Healed by the Single Dad Doc

by Annie Claydon

  ‘I got the book, Kate. And... I was going to come alone, maybe this evening, and then I thought that...’ He shrugged. ‘Sam and I come as a package. It’s a “two for the price of one” deal.’

  She didn’t dare jump to any conclusions. But Ethan was here and maybe it was a chance to build a few bridges. Kate was covered in grime and sweat, but now was the time.

  ‘Why don’t you both come in?’ She stood back from the doorway and Sam ran inside. Ethan followed him at a rather more deliberate pace.

  ‘Why are you so dirty?’ Sam looked up at her.

  ‘I’m making something in my garden. Do you want to see?’ She shepherded Sam through to the back door, looking out for any broken glass that might be on the floor and hoping that Ethan wouldn’t notice the sink.

  ‘Wow...it’s a castle!’

  ‘It’s a rockery, Sam.’ Ethan’s voice came from behind her. ‘Kate’s going to plant flowers.’

  Sam looked up at her questioningly. ‘It’s going to be a castle with flowers. What do you think?’ Kate provided a compromise answer.

  ‘They’re very heavy.’ Sam was looking at the pile of rocks which had been delivered last weekend.

  ‘Yes, they are a bit.’

  ‘We could give you a hand.’

  ‘You can’t, Dad. You’ve got your best shirt on.’ Sam reprimanded him and then looked up at Kate. ‘We had to go home so he could put his best shirt on.’

  Ethan laughed suddenly as if, faced by an immovable force, he’d decided to give in gracefully. ‘What would I do without my wing man to keep me honest?’

  Sam shrugged, clearly more interested in the castle than a conversation that he didn’t quite understand. He ran across the lawn to inspect Kate’s handiwork and Ethan turned to her.

  ‘Kate, I heard what you said. I’m hoping that some of your courage might rub off on me.’

  ‘You mean...?’ Suddenly she knew what he meant. It was in the deep-blue gaze that she’d been trying to avoid.

  ‘We both thought we couldn’t make things work because we didn’t trust ourselves to change. But you’ve done it and I want to show you that I can too. If you’ll give me the chance.

  ‘You think my good intentions will rub off?’ She allowed herself a smile at the thought.

  ‘I think they will. Kate, I love you. I want us all to be together—you, me and Sam. If you’ll take us.’ He shrugged. ‘Personally, I’d advise anyone against it. But I’m hoping that you’re that reckless.’

  She loved him. More than she had before. However successful she’d been in denying it, this had all been for Ethan. For herself as well, but in her darkest moments, when she’d woken frightened in the night, it had been him she’d thought about.

  ‘I love you too, Ethan. I want to give this another try.’

  He nodded. His hand wandered to her arm, his fingers leaving a trail of goose bumps. He glanced out at Sam, who was exploring the end of the garden, and then pulled her towards him.

  ‘We’ll take care of each other. That has to be enough, doesn’t it?’

  ‘It’s more than enough. It’s everything.’ Kate kissed him. It wasn’t the deepest of kisses, or the warmest of embraces, but she could feel the shock of sudden pleasure run through him, just as it raced through her.

  ‘You just changed my whole world, Kate. Tipped it upside down.’ He didn’t seem to mind that she’d get his best shirt dirty if they went on like this. Holding her close now, he kissed her again.

  ‘Sam...’ Kate came to her senses, digging Ethan hard in the ribs. Sam was still exploring the garden, but any moment now he was going to be running back to the house, wanting to share something with his dad.

  ‘I’ll explain things to him.’ Ethan kept hold of her hand, as if it belonged to him now, and he wasn’t going to give it up. ‘Or we’ll explain things. I dare say he’ll have a few questions.’

  A bright belief in a future that could be different. One that might hold a few problems, but problems were there to be solved.

  ‘And I dare say we can answer them.’

  ‘I think we can. And, in the meantime, it looks as if you have two volunteers to help with your new castle.’ Ethan nodded towards Sam, who was collecting small stones from the flower beds and piling them up around the larger ones.

  ‘That’s good. I could do with the help.’

