The Crystal Gull: A Christmas of romance and drama in the Austrian Alps by Andrews Lucilla

Author:Andrews, Lucilla [Andrews, Lucilla]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: hospital fiction, christmas books, medical romance, christmas romance, doctors and nurses, hospital romance, nursing stories, nursing fiction, nurse fiction
Publisher: Wyndham Books (Medical Romance)
Published: 2019-11-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Outside the church the army of boots scurried for warmth. The church spire was silver in the moonlight, the sputtering candles were pale in the churchyard snow, the cold sliced through padded anoraks and layers of sweaters and the frozen breath hovered like ectoplasm. ‘Oh, my,’ moaned Eloise Turner, ‘I have never been so cold! That service was just so beautiful ‒ you kids will forgive us if we hurry right on back to our three … Merry Christmas, all!’

‘Of course, Christmas Day now!’ Doug embraced Becky.

‘Happy Christmas, my loved ‒ one ‒’

Andy put both hands on my shoulders, looked at me in a cynical, sad way and kissed me. ‘Thanks,’ he said.

I smiled at him. ‘Anytime, Andy.’

‘Happy Christmas, Serena,’ drawled Joe’s voice from behind Andy.

I looked up smiling. I was suddenly absurdly glad he had turned up. ‘Hi, Joe! Just passing through Rosmosbach, I presume?’ Then Andy moved to my side and I saw Joe’s companion. ‘Oh ‒ Happy Christmas to you both.’

The girl maintained her grip on Joe’s left arm whilst he removed his right glove and decorously shook my hand. ‘I don’t think you two know each other ‒ Rose Cameron ‒ Serena Mathers.’

Rose Cameron shot him an alert, almost anxious glance then smiled brightly as she and I said the right things to each other. She looked about twenty-eight and very expensive. Only her wings of gold hair and Dresden-china face were clear of her mink coat, hat, and she carried a huge matching muff. She could have looked overpoweringly opulent, had she not worn her furs with the air of a girl who automatically reaches for her mink when the temperature drops.

Joe said they were at the halfway stage of the round trip from Mayrbühel. ‘Rose’, he stressed ‘was very keen to come down for the service as we’d heard the music was as good as it proved. I wondered if we’d run into you.’

I glanced back at Rose and decided ‘hoped’ was the more apt word. What better salve for the male ego in such a moment as this than a beautiful blonde clinging to him affectionately. I was then rather disconcerted to discover how much this annoyed me and how erroneous had been my long-held conviction that one of the nicest things about me was my totally unpossessive nature. I clung affectionately to Andy and introduced him, Becky and Doug. ‘We’re all staying at Haus Klara. Super establishment just up by that hotel. We’ve got the attic!’ I enthused. ‘Where’re you staying?’

‘Friends of mine from Rio. Juan and Maria Castillo,’ retorted Joe briskly. ‘They’ve rented a chalet just out of the village down that road there. We drove over this afternoon and have to get back in the morning.’ He smiled at Rose. ‘Sorry, honey, but I’m going to have to throw you out of bed at the crack.’

‘My darling,’ she protested in the high, slightly drawling voice that hallmarked her image, ‘do we really have to leave so early?’

‘If you’ve forgotten

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.