Sweet Christmas Kisses (25 page)

Kelly cast him a sympathetic glance and squeezed his arm. Last Christmas was around the time his wife died. That must be a terrible holiday memory. She was surprised he could bring himself to celebrate at all.

Sean lifted a wreath of holly and pine twined with shiny gold and red beads. "This will look good over the wood-burning stove in the sitting room area."

They filled a cart with garlands, baubles, and other fripperies, checked out, and loaded everything in the car. Both girls fidgeted and moaned, tired and fretful now, ready for lunch and a nap.

Sean fixed the tree to the roof of his SUV with the help of the garden center assistant. The pine blew and bumped on top of the vehicle as Sean drove home, its fluttering branches visible through the glass sunroof. Annabelle cried and pointed at it, while Zoe screamed in distress.

An earsplitting noise filled the car, so loud Kelly couldn't make herself heard as she tried to reassure the babies.

"Thank goodness we're only going two miles," Sean shouted, wincing.

When they arrived home, they rushed the girls inside to comfort them, stripping off their thick winter suits, hats, and gloves, changing diapers, wiping noses, and dispensing kisses and hugs until peace was restored.

Once the children were in their high chairs, Kelly hummed a Christmas carol she remembered from childhood as she heated the twins' lunch and prepared soup with warm crusty rolls for herself and Sean.

"You seem happy here, Kelly," Sean said.

"Yes, very happy. I love looking after the girls. And you."

As she sat across the table from him, he reached over and laid his hand on hers, his eyes sparkling with pleasure. "I enjoy having you here. You know that, don't you?"

"I hoped so."

He stroked his thumb across the back of her hand, his expression thoughtful. Was he about to ask her to stay on, or reveal he had feelings for her?

With a sigh, he let her go and resumed eating. Kelly's breath rushed out in disappointment. Maybe he was just grateful to her for stepping in to help with his children. His mind must be on the anniversary of losing his wife—not on starting a new relationship.

After lunch, Sean fixed the tree on its stand and strung the miniature lights around it. Kelly helped Zoe hang the baubles on the branches while Sean assisted Annabelle, both of them lifting the babies so they could reach the higher branches.

It took five minutes for the children to lose interest. They toddled to the sofa, climbed up, and curled together, their thumbs in their mouths. Then they drifted off to sleep, leaving Sean and Kelly to finish decorating the tree.

Kelly grabbed her phone to take some photographs of the two cute little girls cuddling up, her heart aching at the thought that in a few weeks she would probably be many miles away. They would return to their normal routine with Monique and these photos might be all Kelly had to remind her of this wonderful time with the children.

While Sean was busy packing up the wrappings from the decorations, Kelly surreptitiously snapped some shots of him as well—something to dream over when she had a quiet moment.

As the babies slept, Sean dropped onto the sofa beside them and opened a book on his lap, sketching diagrams and making notations.

Kelly slipped her phone back in her bag with a sigh. The last few days he had been preoccupied with important medical problems while here she was mooning over him like a love-sick schoolgirl.

"Thinking about your latest patient?"

He nodded. He'd explained the conundrum of the surgical reconstruction he needed to do. For the last two nights he had pored over his laptop, reading papers and reports of similar operations, studying plans of the musculature of the human body, looking for inspiration.

Kelly brought him a cup of coffee and sat at his side, examining his diagrams. "What about taking muscle from the ribs?"

"Yes." He pointed at his sketch. "I've already discussed that possibility with Radley. The main problem is we need some bones to reconstruct the supporting architecture of the hand before we can graft on the soft tissue.

"Ribs?" Kelly said, her eyebrows raised in question.

"Yes." Sean turned a thoughtful gaze her way. "That's exactly what I'm contemplating. The ribs are the right size and the patient won't miss a couple of them. As far as I can see, it's the only option, but it's never been done before. We'd be pushing the boundaries."

"That's what boundaries are for." Kelly's voice came out husky and intimate. Sitting so close to Sean, their shoulders and thighs touching, she wanted to snuggle into his arms and kiss him. She wanted to be with this man. If she didn't make the first move, she would never know if he felt the same way.

