A Very English Christmas (Love at Langley Park #3)

Chapter One

Catriona reread the text her flatmate, Sarah McCarthy, had just sent her.

It was a job ad, the kind people used to post on bulletin boards before the internet became the way to advertise for things.

But from the look of this, it was a piece of paper on a bulletin board with a hand printed date on the top right corner, the date being yesterday.

Intrigued, Cat texted Sarah back. Where did you see this?

The answer was immediate. This morning in the hospital staff room.

Cat’s phone suddenly rang, and it was Sarah calling. “I know you’ve been looking for work, and I thought this sounded promising,” Sarah said when Cat answered. “The advertisement was just posted in the last twenty-four hours.”

“But I have no experience with kids,” Cat reminded Sarah, who came from a large Irish family in County Clare and was probably the most capable young woman Cat knew.

Nothing fazed Sarah, not even the fire across the street earlier in the year. Sarah just dashed straight in to make sure everyone was out before the fire trucks even arrived.

Sarah tut-tutted. “You just earned a graduate degree with a teaching component. I would say that makes you more than qualified.”

“To teach eighteen-year-olds, not children.” Cat said, but Sarah was right.

Cat needed work, and the holidays were fast approaching and either she’d find work here for the holidays, or she’d be spending money she didn’t have, and that went against the values her grandmother had instilled in her.

Not that Grandma Betty would appreciate Cat spending the last two and a half years in England, earning one degree and then another.

The original plan had been for Cat to finish her master’s and return to Michigan, but she’d been so happy in London, so happy to have a flatmate and friend like Sarah.

Cat decided to stay another year and earn one more degree.

One more degree also meant she could squeeze a little more learning in while getting more joy out of life.

And then, just because she loved London so much, she spent the last semester taking a few courses that interested her.

But her savings account was empty, and that wasn’t good because her checking account was empty and her credit cards were maxed out. That didn’t make her happy.

Cat really did have to go home, back to the states, and not just because a nurse from Dublin, a friend of Sarah’s family, was arriving to take Cat’s spot. But Cat needed to handle adult things in Michigan, which required an airline ticket and motivation for the big changes to come.

“You should at least call,” Sarah encouraged. “The position may have been filled, but if it’s still available, the generous salary part sounds awfully appealing. And it’s only for three weeks.”

“I really don’t want to live-in. I’d hoped to spend the holidays doing fun things with you.”

“Me, too, but if you’re living here in London, I’d still be able to meet you for dinner or drinks on weekends.”

“That’s true.”

“Besides, if you’re working, I might just pick up some extra shifts at the hospital. I could use the extra money. Right now, I have nothing for a rainy day, never mind buying the brothers and sisters presents.” She laughed. “I think we’ve gone out too many nights when we should have stayed in.”

“Agreed.” Cat took a deep breath. “I’ll call.”

“Let me know what happens.”

“Of course.”

Hanging up, Cat reflected on all the jobs she’d applied for since December first. She’d filled out applications at a restaurant, a local clothing shop, and Starbucks.

She was American. Why wouldn’t they hire her?

When nothing came of those, she called on a house-sitting job, a pet-sitting job, a dog-walking job and yet by the time she followed up on each, the position had either been filled, or the dates hadn’t worked, or the hours were challenging.

She wasn’t afraid of doing things at night, but at the same time, walking dogs in the dark struck her as a little risky, particularly if she didn’t know the neighborhood.

But watching two kids? Taking care of little girls? How hard could that be?

Fortunately, Catriona did have good references—she’d grown close to her graduate advisor, and there were other professors who had offered to write her a letter of recommendation.

Admittedly, the letters of rec had been for a PhD program in the US, should she want to continue her studies, but Cat was ready to be done with school and move forward with a career and the rest of her life.

Which would all begin after the holidays, after her return to Kalamazoo in January, after she got her grandmother’s house on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula sold.

Or at least, listed for sale. But first she needed to empty the house, sort through her grandmother’s things, save a few bits and pieces Cat felt sentimental about, and focus on moving forward, which was what she’d been avoiding since her beloved grandmother died three years ago.

