Their Christmas Vows

by Margaret McDonagh

  Their Christmas Vows

  Margaret McDonagh

  It was such an honour to be asked to contribute to this Christmas Weddings anthology.

  If you are new to Medical" romances and new to my books, then I hope you will enjoy stepping into the fictional world of Strathlochan, around which many of my books are set - on this occasion meeting Frazer and Callie.

  Callie has a difficult journey to make, not only due to her frightening brush with illness, but also because the impact of her past experiences makes it hard for her to trust. In Frazer, has she found a man she can believe in? Can she trust him - and herself - and step towards a happy and loving future?

  Most of us know of someone whose life has been touched by breast cancer. It makes us all stop and think. And remember the things that are most important...like those special

  in our lives who give love and support no matter what. I hope I have captured some of those feelings in my story.

  Thank you for reading this anthology. I hope you will come back and enjoy more of my books in future. Encouraged by my wonderful editor, I am currently working on some exciting new projects, but I hope to be back in Strathlochan telling Annie's story very soon.

  Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a new year filled with good health, good friendships and happy-ever-afters.

  Best wishes, Margaret www.margaretmcdonagh.com

  CHAPTER ONE

  TODAY was the first day of the rest of her life, and Callie Grogan was determined that nothing would go wrong.

  On the cusp of dawn she left her car in the parking area and stood to stare across at the hangar looming adjacent to the building which housed the air ambulance base on the outskirts of town. Streamers of mist whispered low over the icy ground, while frost edged the fences and the bare branches of the trees and bushes around the perimeter. A fine of mini-icicles hung off the gutters along the roofline of the singlestorey building. Her breath misted the air and she stamped her feet, wishing she had pulled on an extra pair of socks before putting on her boots. As it was, she was wearing thermal underwear, a pair of jogging bottoms and a long-sleeved fleece under her flight suit. Yes, it was winter in Scotland, but she hadn't expected Strathlochan to be this cold.

  A grey, wet November had given way to a December which had brought with it a blast of unexpected cold. Winter had taken a firm grip, with hard frosts, fog, ice and even the threat of early snow. Not ideal conditions for flying, but ones that increased the need for emergency care with an upsurge in accidents and weather-induced incidents.

  Under a lowering sky, the hangar doors peeped open, and as she approached the building she could see the engineering crew, who had worked on routine maintenance overnight, preparing the helicopter for the day's work. When the threat of ice lifted, they would steer it out onto the forecourt, from where they could take off within a couple of minutes of an emergency call coming in.

  Callie felt a renewed burst of excitement. She couldn't wait to begin her shift. After a terrible eighteen months, this was her chance For a whole new life. She was healthy. She'd thrown herself into work, determined to be the best she could possibly be. She was also alone. But that was nothing new. Aside from the brief misjudgement with Ed, she had always been alone. From now on she always would be. It had taken time, she had been at her lowest ebb, but she had put her life back together.. Now she planned to make the most of the unexpected opportunity moving to Strathlochan had given her.

  She had been working as a paramedic in Glasgow when she had learned of the new air ambulance base opening further south, and she had lost no time in applying for a position. Having completed her additional training and safety courses to work on the helicopter, she had imagined she would have to spend time on the road ambulances before a vacancy became available. The news that she was top of the list and headed for

  the flight team straight away had delighted her. Until she had arrived in town and heard all about the playboy doctor who was to be her flight partner. Frazer Mclnnes.

  Callie had been in Strathlochan for a week now. A week that had thankfully coincided with Dr Mclnnes's holiday. A week which had been full of learning, orientation and finding her feet. Several times she had been out on flights as an observer. She had spent time with the land ambulance crews, whole base was combined with that of the fire rescue service and was situated a few hundred yards along the road from the air base, with easy access to the town and the motorway. After learning her way around the area with them, she'd visited the hospital, especially the A and E department, familiarising herself with the layout so she would be prepared when delivering a casualty for urgent treatment.

