Mending the Single Dad's Heart

by Susanne Hampton

  But one thing was for sure—nothing about the placement was going as planned. Not from the get-go with the lost luggage and then the dressing-down by Harrison. And why on earth would she be interested in a man who turned hot and cold like that? Jessica knew the answer. Because Harrison was like no one she had met before. He was a great doctor, a wonderful leader, an amazingly supportive friend to those who needed him most and...and now she knew he was capable of giving the most amazing kiss. The thought of it made her heart beat a little faster than it should.

  She knew for certain that she must have gone mad as she rolled back onto her side, pulled the covers up around her ears and finally succumbed to a restless slumber. Dreams of Harrison’s handsome chiselled face so close to hers...dreams of that fateful phone call from the woman whose cheating husband had been her lover...and finally dreams of drowning in a tidal wave that washed over Armidale but claimed only her.

  * * *

  Harrison woke early, showered and drove over to his parents’ home to have breakfast at eight o’clock. He had managed to get five hours’ sleep but, whether awake or drifting off to sleep, his mind was filled with thoughts of Jessica and the kiss they’d shared the night before...how good it felt to have her in his arms.

  While wondering if perhaps everything was moving too fast, he strongly doubted he could put the brakes on it now. And he wasn’t sure if he would if he could.

  ‘Daddy!’

  Harrison scooped up the excited five-year-old in his arms and whizzed him around the huge country-style kitchen.

  ‘Be careful,’ Harrison’s mother, Anthea, said sternly. ‘You might break something.’

  Harrison kissed the top of Bryce’s head before he put him back down. ‘We’d better listen to Granny or we’ll both be in trouble.’

  ‘That you will. I learnt that about forty years ago,’ came a voice from the adjacent sun room.

  ‘Morning, Dad.’

  ‘Morning, Harrison,’ his father said as he made his way into the kitchen, popped his newspaper on the bench, pulled out one of the oak chairs and sat down.

  ‘How was Bryce last night? Did he behave and go to bed on time without any protest?’

  ‘An angel, as always,’ Anthea cut in, not waiting for her husband to answer as she put a stack of freshly made waffles on the table. There was already butter, jam and cream to be dolloped on the waffles, along with a plate of fresh fruit. She looked at Harrison and Bryce and continued, ‘Please, sit down, Harrison, and eat up while I get showered and dressed.’

  Harrison sat down and looked over the breakfast spread. ‘It’s amazing, Mum, but honestly oatmeal would have been enough. You do too much.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Harrison. Bryce loves Granny’s waffles. Don’t you?’ she asked, looking at the little boy.

  ‘I love them!’ Bryce answered as he reached for one of the golden-brown breakfast treats.

  ‘Clearly my time spent cooking was justified.’ With that, Anthea untied her apron, draped it over an empty chair at the kitchen table and exited the room.

  Harrison and his father, David, both shook their heads. There was no point arguing with a doting grandmother.

  ‘So, everything went okay last night?’ Harrison asked as he reached for a waffle too. He passed on the jam and cream, instead layering slices of the fresh fruit. He rarely ate an unhealthy breakfast but he didn’t want to hurt his mother’s feelings and decline the waffle.

  ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘I just want to know you’re okay with it. I mean, if it gets too much having Bryce overnight, let me know.’ Harrison’s voice was lowered and Bryce was concentrating on the cartoons he could see on the television in the other room and paying little attention to the adult conversation.

  ‘As if he would ever be too much,’ David scoffed.

  ‘He’ll be back again tonight because of the hospital fund-raising gala at the Art Museum and I don’t want you missing out on sleep.’

  ‘We absolutely love having him over and we’re looking forward to having him again tonight, even if I lose every game of Go Fish. But he did complain a little about a pain in his tummy before he went to bed. Although he seems fine this morning so it’s probably nothing.’

  Harrison turned immediately to face his son and bring him back in the chat. ‘How are you feeling now, Bryce? Grandpa said you had a tummy ache last night.’

  ‘I did but my tummy doesn’t hurt now,’ he replied as he spread strawberry jam on a second waffle and turned his attention back to the cartoons.

  Harrison looked over at his father. ‘By his appetite, I’d say he’s okay but I’ll take a look at him tonight. Please call me if the stomach ache comes back. It might be a bit of residual anxiety from me being away,’ Harrison said, looking from his son and then to his watch before standing and taking his plate to the sink. ‘I’d better head in; we had multiple injuries from a bus accident late yesterday and a few are transferring to Tamworth today.’

