Christmas Magic In Heatherdale. Abigail Gordon

Ryan looked straight at Melissa.

      ‘Some time this afternoon I’d like a brief word with you. In the meantime, when the two of you have finished rounds, Julian will direct you to Personnel so that you can get the processing of a new employee over and done with.’

      ‘Yes, fine,’ she said, having decided that she was being given the hint that being neighbours didn’t mean any special treatment. As if she would expect anything of that kind.

      Maybe it was Ryan’s way of letting her see that his efforts on her behalf since arriving in Heatherdale were now at an end, and if that was the case it would have no effect on the deep gratitude she felt for the kindness he had shown her.

      ‘I wonder what’s upset the boss?’ Julian mused when Ryan had gone. ‘He was rather abrupt. Ryan needs some light relief in his life. He’s all work and no play.’

      Melissa didn’t comment. There was no way she would discuss Ryan with Julian, who, from the sound of it, hadn’t a care in the world.

      Back in his office Ryan reminded himself that from now on he would be able to relax at the thought of Melissa in the house next door with her few belongings. If she could turn up looking like she had the last two days he need not concern himself about her any more, and that being so he would find it easier to have a good working relationship with her instead of behaving like he just had.

      Ryan’s crustiness forgotten, Melissa enjoyed every moment of her first morning on the wards with Julian. she would have much preferred it to be with ‘the boss’, as his laid-back assistant called him, but it was sufficient that she was working in a hospital once more. She read the records of every young patient’s treatment and progress thoroughly when they stopped by their beds and asked Julian questions if she wasn’t clear about anything.

      That afternoon Ryan requested her presence for the brief chat that he’d mentioned earlier in the day, and she went to his office expecting a repeat of the brisk instructions of the morning. She was surprised to see him smiling. She was unaware that he had decided that now there was no longer any need of his help as far as she was concerned, he could relax and return to what life had been like before she’d appeared in it.

      ‘I just wanted to ask how your first day is going,’ he said. ‘I know how much you wanted to be back in paediatrics.’

      ‘Fantastic,’ she told him, ‘The chance to work here is the best thing that has happened to me in years and it is all due to you.’ She didn’t want to give him the wrong impression.

      ‘I’ll be fine from now on, Ryan, with the house that I’m going to make as delightful as yours one day, and working here with Julian and yourself, I’m back to the self-reliant person I used to be.’

      Still on a high on her way home, she stopped to collect colour charts for paints and some wallpaper samples and once she’d eaten she sat considering them thoughtfully. Renovating the house that was now her home would have to be carefully budgeted, but it also had to be right for the property.

      She’d seen the interior design of the house next door and had been aware of how right it was for that kind of house, and though having no wish to copy it, she felt that she needed to keep to a similar kind of décor.