.

Carly was a single mum and worked shift hours so couldn’t be there for him when he needed it most. He was a scared kid with no one to back him up and the only way he knew how to deal with all that fear was rage. With waiting lists longer than Max’s arm, Euan needed someone beyond the psychiatric profession on his side. Someone to give him a bit of confidence. A reason to see the bright side of life. Someone with the unerring loyalty of a dog.