Page 1 of Only for Christmas

Chapter One

Thursday, 1st December

Sarah Haynes was faced with one of those excruciating moments in life. A man was looking at her expectantly, waiting to be told how wonderful he was, when in reality all she wanted to do was punch him on the nose and wipe the smug smile from his face.

‘I’ve done what you asked,’ he said, nodding towards the newly cemented wheelchair ramp. ‘And two days ahead of time. Finished before the weekend. Just like you wanted.’

Only so he could have Friday off, she mused. They wouldn’t have worked that hard simply for her benefit. His idea of hard graft differed significantly from hers.

This must have been how her granny had felt when one of her bruiser cats had dragged the bloody carcass of a squirrel into her pastel living room, deposited the dead animal by her feet, and gazed up at her with an Aren’t I clever? look. A look that switched to confusion when her grandmother started screaming about the cost of removing splattered blood stains from her blue satin curtains.

Sarah knew that screaming on this occasion wouldn’t be appropriate, however much she wanted to. Partly because it would be unprofessional, but mostly because men like Knob the Builder would only see it as proof that women were ‘too emotional for the workplace’, as she’d overheard him saying to his motley crew.

Restraint was called for. ‘The design I signed off had a flat section at the top,’ she said, resting her hands on her hips, making her navy suit jacket gape at the front. ‘And yet you’ve taken the ramp right up to the door. May I ask why you did that?’

‘There weren’t enough space for a flat section,’ he said, sniffing and making a horrible snorting sound. ‘Regulations state we need to leave enough room for pedestrians to use the pavement. Your design wouldn’t have worked.’ He seemed pleased with himself, like he’d got one up on her, throwing her need to conform to ‘regulations’ back in her face.

‘Your design won’t work either,’ she replied, tapping her foot impatiently.

He frowned. ‘Nothing wrong with our work, love. This is quality workmanship.’

Sarah sucked in a breath. ‘Firstly, I’m not your “love”. My title is Head of Human Resources. Secondly, any design change should’ve been run past me first.’ She raised her hand when he attempted to interrupt. ‘And thirdly, far from completing the project ahead of schedule, the ramp will now need to be removed and redesigned, exceeding the budget, and delaying providing disability access to the rear of the hospital even longer. We have members of staff requiring immediate wheelchair access to this section of the building, so this is far from ideal, wouldn’t you agree?’

‘Why would it need removing?’ He walked up the ramp and yanked open the wide glass door. ‘See? It’s fine.’

Sarah supressed a sigh. Goodness, the man was dim. ‘The door opens outwards.’

He glared at her. ‘Yeah… So?’

‘You’ve failed to include a flat section at the top of the ramp. Which means, anyone in a wheelchair will be rolling backwards down the ramp while trying to open the door.’

He stared at the ramp, frowning. ‘Shit.’

Lord, give her strength. ‘Exactly.’

He scratched his head. ‘But the doors are automatic; you don’t have to pull them open. You just press the button. See?’ He actually demonstrated the action for her, as if she wouldn’t know how to press a button. Seriously?

‘In order to set off the sensor,’ she said, speaking really slowly so he could keep up, ‘they’d need to approach the door, which means they’d then have to rapidly reverse down the ramp to avoid being hit by the opening door.’ Honestly, it wasn’t rocket science.

He stared at the door, and then the ramp, as if he didn’t quite understand. Which, sadly, didn’t surprise her. But it did depress her. After all, she had to work with the man. Whoever had appointed him maintenance manager had a lot to answer for. It wouldn’t have happened on her watch, but he’d been hired before her promotion.

She glanced at her watch; it was gone five p.m. and dark. The temperature was rapidly dropping and she was starting to shiver. ‘Pack up for tonight, but I expect your team back here first thing tomorrow. I want this ramp dismantled and rebuilt within the week.’

‘A week?’ He snorted again. ‘That’s impossible, love.’

She narrowed her eyes in what she hoped was an intimidating fashion.

‘Er… I mean, boss. We’ll need to hire a hydraulic hammer to break up the concrete. And there’s still the issue of leaving enough space for pedestrians. Regulations, and all that.’

And there it was, the not-so-subtle dig that this was somehow her fault. ‘Regulations that require us to ensure the building is DDA compliant. Please revert to the original design and create a flat section at the top. You can then build the ramp at a right angle adjacent to the building, rather than coming up straight from the pavement. That way we satisfy both sets of regulations.’

He gave a half-hearted shrug. ‘I suppose that’ll work.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘Something I could’ve told you if you’d come to me when you realised the original design wasn’t going to work. Next time, don’t change the design without getting my sign-off first. Got it?’

‘Whatever.’ His petulant nod was accompanied by a disdainful sneer.

Like she cared what he thought. Any man, for that matter. She was tired of being walked over. Well, she wasn’t putting up with it any longer. Her career was at stake. She might have allowed a man to ruin her personal life, but she was damned if she was going to let anyone scupper her professional reputation. She’d worked too hard to let that happen.

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