The Christmas Marriage Rescue

by Sarah Morgan

  ‘Yes, I think I probably do.’ Jake sat down and picked up his fork. ‘Believe it or not, Garcia, women like it when you notice them. You ought to drop your intimidating Mediterranean macho act and try it some time. Having a guy who behaves like a caveman might be a woman’s fantasy, but when it comes to reality they want a man to talk to them.’

  Alessandro bit into his sandwich with more savagery than was strictly necessary. ‘What are you implying?’

  ‘Nothing.’

  Alessandro put the sandwich down on his plate. ‘You’re suggesting that I don’t talk to Christy, but she was in London before I realised anything was wrong and now she’s back I can’t seem to reach her.’

  ‘No.’ Jake dug his fork into the potato and gave him a bland smile. ‘Of course you can’t.’

  ‘Did you think Christy was happy being a practice nurse?’

  Jake chewed thoughtfully. ‘Well, she liked the hours, of course, because it meant that she could always be there for the children.’ He waved his fork. ‘But she missed the pace of A and E. Hardly surprising, really. I think she quite liked things like the asthma clinic because she could make quite a difference to the patients’ lives, but syringing ears and doing dressings drove her nuts.’

  Alessandro stared at him. ‘When did she tell you all that?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Jake pushed his plate away and reached for his first bar of chocolate. ‘We’ve chatted about it over the years. Christy was quite a high-powered nurse. She invariably knew more than the doctors when she worked in A and E. It’s hardly surprising that she was frustrated, working in a village practice. A bit like putting a racehorse in a riding school, I suppose.’

  Had she been frustrated? Alessandro abandoned the sandwich and ran a hand over the back of his neck, suddenly realising that it hadn’t ever occurred to him that she was anything less than happy in her work. And he didn’t like the fact that she’d confided in Jake. Since when had Christy confided in Jake? They were friends, that was true, but he didn’t like the idea that his friend knew more about his wife than he did.

  * * *

  Checking that her mother was safely occupied in the kitchen, Katy slunk into the living room where her brother was orchestrating a battle between dinosaurs and toy soldiers.

  ‘Ben, here’s a really, really large glass of blackcurrant squash.’

  Ben stared at it. ‘I’m not thirsty.’

  ‘Good,’ Katy said sweetly, ‘because I don’t want you to drink it. I want you to spill it on the sofa.’

  Ben’s eyes widened. ‘No way! You spill it on the sofa.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Katy’s tone was condescending. ‘I’m eleven. I’m way past spilling drinks on the sofa. You’ll have to do it.’

  ‘But that will make the sofa wet and purple.’

  ‘That’s the general idea.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because despite our efforts, our parents are still not sharing a bed,’ Katy said with an impatient sigh. ‘And they’re never going to get back together if they don’t share a bed. Everyone knows that adults should share a bed if they’re married. It’s how they mate.’

  Ben picked up another dinosaur. ‘What’s mate?’

  ‘You’re far too young to understand,’ Katy said disdainfully. ‘You’re just going to have to trust me.’

  ‘I don’t see how spilling blackcurrant squash will help,’ Ben muttered, and Katy rolled her eyes.

  ‘Because it will make the sofa sticky and wet you stupid, idiot baby.’

  ‘I’m not a stupid, idiot baby!!’

  ‘Then trust me and spill the squash!’

  ‘Mum will be mad.’

  Katy glared. ‘Do you want to go back and live in smelly old London? Do you want Mum and Dad to live together again or not?’

  Ben’s face crumpled. ‘Of course, I do, but—’

  ‘Then spill it, Ben! Just spill it and stop asking questions!’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Ben, you spill things all the time.’ Her tone was exasperated. ‘You spilt your milk at breakfast. You dropped your pasta at supper. Spill the blackcurrant before I strangle you!’

  ‘Mum says you’re not allowed to put things round my neck. And if I spill blackcurrant, it will ruin the sofa.’

  ‘That’s the idea. Don’t worry about that. It won’t cost them anything because they can put in an insurance claim, but that will take weeks to come through,’ Katy said airily, and Ben looked at her doubtfully.