  * * *

  Ethan had stripped off his shirt, and Sam had followed suit, draping his shirt over his father’s. The twitch of Ethan’s eyebrow made Kate shiver at the thought that later he might strip off her shirt.

  They moved the larger rocks together, Ethan issuing a stern instruction to Sam to stand back. He was stronger than she was, but there was equal effort from both of them. Each played their part, instead of Ethan insisting that Kate join Sam and watch.

  She was working now because she couldn’t stay still. By the end of the day, the rockery was looking more or less as she’d imagined it would, with the added bonus of a few additions of carefully piled pebbles from Sam.

  ‘Chinese?’ Ethan straightened up, surveying their handiwork.

  ‘Yes!’ Sam liked the idea and Kate grinned.

  ‘Sounds good. I’ll get cleaned up.’

  He caught her arm, stopping her. Over the course of the afternoon, they’d touched often, but always as a result of heaving rocks or digging holes. Now his fingers on her arm were electric.

  ‘Would you like to come over to mine? Bring a change of clothes. You can clean up there.’

  He mouthed one silent word. Stay. Kate nodded.

  Yes. Whatever the future decided to throw at them, she’d stay.

  * * *

  Blind trust had been Ethan’s only weapon against the fears that today had brought into sharp focus. What if Kate didn’t want him? What if it was all too late and her diary really was a sign that she’d moved on? As soon as that fear had been assuaged, two new ones had replaced it.

  What if Sam didn’t understand? And what if Ethan was in too deep and he couldn’t do what he’d promised and change?

  Sam had turned out to be the least of his problems. He’d sat down with him after dinner, told him that he loved him and that he’d always be his wing man. And that Daddy and Kate wanted to go out together. Sam had nodded sagely.

  ‘I know about boyfriends and girlfriends. You want to kiss her, don’t you?’

  Ethan wondered vaguely what else Sam knew and decided to leave that one for another time. ‘Yes. I do.’

  Sam turned the corners of his mouth down and Ethan’s heart thumped, wondering what was going on in Sam’s head. Then he slithered down from Ethan’s lap, running over to Kate.

  ‘Can we have ice cream—in the castle again?’ When the afternoon had been at its warmest, Kate had predictably resorted to ice cream, eaten perched on the rocks in the rockery.

  ‘Yes, of course. In fact, that’s one of the rules. We can have ice cream in the castle whenever you want.’

  Ethan decided not to intervene. Kate’s idea of ice cream whenever you wanted was tempered by a balanced diet in between times, while Sam’s wasn’t. That was a minor detail that could be sorted out later. Sam’s smile was the one thing that could make things complete at the moment.

  And he did smile. Kate hugged him and he clambered up onto her lap. ‘Do you know the story?’

  Her gaze flipped to Ethan’s face, and he grinned. Surely happiness couldn’t be this easy? ‘I’ll fetch the book. Would you like Kate to read your bedtime story?’

  Sam nodded, and Kate hugged him tight, her face shining. ‘Get the book, Ethan.’

  When they’d both kissed Sam goodnight and Ethan had put him to bed, the second fear resurfaced. He and Kate were alone now and he had to live up to all he’d promised. He almost didn’t dare touch her.

  ‘I meant what I said, Kate. I’m going to let
go of the guilt. I’m going to be there when you need me.’ How he was going to do that was a question that still baffled Ethan. But he would do it.

  ‘I trust that you will be.’ She stepped into his arms and Ethan felt his heart thump in his chest. ‘And I’ll be there for you and Sam.’

  It felt so good to hear her say that. The suspicion that Kate might just have the answer for everything occurred to him.

  ‘And if I start falling back into my old ways, you’ll tell me?’

  ‘I’ll do a lot more than tell you...’ She jabbed him in the ribs.

  ‘Always?’

  ‘Yes, always.’

  Always was more than he deserved, and more than he’d ever thought possible. Ethan would take it.

  ‘Come to bed.’ He wanted Kate in his arms more than anything now.

  ‘I thought you’d never ask...’

  EPILOGUE

  Six months later.

  THEY’D SEEN THE last of the hot summer days and the beginning of autumn, the sparkle of Christmas and bright new hope for the coming year.

