White Christmas with Her Millionaire Doc, page 3
‘That’s what I came here for. New York City does nothing for Christmas,’ Ophelia deadpanned, and he watched the lights catch in her sleek black hair as she took in the lodge. The look on her face had him rippling with pride. It was as if she’d never seen anything like it before.
The twenty-foot-high river-rock wood-burning fireplace, the vaulted ceiling with bulging log-truss beams, the antique bar and rustic willow furniture draped with sheepskin—he’d sourced it all himself. A few stragglers were playing cards, reading books, nursing beers or gazing idly out over the snow that blanketed the slopes.
‘Wait till the Christmas Eve party. It’s the talk of the town,’ he said. ‘Last year, Abe—that’s my dad—had the great idea of making up one of the horses to look like Rudolph. He set up a little stall in that corner. Cody rode it out around the tables, throwing candy canes at everyone.’
‘That sounds amazing!’
‘It was pretty impressive, till the fake red nose fell off on the floor and Mirabel Freeman—that’s one of Cody’s teachers—slipped on it and broke her glasses.’
Ophelia chuckled. ‘Never a dull moment. And Cody is great.’ She turned to look at the child who was dropping coins into the pinball machine over by the kitchen door. ‘He looks so much like you.’
‘He’s my world,’ Jax heard himself saying, almost under his breath. Ophelia didn’t know it, but his son had Juno’s smile. He was all he had left of her...except the music room, still locked up with all her stuff in it.
Ophelia’s features hovered on sympathy for a moment and he straightened up. He didn’t need that. Not from anyone, especially not this woman, who he’d be working with very closely for the next two months. She had come here knowing nothing about Juno’s existence, let alone her tragic death. It was refreshing, having someone new around, someone who didn’t know how he’d fallen, broken, and clawed his way back up in the aftermath like an injured mountain lion clinging to a cliff edge. It never got easier, acting the part of happy Jax in a crowd, while somehow still feeling completely alone.
He watched as Ophelia lowered her face to the level of the glass on the bar, as if she were studying a science experiment. She was strangely bewitching. She’d probably been a man magnet in New York with a smile like that, and hair like...that. They didn’t get glamorous women like her around here too often. He wondered absently if she’d brought her hair straighteners with her. They didn’t have much occasion for styled hair round here, not when you had to live in a hat.
‘This smells different,’ she observed.
‘I’ll bet you’ve never had a cold-smoked coffee before.’
‘You’re right about that.’
‘Dad makes it right here. We smoke the beans in a closed room off the basement for up to fourteen hours. It infuses the flavour of the firewood right into the beans—there’s nothing else like it outside of Montana.’
‘I can tell you’re very proud of it.’ She was teasing him.
‘Damn right.’
‘I could get into this.’ She closed her eyes and breathed in what he knew was twenty years of the Creek’s love and labour. The perfect blend of coffee bean. ‘It’s unique,’ he said, noting the heart shape of her glossy top lip. ‘People miss this when they leave. You don’t know it yet, but so will you.’
‘Your father lives here too?’ she asked.
‘Up in the main house with me and Cody. Just the three of us now.’
She gave him that look again over her drink—the one that was jarring in the way it unsettled him. His hands went to adjust his hat. ‘Cody will inherit this place one day,’ he explained. ‘He deserves a childhood here at the Creek like I had, even after what happened to his mother. He’s been through a lot, but he’s a tough kid. This place will make him a man.’
‘Like it did you?’ Ophelia’s intelligent green eyes surveyed him over her coffee, causing a stir somewhere inside him he hurried to try and ignore.
‘My father too.’ He signalled to Hunter for peanuts. ‘Abe Clayborn was the best orthopaedic surgeon in Bozeman. He still sticks his nose in more than he should now he’s retired, but so does everyone around here. They love to talk.’