  ‘Are you going, Daddy?’ Bryce asked.

  ‘Yes, I need to go into the hospital. Granny’s taking you to school.’

  ‘Will you pick me up?’ the little boy continued with an expectant look on his face, his big blue eyes the exact hue of his father’s.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Yippee.’

  ‘And we’ll have a few hours together then I’ll need to head out to a party tonight for the hospital, so you will spend another night with Granny and Grandpa.’

  ‘Are you going to a birthday party? Will there be a clown and cake and stuff? Can I come too?’

  Harrison smiled. ‘No, there won’t be cake or clowns and there definitely won’t be a bouncy castle. This is a special party where we will talk a lot and raise money to help the hospital to buy new machines to keep people healthy, so I think it would be more fun for you with Granny and Grandpa.’

  Bryce tilted his head on one side. ‘Okay.’

  ‘But I need you to tell Granny or Grandpa if your tummy starts to hurt again.’

  ‘Okay.’

  Harrison kissed his son, put his dishes in the dishwasher and bid farewell to his father. ‘I’m sure he’s okay but please just keep an eye on him this evening.’

  ‘Will do.’

  * * *

  Jessica arrived in time to check in on the last three patients still waiting to be transported to their home town. They had improved overnight and she felt confident that after their transfer all three would be released from Tamworth Hospital within days. The two most seriously injured boys, one of whom had the suspected spinal cord injury, had been admitted to Armidale Regional Memorial, along with four other children whose families preferred that they remained in Armidale until they were well enough to be released. They either worked or had family in the town so preferred the children didn’t leave hospital until they were completely healed.

  Jessica couldn’t see Harrison anywhere, which suited her. It had ended awkwardly the night before and, despite a restless night and mixed feelings, she wondered on the short drive to the hospital whether the yawn had been a sign from the universe that the kiss should never have happened. But it had, and she wondered if it would or could stop there. With that thought firmly in her mind, no clue where Harrison was and a decision to keep her distance until she knew how she felt, she headed up to ICU to check on the two boys’ progress.

  ‘I can see their vitals are stable. How did they go with pain during the night?’ Jessica asked the ICU nurse attending to the boys. The hospital had eleven specialist departments but these did not include a Spinal Injuries Unit so the young patients had been transferred to the Intensive Care Unit rather than Paediatrics. Their injuries were still critical and the monitoring requirements were more aligned to ICU.

  ‘Stable, nothing to worry us during the night,’ the nurse replied as she checked the intravenous fluid flow on the patient with the head inj
ury and fractured legs. ‘They’re on IV pain relief and Dr Jeffries, the neurosurgeon, should arrive here from Sydney within the hour.’

  ‘So still no feeling or movement in the limbs of the C1-C2 vertebrae injured patient?’

  The nurse shook her head.

  Jessica nodded knowingly but said nothing. It was not going to be an easy road ahead for the young boy or his family if the damage was permanent. Jessica was relieved that the neurosurgeon was on his way. He would at least provide clarity for the family on the next steps.

  She returned to Paediatrics and checked in on her patients, all of whom were progressing well and there were thankfully no changes. Four of the children from the bus accident had been admitted and she intended on keeping them for one more day. Suddenly she realised it was Friday and, while she would stay on until late that night, she wasn’t rostered on over the weekend. She was on call for emergencies but not physically in the hospital. What was there for her to do in country New South Wales on a weekend? she wondered.

  The movies? Dinner? Or stay in and watch cable television? All sounded fine to her, as did sleeping in again for two days. It had been a very busy week and the night before had been exhausting and then confusing so she was relieved that she would have two days to do whatever she wanted and potentially nothing.

  ‘Dr Ayers,’ Rosie called as Jessica walked past the administration desk.

  ‘Yes, Rosie?’

  ‘Are you going to the hospital fund-raiser tonight?’

  ‘No, I haven’t heard anything about a fund-raiser.’

  ‘I thought you might not know,’ the nurse replied, walking out from behind the desk. ‘It’s quite a swanky affair at the NERAM. It’s to raise funds for the Renal Dialysis Unit. A very worthwhile cause.’

  ‘The NERAM?’

  ‘The New England Region Art Museum; it’s lovely and not far from here. Five minutes and loads of parking.’

  Jessica smiled and nodded. Rosie was doing her best sales pitch and that didn’t go unnoticed by Jessica. ‘It certainly is a very worthwhile cause but I didn’t start work until almost eleven this morning so I’m not about to leave early to attend an event, besides which I don’t have a ticket.’