  Things hadn’t always been easy. Kate had worked hard to make Sam feel that she wasn’t taking his father from him and that she wasn’t trying to replace his mother. But Sam, already secure in the knowledge that his father loved him, had come up with his own answer. His mother was ‘Mummy’ and, after a few months, he’d started to call Kate ‘Mum’. When Kate had taken him to buy a Christmas present for Ethan, Sam had revelled in having a secret to keep and someone else to keep it with.

  The evening she’d come home late from work and found Ethan pacing the sitting room had brought back all Kate’s old fears. The silence between them had lasted for a while and then Ethan had simply walked up to her and hugged her. She’d felt his tears, wet against her face, and they’d talked for hours. His darkest fears and hers were finally seeing the light of day, where they could at last be calmed.

  When she’d moved into Ethan’s house, she’d kept most of the boxes she’d brought with her packed, not wanting to disturb anything that Jenna might have done. Her cottage was closed up, all the furniture under dust sheets, because Kate could quite bring herself to rent it out yet. Ethan had said nothing for a week and then, when Kate had returned home from a shopping trip with his mother, she’d found that everything had been moved. Cutlery was in a different drawer, plates were in a different cupboard. The furniture was in a different place in their bedroom and Kate’s things had been neatly packed away in drawers and cabinets. The relief was tempered by neither of them being able to find anything for weeks.

  * * *

  Ethan had organised a surprise, a visit to London with a stay in a luxurious hotel. Just the two of them, while Sam stayed with Ethan’s parents. They had breakfast in the huge bed and then a walk in the crisp, winter morning.

  ‘Is this the place?’ He stopped suddenly, right next to the statue of Boudicca that looked out over the Thames.

  ‘You remembered!’ Kate smiled up at him.

  ‘Your second-favourite place.’ He wrapped his arms around her. They were both secure in the knowledge that being in each other’s arms was their shared favourite place.

  ‘Yes. Even in winter I like it.’

  He was looking up at the statue. ‘Think Boudicca had red hair—like you?’

  Kate laughed. ‘I have absolutely no idea. I wouldn’t mind the chariot, though.’

  ‘Sam and I could take a look at your car. I’m sure we could do something with it.’ Ethan grinned, shoving his hands in the pockets of his coat, his breath pluming in front of him in the cold air.

  ‘Is this...was there something you wanted to mention?’ Kate was going to wait, and pretend she knew nothing about any surprise, but he seemed so on edge all of a sudden and it seemed downright cruel not to put Ethan out of his misery.

  He winced. ‘Sam told you, didn’t he?’

  ‘No, he didn’t. When you were taking his things inside at your parents’ house he sat in the car, looking at me with his hands over his mouth. I asked him if anything was the matter, and he said that he’d promised you not to tell. He says that, now that he’s six, he’s grown up enough to keep a secret.’

  Ethan laughed. ‘Do you mind? That he’s in on it?’

  ‘Of course not. He’s your wing man, isn’t he?’

  They’d talked about going away somewhere for Easter and Kate had come to the conclusion that Ethan must have tickets in his pocket.

  ‘Yes. I might have to have a word with him about strategy...’ Ethan wound his arms around her shoulders, kissing her.

  ‘Mmm. Lovely. Can we go now? I’m getting cold,’ she teased him.

  ‘No, stay right there. Don’t move an inch.’

  He dropped to one knee in front of her and Kate’s hand flew to her mouth. This she hadn’t expected.

  ‘What...? Ethan!’ She was trembling all over now, hardly able to stand. ‘I thought you’d booked a weekend away.’

  He smiled. ‘I want more than a weekend. I’m aiming for the rest of our lives. Will you marry me, Kate?’

  She might not have expected the question, but she had her answer ready. ‘Yes. Yes, I will!’

  He got to his feet and kissed her. Kate was dimly aware of the city going about its business around her. That a few people had stopped when they’d seen Ethan down on one knee and that when he’d kissed her there was a murmur of approval. A woman’s voice came from somewhere, wishing her happiness. She nodded blindly. Ethan was the only thing she could see right now.