‘Is that right?’ Ophelia swished the ice in her cup as if she were judging it for melting. Would she keep up the make-up? Her perfume and fancy sweaters? No, Jax would bet a year’s earnings she’d be bare-faced with ice-frozen eyelashes soon, too busy to look in the mirror. But she’d still be the most beautiful woman for miles. Her eyes were the kind of green he’d only seen in spring, the colour of creeping juniper first thing in the morning.
She was definitely an exotic fish out of water here, he thought.
‘So...all of this is yours? This place must have quite a history.’ She gestured around them and he noticed her necklace now—a Celtic pendant in the shape of an arrow. He’d spent some time studying Scottish history. Cody was fascinated by tribes from all over the world; they had books of them in the music room Jax never went into.
‘My great-great-grandfather rolled up here without a dime in his pocket,’ he said, resisting the urge to touch the arrow at her throat. ‘He earned his keep on a cattle farm and bought two thousand acres. Grew the rest out himself to thirty thousand acres and made himself a legend and a fortune, but that wasn’t enough for him. He was also the first around here to train as a medical doctor, and one of the first to work with the tribes on sustainable agriculture. He started the Clayborn Trust, buying up the ranches, kicking out the cattle and opening up the land to bison, wolves and even grizzly bears.’
‘You still do that now?’
‘Of course.’ He caught another whiff of her enticing perfume as she crossed her legs his way in her too-new jeans.
‘Sounds a little different from how our family practice got started in Brooklyn Heights,’ she said, and he noticed her demeanour immediately change, as though just mentioning home or her family made her uncomfortable. Now that he knew about her brother’s passing, he couldn’t help wondering if she was trying to escape those haunting memories back home. Was there anything else she was running away from, all the way out here?
‘I can’t imagine growing out twenty-eight thousand acres anywhere these days,’ she continued. ‘There isn’t any room left. Sanjay and I were saving for an apartment to buy together on the Lower East Side, in Manhattan, but they were pretty much all the size of that pinball machine over there.’
‘Sanjay?’ Jax tried to ignore the twinge of discomfort at hearing her mention the name of another guy.
‘My fiancé.’
‘You’re engaged to a guy in New York?’ He was irritated suddenly. Jealousy? It couldn’t be jealousy. He hadn’t felt anything for anyone since Juno; he hadn’t even entertained the thought.
‘I was engaged.’ She pushed her glass away slowly. ‘Our relationship kind of fell apart after Ant died. It was a number of things, really.’
‘Dad, look!’ Cody was ramming his hands against the whirring pinball machine, shrieking over the coins dropping. The moment for asking more about Ophelia’s brother, and her ex, and the other things he was tempted to ask her about, was gone.
It wasn’t the time or place anyway, he thought. Hunter was slicing lemons at the bar, glancing between them. Jax introduced them and told Hunter with his eyes not to push it. Hunter had known him when he was with Juno; he’d been working here almost six years.
He listened to their small talk, and Juno seemed to fade more and more in his head until she was gone and he was thinking about Ophelia’s past in New York instead.
So, she’d been engaged. That wasn’t so hard to believe. Ophelia was smart. She was also a very attractive and educated woman. He recognised the hole she was trying to get out of, the grief that probably still consumed her underneath her aura of confidence. He could see that in her like looking in a mirror.
He’d seen the black bikini with her underwear on her bed too. She’d probably enjoy the hot tub here. Why could he not stop thinking about that?
‘This coffee is...wow,’ she enthused, breaking into his thoughts as Hunter left to take a restaurant reservation. ‘And this whole place... Jax...it’s incredible.’
‘Well, I’m glad you like it,’ he said. ‘Is the Wi-Fi here to your satisfaction?’
She nodded. ‘I was able to contact my parents. They worry, you know.’
‘You’re thirty-three,’ he reminded her, pulling his vibrating phone from his pocket. Then he kicked himself. They were probably worried about her because they’d already lost a son.
‘New York isn’t too far away,’ he added quickly. ‘I have a plane, in case of emergencies.’
‘So you said at my interview. I just told them I’d arrived safely. I didn’t even tell them about the bear.’
