Christmas with Dr Delicious

Christmas with Dr Delicious
Sue MacKay

Dear Reader

Welcome to Nikki and Fraser’s story. These two have their share of issues to resolve, stemming from those uncertain teenage years when they, like the rest of us, were finding out about themselves and putting their toes in the dating waters.

I’ve set this story around the ambulance service as I have a lot of admiration for the people who regularly face situations that would have most of us hiding under a blanket. The exacting standards of care and service are a credit to each and every member of the New Zealand St John Ambulance Service.

I personally spent time working with the crews at Blenheim Station, but for the purposes of this book have used fictitious characters and events.

But in the end this story is about Nikki and Fraser finding their way back to each other. I hope you enjoy it.

Until next time …

Cheers!

Sue

PS I’d love to hear from you, so drop me a line on sue.mackay56@yahoo.com or visit my website at www.suemackay.co.nz

About the Author

With a background of working in medical laboratories and a love of the romance genre, it is no surprise that SUE MACKAY writes Mills & Boon

Medical Romance™ stories. An avid reader all her life, she wrote her first story at age eight—about a prince, of course. She lives with her own hero in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds, at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, where she indulges her passions for the outdoors, the sea and cycling.

Born to a family that was always on the move, TINA BECKETT learned to pack a suitcase almost before she knew how to tie her shoes. Fortunately she met a man who also loved to travel, and she snapped him right up. Married for over twenty years, Tina has three wonderful children and has lived in gorgeous places such as Portugal and Brazil.

Living where English reading material is difficult to find has its drawbacks, however. Tina had to come up with creative ways to satisfy her love for romance novels, so she picked up her pen and tried writing one. After her tenth book she realised she was hooked. She was officially a writer.

A three-times Golden Heart finalist, and fluent in Portuguese, Tina now divides her time between the United States and Brazil. She loves to use exotic locales as the backdrop for many of her stories. When she’s not writing, you can find her either on horseback or soldering stained-glass panels for her home.

Tina loves to hear from readers. You can contact her through her website or ‘friend’ her on Facebook.

Also by Sue MacKay:

EVERY BOY’S DREAM DAD

THE DANGERS OF DATING YOUR BOSS

SURGEON IN A WEDDING DRESS

RETURN OF THE MAVERICK

PLAYBOY DOCTOR TO DOTING DAD

THEIR MARRIAGE MIRACLE

These books are also available in eBook format from www.millsandboon.co.uk

Christmas with Dr Delicious

Sue MacKay

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

This book is dedicated to all my extended family. You’ve always been there for me through all those blips life tosses up. Love you all.

And to the Cancer Society of New Zealand, especially the Blenheim and Christchurch branches. You are awesome.

Thank you so much for your care and concern.

CHAPTER ONE

‘OKAY, everyone, listen up.’ Mike, the Blenheim Ambulance Base manager, strode purposefully into the staffroom and straddled a chair. ‘I’ve just been talking to the boffins in Nelson.’

Nikki lifted her head from her laptop where she had been engrossed in her studies. Any conversation between Nelson, where their overall boss worked from, and Blenheim stations usually had a direct effect on everyone. ‘What now?’ she asked with a grin. ‘Got to cut back on our coffee intake?’

Mike grinned back as he shook his head. ‘Nothing so drastic. We’ve employed a paramedic, starting in eight days’ time.’

Good news for once. ‘That’s going to lighten the workload for some of us.’ They had plenty of volunteers working as ambulance officers but few full-time paramedics and advanced paramedics, which meant she was always being called in to work extra shifts. Not that she minded most of the time. More shifts meant more pay to spend at the fashion shops.

Mike hadn’t finished. ‘Gavin, I intend putting the two of you together so you can mentor him as he trains for his Advanced Paramedic qualification. I think you’ll get on well with him. He comes across as confident and competent, as well as likeable.’

Gavin’s face turned thoughtful. ‘Why not Nikki? She’s just as capable as me.’

