Capturing the Single Dad’s Heart (11 page)

He raised an eyebrow. ‘What was that you were saying about not pulling punches?'

‘I guess,' she said wryly. ‘To answer your question, yes, I have. I had counselling, thanks to my best friend's mum. I told Rachel in the end, but there was no point in going to the police because it was too late to have any evidence. But she got me to go to counselling to help me come to terms with it all. She even went with me to the first appointment. And I've had full relationships since. I just haven't wanted to get too deeply involved, that's all.'

‘I'm sorry that you had to go through such a rough time,' he said gently.

She shrugged. ‘Don't they say that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger?'

‘You,' he said, ‘are an incredibly strong woman, and I really admire your courage. And I'm glad you trusted me enough to tell me about your past.'

‘I'm glad, too.' It felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. And it was the first time in years that she'd actually felt hope about any kind of relationship.

He kissed her cheek, and her skin tingled at the touch of his lips. ‘Given that you've just told me something so painful, I really don't want to leave you. I don't want you to think I'm just abandoning you. But—'

‘—you need to collect Caitlin,' she finished. ‘It's OK. I understand, Nate. You come as a package.'

‘I don't want you thinking that I'm just grabbing the first excuse to scarper and then you won't see me for dust. Because I
do
want to date you, Erin. I want to get to know you better. And I want you to get to know me. Not just as a surgeon or as Caitlin's clueless dad who really needs help to connect with his daughter, but the real me.'

‘Yeah.' She kissed the corner of his mouth, then slid off his lap. ‘Go and collect Caitlin. I'll see you at work tomorrow.'

He stood up. ‘I'll wash up my mug before—'

‘No, it's fine,' she cut in with a smile. ‘I know you're house-trained. You don't have to prove anything to me.'

‘I guess.' He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. ‘I was going to say, seeing you makes me feel like a teenager again. But I guess your memories of being a teen are pretty unhappy, so that isn't tactful.'

‘Other people had nicer teenage years than I did,' she said. ‘But I'm not angry about it. Envious sometimes, I admit. But life is what it is, and you just learn to make the best of it.'

‘Maybe,' he said, ‘I can make you feel like the way you make me feel. Like a teenager, but in a good way.'

‘Start a brand new slate.' And oh, how she wished that could be possible.

‘Something like that.' He kissed the tip of her nose. ‘If anything I do makes you uncomfortable, tell me, because I'm not a mind-reader.'

‘You're doing pretty well so far,' she said.

‘Good. I'll see you tomorrow. Though I reserve the right to send you soppy texts in the meantime.'

She laughed, then. ‘I can't imagine the formal, slightly snooty surgeon I first met sending soppy texts to anyone. Or even Caitlin's clueless dad, because he wouldn't even know where to start with textspeak and the kind of acronyms teenagers use.'

‘That,' he said, ‘was a definite gauntlet you've just thrown down. Keep your phone on. I'll respond to that challenge later tonight.'

And his smile made her feel warm all the way through.

He stole one last kiss. ‘Later.'

It was a promise. And one she knew he'd keep.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Roses are red, violets are blue, I can't write rhymes but I really like you :)

I
F
 
ANYONE
 
HAD
told Erin that Nate could write the kind of verses beloved of teenage boys—and would send them to her in a text, complete with a smiley face—she would never have believed them.

But his text made her smile for the rest of the evening.

You, too,
 
she texted back.

Am in late on Friday
, he added.
Can you make breakfast?

Well, that was direct.

Sure. Let me know what you want me to cook.

He called her immediately. ‘Sorry, I didn't mean I was expecting you to cook breakfast for me. I meant, if you could make it, I'd like to take you out to breakfast. You know, dating stuff?'

‘Out for breakfast? How very decadent of you, Mr Townsend,' she teased. ‘Thank you. That would be lovely.'

‘Do you know anywhere nice that's not too far from the hospital?'

‘But far enough away to keep us safe from the hospital grapevine?' she suggested.

‘Got it in one.'

She could practically hear the smile in his voice. ‘Yes. I'll text you the address and I'll meet you there. What time?'

‘I'll drop Caitlin to school first. Give me time for traffic. Say, nine?' he suggested.

‘Nine's perfect.'

‘Good. See you tomorrow. Sweet dreams.'

‘You, too.'

At work the next morning, they kept things completely normal between them. They did ward rounds together, then discussed a case where one of her patients needed to talk through the possible surgical options. As far as everyone else on the ward was concerned, Nate and Erin were simply colleagues. But she could see from the expression in his eyes that he didn't think of her as just a colleague any more. She didn't think of him that way, either.

And she couldn't wait for their breakfast date.

On Thursday afternoon, after her shift, Erin met Caitlin at the sensory garden as they'd arranged to do on alternate Thursdays; they worked together, then had a hot chocolate in the hospital canteen while they waited for Nate to finish his shift.

‘School's asked me to do a photo diary for their website,' Caitlin told her proudly.

‘Good idea. Maybe you could do an article for the hospital website, too,' Erin suggested. ‘I could ask the PR team for you, if you like.'