  She had known what a long and fine tradition the scottish ambulance service had in providing medical cover throughout the country, both to the land and the islands, with helicopters and a fixed aircraft. How the new air ambulance base in Strathlochan had come into being was something she had discovered from her new boss, Dr Archie Stewart, during their first detailed briefing.

  `The publicity surrounding Sir Morrison Ackerman's funding of the new self-harm and eating disorders clinic near the town sparked local campaigns for further investment in Strathlochan's medical facilities,' Archie had explained. `Strathlochan has grown immensely over the years, and serves a large rural population scattered over a vast area, not to mention the busy motorway, road and rail links that pals through. The region is on the edge of the existing air services, which means having a helicopter based here significantly cuts down response times. It has been running for six months now, and has paid for itself time and again, saving umpteen lives.' Archie Stewart's pride in the achievement of his staff had been evident. `Our operation is affiliated to, yet separate and run slightly differently from, the main air service in the rest of Scotland. We have our own shift patterns and we're crewed along the lines of the successful REMS unit in London, with a pilot and a flight trauma doctor teamed with a specially trained flight paramedic.'

  Callie had learned that there were three full-time crews who worked three days on, three nights on and then had three days off-night work and bad weather seeing crews using the all-terrain road vehicle rather than the helicopter. There was a relief crew, and individual relief staff, who filled in for holidays, illness and emergencies.

  `The helicopter can fly at night, but landings are dangerous if the pilot cannot see obstacles, cables and so on, so we tend to avoid it unless absolutely necessary,' Archie had explained. A smile had creased his weathered face. `You'11 find we're a good team here-like a second family... We work together, watch out for each other, socialise together. You're a part of that now, Callie.'

  A second family. Except she didn't even have a first family. She never had done. Having always been atone, on the outside looking in, this was a chance to experience what it was like to belong. If only she could let down some of her protective barriers. That was easier said titan done-especially after Ed, and all she had been through these last months-but she knew she needed to try and be more social, to make an effort to fit in to her new home in Strathlochan. So she had gone out one evening last week, enjoying a drink with her new workmates and meeting up with colleagues from the hospital and

  other emergency services at their favourite hangout, the Strathlochan Arms. The banter had been friendly, the welcome warm.

  Despite her wariness with people, she had particularly bonded with Annie Webster, one of the A and E doctors. It gave Callie hope that she had been right to come here, putting her troubled past behind However, the gossip about Frazer Mclnnes, the doctor Archie had paired her with, worried her. One nice-looking casualty nurse had been outspoken on her views of the alleged romeo, but her unsubtle comments about Frazer's supposed prowess and love-them-and-leave-them li
festyle had made Annie roll her eyes in distaste.

  `Take no notice of Olivia and her claimed conquests, Callie. She has her eye on every man around here under sixty, but that doesn't mean they return her interest. Frazer may be one of Strathlochan's most sought-after bachelors, and he certainly enjoys a good time, but he's a lovely guy. He's also a great doctor,' Annie had reassured her.

  At least, Callie assumed the words had been meant as reassuring. They just hadn't entirely had that effect. Everything she had heard about Frazer Mclnnes made her nervous and brought fresh waves of doubt. But she would keep up her guard and reserve judgement until she met him. And today was the day. All her struggles and preparations had led her here, to the moment she would begin her exciting, long-dreamed of new job as flight paramedic, when all the extra training and hard work she had done would pay off. Professionally. Personally she still had a very long way to go.

  Hesitating outside the entrance, she twisted the narrow gold band on her ring finger before sliding it off and fixing it to a chain around her neck, out of the way for work. She didn't like what it said about her, the fact that she was insecure enough to wear it, using it as an emotional shield, a protective screen. She'd hoped she had come further than that these last eighteen months. Apparently not. A shiver-one that had nothing to do with the cold-rippled down her spine.