  Katy ground her teeth. ‘Ben…’

  ‘All right, I’ll spill it.’ Ben snatched the squash from her, sprinted across the living room, tripped over a toy he’d left there and spilt the entire contents of the glass over the sofa.

  ‘Even better than I could have predicted,’ Katy breathed, staring at the spreading, deep purple stain on the sofa with admiration and satisfaction. ‘Well done, baby brother.’

  Ben’s lip wobbled as he stared at the mess. ‘Mummy’s going to be mad.’

  ‘Very possibly,’ Katy agreed, ‘but she isn’t going to be sleeping here tonight, and that’s the only thing that matters. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.’

  * * *

  ‘You shouldn’t have had a drink in the living room.’ Christy kept her voice level, reminding herself that it wasn’t good to shout at one’s children, especially when they were so clearly remorseful. Ben stood in front of her with his head down and his lip wobbling.

  ‘Katy told me to do it!’ He burst into sobs just as Alessandro walked in through the front door.

  ‘What’s going on here?’

  Christy sighed, wondering whether everyone’s family was as noisy and complicated as hers. ‘I haven’t had time to cook any dinner yet. Ben spilt blackcurrant all over the sofa. It’s ruined.’

  ‘Good thing,’ Alessandro drawled, shrugging his broad shoulders out of his jacket and loosening his tie. ‘It was ugly and uncomfortable and sleeping on it was having a detrimental effect on my spine. You’ve done me a favour, Ben.’

  Katy appeared in the doorway, a yoghurt in one hand and a spoon in the other. ‘That’s decided, then. You’ll just have to sleep in the bed with Mum.’

  Alessandro turned to look at his daughter, a gleam of suspicion lighting his dark eyes. ‘Are you behind this, Katherine?’

  Katy took a few steps backwards. ‘Don’t look at me like that. It isn’t good to intimidate your children. And you can’t blame me for the fact that Ben spills everything. You know he spills everything.’

  ‘Intimidate?’ An ebony brow rose as Alessandro surveyed his daughter. ‘Since when did I ever intimidate you?’

  Ben’s sobs grew noisier. ‘It’s all her fault. She made me do it and she—’

  ‘Hush.’ Christy pulled him into her arms and cuddled him close. ‘I’m not mad with you, sweetie, honestly. Don’t cry. Please, don’t cry. It isn’t important. It’s only a sofa.’

  ‘My house is turning into a war zone,’ Alessandro muttered, dragging a hand through his dark hair and letting out a long breath. ‘Seeing that you haven’t cooked any dinner yet, let’s go out.’

  Katy’s face brightened. ‘Great idea. You’ll need to get us a babysitter. I nominate Uncle Jake.’

  Christy blinked. ‘I think Daddy meant all of us.’

  ‘Oh, no, we’re much too tired to go out.’ Katy gave an exaggerated yawn to prove her point. ‘I’ve got holiday homework to finish and Ben needs his beauty sleep. Not that all the sleep in the world is going to make him half-decent to look at,’ she added as an afterthought, and Ben sat up and poked his tongue out.

  Alessandro gave a shrug and looked at Christy. ‘So—you and I can go out.’

  ‘But…’ How could she say that she didn’t really want to go out on a date that had been engineered by the children? If he’d asked her, that would have been different. ‘Jake won’t be free.’

  ‘He’s free—I saw him at lunchtime.’ Alessandro was already on the phone, and Christy sighed.

  ‘A
ll right. I’ll go and change.’

  ‘Wear the black dress, Mummy,’ Katy hissed, and Christy frowned.

  ‘What black dress?’

  ‘The little one that makes Daddy grab you from behind.’

  Christy blushed and wondered at exactly what point her daughter had started noticing so much. ‘That’s a party dress, sweetheart.’

  ‘So? You look pretty in it.’

  Christy bit her lip. But did she want to look pretty? Yes, of course she did. But wearing a party dress to go out to dinner in the middle of the week would look desperate, and she had too much pride to show Alessandro just how desperate she was.

  Crazy, she thought as she rummaged through her wardrobe. She was having an informal supper with her husband and she had absolutely no idea what to wear.

  She wanted to look attractive, but not obvious.

  She wanted him to want her.

  Wanted him to kiss her. Would that fix things? she wondered. If he kissed her and took her to bed, would they be able to heal their wounds?