‘I know you're too young to be thinking about that sort of thing now, but it'll look great on your CV. Go for it,' Ed added with a smile. ‘Right. Come and see these plants with me, and you can ask me whatever you like about why I've chosen those particular plants for those particular locations.'

Caitlin beamed at him and grabbed her notebook.

Nate sent Erin another text that evening.

Roses are red, violets are blue, my daughter's smiling, it's all down to you.

Not just me,
she texted back.
You have a lot to do with it. And Caitlin herself.

We'll agree to disagree,
 
Nate said,
though you'll admit I'm right eventually.

Yeah, yeah. See you for breakfast tomorrow.

He'd said that she made him feel like a teenager again—and she understood what he meant. That breathless excitement, that sense of wonder and expectation and hope. Her own teenage years had been much darker, but maybe he could bring that lightness back to her life.

Though doubts stomped through her all the way to the café, the following morning. What if he'd changed his mind and didn't turn up? Or, worse still, if he did turn up and then told her he didn't want to see her as more than a colleague in future? Or what if she really messed this up, the way she'd messed up all her past relationships?

But when Erin walked into the café Nate was already there, waiting for her in one of the booths and skimming through the menu. He looked up and smiled at her and her heart skipped a beat. If he could be brave enough to turn up simply because he wanted to date her, then she could be brave, too. So she walked up to him, kissed him lightly on the mouth and slid into the booth opposite him. ‘Good morning, Mr Townsend.'

‘Roses are red, violets are blue, you look beautiful...and you just kissed me, so I can't think of a rhyme,' he finished.

‘That's incredibly feeble, Nate,' she said, laughing. ‘I know you can do better than that.'

‘All the words fell out of my head, the moment you walked into the room,' he said. ‘I told you that you make me feel like a teenager.'

‘Hmm.' She smiled, and he handed the menu to her.

‘My treat. Whatever you want.'

‘Thank you.' When the waitress came over, she ordered eggs Florentine, a skinny cappuccino and a glass of water.

‘The hollandaise sauce cancels out the healthiness of the spinach, you know,' he teased.

She laughed. ‘I don't care. It's my favourite breakfast ever.'

‘Bacon sandwich with tomato ketchup all the way for me,' he said with a smile.

‘Me, hunter,' she teased back.

And then, once their breakfast arrived, the conversation stalled.

‘This is ridiculous,' Nate said. ‘We've worked together for a couple of months. We've been out together with Caitlin a couple of times. We know we can talk for hours because we've already done that. So why do I not have a clue what to say to you right now? Why do I feel as if a toddler has better social skills than I do?'

‘Because this is different,' she said. ‘It's a proper date. We know the rules at work, and when we've gone out with Caitlin. Whereas dating...'

‘It's all new stuff we have to negotiate,' he agreed. ‘Risky.'

‘Yeah. I haven't dated in a while. I can't quite remember how to behave,' she admitted.

‘I made a real mess of my last relationship,' he said. ‘So that makes two of us.' He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. ‘Didn't we agree earlier that there weren't any rules? That we were just going to take it as it comes?'

‘We're just not very good at actually doing that,' she said.

He laughed. ‘I guess. Maybe we ought to pretend we're at work.'

‘Just not discussing our patients,' she agreed.

Weirdly, admitting their doubts was the thing that made the atmosphere between them easy again, and she found herself relaxing with him until it was time for them to leave for the hospital.

He paid the bill, then walked outside the café hand in hand with her. ‘I take it we're going to the ward separately?'

‘Indeed we are.'

He kissed her lightly. ‘I wish we weren't at work so we could spend the day together and do something. I want to date you properly, Erin.'

‘We agreed it'd be an unconventional courtship,' she reminded him, ‘and that's fine. We'll cope.' She kissed him briefly. ‘I'll see you at work.'

Again they managed to behave as if they were colleagues only, when they were at the hospital; though when they were in a meeting together Nate pressed his foot lightly against Erin's under the table. She glanced at him and the sheer desire in his eyes made her catch her breath.

Could this work out?

Could they really have it all?

Or was she setting herself up for the biggest fall ever?

* * *

‘Oh, you are joking.' Nate groaned when he walked onto the ward on Monday morning and saw the newspaper article pinned up on the notice board.
‘Local hero builds Barney's new back'
, said the headline. And there was a photograph of Nate, in a suit, looking serious. ‘Where did this come from?' he asked.

‘Local paper,' Ella, the receptionist, told him with a smile. ‘You're famous.'

‘But I didn't talk to anyone—or give anyone a photo.'

‘Must've been the hospital PR team who gave everything to them,' she said. ‘But it's a good photo. Of course, this means that you're now our official departmental pin-up.'

Nate groaned again. ‘I am so not a pin-up. Or a hero. I'm just a surgeon—part of the team, like everybody else.'

He just about managed to live down all the ribbing at work; but when he went to pick up Caitlin from his mother's house, she waved the article at him. ‘Gran found this today,' she said. ‘You're in the paper, Dad!'