‘Probably for the best,’ he said, swiping the phone screen to accept the call and putting it to his ear. He listened intently for a few seconds, feeling her watching him.
‘We need to go,’ he announced abruptly. ‘Emergency.’ He pulled a pile of loose change for Cody from his pocket. ‘Cody, stay right here with Hunter.’
Jax helped Ophelia with her scarf as Cody scooped the loose change up and darted back to the pinball machine. ‘Ever ridden a snowmobile before?’
‘Snowmobile?’
‘Yes, it’s an all-terrain utility vehicle that actually requires a lot of physical strength to operate, given its inherent manoeuvrability, acceleration and—’
‘Yes, thank you, I know what it is,’ she said from the folds of her scarf. Her voice held a hint of impertinence that made him smile. ‘I’ve just never ridden one for work.’
‘Looks like your job on the mountain starts now, city girl,’ he said, ushering her out into the snow.
CHAPTER FOUR
‘IT’S A PRETTY tight squeeze, but I’ve done it before.’ Jax veered sharply left on the uphill slope and her hands went to clutch his middle on impulse. ‘You’re OK, I do this every day.’ His gloved hand landed like a steel protective device over her thigh behind him, but he didn’t realise she was laughing.
‘This is amazing,’ she gushed. ‘I’ve actually never ridden a snowmobile before at all!’
Ophelia hoped the woman who’d taken a tumble on the icy slope wasn’t too badly hurt as they drove, with Jax not taking his eyes off the horizon. ‘This is nothing. I’ll have to show you what this thing can really do another time. If you trust me.’
‘I trust you,’ she yelled over the engine, pressing a hand to the top of her hat to stop it flying away. She did trust him, at least she wanted to; there was probably no one better to be out on this mountain with than a man like him.
‘Hold on to my sides more tightly, if it’s too bumpy,’ he called back, and she obliged, aware of the closeness and her heartbeat that hadn’t stopped thudding too quickly since the journey from the airport. ‘Loop them fully around my waist, if it’s easier,’ he instructed. ‘I don’t bite.’
At that she wrapped her arms fully around his middle, pressing her cheek to his back over his thick winter jacket as he gathered speed and the snow churned beneath them. Who the hell is this man? she thought to herself, feeling every nerve in her body set on fire.
* * *
Jax was making a circle around their patient now at the scene of the accident, his boots three inches deep in the snow. He was holding the woman’s pink ski helmet between his hands. Ophelia fought the vicious wind from using her lashing hair to blind her. The top of the mountain was clouding over and they had to assess the situation quickly.
The twenty-seven-year-old female snowboarder was hunched over in a neon pink-and-purple ski suit, and she looked as if she was having trouble standing up. The instructor was holding her up to the left, and another guy was on her right with his mouth to his radio. Ophelia was at her side in two seconds. ‘I’m Ophelia. I’m here to help you. What’s your name?’
‘Amanda. My tail bone hurts the worst.’ Amanda pressed a hand to her lower back and Ophelia pulled it away gently.
‘We’ll get you checked out, don’t worry.’
Jax had signalled for someone to clear the crowds. ‘Your tail bone or your hip?’ he said to Amanda now. Ophelia felt his hand on her own back to steady her as another gust of wind blew in from nowhere. She appreciated how he was looking after her too, in the simplest ways—not that she hadn’t been trained for emergencies, but this was a whole different world.
‘No, it’s right on my tail bone. I didn’t have the strength to go on. So I stopped right here.’
‘You did the right thing. Stay as still as you can.’
Jax urged Ophelia back with him to the snowmobile. He was careful to stand in front of her at all times, she noticed now, to protect her from the direct wind. ‘Her spinal cord could be damaged,’ he said, and she nodded. Of course, she knew that.
‘What can I do?’
‘Help me,’ he said. He was already unstrapping a spinal board from the back of the snowmobile.
Adrenaline, cold and excitement overrode the fact that it was much harder to move in bulky cold-weather wear, at high altitude, than in a hospital at ground level. People had started to stare and some were even taking photos, which Jax blocked whenever he caught a prying lens. ‘Give us some room, please! Ophelia, the board looks good, let’s get her on to the snowmobile...’