"I want to push some boundaries with you," she said softly.

Sean set aside his pad and turned to her, his hand lifting to cup her cheek. She leaned into his touch, everything inside her melting.

"Kelly," he whispered.

A log crackled in the wood-burning stove and the soft sound of the babies' breathing filled the silence.

They both moved at once, arms sliding around each other, drawing close. He smelled of the outdoors, of crisp winter air and pine trees.

"I keep thinking about my birthday kiss," he whispered. "How it was over too soon."

"Maybe we can have a Christmas kiss," she said. "If we start practicing now, we should be really good at it by Christmas Day."

He chuckled, then his lips covered hers in the endless dreamy kiss she had longed for ever since she met him.

****

With the children in bed and the house silent, Kelly carried two mugs of hot chocolate out onto the deck. She and Sean snuggled together on one of the recliners, wrapped in a fleecy blanket. They stared at the speckled vista of a trillion stars, shining like diamonds strewn across the deepest navy velvet.

"So beautiful," she whispered, hardly daring to speak for fear of breaking this magical moment.

"Yes, you are." Sean pulled her closer and kissed her. She rested her head on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart as she sipped her chocolate, trying not to think of the future, content to enjoy this moment.

Earlier, sitting on the sofa in front of the log fire, she and Sean had kissed until the children woke. He had been a gentleman, not rushed her into anything more.

Although she told herself she was heading down a slippery slope towards heartbreak when she had to leave, just this once she wanted some fun without worrying about the future.

Deep inside she acknowledged she wanted more, but after one afternoon of kissing she could hardly ask Sean where he saw their relationship going.

If he just wanted a fling for a few weeks, she was okay with that, but if he wanted more, she would be ecstatic. She would relax and let things develop naturally, secretly hoping he wanted her to stay on. If he did, she could always work for the children's charity in London instead of going overseas.

Maybe, just maybe, she would get to live the life she had always wanted with a husband and children. Maybe this Christmas really would be magical and all her dreams would come true.

****

Sean hummed as he stepped out of the elevator and strode along the corridor towards the trauma ward. Thoughts of Kelly hovered in the back of his mind all the time, leaving him tingly and warm. Those he passed must think he was crazy because he kept smiling for no apparent reason.

All his fears of mixing business with pleasure were gone. Kelly would not let anything that happened between them affect how she cared for Zoe and Annabelle, not that he expected any problems between him and Kelly. He'd never met a more sympathetic and understanding woman. He was halfway in love with her and he'd only known her a couple of weeks.

"Good morning, sir," a nurse said as he entered the ward.

He acknowledged her with a nod and opened the door to Pvt. Ewan Tyler's room. His romantic thoughts faded as he assumed a professional demeanor. Sorrow tugged deep in his chest at the sight of the eighteen-year-old lying in the bed, his face a splotchy mass of healing cuts and bruises, his right arm covered in a pressure dressing, the arm Sean and Radley had operated on the previous week.

Private Tyler was little more than a kid, only a few months out of school and into his first tour of duty overseas. Now he was a casualty. More than anything, Sean wanted to give this young man a usable hand back again.

Sean's whole attitude towards the young service men and women who passed through his care had changed since he had kids of his own. Now he could identify totally with the parents he saw sitting white-faced with shock at their youngster's bedside.

Tyler lay awake, an iPod on his pillow, earbuds in his ears. He pulled them out with his good hand and fumbled to switch off the device as Sean approached.

"No hurry, Private. Take your time."

"Yes, sir."

"How are you feeling?"

"Well as can be expected, sir."

The young man had made incredible progress in such a short time. Often soldiers with severe blast injuries suffered from fungal infections due to contamination and the conditions they lived under, but Tyler had tested negative and his face was already healing well.

"Today's the day then, Tyler. You understand what's going to happen?"

"Yes, sir. You're going to take muscle and bone from my ribs to build me a new hand."

