Healed by the Single Dad Doc

by Annie Claydon

Sunday lunch. It was a brave new inroad into territory that Kate had promised herself she wouldn’t think about. Particularly not with Ethan.

  ‘Yes. That sounds great, I’d love to. What time?’

  He grinned. ‘Any time after six am?’

  ‘I’ll come at twelve. Don’t want to surprise you both in your racing car pyjamas’ If Ethan wore pyjamas, Kate would eat the sheet she was currently wrapped in.

  ‘Racing cars are so last year. He’s got Ambigulon pyjamas now.’

  ‘Ambigulon?’

  ‘Yeah. Superhero stuff. Ambigulon has a glowing amber crystal which shoots power rays. They either heal a person or hurt them, depending on whether they have a pure heart.’

  ‘Blimey! That’s complicated.’

  Ethan rolled his eyes. ‘Trust me, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Superheroes are very complicated...’

  * * *

  Talking to Kate had been very complicated. However much Ethan wanted to tell himself that this was just two friends who happened to find each other attractive, it had been impossible to maintain the pretence. He’d found himself sharing his thoughts and feelings with her. The stories about Sam that he’d so often wished he could share with someone.

  Ethan had told himself that asking her to lunch was a very obvious next step. Treating her as a friend. But everything he did seemed only to deepen the one role that he still wasn’t sure he was capable of. A lover. Someone who protected and nurtured.

  When the doorbell rang at exactly midday, Sam ran to meet Kate, aiming his Ambigulon crystal at the door, which stayed resolutely in place. Ethan herded him out of the way, getting rid of the obstruction in a more conventional manner.

  ‘Hi. Am I too early?’ Kate was standing on the doorstep, looking delicious. Ethan wondered whether, in common with Ambigulon’s crystal, she had the power to divine whether a man’s heart was pure or not. And what the outcome would be if his was put to the test.

  ‘You’re right on time. I’m running a little late. Sam, show Kate into the conservatory and I’ll get on with lunch.’ He flashed her a grin and she rewarded him with a brilliant smile.

  Through the open door of the kitchen, Ethan could hear Sam chivvying her through into the conservatory and instructing her to sit down in a chair that he’d selected for her.

  ‘Are we going to get the puppy now?’ Sam reiterated the question that he’d been asking Ethan all morning, obviously keen on getting a second opinion.

  ‘Not yet. After lunch.’ Kate’s voice was full of laughter and tenderness. ‘Have you thought of a name for him yet?’

  Ethan grinned down at the roast potatoes in the pan in front of him, wondering what she’d make of the answer.

  ‘Sam. I’m calling him Sam.’

  ‘Sam? But that’s your name.’ The rustle of skirts and the faint creak of wicker as Kate moved in her seat. The sounds were almost unbearably erotic.

  ‘How are you going to know whether your dad is calling to you or the puppy?’ A short pause and then Kate laughed. ‘Is that the point of calling him Sam—so you can pretend that you thought Dad was calling the puppy and not you?’

  Sam sounded as if he was jumping up and down, laughing. ‘Yessss!’

  ‘Oh. So the puppy’s going to get to eat all your ice cream?’

  Ethan closed his eyes, silently begging Kate not to mention ice cream while he was in the room. He wasn’t sure how long it would be before he could look at another tub of strawberry ice cream without thinking of last night.

  ‘And is he going to wear your T-shirt?’

  Silence. Sam was obviously thinking about the ramifications of his choice of names.

  ‘Or... I can call him Ambigulon.’

  Ethan shook his head. The idea of shouting, ‘Ambigulon!’ at the top of his voice to call the puppy back to heel didn’t exactly appeal to him.

  ‘That’s a good name. But wouldn’t it be a bit inconvenient if the puppy could reverse gravity?’

  Ethan was sure he hadn’t mentioned reversing gravity to Kate. The idea that she’d done her research on topics that would interest Sam was a novel one. She was clearly making an effort with him.

  ‘I think... Arthur!’

  Where had Sam got that from? It wasn’t a family name and, as far as Ethan knew, it wasn’t the name of anyone that Sam knew. But, actually, he could get used to Arthur.