  In the end she settled for a slinky velvet skirt in a shade of heather and teamed it with a slinky black top that dipped temptingly at the front.

  Jake walked through the door as she reached for her coat. He immediately strode over and kissed her. ‘You look stunning and beautiful,’ he breathed, his eyes lingering on the neckline of her top.

  Glancing at Alessandro, Christy wondered why he was glaring. Presumably he was still annoyed at having their evening manipulated by the children.

  Clearly he had no real wish to spend time with her. Unlike Jake, he hadn’t even commented on what she was wearing.

  Jake swept Ben into his arms and stooped to hug an excited Katy.

  ‘Uncle Jake!’

  ‘Did you bring me a present?’ Ben wrapped his legs and arms around Jake like a monkey, and Christy gasped in horror and embarrassment at his question.

  ‘You don’t ask people that, Ben,’ she admonished, but Jake just grinned.

  ‘Why not? Honesty gets you a long way in life, I always think. If only women were as uncomplicated as children, life would run much more smoothly.’ He whipped a bag out from behind his back. ‘Sweets and a DVD and maybe a small toy because I haven’t seen you for so long.’

  ‘Finally, a grown-up who understands us.’ Katy grinned, reaching into the bag to check out the DVD. ‘I’m allowed to watch 12s now. This is a PG.’

  ‘That’s right. My psyche is sadly underdeveloped and I don’t want to risk nightmares. I thought I’d be all right if you held my hand all the way through.’ Jake winked at her, his smile placid. ‘Lead me to your father’s whisky cabinet, angel. I’ve had a long day.’

  ‘We won’t be late,’ Christy began, but Katy frowned and pushed them towards the door.

  ‘Don’t come back before the end of the DVD or you’ll spoil it.’

  Christy sighed. ‘Don’t keep them up late, Jake.’

  ‘Go and enjoy yourselves,’ Jake said, delving into the bag he’d brought and producing a new dinosaur for Ben. ‘We’ll be fine.’

  But would she? Christy wondered.

  It had been so long since she’d spent an evening with Alessandro that she didn’t quite know what they were going to talk about.

  Alessandro took her to a noisy, Spanish tapas bar in the middle of town.

  Disappointed that he hadn’t chosen somewhere quiet and romantic, Christy slid into her chair and reached for a menu.

  ‘We used to come here a lot when we first met—do you remember?’

  ‘The service was quick and what with the hospital and the mountain rescue team, we never had enough time.’ Alessandro turned to the hovering waiter and ordered in Spanish.

  Christy closed the menu and tried not to mind that he hadn’t asked what she wanted.

  It was just the way Alessandro was, she thought with weary resignation. The dominant male. Always strong and controlling. At times, it was wonderful. In A and E, with a desperately sick patient, his astonishing leadership qualities saved lives. At home, just occasionally, it would be nice if he showed an interest in her views.

  ‘So…’ He lounged back in his chair and surveyed her across the table, his eyes glittering dark in the dim light of the restaurant, ‘how are you enjoying being back in A and E?’

  Given her thoughts of a few moments earlier, Christy was surprised he’d asked. ‘I… Well, I really like it.’

  ‘You’re good.’

  ‘And that surprises you?’

  He gave a slow smile. ‘No. What surprises me is that you seem to have forgotten nothing in the time that you’ve been away.’

  Should she confess that it had surprised her, too? ‘I suppose I worked there for so long that some of it is second nature.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Do you hate having me there?’

  ‘It is impossible to hate someone who makes your working life easier,’ he drawled, lifting his glass of wine. ‘With so many people off sick and others inexperienced, it becomes difficult to deliver your best performance.’

  ‘And that’s so important, isn’t it?’

  ‘Of course.’ He gave a shrug. ‘The patient deserves no less.’

  ‘That’s true. But the patients are not your whole life. What about me?’ Her voice was soft. ‘Didn’t our marriage deserve the same attention?’

  His broad shoulders tensed. ‘We’re going to talk about this now? All right, let’s talk about this now.’ His eyes narrowed and his fingers tightened around the glass. ‘We both had busy lives—’

  ‘With no time for each other.’ She folded her hands in her lap and looked him in the eye, determined to have her say. Determined not to let him intimidate her. ‘Do you know how many times I scraped your dinner into the bin during the twelve years of our marriage, Alessandro?’

