Ethan's Daughter

by Rachel Brimble

  “Leah—”

  “Daddy, quick. Come and see how many games Leah has.”

  Leah laughed, relieved. “We’re coming, sweetheart.”

  Leaving Ethan to follow, Leah hurried into the living room. Daisy promptly dropped to the carpet and sat cross-legged by the coffee table, the games of Snakes and Ladders, Operation and Snap! lined up as though the girl had used a ruler.

  “Wow.” Leah smiled. “I bet your daddy couldn’t have set things up any more perfectly.”

  The scent of his aftershave alerted Leah to Ethan’s presence just before he brushed past her. “Look at these games. They’re great.” He put his glass on the table and sat on the carpet, pulling Daisy onto his lap. “Which one do you want to play first?”

  As they chatted and moved pieces into place, Leah’s heart turned to mush. Their dark heads were tilted toward one another, their blue eyes darting back and forth to each other’s faces, and their smiles were identical. It was a scene from a Hallmark movie...so why did she suddenly feel like the big, bad intruder?

  Had she been wrong to give Ethan such a dressing-down at the bakery? He was an amazing dad. One any little girl would be lucky to have.

  Swallowing against the lump in her throat, Leah forced a smile. “I’ll just check on the food so we can eat and get to the games.”

  She hurried into the kitchen and firmly closed the door. Leaning against it, she closed her eyes and fought to calm her breathing. For so many years, men had come and gone. Their departure meant very little to her when she had so many patients to worry over; so many sick and injured children who needed her full attention. Somewhere around the age of twenty-eight or -nine, she’d happily accepted that her career would come first, with only the odd fling to sustain her.

  Opening her eyes, she stared toward the daisies on her table. And now, at the grand old age of thirty, she’d met a man—a father, no less—who had every chance of undoing her heart and breaking down her defenses.

  Distance should be her aim. Aloofness her attitude.

  She and Ethan were such different people. Would he ever be capable of fully allowing her to join him in caring for his child? Anything less would never work in the long term.

  Yet that knowledge did little to lessen her impatience to be back in the room with Ethan and Daisy. Everything about the scene in her living room pulled at her to be a part of it. She felt so confident that she could grow to fit in their circle and protect it with everything she had.

  Pushing herself away from the door, she shook off her pitiful yearnings and headed to the stove. She’d put the lasagna out earlier to cool. She cut Ethan a large slice, herself a medium and a small piece for Daisy. Leah smiled. What was this—Goldilocks and the Three Bears? She added a small amount of lettuce, sliced tomatoes and cucumber on the side and then carried Ethan’s and Daisy’s plates through to the living room.

  “Dinner’s served.” She put the plates down. “I’ll just grab mine and the bread. Daisy? Would you like a drink?”

  The little girl scrambled to her feet, with her father slowly rising behind her. Daisy hurried forward and slipped onto one of Leah’s dining chairs. “Can I have some water, please?”

  “Of course.” Leah turned to Ethan, nodding toward his half-empty wineglass. “Top up?”

  He stared at her, his blue eyes so intense her stomach knotted once more.

  “Sure.” He blinked and looked to the table. “That lasagna looks great.”

  “Thanks. Sit down. I’ll be right back.”

  She returned to the kitchen, set the garlic bread on a board, slipped the half-empty bottle of wine under her arm and grabbed her plate. Taking a calming breath, she returned to the living room, repeating the mantra Just Friends, Just Friends over and over in her mind.

  * * *

  ETHAN LEANED BACK against Leah’s couch and shamelessly appreciated the soft curve of her butt as she laid Daisy on another couch across the room. Taking a throw from the back, Leah covered his sleeping daughter, gently tucking her in before dropping a kiss to her hair.

  When Leah faced him, her soft smile vanished and the happiness in her eyes dimmed. “Did I do something wrong?”

  Her whispered question burrowed like a needle into his chest. “You did perfectly.”

