A Family This Christmas. Sue MacKay

like he wasn’t used to smiling.

      ‘Not really.’ He should try the smile thing more often as it turned an already good-looking face into something beyond handsome. Her stomach sucked in and her heart knocked gently against her ribs, as if to say, Hey, sit up and take note. He’s one cool dude. Except, dear heart, the man has a wife. Those boys mentioned seeing their mother. She shifted a little and groaned, grinding out, ‘You’d tell me if I’d be better off seeing a chainsaw specialist, wouldn’t you?’

      Cam grimaced with her then told her, ‘Angus is very good.’ He swung her car keys between them. ‘The car’s parked in my garage, out of the way. I brought in your case. Thought you’d want a change of clothes some time.’ Thoughtful as well as a hunk. ‘It’s in the ED office until they know whether you’re having surgery or just getting a proper splint and crutches.’

      ‘Would you mind putting the keys in my case? Losing them would only give me another headache to deal with.’

      ‘Sure.’ Cam stared thoughtfully at a spot somewhere around his feet. ‘If you’re discharged, where will you go?’

      She had no idea. ‘Yesterday I looked up motels in Blenheim and found heaps of vacancies so I didn’t bother making a booking. I’ll phone around when I know what’s going on here.’

      ‘You sure that’s what you want to do? You could catch a flight home as soon as they kick you out of here.’ The question in his eyes asked where home was.

      She wasn’t answering it. ‘I’ll be fine. Lots of options, really.’ She played mental ping-pong. A motel where she’d have to get take-out delivered because of her inability to move around? Or a flight out to where? Which town would she settle in and pretend it felt like home until she was okay to move on again? According to some, home was where the heart was, and her heart was lost right now.

      At the moment all her worldly possessions were locked up in a container in a storage yard in Auckland, no doubt going mouldy. She suspected that after her road trip she’d like somewhere new to start again.

      ‘I’ll leave you my numbers so you can call me if you want anything else out of your car.’

      ‘Thanks.’ The carton of medical journals could wait a month or so. The hiking boots, running shoes and camping gear were absolutely useless at the moment. Blink, blink. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. It’s a broken ankle, not a catastrophe, even if you are stuck here for a while. Her gaze drifted to Cam, over his expansive chest and on down to the long legs stretched half across the cubicle. ‘How did you manage to get behind the steering wheel of my car? Your knees must’ve been up around your ears.’

      ‘That’s something I’m used to. Though driving a sports car was a novelty, even if only for half a kilometre. The boys couldn’t believe what they were seeing when I pulled up at home.’

      ‘I can picture their faces.’ She continued checking him out. Why? She had no idea.

      This guy spent time in the sun. His skin had a mouth-watering tan. Those calf muscles were well honed. Her stomach squeezed. Settle. The last thing she needed right now was to get interested in a man. She had nothing to offer anyone. She ran on empty all the time. Anyway, this particular man was taken. Remember? Remember. ‘You look fit. You run?’ Why was she even asking? He’d disappear any minute and that would be the end of that.

      Surprise widened his eyes. ‘It’s the one thing that keeps me sane some days.’

      She’d focus on his running, nothing else. ‘That can’t be easy with only a handful of short streets or the main highway to pound out on.’ An hour in Havelock had been ample time to get the idea of how small the place was.

      ‘I use Queen Charlotte Drive. The hill’s a bit of a grunter but the traffic moves at a far slower pace than out on the main road. Sometimes the boys cycle with me. I’d never take them on the main road. Too many large trucks rolling through all the time.’

      ‘Your boys are cute.’ Where was their mother? Had she gone to the party with them?

      ‘Don’t you dare tell them that. They absolutely hate anyone using the “cute” word.’ Another smile, more expansive this time, lifted his mouth into a delicious curve and lightened the brown of his eyes.

      ‘They’re strong-willed?’

      Cam nodded his head slowly. ‘Unfortunately, yes.’

      ‘You’d want your kids to be pushovers?’ she asked, wondering exactly why he’d dropped by. She wasn’t his patient or his friend.

      His sigh filled with sadness as the smile switched off and his gaze dulled. ‘They’re a funny mix of strong and soft. Kind of nice, I guess, but there are things I wish they were stronger about.’

      If only she knew how to wipe away that look, bring back the warm smile. But it wasn’t her place. They were strangers who were going to remain so. ‘I’m sure all parents think that.’ How enlightening. Not.

      ‘You got kids?’ His question was nothing startling, fitted into their conversation, and yet it arrowed in for her heart.

      ‘No.’ She’d always hoped she’d get married and have a family. That had been part of her life plan, along with the medical career, the extended travel to Europe and watching Alison achieve her goal to become an international airline pilot. Except Alison had died because she had failed as a doctor. Her new life plan was waiting to be rewritten, but one thing she knew for certain was that having a family would be a part of it. Losing her sister had heightened that need.

      ‘Hello, Cam. Didn’t expect to find you here. You know my patient?’ A middle-aged man strode around the curtain and stopped at the end of her bed.

      ‘Not really. My boys are responsible for this. A skateboarding accident of no mean proportions.’

      ‘Ouch.’ The casually presented man turned to her. ‘I’m Angus, your surgeon.’

      She held out her hand. ‘Jenny Bostock. Should I be asking if you caught any fish? Or will that make you go a little harder on me?’ Plastering on a smile she didn’t feel much like making, she watched closely to see how he reacted to her.

      ‘Your timing was perfect. Dinner’s ready and waiting in the fridge at home. Blue cod. The best fish in our waters, as far as I’m concerned.’ His friendly smile faded. ‘I’ve seen your X-rays. The lower tibia has a fine fracture, but it’s the talus that needs attending to, I’m afraid. You require plates to be attached.’

      ‘That’s what I expected.’ And didn’t want. But there was nothing she could do about it, except rewind the clock four hours and stay in her car, instead of walking around Havelock.

      ‘Do you want me to outline the whole procedure, Dr Bostock?’ The surgeon emphasised her title.

      Beside him, Cam lifted his eyebrows. ‘So you are a doctor. I wondered if you were.’

      ‘Angus has been reading my admission slip.’ She should’ve put dog walker or cleaning lady but some habits didn’t disappear, even after six months. ‘Anyway, it was irrelevant to the situation. I’m presuming you’d have treated me the same, no matter what my job was.’

      Cam shrugged. ‘Of course.’

      She didn’t go around telling anyone she was a doctor. People might ask her to treat them or give them advice, and they really didn’t need that from her. But when it came to filling in paperwork she tended to honest. Just in case she ever got her life back on track.

      ‘Jenny—I can call you that?’ The surgeon’s eyebrow rose in query.

      ‘Sure.’

      ‘Jenny’s being coy. I’m surprised you haven’t heard how she saved a child who was choking not more than thirty minutes ago. Everyone’s talking about her.’

      Cam’s eyes widened. ‘Truly? That’s awesome. I have