The Shy Nurse's Christmas Wish. Abigail Gordon

a glance that it was crowded and about to leave at any moment. Tired and harassed after the happenings of the last few days, she felt like weeping.

      Under other circumstances she would have booked a seat for the journey, wanting to arrive at her destination cool and collected with an air of quiet competence about her, but instead she was overwrought and going to be standing all the way there from the looks of it as there were no empty seats to be seen at a glance.

      Until a man nearby looked up from the laptop on the table in front of him and, on seeing her standing in the doorway of the carriage, moved a pile of paperwork off the seat opposite him. Pointing to it, he lifted her luggage onto the rack provided while she sank down gratefully into the empty space with a whispered word of thanks and her head bent, her gaze fixed unseeingly on the floor beneath her feet.

      When he’d seated himself again Daniel Osbourne observed her briefly.

      While hoisting her case he’d seen the name of the town that she was heading for and it was the same as where he lived, which was a coincidence, but he had no time to chatter about that sort of thing.

      Having been away on a seminar about new treatments in the orthopaedic field he had been making copious notes about what he had seen and heard while there, and having found a seat for the pale-looking person now seated opposite, he was in no mood to talk.

      Yet he couldn’t help wondering what was taking her to Seahaven where he lived and worked. Was it its coastal attractiveness, its pleasant town, or like many folk a need for treatment in Oceans House with problems of the body that could make movement an ordeal in one form or another.

      He was employed as top surgeon at the place and having been away for two weeks was looking forward to a restful evening with those he loved before going back to his usual work tomorrow.

      * * *

      It had been Alexander, Darcey Howard’s eighteen-year-old brother, who had wiped out the pleasure of receiving the news that she had been accepted as a ward sister at Oceans House.

      There was just the two of them, brother and sister, having been left parentless some years ago, and since then Darcey, as the eldest, had cared for Alex like the mother he had lost, while at the same time studying for a degree in orthopaedics at a nearby medical college and commuting daily from the home that they shared.

      On getting her degree in nursing she had worked on the orthopaedic wards of a local hospital with reasonable contentment until seeing a vacancy for a ward sister in the beautiful coastal town of Seahaven, with accommodation available in the apartment complex at the side of the hospital building.

      It had meant a move to new surroundings, living in a new environment, and she’d been happy that Alex had shown no reluctance to move there with her as he was only eighteen and keen to follow in her footsteps by studying for a degree similar to her own.

      In fact, he’d been quite excited about the move at first until one night he had talked non-stop about two of his friends who were taking a year out after high school, wanting to see the world first, and had invited him to join them, much to Darcey’s dismay.

      She had listened painfully to the way that Alexander had put to one side as if they had never existed the long years that she had cared for him lovingly after losing their parents in an avalanche while on a skiing holiday. Darcey had always accepted that one day Alex would want to leave the safe cocoon she had made for him, but not so soon, she’d thought achingly.

      At university he would be where she could see him, care for him still from a distance, whereas if he was travelling the world he could be swallowed up for ever, she’d thought, and it had hurt to know how easy it was for Alex to find freedom from life’s burdens as if he had more exciting things to do, when she Darcey had given up so much over the years.

      It was the first time since losing their parents that they’d had a disagreement, as Darcey, ten years older than her brother, had always been there for Alex no matter what. Comforting him when he’d cried for his mother, carefully budgeting what money they’d had, making sure Alex had everything he needed.

      She had known that one day he would break free from the bonds of her love and been quite happy with the thought, but not now, as what he was planning had thrown her into confusion and deep dismay.

      When she’d expressed her hurt at his change of plan, Alexander had been difficult and unapproachable, and their quarrel had made her contemplate turning down her new job. But, hurt by Alex’s attitude, she decided to put herself first for once in her life, and now, tired and dejected, was travelling towards the new life she had chosen for herself in spite of the anxiety that was consuming her on his behalf, while he was involved in last-minute preparations before he and his two companions flew out to lands far away, from where he had promised faithfully to keep in touch.

      He had promised to be at the railway station to see her off earlier but hadn’t kept to the arrangement. Hence her late boarding of the train where she would have been standing if it hadn’t been for the man opposite who had now returned to his laptop after his brief but welcome assistance, and seemed to have no wish to be involved further, for which she was thankful. Darcey was glad that the seating arrangement was for just two passengers instead of the usual four, and also the fact that she could hear the refreshments trolley trundling along the carriage.

      She was more than ready for a drink and a bite and when the trolley stopped beside them, and in a mad moment she asked him if he would like a coffee or something similar as a token of her gratitude for his assistance on the crowded train.

      ‘No, thanks just the same,’ he said briskly, taking his glance off the laptop for a moment. ‘Just see to yourself and if I may be allowed to say so you look as if some light refreshment is needed to combat exhaustion.’ With that he turned back to what he’d been doing, leaving her to squirm at the thought of what she must look like.

      She knew that her hair, a soft honey gold, looked lifeless, and many sleepless nights had left lines beneath eyes wide and blue. She’d lost weight and felt bony rather than slender, and a quick sideways glance in his direction, tanned and supple-looking with hair dark and waving, and deep hazel eyes, did nothing to raise her spirits.

      As the train picked up speed, her thoughts returned to Alexander, and how his travelling companions seemed decent enough, but she still couldn’t help worrying about their safety, being so far away. She would have liked to have been there when their flight left but there had been a change of plan by the three of them, causing a delay that might have meant a late arrival for her new position in hospital care. Feeling that she had endured enough misery over recent days, Darcey had decided to keep to her original arrangements for travelling to Oceans House.

      She groaned softly and the man opposite observed her before asking, ‘Are you all right? Not in pain, physical or mental?’

      ‘No. I’m fine, thanks,’ she said, perking up to avoid any further questioning from a stranger, and turned her thoughts to the apartment that was going to be her home from now on, and some of the excitement that had been there before Alex had decided to branch out on his own came back.

      An announcement over the loudspeaker system broke into her thoughts, informing travellers that the main station on the line, and her destination, was the next stop. She rose to her feet at the same time as the stranger who had taken pity on her, and as he reached her case down effortlessly from the rack above and placed it beside her she was hoping that she might be seeing the last of him, as it was clear that he had her listed as a helpless creature, not that she could blame him.

      He was closing the laptop and shrugging into an expensive winter jacket, ready for off, and Darcey wondered what he did for a living, and decided that if there was a taxi queue at the station she was going to join it with all speed to avoid further assistance from him.

      There was a queue, a long one, but the man from the train didn’t move towards it because someone had come to meet him. He was getting into a smart car parked a few feet away and Darcey saw him lean over and plant a kiss on the cheek of the attractive woman in the driving seat before it pulled away onto the road in the winter afternoon, and she thought wistfully that he looked