All She Wants For Christmas. Annie Claydon

that’s good to know. Anything else?’ As he was speaking he was easing the boy out of his coat, checking him for any signs of injury as he went, his manner so casual that Jack hardly seemed to notice.

      ‘I have a minor abrasion on my hand.’ He held out his grazed palm for his father to see.

      ‘Do you now? Well, I’m glad you remembered that.’ He shone the light from the pen torch onto Jack’s hand and studied it closely. ‘Well, I think you’ll live, mate. We’ll put some antiseptic cream on it, just to make sure it heals nicely.’ He flipped the penlight quickly towards his son and Jack caught it adroitly. There was nothing wrong with the boy’s reactions.

      Matt seemed satisfied, but Jack grabbed at his arm. ‘You haven’t done the thing with your fingers yet, Dad.’ Matt shot her a questioning look and Beth avoided his gaze.

      ‘Look, like this.’ Jack tipped his father’s face back towards him, laying one hand under his chin and carefully moving the other back and forth. He nodded slightly, in an almost flawless impression of what Beth had done, then suddenly made a face, hooting with laughter.

      Embarrassment crawled across the back of her neck. Okay, so crossing her eyes and sticking out her tongue had made Jack laugh, but she wasn’t so sure that his father would consider it particularly professional.

      A deep chuckle shook his frame. ‘All right. That does it.’ He had his back turned to Beth, but from Jack’s reaction it was apparent that Matt had risen to the challenge and was indulging in a face-pulling contest. Jack grimaced horribly and Matt rose. ‘You win. No one with a face like that can have a great deal wrong with them.’ He turned to Beth. ‘Thank you. Do you know what’s happening with his carer, Mrs Green?’

      He spoke quietly, without exaggerating the movements of his mouth, and faced her. When most people heard her speak and divined from her accent that she was deaf, they looked away and shouted, neither of which helped in the slightest.

      ‘I can hear you.’ She’d rather say it upfront than leave people to wonder. He nodded but still his eyes never left her face. ‘I called Phyllis to find out where you were and she’s trying to locate Mrs Green. She’ll call as soon as she knows.’

      ‘Thanks. I really appreciate your kindness.’ He perched himself on the edge of his desk, leaving Jack to play with the penlight. ‘So you found him outside the hearing therapy unit? Is that where everyone who gets lost looking for Cardiology eventually ends up?’

      So he did remember her. Beth couldn’t suppress the smile that sprang to her lips. ‘Pretty much. Parallel universes will do that kind of thing.’

      His face broke into a wide grin. ‘That they will.’ The gleam in his eyes extinguished suddenly. ‘And he was all on his own?’

      ‘He must have given the staff the slip when the ambulance crew handed over to Casualty. He was looking for you.’

      Matt let out a growl of exasperation. ‘Jack, how many times have I told you—?’

      Beth’s phone came to Jack’s rescue, vibrating suddenly in her pocket. ‘This must be Phyllis.’ She glanced at the caller display. ‘Here. You’d better speak to her.’ Phyllis had a knack of being able to speak in whole paragraphs before she needed to draw breath and Matt was more likely to be able to keep up with her on the phone.

      He took the handset with a grin and pressed it against his ear. Barely getting a ‘hello’ in, he nodded and then a thumbs up in Beth’s direction told her that Mrs Green was not too badly hurt.

      ‘That’s great, Phyllis, thanks. I’ll take him up there to see her … Can you call—? Great … thanks.’ He snapped the phone shut and handed it back to Beth and then his attention was all for Jack, who had been fidgeting miserably in his seat. ‘Rough day, eh, mate?’

      Jack nodded, sliding down from the chair towards Matt, who lifted him effortlessly into his arms. ‘Is Mrs Green really going be all right?’ Jack’s hands were clasped tightly around his father’s neck and he seemed to be wiping his nose on Matt’s shirt.

      ‘Yes. She’s hurt her wrist and her ribs are very sore, but they’re looking after her very well right here in the hospital. She’ll be as good as new before you know it.’ He tipped Jack’s face up towards his and Beth found herself smiling at the almost unbearable tenderness of the gesture. ‘We can go and see her later and you’ll be able to check her out for yourself. In the meantime, Phyllis is ringing your gran and she’ll come and fetch you.’

      Jack brightened visibly, wriggling in his father’s grip, and Matt let him back down onto his feet. ‘That’s all right, Dad. I can stay with Beth.’

      ‘No. Beth’s got enough to do, without coming to our rescue every time you and I decide to get lost.’ He flashed her a delicious grin. Warm and confiding, with a hint of mischief. Perfectly calculated. Beth reckoned he had his patients eating out of his hand with that one.

      The phone on his desk rang and Matt snatched it up. From the way that he listened first, rather than talking, it was obviously Phyllis on the other end. ‘Okay, thanks, Phyllis … No, I’ll work something out … Yeah, thanks, I’ll call you.’ He laid the handset back in its cradle and focused on the stack of patient files on his desk, a muscle twitching at the side of his jaw.

      ‘Childcare problems?’ It seemed a bit presumptuous to ask, but Matt was clearly torn between his son and his patients.

      ‘Yeah. I haven’t quite mastered the knack of being in two places at once yet.’

      ‘If you have patients to see then I can look after Jack. We have a children’s play area in the HTU, and I don’t have any appointments this afternoon. He’ll be quite safe. Marcie and I won’t let him out of our sight.’

      It was an obvious solution, but for some reason Matt seemed intent on pursuing his original course of action. ‘Thank you, that’s kind, but I really can’t impose on you like that. Phyllis has offered to take care of him in my office if she can’t reach my mother.’

      Jack tugged at his arm. ‘That’s all right, Dad. I’ll go with Beth and you can come and fetch me later. The hearing place is much nicer than your office.’

      ‘We’ve got paints. And glitter pens. We could make Mrs Green a get-well-soon card.’ Beth winked conspiratorially at Jack, who shot his father a pleading look.

      Matt hesitated. It seemed there was one person, at least, who had the power to veto his instructions. ‘You’re going to do exactly as Beth tells you, aren’t you? Leave the messing around for tonight, when you get home.’

      Jack’s outraged expression made it plain that messing about had never been further from his thoughts and Matt laughed down at his son. ‘Okay, then. Looks as if the lady with the glitter pens has outbid me.’

      CHAPTER TWO

      ALL afternoon, the grey eyes, which warmed to a colour he could not quite define when Beth smiled, had been beckoning to Matt and he had doggedly ignored the summons. Bitter experience had already taught him that distractions of this kind led to dangerous places. Anyway, no one had eyes that great, it must have been a trick of the light.

      Slipping through the open door of the hearing therapy unit, he found himself in a small reception area, with a wide archway leading through to another room, which seemed to be set up as an informal association area. He could hear Jack’s voice and went to walk towards it when something in the boy’s tone made him stop.

      ‘My mum was in a road accident like Mrs Green.’ There was a silence and Matt started forward again, freezing again when he heard Jack continue.

      ‘She wasn’t all right, though. She died.’

      There was a rustle, as if someone had moved in their seat, and he heard Beth’s voice, clear and melodic. ‘I would be very sad if that happened to me.’

      Jack spoke again. ‘Is that how you say you