  ‘What does your dad think?’

  Ethan decided to intervene. Popping his head out through the kitchen door, he saw Kate seated on the edge of one of the wicker chairs. Sam was leaning against her legs, smoothing the hem of her blue-and-white-striped summer dress with one hand. It was a curious reversal of roles. When Sam was around Ethan didn’t get to touch her, but his son had none of those inhibitions.

  ‘I think that Arthur’s a very good name.’ He mouthed a ‘thank you’ in Kate’s direction and she flashed him a grin.

  ‘So do I.’ She smiled gravely down at Sam.

  ‘Okay. Arthur.’ Sam nodded, as if the matter was now closed. ‘When are we going to get him?’

  ‘After lunch.’ Ethan found himself chorusing the words with Kate, and she looked up at him, blushing. Ethan chuckled, turning back to the kitchen.

  * * *

  Lunch was an exercise in Sam trying to eat as fast as he could and Ethan trying to slow him down. When the boy wriggled down from his seat, obviously ready to go, Ethan shot her a look of apology.

  ‘Shall we have coffee when we get back?’ She smiled at him, casually pushing her hand across the table towards Ethan, wondering whether he might respond.

  ‘If you don’t mind. I think he might burst if we make him wait any longer.’

  Sam ran out of the conservatory and into the house and suddenly she felt Ethan’s fingers around hers. As he raised them to his lips, his eyes seemed to flash a brighter blue.

  ‘I don’t want you to make any mistake over my intentions, Kate.’

  She felt her cheeks redden. All her resolutions that needing Ethan in the heat of the night didn’t mean she couldn’t be independent the following morning seemed a little stupid right now. She needed him, but she didn’t really know whether he even wanted her for more than a brief fling.

  ‘We didn’t have any intentions, did we?’

  ‘I do now. If I ask whether we can take things slowly, one step at a time, then please don’t think I’m not serious about wanting to make things work between us.’

  Making things work. She wanted to make things work more than anything and she knew that both of them needed a little time to get used to the idea of doing that. ‘Slow is good. I’d like to take things slowly too.’

  ‘Slow it is, then.’ His lips curved into the same smile that he’d had on his lips last night, when taking it slowly had been an exercise in everything that was delicious. He rose from his seat, bending to kiss her cheek before Sam scooted back into the room, dropping Ethan’s car keys into his hand.

  The afternoon was turning into the kind of sunny Sunday afternoon that seemed to have been lost irretrievably in Kate’s childhood, when she’d felt that she could run barefoot in the grass, her dress swishing around her legs, without any danger of cutting her feet. When the sun couldn’t burn her and she couldn’t get wet in a sudden shower of rain. Where the only thing that could touch her was the look on Sam’s face as he hugged his new puppy, the blue of Ethan’s eyes and the sure feeling that whatever happened next couldn’t disappoint her.

  Sam seemed to know instinctively that Arthur was small and frightened. He coaxed him gently from the animal carrier, helping him to explore his new world. After an afternoon of exploring, the two of them wore each other out at much the same time, curling up in one of the wicker chairs in the conservatory together and falling asleep.

  Ethan had turned the chair slightly, so that its high back obscured Sam’s view of the conserv
atory steps where he and Kate sat.

  ‘No regrets?’ Kate knew that he must have mixed feelings about this. Sam was growing up and beginning to be independent of him. And Ethan must still think about Jeff.

  ‘None. Sam wanted this.’

  ‘And you?’

  ‘I’m...ready to move on too.’ His tone was soft, but there was a finality about it. As if he’d thought about this and come to a conclusion. ‘Did you see Sam’s face when Arthur started playing with his dog toys?’

  ‘It would have been difficult to miss.’ Kate laughed quietly. ‘Thank you for letting me be a part of it all.’

  His arm was behind her. Not quite around her, but a tentative signal that it might be if she wanted it. Kate moved a little closer to him, and Ethan put his arm properly around her shoulders. That was better.

  ‘Thank you for being here. And for making this afternoon happen.’ He brushed a kiss against her hair. ‘And for talking him out of calling the puppy Ambigulon.’

