A Mistletoe Marriage Reunion
Author
Louisa Heaton
Reads
15.9K
Chapters
17
Ten years after their marriage ended, two surgeons reconnect in London and soon find themselves wrapped up in each other once more in this Christmas North and South story. 'TIS THE SEASON…FOR SECOND CHANCES Once her children left home, Lauren could finally pursue her surgical dreams. Sadly, her marriage to surgeon Oliver didn't survive the different directions life took them… A decade later, she's back in London and face-to-face with her ex-husband — who's annoyingly more gorgeous than ever! Oliver understands why they fell apart, so he's surprised at the attraction still sizzling between them… Soon they're reconnecting over hot chocolates and even hotter mistletoe kisses! Dating again is fun, but with their history, can they risk taking things any further?
CHAPTER ONE
AN AIR AMBULANCE helicopter was coming in to land on the roof of the Great Southern Hospital as Dr Lauren Shaw stood before the entrance in the early-morning dark and cold, trying to work up the courage to step inside.
It was impossible from where she stood to feel the downdraught of the whizzing rotor blades that chopped through the air high above, but it felt that way as a chill breeze tried to blow her blonde hair out of its tight ponytail and she shivered violently, huddling up tighter in her winter coat.
I don’t need to be this scared.
It’s ridiculous!
I’m a grown-ass woman, for crying out loud!
Oliver wasn’t even in the building. Not yet anyway, because Lauren had arrived extra early so she could be ready for anything, figuring that if she were in the hospital first she could establish her ground, get a feel for everything, start to make friends, before he arrived and then, when he did, it would feel like equal territory. Or as equal as she could make it, considering he’d been working here since he qualified all those many years ago.
Who am I kidding?
She knew who he was around here. He was a maxillofacial reconstructive god. People came from all over the country to be treated by him, and she knew of his successes because she heard all about him from their daughters, Kayley and Willow, whenever they chatted on the phone, or on her occasional visits. Visits that were always perfectly orchestrated to make sure that Lauren never ran into him.
She’d come down from Edinburgh when Kayley had passed her bar exam and qualified as a lawyer. She’d come down when Willow had qualified as a paediatrician, and taken both her daughters out for a celebratory meal. It had always been a struggle to leave them again and get back on the train to Scotland. And now she wouldn’t have to. She was here to stay. Though she’d hoped to not get a job at the Great Southern but at another London hospital, when the job for a reconstructive surgeon had come up here her colleagues at the Great Northern had encouraged her to go for the role, telling her how good it would be for her career, the professional move she’d been looking for.
And she and Oliver were adults, right? Surely they could be mature about this. Old feelings, old resentments, old guilts, could no longer trip them up, right?
Lauren sucked in a breath.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I took that step when I applied for this post.
She stepped forward, eyes focused on the fairy lights that were already up in readiness for the festive season, trying to focus on the beauty of them, how they looked like little snowflakes. The reception area was large, with an L-shaped desk and two receptionists sitting behind it. One was on the phone, the other was handing a piece of pink paper over to a couple of guys. The one facing her was an attractive younger man with thick, dark hair. He was laughing and had a broad, beautiful smile and the other was... The other man was...
Lauren’s steps slowed. Something about the man looked familiar. The height, the stance. It couldn’t be, could it?
His shoulders were just as wide, just as broad, but his frame was trimmer, more streamlined, the love handles she’d once joked with him about, teased him about even though she’d once loved them, were gone. His hair, that had once been dark and devilish, was now peppered with silver and looked distinguished and sexy in a new style and she had no doubt that those gorgeous green eyes of his were exactly the same!
Dr Oliver Shaw was here early.
Her plan to establish her ground had already faltered.
Her position of power was gone.
All she could hope for now was that she would come across as calm and composed and looking as amazing as he did! The years had been kind to Oliver, clearly. And both Kayley and Willow had commented in the last few years how their dad had got into fitness, went to the gym regularly and had even run in marathons the last few years. No doubt due to the influence of Daria, his much younger girlfriend.
Would he think that she had changed? That the years had been kind to her? She did yoga now and could do a crow pose easily but, unlike Oliver, Lauren had had to deal with the menopause over the last few years and the silver in her blonde hair was hidden with carefully applied highlights, her own love handles caged in by clever undergarments, and the last time she’d run for anything had been when she’d run away from Mike...
You know what? It doesn’t matter what I look like. I’m a strong, confident woman and I’m here to do an excellent job and that’s what matters. I love who I am and what I look like now. I’ve grown into this body and it’s beautiful and the battle scars tell my story.
It didn’t matter what Oliver’s opinion of her might be. Because his opinion was none of her business!
And so she confidently stepped forward to say hello.
‘So you think we can discharge her tomorrow?’ asked Dev.
‘I don’t see why not. She’s been on the antibiotics for three days now and hasn’t sparked any more fevers, so I’d say we have a handle on her infection. Let’s continue to monitor her today, check her stitches tonight and if all looks A-okay then we can send her home.’ Dr Oliver Shaw turned to Rebecca on reception. ‘Bex, were you able to get hold of that taxi service for me?’