  Hearing noises in the hangar, she pulled herself together and sucked in a steadying breath, trying to calm the nerves that were rampaging inside her. Time to head inside and prepare for her first proper shift. And face her first meeting with the man who would be her work partner for the foreseeable future.

  Dr Frazer McInnes jogged across the frosty car park towards the base, his Border terrier, Hamish, trotting at his heels, if the forecast was to be believed-and from the icy blast that had greeted him this morning it was - he had arrived back in Strathlochan after ten days in Perthshire, climbing Monroes with friends, just in time.

  He loved this time of year-the run up to Christmas, the festive spirit, the parties, the fun-but it also brought a lot of hard work, and the extra-harsh weather this December was a warning that there could be even more problems than usual ahead of them. Not that hard work bothered him. He loved it. Loved what he did. The buzz of being a flight doctor, of never knowing what was going to happen next, always brought a burst of adrenalin. It was what everyone said about him-that he worked hard and played hard. As far as he was concerned life was for living, and he always planned to live it to the fullest.

  The holiday had been great, but he had a smile on his face as he pushed through the door, anticipation at being back with the team and getting on with the job bubbling inside him. Hearing chat and laughter coming from along the corridor, he stowed his belongings in his locker and then made his way to the crew room, where the team going off-shift were preparing to hand over to his own before heading for home. He paused for a

  moment, soaking up the atmosphere, sketching a wave to his pilot, Craig Dalglish, who was helping himself to a mug of coffee in the refreshment area which housed food and drink supplies, a fridge-freezer and a microwave. The rest of the large but comfortable room was filled with easy chairs, sofa, tables, a work space, a small pool table, a piano, shelves of books and a TV with assorted DVDs.

  As Hamish, unofficial base mascot, made himself the centre of attention and reacquainted himself with his adoring public, Frazer glanced around the room, his smile broadening as he spied his quarry. In her forties, married with two teenage boys, Mel Watson was his friend and colleague. They had a great working relationship and were always playing pranks on each other. In fact, he owed her for that last practical joke before his holiday, and with her rear end pointing straight at him as she bent over to reach something, he'd been gifted with the perfect opportunity to get his own back. It was way too much temptation to resist.

  Silently, he moved up behind her and teasingly fondled her shapely curves. For a millisecond unease nudged his brain that the delectable feminine form beneath his hands wasn't as familiar as it should have been. The next moment...

  Bam!

  The blow caught him unprepared. Delivered with surprising force and accuracy, it drove all the air from his lungs and dropped him like a sack of potatoes. Stunned, he landed on his backside, a grunt of shock escaping as he sprawled unceremoniously on the floor. His assailant-not Mel, he registered now it was far too late-spun round and glared at him, fists clenched at her sides, her feet planted hip-width apart as if readying for battle. Wow! If he had managed to regain any breath at all, he would have lost it all again just looking at the unknown woman. In her Tate twenties, she couldn't be more than five feet four, and that was being generous, so how on earth could her legs possibly seem to go on for ever? The yellow Nomex flight suit she wore was a good two sizes too big, masking the female shape he had all too briefly felt beneath his hands and swamping her small frame. Short dark brown hair, layered and feathery, framed delicate features, a cute nose and lush, rosy lips, while the most amazing eyes he had ever seen, surely they couldn't really be purple?-fizzed with fire and fury.

  Silence descended on the room for several drawn out moments. Then his colleagues laughed uproariously at his plight. Their reaction, however, made the woman even more angry, and he regretted the flash of humiliation he could see in her eyes. He'd never do anything to show someone up. This had all been a ghastly mistake. His hand went to the point of pain at his midriff, where her elbow had delivered the killer blow, and he tried to suck some much-needed oxygen back into painfully starved lungs so he could speak.