  ‘That wasn’t so difficult.’

  ‘Sam can be very stubborn when he wants to be.’ Ethan grinned.

  ‘And you’re not stubborn at all.’ Kate smirked at him.

  ‘Not even slightly. I’m always open to reason.’

  ‘Of course you are.’ Kate turned and kissed him. He responded, pulling her tight against him. He was definitely open to that.

  But even if Sam was sleeping, and wouldn’t have been able to see them even if he woke, he was still there. Maybe that was a good thing. The loud voice which told her that everything was all right had got the upper hand this afternoon. But the doubts, the fear of losing herself and finding that he would let her down, were all still there.

  ‘I’m sorry that...’ He shrugged. ‘Sam.’

  ‘I know. It’s okay. You have to put him first, always. I wouldn’t like you very much if you didn’t.’

  He nodded. ‘I wouldn’t like myself very much. But there are times when I wish I could take the rest of the evening off. Right now, I do.’

  ‘Another time.’

  ‘Yes. I’d love that.’

  He leaned over and kissed her. Warmly but with an echo of all that Ethan could do to her. It was enough, for now.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  YOU WERE SUPPOSED to look forward to Saturday night, weren’t you? Kate couldn’t remember having looked forward to one with such trembling anticipation before. Ethan called, saying that Sam would be staying with his grandparents again on Saturday. This time there was no pretence about happening to be alone and wanting some company. He asked her whether she might like to come out with him on a date.

  Ethan took nothing for granted, his tone a little halting and formal. Kate accepted his invitation and she heard him laugh quietly.

  ‘I’m glad you said yes.’

  ‘I’m glad you called to ask.’ She was grinning at the phone, wondering if he felt sixteen as well—that nervous thrill that accompanied a first date.

  ‘Well, I have to go, now. I need to pop out into the garden for a moment and run round in circles, punching the air.’

  Kate laughed. Even though they were both a little older and much wiser somehow, they’d both managed to put the intervening years aside and go back to the beginning. Could they really be sixteen again, unlearn everything they knew and start over?

  ‘I have to go upstairs and fling my wardrobe doors open. Scream that I have nothing to wear...’

  ‘What are you wearing now?’ Ethan’s tone took on a note of the hunger that she felt for him.

  ‘Blue jeans. A red shirt.’

  ‘You look beautiful. Come exactly as you are.’

  * * *

  Kate did just that, although she’d added a pair of high, strappy sandals and some jewellery which had taken her almost as long to decide on as selecting her whole outfit. When she answered the door to him, his face broke into a broad grin.

  ‘You look far more gorgeous than I’ve been imagining you might. And that’s a tough proposition.’ He held out his arm and Kate felt herself thrill at the slightly stiff, old-fashioned gesture. Last weekend hadn’t just been something that adults had done and then moved on from because it was much too complicated to contemplate anything else. Ethan had come a-courting. There was no mistaking it.

  She stepped outside, locking the front door behind her, and took his arm. The two of them couldn’t quite fit on the narrow front path and Ethan walked to one side on the grass.

  ‘This is nice.’ She smiled up at him as he opened the gate for her.

  ‘I’m a little rusty. I haven’t done this in a while.’

  ‘If this is you being a little rusty, I can’t wait to see what happens when you really get into your stride.’ The thought was both exciting and terrifying. But Ethan was doing all the right things to calm her fears. Taking it slowly. Taking it tenderly.

  ‘Thank you, ma’am. I’ll do my best not to disappoint.’

  He couldn’t have disappointed her if he’d tried. She loved the way he’d drawn her hand up to his lips, looking into her eyes when he kissed her fingertips. She loved the quiet, country pub where the food was good and they could eat outside. Loved the way he was so interested in hearing about the things in her life—her job, her family, her childhood—and the way he told her about his.

  ‘Come back with me.’ He’d paid the bill and they were still sitting at their table, the lights around them beginning to glow bright in the gathering darkness.

  ‘For coffee?’ Ethan’s smile told her that if it was just for coffee that would be fine with him.