  Her beautiful smile reappeared and her eyes shone once more as she came toward him. She scooped up her wineglass from the coffee table and settled on the couch beside him, pulling her legs beneath her. “I’m really glad you came here tonight.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Too bad Daisy has such a terrible Snakes and Ladders player for a dad, though.”

  His apprehension lessened a little and he smiled, embracing how much he had enjoyed the entire evening. “You both cheated.”

  She playfully swatted his arm. “Loser.”

  He laughed and a little more of his tension eased. “You’re good for me. For us.” Her smile wavered and Ethan’s pulse jumped as the silence stretched, the room filling with unspoken words and questions. “I didn’t want to say what I did at the bakery, you know.” He leaned closer and brushed some fallen hair from her eyes. “I’ve never met anyone like you. You’re pretty fabulous.”

  “Which part didn’t you want to say to me?” She sipped her drink, her hazel eyes wary.

  He sighed, set his glass on the table. “The part about nothing happening between us.”

  “Oh.”

  Leaning back, he forced his gaze to hers in the hope she understood him, even though he wasn’t sure he understood himself. “When Daisy was born, I was the happiest man alive. I had everything I’d dreamed of since I started writing, around the age of nineteen or twenty. A beautiful wife, a lovely house, a career where I was finally getting published, and then an amazing, gorgeous baby daughter came along. My life couldn’t have been any better if I’d written it myself.”

  Leah took a sip of her wine. “And here I was thinking thrillers were your passion, not romance and kids.”

  “There’s love in every story I write. There’s love in every story, period.” He shook his head. “The trouble was, I was so happy in my own life, I didn’t see how unhappy Anna was being a part of it. She looked after Daisy while I spent hours at my desk. She joined in with the mum and baby groups, took Daisy for her shots and checkups...all while I worked.” He looked into her eyes. “I was a terrible dad, Leah. No matter how much I love Daisy, I wasn’t there for her as I should’ve been. Not until Anna walked away.”

  “But you’ve been there for her since.”

  “Yes, but the guilt of my neglect for the first two years of her life and the regret over how unhappy I made Anna is here.” He pressed his hand to his chest. “Deep inside, every single day.”

  “Didn’t you two at least try to work things out?”

  He shook his head. “I suggested therapy, counseling, but she wasn’t interested. She walked away and there was no way she was coming back. I work when Daisy’s at school and try my hardest to be with her, there for her, every hour in between. I can’t fall...” He clenched his jaw. “If I loved a woman again and went back to the way I was? I look at you with Daisy. I see how she looks at you... I’m terrified of letting my attention slip from Daisy again once I know someone else is there for her, too. What if I fell in love with you and ended up being wrapped up in my work again? What if you left?”

  Further words clogged in his throat and he dragged his gaze from Leah’s to look at Daisy, fast asleep on the opposite couch. He hated this new loss of control, of showing his emotions so openly, when it would be so much safer to keep them locked inside. But Leah deserved to know what he was thinking and feeling. She was an amazing woman and his reluctance for them to be together had nothing to do with her. He didn’t want her thinking that it did.

  “Hey.” Leah shifted forward and touched her fingers
to his chin, turning his face. “I understand what you’re saying. There’s no pressure here, Ethan. I just wanted to make you both dinner, spend a little fun time together. The last thing I want is to make life harder for you.”

  “Harder?” He lowered his focus to her mouth...a mouth he desperately wanted to taste. Her skin was like porcelain, her lips the softest pink and her eyes bright and kind. Everything about her attracted him. He cleared his throat and forced his gaze to hers. “I haven’t seen Daisy so happy in years. You’re not making my life harder, Leah. You’re just scaring the hell out of me.”

  She huffed a laugh. “That doesn’t sound very good.”

  “But it is good.” He clasped her hand and pulled it down from his face. “I really like you. Not just because of how caring you are or how good you are with Daisy, but how you make me feel like I could be equally as capable, equally as good as you.”