He sighed. ‘Just ignore the headlines, Cait. I'm not a hero. I'm simply one part of a big team who fixed Barney's back. I just did my job. It's what I trained to do.'

‘It's still impressive,' his mother said. ‘That photograph of that poor man's X-ray—it looked more like a jigsaw puzzle than a spine. There aren't many people who can do what you do, Nathaniel.'

‘Hmm,' he said, rolling his eyes. ‘It's my job, that's all.'

He thought that was the end of it until Ella from their reception desk patched a phone call through to his office on Thursday afternoon.

‘Dr Townsend? I'm sorry to bother you at work. It's Jenny Olland, Caitlin's form tutor.'

Nate went cold. ‘Is she all right?'

‘She's absolutely fine,' Jenny reassured him. ‘She's settled in a lot better now. No, I'm calling you because I'm also her Personal Development teacher. I gave my students an essay to write, this week, on the subject of “my hero”, and Caitlin wrote hers on you.'

‘On me?' Nate was so shocked that if he hadn't already been sitting down he would've fallen over.

‘Yes. She included the article about you from the local paper. And I was thinking—we like to have a range of people coming in to school to talk to our students. I think they'd find you inspiring. Would you be able to come in and give our students a talk about your job at one of the assemblies?'

Nate was still trying to get his head round the fact that Caitlin had written an essay about her hero—and it was about
him
. ‘I, um—do you mind if I talk it over with Caitlin first?' He needed to be sure that she was comfortable with the idea before he agreed. The last thing he wanted to do was to ruin all the progress they'd made by embarrassing her and making her feel awkward in front of her new friends.

‘Of course, Dr Townsend.'

‘I'll call you tomorrow,' he promised.

When he replaced the receiver, he stared at his computer screen, not seeing the X-rays or his patient's notes. He couldn't quite believe that phone call had just happened.

Then he was aware that someone was knocking on his open door. He looked up to see Erin standing there.

‘Are you OK, Nate?' she asked.

‘I... No, not really,' he admitted. ‘That was Caitlin's form tutor.'

Erin frowned and came over to his desk. ‘Oh, dear. Is there a problem at school? Anything I can do to help?'

He explained what had just happened, and she reached over to squeeze his hand. ‘That's
brilliant
. I'm so pleased.'

‘I can't quite get my head round it,' he said.

‘Be proud,' she advised.

‘I am. And thrilled. And shocked. And I never thought...' His voice tailed off and he shook his head, all out of words to describe how he felt right then.

‘I know,' she said softly. ‘But you deserve it. You've put the effort in with her. What are you going to do?'

‘Talk to her about it,' he said. ‘If she wants me to do it, I will—if she doesn't, I'll make up an excuse.'

‘Good plan,' she said.

‘Sorry, did you want me for something?' he asked.

‘No. I was just passing and saw that you looked a bit shocked,' she said. ‘But, now you come to mention it...' She lowered her voice. ‘How about breakfast, tomorrow? My treat?'

Odd how planning a secret date with her made his heart beat faster. And Nate was pretty sure it was the same for her, given that her eyes were almost black instead of grey right now. ‘Same time, same place?' he suggested, keeping his voice equally low.

‘Perfect,' she said. ‘Catch you later. Let me know how it goes with Caitlin.'

He caught up with his daughter later that afternoon in the sensory garden, during her weekly roster session.

‘You planted that whole section?' he asked.

She nodded. ‘I think I did it right. Nola—she's the one in charge today—is going to come and have a look at it in a minute and let me know if it's OK.'

‘It looks good to me,' he said. ‘By the way, Miss Olland rang me today. She told me about your essay.'

Caitlin went pink and stared at the ground. ‘Oh.'

‘I can't believe you wrote that essay about me.'

She bit her lip, looking anxious. ‘Did I do wrong?'

‘No.' The lump in his throat was so big that it almost blocked his words. ‘I'm thrilled that you did that—though I did tell you I'm not a hero, Caitlin. I'm just doing my job here and I'm trying to be the best dad to you I can be, and we both know I'm still not very good at it.'

She shuffled her feet and looked awkward.

‘Miss Olland asked me to come in and talk to the school about my job.'

Her eyes widened. ‘What did you say?'

‘That I'd check with you first,' he said. ‘If you want me to come in and do the talk, I'll do it. But if it'll be embarrassing to have me at school, then I'll tell them I'm sorry, I can't make it due to pressure of work. I said I'd give her an answer tomorrow, so think about what you'd rather I do.'

‘OK.'

‘Would you, um, like to come in and see where I work?' he asked.

Her smile almost broke his heart. ‘Yes—what, now?'

‘When you've finished here.'

‘I'm finished, if Nola says it's OK. I just need to check with her and wash my hands.'

They went in search of Nola, who inspected Caitlin's work and pronounced it first class. Nate showed his daughter to the nearest washroom and waited outside until she was ready. Then he took her up to see the theatre where he operated, and finally the ward, introducing her to his colleagues who were on duty.