  ‘No. Not for coffee.’ She leaned across the table towards him. ‘Or don’t you do that kind of thing on a first date?’

  This was crazy. They’d already done that kind of thing. But Ethan understood. Last week had been one of those sweet things that had been unplanned, done to escape from the real world. Tonight was the real world and if they spent it together then it was a new and different hope for the future.

  ‘There’s nothing I’d like to do more...’

  * * *

  They made love by flickering candlelight, the open windows in her bedroom allowing what breeze there was in the still evening to caress their bodies. And, for every moment of it, Ethan was there with her. In the long, tender embraces when it felt as if he was making love to every inch of her. In the strong, passionate climaxes which came again and again, finally leaving them still, tangled together on the bed.

  ‘Would you like some wine?’ Kate stretched luxuriantly on the crumpled sheets. The bottle of wine and the ice-bucket had been ready in the kitchen and she’d fetched them on their way upstairs. She was glad now she’d remembered. Kate didn’t want to be away from Ethan for even a moment.

  ‘So...you had this all planned.’ He reached for the corkscrew, his gaze flipping to the two glasses that sat on the bedside table.

  ‘Yes, I did. Only, you didn’t keep to the plan.’

  He raised his eyebrows, taking the bottle from the half-melted ice and holding it to one side as he pulled the cork so that water didn’t drip all over the bed. ‘I hardly dare ask.’

  ‘If I’d known you were going to take so long over it, I’d have left the ice-bucket in the fridge.’

  ‘Too long...?’ His smile told her that he knew darn well that wasn’t the case. ‘I could always hurry things up a bit, next time.’

  ‘Don’t you dare. I loved every moment of it. So...you’re planning on a next time?’ Kate pulled herself up on the pillows, taking the glass of wine from him. ‘I’d be very disappointed if you weren’t.’

  ‘Yes. I’m planning on a next time.’

  He clinked his glass against hers and took a sip, nodding in approval at her choice of wine. It was another pleasure, watching him here in the candlelight.

  ‘This...is bliss. I could stay here for the next week.’ Kate s
tretched lazily. It was impossible. She knew that. Ethan had to get back in the morning for Sam. They both had jobs to go to and, even if they hadn’t, this was still new and there was still a lot for them to work through. But it was a nice fantasy.

  ‘Me too.’ He reached for her foot, propping it on his thigh, and Kate felt his thumb on her instep.

  ‘That’s nice.’ The pressure grew a little harder, his thumb circling on the sensitive skin. The soles of her feet were about the only part of her body that Ethan hadn’t already caressed and it seemed that he was intent on rectifying that omission now.

  ‘You like it?’

  ‘I love it.’ Kate emptied her glass, sliding towards him. Ethan chuckled, taking the glass from her hand and putting it next to his on the bedside table.

  ‘Oh...sorry.’ Condensation had dribbled down onto the foot of the glass and he moved it, reaching to pick something up from underneath it.

  He had her diary in his hand and was brushing the ring of moisture from the cover. Kate sat up suddenly, grabbing it from him. ‘Don’t.’

  ‘There’s no damage.’ His body was suddenly taut, his eyes questioning. Kate clutched the diary, wishing that she’d just let him brush the water off and put it down again. He wouldn’t have opened it. He would never have known that she’d mistakenly left it out in its usual place by the bedside.

  ‘Sorry. It wouldn’t matter if there was.’ A ring on the cover of her diary. It would actually be quite appropriate. Something that Ethan had left here tonight, which couldn’t be rubbed away.

  But the spell had been broken. Ethan was clearly wondering why she was clutching the book tightly to her chest and no doubt he was about to ask.

  ‘It’s... Usha said it might help to write things down. It’s my diary.’

  ‘Was that the homework she gave you when she first saw you?’ Ethan nodded slowly, his voice taking on that ‘everything’s all right’ tone.

  ‘Not quite. She suggested I make a dream diary, and I’ve done that. But I decided I wanted to write something every day as well.’ Kate ran her finger along the piece of elastic fixed to the back cover and looped around the front, binding the book closed.