Ethan's Daughter

by Rachel Brimble

  He smiled wryly. “Authors never struggle, right?”

  She snapped her gaze to him. “Sitting at a computer for a few hours a day is hardly a struggle.”

  Releasing a slow, calming breath, Ethan walked to the door. “I’m going. I wanted to make sure you were okay. Now that I see you are back on form, I’ll leave you to it. Can you do me a favor, though?”

  “What?”

  “Don’t skip town without telling DI Garrett. Don’t waste her time, having to send people out looking for you.”

  “The home will tell her.”

  “It would be better coming from you.” He opened the door. “Look after yourself.”

  “Running off to Miss Leah, huh?”

  “No. Like you insinuated, I already know she’s better off without me.” He walked through the door, closing it firmly on any smart answer she might have.

  He took a moment to calm down. How had he and Anna ever fallen in love? How had their relationship been reduced to such nastiness? He stared along the corridor at two young women embracing, their faces etched with pain and sadness. At least Anna had been right about not belonging here. This was not the place for someone who blamed the rest of the world for her problems. The women here showed courage, honesty and determination for a better future.

  Ethan nodded and smiled at the women as he passed them on his way downstairs to Reception. As he had hoped, he found Katherine Halliday there, once again leaning over the computer.

  She looked up when he entered and smiled. “I bet you think this is all I do all day.” She placed her hand on the shoulder of the young receptionist. “Jess only joined us today, so I’m showing her the ropes.” She walked around the desk. “Are you leaving already? Was Anna okay?”

  “She seems back to normal.”

  “Hmm, that statement doesn’t sound as positive as it should.”

  Ethan sighed. “I’m leaving her to it. She’s more than capable of looking after herself most of the time.”

  “I see.”

  The disapproving look on Katherine’s face told him she believed the opposite to be true. He pushed some hair back from his brow. “Look, there’s a reason Anna and I are divorced, but I’ve tried my best to help her because of our daughter. If she’s going to throw that help back in my face, I’m under no obligation to hang around.”

  “I see.”

  Guilt simmered inside him. “I have to go. She’s up there packing her bags. Can you make sure DI Garrett knows Anna plans to return to Bristol? I assume she doesn’t have to stay here?”

  “She’s free to leave whenever she chooses.”

  “I thought as much.”

  Katherine Halliday stepped closer and touched his arm. “Listen, I’m not here to judge. If I was, I wouldn’t be in this kind of work. You tried your best. Now go and get on with your own life. Anna knows where you are.”

  And that made him incredibly uneasy.

  He forced a small smile. “It was nice meeting you.”

  “You, too.”

  He nodded at the receptionist and walked out of the house, feeling the same kind of failure he had during the last year of his and Anna’s marriage. The same negative frame of mind as when Anna had left him and Daisy. Now, with him and Leah going their separate ways, he feared he might be taken under by desperation once again. He could not allow himself to feel he was failing Daisy, or failing Leah as he had with Anna.

  But he was a better man and parent today—Anna would never affect him as she once had. Never.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  LEAH PUSHED OPEN the door of Marian’s Bonniest Bakery and joined the line at the counter. Standing on tiptoe, she tried to see above the heads in front of her into the glass cabinet alongside the cash register. Marian was known throughout the Cove not just for her delectable pastries, but also her wisdom and uncanny knack of knowing far too much about people just by looking at them.

  But the risk of Marian looking into her eyes and knowing she had been mere days away from falling headlong in love with a successful author would be worth it for a sticky cinnamon croissant and spicy pumpkin latte, Leah figured. Although her appetite had disappeared along with Ethan, her stomach now growled in indignation.

  And being hungry was never the right way for an ER nurse to start a nine-hour shift, with no idea when she’d next get to eat.

  The four tall, ridiculously broad-shouldered guys ahead of her, talking and laughing with Marian, were almost identically dressed in smartly cut suits. Leah recognized one of them as Charlie Hickman, the guy who had asked her out in Amanda’s shop a few days ago.