  ‘You’ll be relieved to hear that I didn’t take any of my wing man’s advice on choosing the ring.’

  ‘You have a ring?’ Here in his arms, that hardly mattered. All that mattered was that Ethan wanted to spend his life with her, and she wanted so much to spend the rest of her life with him.

  ‘Of course I do. I’ve got a plan.’ He took a small box from his pocket, opening it and showing Kate the contents. ‘Do you like it?’

  It was a square-cut canary-yellow diamond on a plain white-gold band. Kate caught her breath. ‘It’s beautiful, Ethan.’

  ‘Let’s see whether it fits. Hold still. Stop jumping around.’

  ‘I can’t help it!’ Kate’s feet seemed to be doing a little dance of excitement, quite of their own volition and without any input from her.

  He slid the ring onto her finger, pushing it carefully over the knuckle. It was a perfect fit and Ethan nodded in satisfaction. ‘Not so bad. I was hoping that I’d got it right.’

  ‘It’s perfect, Ethan. Beautiful... How did you get it right?’

  ‘I measured your finger while you were asleep. Ticklish business. I was hoping you weren’t going to wake up and catch me doing it.’

  Kate laughed with delight. ‘It was a beautiful plan, Ethan. Thank you so much.’ She flung her arms around his neck, hugging him.

  ‘There’s more.’

  ‘I don’t care. This is enough, and nothing you could possibly do could be any better.’

  He laughed, a low rumble of complete contentment. ‘Try this...’

  He handed her an envelope and Kate opened it. It was a letter from a firm of land surveyors. She scanned the words, too excited to read them the first time, and tried again.

  He’d made an offer on the land adjacent to her cottage. One acre, with planning permission to build. Kate flipped over to the next page and saw a plan. The land included the old orchard that she could see from her back window, and extended to the side right up to the curve in the lane.

  ‘This is... But aren’t we going to rent the cottage? What does it mean?’

  ‘It means that, if we want to, we can take your cottage off the rental listings and extend it. Very considerably, actually, as the planning permission allows us to double the frontage and go back to form an L-shape. It would give us three times the space you have now.’ He turne
d the page in front of her and Kate saw a plan of the new building, which ran along the side of her cottage, reaching almost to the end of the garden. ‘The planning authorities say that the frontage would have to be in a complementary style, but then I think we might want that anyway.’

  ‘But we can’t afford this, can we? Have we won the lottery or something?’

  Ethan chuckled. ‘No. We’ll sell my house.’

  ‘No... Ethan, how things are at the moment is fine. You don’t have to sell up.’

  ‘It’s just a house, Kate. I like it, but this would be something that we’d built together. There’s a great little school in the village for Sam. And we’d have space.’

  ‘For Sam to grow. And...more children?’ Kate put her arms around his waist.

  He smiled broadly. ‘That possibility hadn’t escaped me. Along with Arthur, and a few cats and dogs, and whatever else you bring back from the surgery needing a temporary home. You’ll keep your garden, and I can grow apple trees.’

  ‘You’ve got this all worked out, haven’t you?’

  ‘It’s nothing without you, Kate. If this isn’t what you want, then we’ll do something else. I have a week to sign the documents on the land, but if I do it’s ours.’

  ‘You’re sure this is what you want?’ It sounded like heaven, but if Ethan wanted to live in a shack she’d be fine with that too.

  He took her hand, kissing it, and the ring flashed in the winter sunlight. ‘You’ve got your own Ambigulon stone. You could try it out.’

  ‘Is that what Sam said?’

  ‘Yeah. Although that wasn’t anywhere on the list of priorities when I chose it.’

  ‘Might come in handy, though...’ She held her hand over his heart. ‘I see... Ah. It’s all good.’

  Ethan chuckled. ‘You can’t stop there. What do you see?’

  ‘I see an honest heart that loves me as much as I love you, Ethan. I think your plan is just perfect.’

  ‘I’m glad you like it.’ He put his arm around her and started walking. He was holding her tight, guiding her steps, because Kate wasn’t looking where she was going. All she could see was the ring on her finger and the man she was going to marry.