Bex smiled at him, the way she always did, and handed him a piece of pink paper. It had a telephone number on it. ‘Sure did.’
‘Thanks.’ He needed it for his patient. She lived outside of London. She’d come all the way from Canterbury to be seen by him and have her upper jaw realigned and he’d promised he’d find her a decent taxi firm that would get her home again safely without charging her the earth.
His surgery on Stella Malcolm had gone well, but her temperature post-surgery had been fluctuating and they’d discovered that she’d had a urine infection, of all things, that had gone into her kidneys. It had made her quite unwell, to the point that she’d begun to hallucinate, but things had calmed down the last couple of days and she seemed back to normal. He’d stayed all night to make sure she was okay, monitoring her, even though his registrar, Dev, had offered to do so. Besides, he’d known he wouldn’t sleep well, knowing that Lauren, his ex-wife, was coming back at some point today. To work here, at Great Southern. It just seemed easier to stay up all night and focus on his patient, rather than stay up all night and think about his ex. A good distraction technique.
The last ten years, the Great Southern Hospital in London had been his territory. The Great Northern Hospital, its sister hospital in Scotland, had been Lauren’s. When he’d heard she was coming back, had applied for the vacancy of reconstructive surgeon, he’d been shocked. Kayley and Willow had both mentioned that their mum had begun to wish to be closer to them again, but he’d never imagined she would come here! He’d thought she’d go to Guys and St Thomas’ or someplace like that. He’d never imagined that she would want to walk the same halls as him...
And what about her boyfriend, Mike? Had he come back with her? He was a hotshot reconstructive surgeon, by all accounts. Where was he working, because it certainly wasn’t here!
Oliver noticed that Dev’s attention had been caught by someone behind them and so he turned to look, doing a double take when he realised who it was.
Lauren.
Wow, she looked fine! The years had been more than kind. How could she look better than she had before? It had been ten years since he’d last seen her, walking away from him with her bags packed, struggling to carry them all, because she was so small and there’d almost been nothing to her.
He used to call her ‘Baby Bird’ affectionately, because her five foot three to his six-foot height had made her seem that way. But now? She’d filled out some, had knockout womanly curves. Her face, once so angular, now had perfect cheekbones and her make-up looked different. Whatever she was doing now really made her light blue eyes stand out. They were almost hypnotising. They were—
‘Oliver?’
He was vaguely aware that Dev was trying to talk to him, that his friend and colleague was smiling, puzzled, trying to work out why he—normally so garrulous—had been struck dumb by a hot blonde entering Reception.
She wore heels that accentuated perfect calf muscles. Had she been working out? And now, as she got closer, the fairy lights surrounding the reception desk began to flicker across her face and her eyes gleamed as she stretched out a hand to say hello.
‘Oliver.’
Speak. You need to speak.
Of course he’d known she was doing all right for herself. Their two daughters had kept him abreast of all their mum’s news and he’d been delighted that she had finally been able to throw herself into the career that she’d wanted. But he had to remind himself that she was with Mike now and that today had to be a big change for her too and the last thing she’d need was her ex-husband being struck dumb at the sight of her. She needed him to act normally and in control. To be focused, the way he was when he was in Theatre.
Get a grip.
‘Lauren. You’re here early.’ He somehow managed to dredge up a passable genuine smile and reached out to shake her hand. As soon as he touched her he felt electrocuted, zaps of lightning shooting up his arm that were most troubling. Most disturbing.
Most surprising.
‘I wanted to get an early start...you know how it is.’
Her beaming smile when she directed it towards him was awe-inducing in the extreme. It brought everything back. Everything. Why was he reacting this way? Mentally, he tried to get a hold of himself, to find that control he needed if he and Lauren were to carefully navigate this new working relationship. He was a maxillofacial reconstructive surgeon; she was a reconstructive surgeon. They were going to be working together.
‘Of course. Lauren, let me introduce you to Dr Dev Singh, one of our highly skilled registrars.’
She shook Dev’s hand. ‘Pleased to meet you.’
‘Pleasure is all mine. I’ve heard a lot about you.’
‘Oh?’ She looked at Oliver, but he looked blank because he’d not told anyone anything about her.
‘I’m good friends with your daughter Willow. We’ve worked together on a couple of occasions in Paeds.’
‘Ah, yes, I remember her mentioning you. You’re the doctor that likes to go rowing, is that right?’
Dev nodded. ‘From my Cambridge days.’ He smiled.
Oliver stood there, surprised. How had he never heard that Dev liked to row? ‘Well...now that introductions are over, should I escort you upstairs? Show you around? Introduce you to everyone?’
Her gaze turned back on him and it was mesmerising. ‘Unless there’s work that needs doing first? I’m ready to get stuck in.’
Of course. She’d waited long enough to properly focus on her career and he’d played a part in that. Introductions could wait.
‘The next patient on my list this morning requires a radial forearm flap for tongue cancer. You could join me on that.’
Lauren nodded. ‘I’d love to. Why don’t you tell me more about the patient?’
Her smile was bewildering and it hit him in the solar plexus so hard, he almost felt winded.