  She glanced at her watch, her patience wearing thin. At this rate, she’d be forced to settle for a plain doughnut and lukewarm coffee from the machine at the hospital.

  “Come on now, boys.” Marian’s voice boomed around the bakery. “Go get yourselves a seat and let me see to my other customers. Ella will bring your orders over in just a minute.”

  Grateful for Marian’s intervention, Leah edged forward in line, nearly bursting with relief when the guy in front of her ordered nothing but an espresso.

  She beamed at Marian. “You’re a lifesaver. If you hadn’t moved that group of guys on, I would have had to bring out my karate.”

  Marian raised her eyebrows. “You don’t know karate.”

  “I could...if I wanted to.” Leah winked and nodded toward the glass cabinet. “One, no, two of your cinnamon croissants to go, please. Oh, and a pumpkin latte.”

  “Two croissants? Someone’s hungry this morning.”

  “Yep.” She sighed. “A shock to the system can do that to a girl.”

  Marian whipped open a paper bag and thrust her ever-ready tongs beneath the counter. “And what was the shock?”

  Leah shook her head, feeling more stupid and blind than ever. “You don’t want to know.”

  “I always want to know.” Marian dropped the croissants inside the bag and twisted the ends with a flourish. “That author boyfriend of yours hasn’t upset you, has he?”

  Damn it. “No, of course not. Ethan and I are just friends.”

  Marian’s laughter once more boomed across the bakery. “Of course you are.”

  “We are.” Leah’s cheeks warmed and she glanced around. Thankfully, everyone was preoccupied with breakfast. She paused as she locked eyes with Charlie Hickman. He gave her a wink and she quickly snapped her gaze to Marian. “How’s that latte coming?”

  Marian looked toward the group of men in suits. “Someone else has got his eye on you if Ethan James is too wrapped up in the imaginary to see what’s right in front of him.”

  Leah glanced again at Charlie and narrowed her eyes before facing Marian. “No, thanks.”

  “What? He’s cute.”

  “Yeah, and judging by that wink he just gave me, he thinks a little too much of himself.”

  “Nothing wrong with a bit of confidence in a man.”

  “There’s confidence and there’s confidence.”

  “They’re just here having a good time while getting some work done. You know as well as I do that sometimes visitors to the Cove end up hooking up with a resident or two while they’re here. Nothing wrong with a bit of fun as long as you’re playing safe.”

  “They seem like they spend more time looking in the mirrors at the gym than at a woman. Most definitely not my type.”

  Marian glanced over Leah’s shoulder. “He’s still checking you out.”

  She feigned a glare. “Not interested. Latte?”

  “He’s a financial adviser. Hardly a gym rat.”

  “How do you know that? Do you grill people the minute they walk in here?”

  Marian wiggled her eyebrows. “I have ways and means. Plus, I like to keep any newcomers in line. Once you know a little about them,
it’s easier to identify them to the police, if need be.”

  “The police?” She glanced toward the group again. “Why would a group of financial advisers cause that sort of trouble?”

  “I doubt they will, but it never hurts to keep an eye on a pack of men who have an eye for beer and women.”

  “They told you that?”

  Marian laughed. “Of course not, but they’re men, aren’t they?”

  Having had her fair share of dealing with men in the ER when one or more at a party ended the night with a bruised or lacerated face, Leah looked toward Charlie again. He stared straight back at her, his intense study making her a little suspicious.

  She faced Marian. “He’s creeping me out.”

  “Why?” She glanced over Leah’s shoulder and back again, then frowned. “Hmm, maybe you’re right. He does seem a little too sure of himself.”

  “Well, let’s hope I don’t end up treating him in the ER, should he look at a different, less tolerant, woman that way.”

  Marian laughed and held out her coffee. “Here. That’s six fifty.”