  ‘My working hours are unpredictable, it’s true, but—’

  ‘How many times did we sit down together and talk during the week?’

  ‘At the dinner table, rarely,’ he admitted, ‘but always we were in the same bed at night.’

  The remark was so typical of him that she gave a wry smile. ‘That’s just sex, Alessandro.’

  One ebony brow swooped upwards in silent mockery. ‘Just sex, querida?’

  Her stomach rolled and fire licked through her veins. She wasn’t going to think about sex now, she told herself frantically. She wasn’t going to remember what it was like to be in bed with Alessandro. He was a spectacular lover.

  ‘A relationship takes more than an encounter in the bedroom to keep it alive,’ she said huskily, and he studied her in brooding silence.

  ‘And that’s why you left? You felt neglected? I didn’t ask you about your day often enough?’

  ‘I don’t think you ever asked me about my day. You’re a great father, a skilled and talented doctor, a fantastic climber…’ She swallowed. ‘But—’

  ‘But I’ve been a lousy husband,’ Alessandro drawled softly, and she shook her head quickly.

  ‘Not lousy, no.’ She gripped her glass. ‘But you’re so driven, so focused on what you do and… I suppose I feel as though you don’t notice me any more.’

  She wanted to ask about Katya. Wanted to know whether he’d had an affair during the weeks that they’d been apart. But something held her back. He wouldn’t do that, she told herself. Alessandro wouldn’t do that.

  ‘How long have you hated being a practice nurse?’

  She looked at him, surprised by the question. ‘I don’t hate it.’ She hesitated. ‘But I suppose part of me is always frustrated. I miss the pace and unpredictability of A and E. You know what it’s like—sort of an addiction.’

  He gave a wry smile. ‘You get high on the adrenaline rush of not knowing what’s coming through the door next?’

  She returned the smile. ‘Yes, in a way. In general practice it’s all so much more predictable and routine. And a bit lonely. I was shut in a room all day, seeing an endless stream of patients. We have practice meetings, of course, and I speak to the
GPs about various patients, but I miss the teamwork of A and E.’

  Alessandro sat back in his chair as the waiter delivered plates of food to their table. ‘So why have you stuck at it for so long?’

  ‘Because it fits with school hours,’ Christy said slowly, leaning forward to examine the various dishes he’d ordered. ‘It’s convenient for family life. But the children are older now…’

  Should she tell him that she didn’t think that she could go back? Should she tell him that, after experiencing the buzz of A and E again, she was starting to rethink her whole life?

  ‘Why did you never tell me any of this before?’

  She shrugged. ‘What was the point? One of us had to be there for the children and that wasn’t going to be you—you’re not that sort of man. I knew that when I married you and that was fine. And, anyway, you had a great career. And I suppose I’ve never told you any of this before because…’ She broke off, suddenly hesitant. ‘Well, because you’ve never asked.’

  ‘Perhaps because I assumed that if there was a problem you would tell me.’ He frowned. ‘I’m not great at guessing games and reading minds. That’s more Jake’s forte.’

  ‘Jake. He’s such a good person, isn’t he?’ Christy smiled to herself and missed the dangerous flash in Alessandro’s eyes. ‘I can’t believe we’ve been friends for such a long time. And I can’t understand why he hasn’t settled down with some very lucky woman long before now.’ She heard Alessandro’s sharp intake of breath and glanced up.

  ‘Perhaps he wants someone who is unavailable,’ he snapped. His tone was icy cold and she looked at him, surprised by the comment.

  ‘Oh, no! Jake isn’t like that. He’d never go after a married woman.’

  ‘But if she wasn’t married any more, she’d be fair game,’ Alessandro said tightly. ‘Isn’t that right?’

  ‘Well, I suppose so. Maybe.’ Christy stared at him, wondering why he suddenly seemed so tense and moody. Had she said something? ‘Anyway, why are we talking about Jake?’

  There was a long, pulsing silence while Alessandro studied her and drummed his fingers on the table. ‘He just seemed to come up in conversation,’ he said silkily, and she gave a puzzled smile.