Sean nodded, with a smile to encourage the lad. "That's right. It will take a good few months to heal, but with patience and physiotherapy, you should be able to use your right hand for most tasks."

"As long as I can hold my girlfriend's hand, that'll be excellent, sir. She doesn't like holding my left hand. Says I don't hold her right."

Sean smiled, his chest tight with emotion. He didn't usually get this involved with his patients. His feelings for Kelly had stirred him up inside and made him more sensitive.

"Tell your girlfriend she'll have to make do with your left hand for a few months, then she can have the right hand back."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. I appreciate what you're doing for me, Doctor. Mum said this operation is something special."

"We're going to record it as a teaching aid for other surgeons. We'll also have some visiting doctors in the viewing gallery during the operation."

"I'll be the star of the show and sleep through it all," Tyler quipped. The boy was incredibly brave and cheerful considering what had happened to him.

"You certainly are a star, Tyler. You and all our lads who risk their lives."

The young man's expression sobered. "Thank you, sir. I appreciate your saying so."

"A nurse will be along shortly to prepare you. I'll see you tomorrow to talk you through how things went. Okay?"

"Yes, sir."

Sean nodded and left the ward, heading back to his room to change. Anticipation surged along his veins. He and Radley had planned meticulously. Everything was in place. But there was no escaping the fact this was a radical procedure, something untried and experimental. He prayed it worked and that by next summer Private Tyler could hold his girlfriend's hand.

Kelly didn't like to leave Zoe and Annabelle in the hospital day care, but it was only for a couple of hours. She really wanted to watch Sean operate. He'd bounced ideas off her before he discussed them with Radley, so she knew exactly how he planned to reconstruct the patient's hand. He'd invited her to join the visiting surgeons in the viewing gallery to watch the idea put into action.

In the day care, two smiling young nursery nurses took the babies' hands. "Hello, Zoe. We haven't seen you for a long time, have we. Come along, Belles, are you going to play with the others?"

With only a moment's hesitation, Zoe toddled off beside the young women. Annabelle didn't even spare Kelly a glance. She trotted away chattering to herself and laid claim to a plastic rocking horse.

"I can see they're going to be fine here," Kelly said to the supervisor.

"Yes, they fit in well. We don't have many tantrums from Colonel Fab's little girls." The woman grinned at the mention of Sean's nickname. Kelly suppressed an eye roll. She supposed she would have to get used to women's reaction to Sean.

After checking the time on her phone, she headed across the car park to the impressive space-age structure of the military hospital. Weak winter sun reflected off the many windows, making the ultramodern building glow.

The main doors swished open as she approached. She crossed the foyer, climbed in the elevator, and selected the restricted access floor where the operating rooms and the senior officers' suites were located. At the beep, she scanned the security pass Sean had given her.

When the elevator stopped, she stepped out and glanced around. She had never worked in the Brize Norton hospital, spending most of her time overseas. This place was state-of-the-art, dedicated to military medicine and staffed completely by joint forces personnel. She felt immediately at home surrounded by uniforms. How would she cope working as a civilian? The reality of leaving the army hadn't sunk in yet. At the moment she still felt like she was on leave, and technically she was.

She followed the signs to the viewing gallery for the theater where Sean and Radley would operate. Although she was early, the rows of tiered seating in the glass enclosure were already filling up with visiting surgeons and medical students. Kelly went down the steps and found the two empty seats at the end of the front row.

Pieces of paper reading Reserved by Colonel Fabian were stuck on with tape. She sat on one, aware of a few interested glances aimed her way. She avoided the looks and stared down at the large high-tech OR where Sean would be working.

Already the scrub nurses and the medical technicians who monitored the equipment were there preparing.

A few minutes later, someone sat in the other reserved seat. "Hello," Daniel Fabian said with a grin. "Remember me?"

"Yes." She could hardly forget him—the man who had flirted with her the night of Sean's birthday party, despite the fact he had a girlfriend on his arm. She'd felt sorry for the poor woman.