  Leah gave her the money. “Thanks. I’ll see you soon, okay? Got to rush or I’m going to be late for work.”

  “Sure. Look after yourself, and don’t get all moony over Ethan James unless you’re willing to share him with that baby of his and his books. I’ve never known the guy to have time for anything else.”

  “Yeah, well, he has a lot more than that going on right now.”

  Marian’s eyes lit with interest. “Really?”

  Leah shook her head. “Oh, no. You’re not getting any more details from me. You’ll have to interrogate him yourself.”

  “You can bet on it.”

  She grabbed the bag of croissants, already sipping at her latte. “Give my love to that husband of yours.”

  “Will do.”

  Leah headed for the door and was nearly there when Charlie slid out of his booth and stepped in front of her. “Hi.”

  She halted midsip, swallowed and promptly scalded her mouth. She winced. “Hi.”

  She’d moved to brush past him when he gently gripped her arm. “Do you remember me? Charlie Hickman.”

  Leah eased her arm from his hand. “I do remember you, but I’m in a bit of a rush.” She stepped toward the door. “Nice to see you again.”

  “You can run, but you can’t hide.”

  She stilled. “What?”

  He grinned. “I’m joking. I’d really like us to have that drink sometime. Or is there someone else on the scene right now?”

  Leah frowned. “Where did you say you were from?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Only it’s unusual for a group of...” She peered around him toward his table. “...financial advisers to take a business trip to such as small a town as Templeton.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Are you insinuating I’m not all I seem to be?”

  Leah stared into his eyes, torn between the need to be wary of anyone new to the Cove, and the fact that Charlie seemed a genuinely nice guy. She shrugged, forced a smile. “I’m just careful when guys come on to me out of the blue. I couldn’t say it’s something that happens to me every day, that’s all.”

  “Well, it should.” He leaned closer. “You’re kind of cute.”

  She stepped back, her face heating. “Anyway... I’ll see you around, okay?”

  As she moved to walk away, he lightly gripped her arm again. “That drink. How about tonight? We could meet in the Coast. Seems a pretty cool place.”

  “Sorry. Busy.”

  She lifted the cup in a salute and headed through the door, shaking her head. Did the man not sense that any male attention would be far from welcome right now? As much as she shouldn’t be thinking about Ethan, she couldn’t stop doing so—and Charlie’s persistence only served to make her wonder what he was about.

  What if Charlie and those three other guys were affiliated somehow with Anna’s boyfriend?

  Maybe she should accept his offer of a drink and find out for sure, within the protection of a packed bar?

  Sighing, Leah tried and failed to push Ethan from her heart and mind as she jogged along the street toward the hospital. She was thinking irrationally. Silently admonishing herself, she rushed into the hospital’s busy parking lot, dodging past an ambulance and its exiting gurney. The glass double doors swished open and she lifted her latte in a wave to the reception staff before ducking into the employees’ changing room.

  “There you are.” Her friend and colleague Mike Bell smiled. “We were beginning to think you weren’t coming in today.”

  She glanced at her watch. “I’m right on time.”

  “Yes, but you can hardly say that’s usual for a workaholic like yourself.”

  “I had a hectic start.” She put her pastry bag and coffee on a side table and walked to her locker. “What’s up?”

  He shrugged into his white doctor’s coat. “It’s busy out there already. I didn’t want to be another nurse down. Sara and Jenny are out sick.”

  “Really? Must be something going around.” She stuffed her jacket in her locker and dropped her stethoscope around her neck. “I’ll get out there as soon as I’ve downed half of that coffee and at least one of those croissants.”

  “You have one going spare?” He wiggled his eyebrows.

  She smiled. “Sure. Help yourself.”

  “Thanks.”

  She walked back to the table, drank some more coffee and devoured half the croissant in a way that would hardly be deemed polite in any kind of society.