  “I mess up as much as anyone else. If you think me capable and good, so are you. How could you think any differently? You might think you gave Anna a raw deal, but you’re wrong. She’s in serious trouble and where is the first place she runs? To you. Yes, your marriage didn’t work out, but she still knows what sort of a man you are. She came back and—”

  “I sent her away.”

  “Because she had a knife, Ethan. Because you thought Daisy was upstairs.” Leah shook her head, her expression fierce. “No good parent would’ve done any differently. You were protecting your child.”

  He stared into her eyes. He had to kiss her, had to see if she tasted as good as she smelled. “Leah...”

  “Just kiss me already.” She smiled and leaned toward him, her mouth hovering centimeters from his. “I know you want to. I can see it in those beautiful eyes of yours.”

  He pulled her closer and kissed her. She lightly moaned before gently easing her tongue to his, and Ethan kissed her deeper, harder, sliding his hands to her waist. She rose from the couch and slid onto his lap. He wound his hands into the silky, soft hair at the nape of her neck and she dug the fingers of one hand into his shoulder, the other gripping his upper arm.

  The stirring of his erection pressed against the confines of his jeans.

  He drew back and their gazes locked as she exhaled a shaky breath and slipped from his lap onto the couch. “Well, there won’t be any going back from a kiss like that anytime soon.”

  “So it’s not just me who is kind of scared, then?”

  “Scared?” She shook her head and reached for her wineglass. “It will take a lot more than a kiss like that to scare me.”

  Daisy murmured and shifted in her sleep, and Ethan snapped his gaze to her, his body on alert and guilt slipping into its familiar place. “God, if she’d seen us...”

  “She didn’t.” Leah slid her hand onto his thigh and leaned back against the couch. “Let’s just take one day at a time. We’ve shared dinner and a kiss. We’re not getting married and we’re not bound by blood.” She smiled, her gaze happy. “Who knows what might happen tomorrow? Let’s just enjoy our time together. Okay?”

  He faced her with trepidation. After all, Anna was still in trouble and someone had sent him Daisy’s certificates and pictures as a threat. “I’m going to do whatever I can to take one day at a time, but—”

  “No buts.”

  He drew his gaze from Leah’s beautiful eyes toward Daisy again. “But right now I should get my daughter home to bed.”

  “Yes, you should, because you’re a responsible parent. Whereas I...” She wiggled her eyebrows. “...would tell you I have a spare bedroom upstairs that is just perfect for a little girl, and a king-size bed in my room that would just be perfect for us.”

  “Leah, I can’t—”

  “I know you can’t.” She laughed. “I’m teasing.” She stood and walked toward the kitchen. “I’ll call you a taxi.”

  He watched her until she was out of sight before collapsing back on the couch, his gaze automatically returning to Daisy where she still soundly slept. He drained his glass.

  God only knew what might happen tomorrow.

  CHAPTER TEN

  LEAH PUSHED OPEN the door to one of the many supply rooms in Templeton’s emergency room, closing it behind her on the clamor of a working ER. Taking a breath, she extracted a suture kit and dressings from a shelf before heading back into the mania. The usual Monday chaos had taken hold since the start of her shift at nine that morning. It now neared two in the afternoon and patients were backed up in the waiting room, nursing various lacerations, suspected broken bones, or looking decidedly green from some illness or another.

  She rushed to the curtained cubicle where her newest patient waited, and sat on a plastic seat by the side of the bed. Bringing her full attention to Kayleigh Forrester, instead of the queue of patients waiting to be seen, she asked, “Are you okay, hon? Not hurting too much?”

  “I’m fine.” The little girl’s bottom lip trembled as she looked for reassurance from her mother. “Mummy says we can go home soon.”

  Leah smiled as she ripped open the dressing packet. “She’s absolutely right. You don’t need stitches, but I’m going to wrap that knee up nice and tight to stop any bleeding, and it can start healing. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  She swiped the little girl’s cut with antiseptic and bound the injury, before looking to Kayleigh’s mum, the manager of the Cove’s Good Time Holiday Park. “How did this happen, Angela?”