Unused to Gavin questioning anything, Mike looked taken aback. ‘She is, but at the moment this is how I want it to run. Okay?’

‘Sure.’ But Gavin looked worried.

To give him a break Nikki asked, ‘So who is this person? Anyone we know?’

‘I doubt it. He’s been in Dunedin for years, but has decided to move back home. His credentials were too good not to take him on immediately. He could get a job anywhere in New Zealand if he wanted.’

Nikki shivered. A guy returning home from Dunedin after years away. Why should that raise her antenna so quickly? Quite a few people from here had gone to university in Dunedin and not come back. She glanced up at Mike but saw nothing more than enthusiasm for his new staff member. Another shiver tripped through her. ‘Do we get a name for this guy?’

Mike’s gaze remained fixed on her. ‘Fraser McCall.’

The air left her lungs in a whoosh. The warning shaking her body had been right. ‘That doesn’t make sense. Are you talking about Fraser Ian McCall? Twenty-seven years old?’

‘The same man.’ Mike frowned. ‘Problem?’

Yes. A big one. Panic squeezed her, turned her skin icy. Fraser could not work here, in this station, with her. He could not. It was too small. They’d always be running into each other, even if they were on opposing shifts. Did he know she worked here? If he did then it was unfair of him to even contemplate joining up. Why had he? ‘He’s a doctor, not a paramedic.’

Mike stood up. ‘Wrong. McCall’s been working on the ambulances for three years.’

Really? Why? Five years ago Fraser had just finished his fourth year at med school so that left two years between then and now unaccounted for. Of course, she hadn’t heard anything about him since she’d returned home from Dunedin but he must’ve finished his studies at university in that time. Swallowing hard to push away the sudden blockage in her throat, she croaked, ‘What was he doing before he joined the ambulance service?’

‘You know I can’t give out confidential information about any of the staff, including you, Nikki.’ There was a warning, a message, in Mike’s eyes just for her.

Hadn’t Fraser mentioned to Mike he knew her? That they had history not easily dismissed? Hell, that they couldn’t possibly work together? For five long years Fraser had shown he didn’t give a damn about what had become of her. Why would he start now?

‘Does he know I work here?’

‘Yes. He seemed surprised. Said he knew you when you were a chef, and that you hadn’t had a medical thought in your head.’

She dipped her head in acknowledgement. ‘True.’ Unexpected pain lashed at her. Was that all he admitted to remembering about her? What about the part where he had been her fiancé? Or that they’d lived together for three years? Been high-school sweethearts?

Her brain ran into overdrive, trying to assimilate the one piece of news she’d never, ever expected to be told. Or wanted to hear. Her hands clenched in her trouser pockets. How could she work with the man who’d once sworn he loved her so much he’d broken his own vow and proposed before he’d finished his training?

The man who had not shown up for their wedding, leaving her looking a complete fool, shaking in her high heels and beautiful silk gown, clinging to her father’s arm as they’d stood on the top step ready to walk the aisle. To her love, her bright and exciting future.

They’d waited, and waited, she and her dad. Slowly her mother had joined them, then her four brothers had surrounded them, protecting her from the buzz of questions rising from the guests also waiting.

At the time she’d been frantic, thinking the worst, imagining him in a hospital bed after an accident, but he hadn’t been there. Or anywhere she’d called. It had been as though he’d vanished into thin air. Then late that night he’d called her from who knew where. It had been the call she’d have given anything not to receive.

‘Nik, I’m so sorry. About today, about everything. I won’t be marrying you. Not ever. I’m sorry.’ Fraser had choked and then the line had gone dead. As far as she knew, he hadn’t been seen in Blenheim since.

The pen in Nikki’s fingers shook, creating wonky lines as she filled in the weekly checklist for Blenheim One ambulance. Her teeth pressed into her top lip, inflicting a sharp pain. ‘What’s wrong with me this morning?’ She couldn’t blame the icy chill from the late winter frost blanketing Blenheim.