  Mike finished his and swiped the back of his hand across his mouth. He took a step toward the door and stopped. “I almost forgot.” He brushed past her to his locker, opened it and pulled out an envelope. “Some guy left this with me when I dropped by Reception earlier. He said he was a friend of yours.”

  “Friend?”

  He shrugged and passed her the envelope. “I didn’t recognize him, but I doubt I know all your friends.” He turned to the door and held it open. “Are you coming?”

  “Sure. Mike? What did this guy look like?”

  “Blond, pretty built, wore a leather jacket, jeans.” He frowned. “Why? You’re not getting hassle from anyone, are you?”

  “Course not. Thanks.” She pocketed the envelope, stuffed the remainder of her croissant in her mouth and washed it down with another sip of coffee. “Let’s do this.”

  She followed Mike from the staff room. Whoever had delivered the envelope wasn’t Charlie Hickman, who was tall and dark. Who could it be from? Although itching to open the note, she would have to wait. She glanced toward the busy waiting room. Her patients came first.

  * * *

  LEAH WALKED FROM the hospital, her back and shoulders aching, her eyes tired. The nine-hour shift had turned into ten, and now exhaustion lay like a lead blanket over her entire body. She needed to get home and into bed before she fell asleep against the nearest lamppost. DI Garrett had already left two messages for Leah to come in and speak with her, so falling asleep wasn’t an option until she’d stopped by the police station. A chilly wind swept along the promenade as she passed the beach and headed for the station. It was nearing six, with evening closing in, the darkening skies threatening rain before sunset. She pulled her jacket tighter around her body and suddenly remembered the envelope she had hurriedly stuffed in the pocket of her uniform at the start of her nursing shift.

  The number of incoming patients had been nonstop and she hadn’t given the note a second thought until now.

  Wandering to the promenade railing, she glanced toward the bakery across the street and debated whether to grab a coffee at Marian’s, where it would be warm, before seeing DI Garrett. No, Marian would only try to interrogate her about what was happening with Ethan.


  Leah took out the envelope and ripped it open. As soon as she touched the glossy edges of several photographs, her curiosity turned to alarm. Not again, please.

  The poor-quality photographs had most likely been taken from a distance with a phone, but Leah recognized Ethan’s posture immediately—even with his face scratched out. Her stomach rolled with fear. The pretty, dark-haired woman with her head on his shoulder Leah recognized as Anna, from her brief online search of Ethan’s ex.

  A second picture showed them climbing the steps into the police station, and a third—Leah pressed her hand to her stomach—was Ethan hand in hand with Daisy at the train station. She could only guess the picture must have been shot when he was taking Daisy to his mother’s.

  Her mind whirled. Should she call Ethan? Or take the pictures straight to DI Garrett? She looked around, wondering whether whoever had delivered the envelope might be watching her. People meandered back and forth, their interest turned elsewhere. Paranoia whispered its harsh warning through her, and Leah looked out across the ocean.

  She gripped the railing and took a calming breath.

  Ethan had been clear he didn’t want her involved from here on in, and the pictures weren’t of her but of him, Anna and Daisy. Did this mean that whoever was taking the photos no longer saw Leah as a potential target, but as a way to get a clear message to Ethan and Anna? Had Ethan told someone they were over? Maybe he’d told Anna, and she’d relayed it to the thugs threatening her, in a bid to free Leah from the situation.

  It hardly seemed plausible that Ethan’s ex would care for his new lover’s safety. But what did she really know of Anna’s personality?

  She was on the way to the station anyway. She would give the pictures straight to DI Garrett. Decision made, Leah stuffed them back into the envelope and shoved it into her jacket pocket.

  A horrible sense of betrayal toward Ethan mixed with the fear for her own safety. And she knew for certain Ethan would hate that she chose to speak with the police before him. What else was she supposed to do when he so often ignored her reasoning? Look how long it had taken her to persuade him to speak with DI Garrett, despite the danger coming so close to Daisy.