  Angela Forrester shook her head. “You know her father. Chris thought it would be a good idea to climb one of the caravan park’s trees, with Kayleigh at the bottom watching him. He then heads off to work this morning, and Little Miss here thought she’d give the same climb a try.”

  Leah smiled. “Ah, I see. I’ve heard the same story a thousand times.” She looked at Kayleigh. “Daddy’s a good climber, huh?”

  “Better than me.” She turned her mouth down. “I fell.”

  “I can see that, but there you go...” Leah gently patted Kayleigh’s dressed knee. “Now you have a nice big bandage to show off, and I’m sure Mummy will want to get you a treat from Marian’s on the way home, for being so brave.”

  Angela raised her eyebrows, her gaze teasing. “I don’t think you’ve left me any choice.”

  Leah laughed. “I aim to serve my patients. There you go, sweetheart—all done.”

  As the two women helped Kayleigh off the bed, Angela sighed. “I have a million and one things to do for the annual kids’ party fund-raiser tonight. I hope you’re coming? There will be plenty of wine and food for the adults, and I could use all the help I can get once we’re up and running. It’s been so long since we’ve seen you. I know Chris would love to catch up, too.”

  “I made a donation to the charity last week and planned on flopping on my couch with a tub of ice cream in front of the TV. Sorry.”

  “Come on. It will be a good night. You know how many people turn out to this thing every year. It’s a great way to see everyone before the park closes for the season and everyone starts to hibernate. We’d miss you, Leah. You have to come.”

  Leah raised her hand in surrender. “Fine, fine, no need to guilt-trip me. It sounds good.” Her mind immediately turned to Daisy and her mission to give the little girl some fun time. “What time does everything start? My shift finishes around six, so I should be able to make it by seven.”

  “That will be perfect. Will you be bringing anyone with you?”

  She hesitated. Would Ethan go with her to such a public event? She shrugged. “I might.”

  Angela’s eyes brightened. “Anyone I know?”

  Leah forced a smile, uncertainty whispering through her. “Why don’t you wait and see if I can persuade him first? I’m sure the whole town will be delighted if he arrives.”

  “Sounds mysterious.”

  “He i
s.” She sighed. “Very.”

  “And you’re doing all you can to solve the mystery, huh?” Angela smiled. “The best kind of fun.” She took Kayleigh’s hand as Leah pulled back the cubicle curtain. “I’ll see you later, then.”

  Leah nodded. “Fingers crossed.”

  She watched Angela and Kayleigh walk through the waiting room toward the sliding doors, before heading to the wall chart to see the next patient listed. How soon could she get away to call Ethan? It was past two already and she suspected Ethan’s days were as organized as his home. She needed to give him as much notice as possible if there was to be any chance of him and Daisy joining her at the caravan park later.

  Glancing toward the desk, she spotted her department head reading some papers on a clipboard there and hurried toward him. “Hey, Paul. Is there any chance I could take a ten-minute break? I want to make a phone call.”

  Paul Hardy frowned, his serious gray eyes flitting past her to the manic waiting room. “Sure. Go now before I change my mind. Make sure you’re back ASAP.”

  Making her escape, Leah headed toward the staff room, relieved to find it empty. She flicked the combination on her locker and pulled out her purse, before taking a seat on one of the couches. Pulling out her phone, she dialed Ethan’s number. He’d left her house pretty much immediately after their single, mind-blowing kiss, without either of them alluding to the next time they might meet up.

  She hoped asking him and Daisy out tonight wouldn’t be too much, too soon, but it had to be worth a try. She released her held breath when he picked up.

  “Hey, Leah.”

  “Hey, yourself.” She grimaced. “Hope I’m not interrupting your flow at the worst possible time?”

  “If this vital task of sitting in front of my laptop and flicking paper clips into a box counts as flow, then yes, you are.”

  She smiled. “The writing’s going well today, then?”

  “Exceedingly.” He sighed. “What can I do for you?”