  But she didn't wait around to concern herself with his apology... or his recovery. Instead, she stepped around him, giving him a wide berth, then marched from the room. It was an impressive march, too, for such a tiny thing. Now he had seen the whole impressive package, he couldn't understand how he had ever mistaken the stranger for the taller, more robust Mel, who was also a decade or more older than the firebrand who'd just decked him. As he sat there, bemused and bewildered, his friends' merriment continued at his expense. Only Hamish came to check on his well-being. Thankful for at least one display of loyalty, Frazer scratched the dog behind the ears, his fingers sinking below the harsh outer coat to the softer one below.

  `Trust you to make such a great first impression, Frazer,' Craig, the pilot on his flight team, tormented him.

  `Yeah, I wish I wasn't going home,' Rick Duncan, a paramedic coming off-shift, added with evident enjoyment. 'I'd love to be around for the fireworks to come. You've met your match now, buddy.'

  Still winded, Frazer frowned. `Who was that?' `The new flight paramedic.'

  A sick feeling of dread settled inside him at Craig's grin. `Whose?'

  `Yours!'

  Damnation.' Groaning, he levered himself up off the floor, his dignity well and truly shot to pieces.

  Rick's smile was distinctly unsympathetic. `That'll teach you. See you guys in three days-if you're all still alive!'

  Welcome back, Frazer,' Craig chuckled as Rick and the others left. He poured a second mug of coffee and handed it over. `Here, you're going to need it. Archie wants to see you.'

  Frazer gratefully accepted the caffeine fix, and wondered what their boss, a former flight doctor himself, and now base director, would have to say. `Where's Mel? What's been going on around here? I've only been away ten days.'

  `Archie will explain.'

  `Terrific.

  He took a slug of hot coffee, wincing at the burn on his tongue and down his throat. He had the distinct feeling he was not going to like whatever news was to come... and that the mistake he had just made with the new paramedic was going to return to haunt him.

  A few moments later he walked along to the office to learn his fate and rapped on the door.

  `Come on in, Frazer,' Archie called. The older man looked up with a smile, running one hand across his receding hairline. `How was the holiday?'

  `Wonderful. But it's good to be back.'

  Archie nodded. `Good to ha
ve you back. Take a seat.'

  'So what's the story with Mel?' he asked, pulling a chair up to his boss's desk.

  `She's grounded, Frazer. Health reasons.' Another dart of shock stabbed him. `What? But she just had a touch of flu when I left.'

  `That's what we all thought.' Archie shook his head. `Turns out Mel has an inner ear problem. She was poorly for several days, and the medical advice is that she shouldn't fly again. At least not in the foreseeable future.'

  `Damn. Poor Mel. How is she? What's she going to do?'

  `She's philosophical about it-says she was getting a bit long in the tooth to go on.'

  `Rubbish.' Frazer swore, bringing a grin to his boss's face. `I'll talk to her.'

  His smile fading, Archie watched him a moment. `She'll be delighted to see you, of course. But her mind is made up, Frazer. This has just brought forward her decision, that's ail. Be pleased for her. She's looking forward to working part-time with a land crew when she feels up to it, and spending more time with John. He's taking early retirement next year and they have plans.'

  `I see.'

  He didn't. This was all news to him. And it hurt that Mel had never confided in him that she was thinking of taking a back seat. They had formed a close friendship and working partnership these last six months, and Mel had given no sign that things would change.

  `I know it isn't the situation you expected to come back to,' Archie said now, shuffling some papers, sympathetic understanding in his hazel eyes. `But Callie Grogan joined us a week ago from Glasgow and you'11 be partnering her from now on.'

  `Great,' he muttered, with a distinct Jack of enthusiasm. And not just because he had made the worst first impression on his new flight paramedic. He had a nasty feeling his working relationship with Callie was not going to be as smooth and light-hearted as the one he had enjoyed with Mel.

  `She's good, Frazer. This is her first posting with a flight crew, but she is dedicated, committed and extremely qualified. And she's taken every additional course available to enhance her all-round skills. Callie topped the shortlist in every way, and her orientation week here impressed us all.'