He was orderly and authoritative and she felt a strange sense of calm at his side, in spite of the hostile environment. This was Jax’s land after all. Together they strapped Amanda to the spinal board for transport.
‘Where are we going?’ Amanda looked panicked as the snow picked up around them.
‘We’re taking you to Base, but we need to keep you as still as possible,’ Jax said, and Ophelia wondered if he could feel his cheeks at all, because she couldn’t feel hers. ‘Ophelia and Dr Carson will check you out properly at the medical centre, OK? It isn’t far.’
‘My legs are tingling.’ Amanda was clutching Ophelia’s hand now. Ophelia met Jax’s narrowed eyes over the board. He knew as well as she did that this was a sign of possible neurological damage. They had to get to Base as fast as possible.
* * *
‘Isn’t it faster to go down that way?’ She pointed, calling out to him. They were speeding downwards now, but she’d seen another path they could have taken. It had fewer trees, fewer people, and with Amanda strapped tightly to the back on a sledge, it had looked a lot safer too.
‘We don’t go that way.’ Jax navigated carefully around two kids on snowboards and hit the horn to clear the skiers in front of him. She gripped the dash as he worked the accelerator and brakes simultaneously, appreciating how he was being careful not to judder too much with Amanda on the back.
‘Why not?’
‘We just don’t,’ he said, and his tone was as cold as the snow. ‘It’s dangerous. Off limits, didn’t you see the sign?’
‘No, we were going too fast...’
‘Well, there’s a sign. I make sure there’s always a sign.’
Ophelia bit her tongue until Base came into view. He sounded almost angry and she couldn’t think why. Maybe he was worried for Amanda. This was perilous work, and she admired the team and Jax even more now, though she suspected he’d taken her out here with him as some kind of test, to see what she could handle. Her role was supposed to be based in the medical centre, while up here was his terrain.
After they’d unloaded her, Amanda took her full attention for the next hour, but Ophelia was aware of Jax as he moved around her, left and came back inside, everywhere at once. He was careful not to meet her eyes...so she couldn’t ask him anything else, perhaps?
It seemed as though she’d affected him with her questions, and she had the distinct impression that there was something about that other path that had really darkened his mood.
* * *
‘The X-rays are clear, vitals are normal, there’s no permanent damage, but her tail bone is badly bruised. Amanda will probably find walking painful tomorrow. Better tell her to stay off the snowboard.’ Ophelia handed the file to Dr Carson Fenway, pleased that her first case had been nothing too serious.
‘You can tell her yourself, if you like,’ Carson said. ‘It’s good to have you on board, Dr Lavelle.’
‘Well, I can’t say it’s anything like what I’m used to, Doctor. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. And it’s Ophelia.’
Carson was a sturdily built, thoughtful-looking sixtyish man with deep crow’s feet around kind eyes and a calm half-smile. He was certainly older than any medical professional she’d seen still working in Manhattan, but she didn’t doubt he was capable of doing the job—in fact, he looked like part of the furniture. The way Jax had issued a brotherly pat to his shoulder when they’d walked in suggested he’d been on the team a long time, and that they were friends.
But she couldn’t exactly see him racing up a mountain with Jax, if duty called. Then again, what did she know? People in Montana seemed to be made of stronger stuff even than New Yorkers, if Jax was anything to go by.
She issued Amanda with some meds to ease the pain, and, once she’d helped her outside where a friend was waiting, she took a moment to familiarise herself with the layout of the medical centre, located at the base of Sunset Slopes.
It was small, constructed of timber like most of the buildings on the mountain, but well equipped. She wouldn’t do it an injustice by saying it was cosy, it was still a medical facility, but it had a distinct positive vibe, thanks to the posters of cheery skiers around the walls.
She noticed Jax was chatting to the ski instructor who’d followed them back to Base, and she caught his gaze momentarily. Something churned in her belly at the eye contact, finally.