Grandma Betty had raised her since she was a little girl, and it had been the two of them for eighteen years, eighteen mostly happy years, but with her grandmother gone, Cat felt lost. Her grandmother was her family, her mentor, and her best friend.

Life hadn’t been the same since she’d gone.

But Cat was not going to be sad this Christmas.

She wasn’t going to fall into the old pattern of grieving because Grandma Betty wasn’t coming back and had left a huge hole in her heart and a void in her life.

Most people her age had some family, somewhere.

Sarah had a huge one in Ennis—two younger sisters and four brothers.

Sarah was the eldest, which was why she’d taken a job in London.

She was desperate to be independent and also needed to be independent.

She put herself through school and earned her nursing degree and worked hard. Sarah was an adult, and adulting.

Cat … not so much. Cat had been hiding in London, pretending this version of herself was the only version, but soon she’d go back to Michigan and face who she was.

Before she could change her mind, Cat tapped in the phone number Sarah had given her. The phone rang a couple of times and Cat prepared herself for voicemail, but instead a real person answered, a man, his voice pitched deep and a little gravelly. “This is Dr. Harmon; can I help you?”

For a moment Cat froze at the accent. It wasn’t the London accent she’d grown accustomed to, but rather there was a lilt in his voice, and she immediately thought of the more Celtic countries nearby.

“My name is Catriona Blake, and I’m calling regarding the job posting on the hospital’s bulletin board.

The one about needing a childminder for the holidays. ”

“Do you work at the hospital?”

“No. My roommate does, Sarah McCarthy. She’s a nurse on the oncology floor.”

“I don’t know her, but it’s a big hospital, so I’m not surprised.” He hesitated. “You’re American?”

“Yes, but we have kids in America too.” She’d said it lightly, teasingly, but from his silence Cat suspected he didn’t appreciate the joke.

“What do you do?” Dr. Harmon asked.

“I’ve spent the last two and a half years at University College London earning graduate degrees. First my master’s in medieval and renaissance studies, and most recently I’ve just completed a master’s in medieval literature.”

“You must have taken Latin.”

Cat blinked, caught off guard. “I did, both years. Is that helpful for the job?”

“No. But a good friend of mine teaches upper division Latin at UCL. Did you take any classes from Eloisa Graham?”

“She was my graduate advisor. Dr. Eloisa Graham is a gem. I think the world of her, and she’s offered to be a reference for me. I can give you her number—”

“I have her number, thank you. She’s my neighbor.”

For a moment there was just silence not because Cat didn’t know what to say, not because she’d run out of words, but because she didn’t particularly like how he interrupted her, or his tone. His brusqueness and arrogance immediately put her back up.

“So, what are you doing now?” he asked crisply. “Where are you working?”

She fought her temper, and the desire to hang up on the doctor. “I’m phoning you. I was planning on applying for the position of childminder but it seems that I’m not right—”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Do you always interrupt people, or is it just me?”

For a moment, there was just silence on the line, a terribly uncomfortable silence, and Cat knew she’d probably shot herself in the foot but there was nothing to be done now but hold her own.

“I was looking for a temporary position, as I return home to the States in January. I thought this could be a good fit but I’m not feeling optimistic anymore. I appreciate your time.”

“Do you always give up so easily?” he challenged her.

She bristled inwardly. What a pompous ass. “The ad described a live-in situation, but I don’t want to live somewhere that is unpleasant, and if I’m uneasy now, I can’t even imagine how it would be to live under your roof.”

“Perhaps you’re the prickly one.” Dr. Harmon sounded almost amused. “Have you considered that?”

“I can see why you haven’t been able to fill the childminder position.”

“I can also see why you haven’t been hired for anything else.”

Cat ground her teeth together. “So, it’s okay for you to be sharp, but not me?”

“You are job seeking.”

“And you are trying to fill a position.”

Silence stretched across the line and then Dr. Harmon spoke again, his tone a touch more gentle, but the amusement remained.

“We might not see eye to eye, but you might be good for the girls. My oldest daughter is a bit of a handful. It’s a stage, and it will pass, but at least she won’t bowl you over. ”

“I thought we agreed I wasn’t a good fit,” Cat protested, caught off guard yet again.