  ‘The ticket’s not a problem. I’m on the social committee and there’s still a few remaining tickets so, if you can get the evening off, then I can arrange a ticket.’

  ‘I don’t think so. I should be here at the hospital as I’m sure a lot of the hospital staff will be at the event.’

  ‘As they will, my dear, and you’re one of them,’ a male voice told her.

  Jessica turned to see Professor Langridge standing behind her, waving an envelope in his hand. ‘Your ticket for tonight’s shindig. I should have given this to you on your first day. My apologies. My wife reprimanded me for not giving it to you before now, so you had advance notice. It’s apparently a woman thing, to plan what you’re going to wear.’

  ‘Professor, its lovely to see you but I really can’t take time off. I’ve only been here for a couple of hours...’

  ‘And a sixteen-hour day yesterday,’ he countered. ‘I don’t know how hard they work you in the big cities, but in this town you get time off after a day like that. We like to keep our doctors alive and well and it’s important that you have a work life balance here. Besides, I’d like you to come along and get to meet the other staff you haven’t managed to catch up with yet.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know, and to be honest I’m not sure I’ve brought anything suitable to wear to a charity fund-raiser.’

  ‘Dr Ayers, it’s a country fund-raiser; we’ve got no Royal family members coming along,’ Rosie piped up with a smile. ‘So, nothing too formal—just a nice dress or suit would be fine.’

  Just not jeans and runners, Jessica thought to herself, while acknowledging that no one had so much as muttered a word about her inappropriate clothes. They all really had accepted her as she arrived with no questions asked. The judgement was all hers. She wondered if that extended to other parts of her life. Was she perhaps her own harshest critic? She wasn’t sure but she was beginning to think she should relax a little more and just enjoy the country life while she was there.

  ‘Then it’s set,’ the Professor remarked as he put the envelope on the desk, tapping her name in bold print on the front with his fingers. ‘I’ll see you there tonight. You can meet my lovely wife and it’ll be a good chance to mingle out of scrubs...and, oh, I can arrange a second ticket if you’d like to bring someone.’

  Jessica surrendered on the spot. There was no point fighting both of them. She was attending the fund-raiser; that had been settled.

  ‘Thank you, Errol. One ticket is enough. I don’t have anyone to bring.’

  * * *

  Jessica worked until a quarter past six. The fund-raiser wasn’t until seven-thirty and she wasn’t going to be held up in either traffic leaving work or driving to the event at the Museum, only five minutes from home. The convenience of living in the town was starting to grow on Jessica. There was no horrible commute, an extremely friendly bunch of work colleagues and genuine community spirit and, apart from the fleeting belief she was being car-jacked the night before, she felt very safe.

  She was glad she hadn’t bumped into Harrison all day. It suited her because what had happened worried her.

  The kiss had changed everything. It had changed how she felt about getting that close to someone...or where it might lead. He was a single, eligible doctor but was she ready to take it further? She couldn’t have been more confused.

  * * *

  Arriving home, she turned on the central heating and made herself a cup of tea and a piece of toast topped with tomato and cheese. Quite often with cocktail parties, the food, while delicious, was difficult to manage along with multiple conversations so she wanted something in her stomach. Jessica wasn’t a big drinker but even one glass of wine on an empty stomach never ended well.

  With a plate of comfort food in one hand and her cup of tea in the other, she made her way into her bedroom to select a suitable outfit for the event. She had unpacked her suitcase the morning after her first shift and, with everything now hanging in plain sight, she was grateful to see that she had brought her little black winter dress. It was fine wool, with a high collar, long sleeves and skimmed her knees. And being such a quality fabric, it wasn’t creased. She found a pair of high black patent court shoes, a small clutch bag and sheer black hosiery. And the look was definitely not flirtatious. Quite the opposite. If there was a name for the style it would be chic convent.

  With everything laid out on her bed, Jessica stepped into a steaming shower. It felt good to have the hot water wash over her and she silently admitted that a warm sofa and a good movie would have been her perfect evening and given her time to process what had happened the night before but, thanks to Errol and Rosie, she was not to be a master of her own destiny that night.

  * * *

  ‘It’s great that you could make it,’ Errol Langridge commented as he met Jessica entering the room, already buzzing with people and conversations. She had dropped her large caramel-coloured winter overcoat at the coat check at the entrance to the Art Museum.

  ‘It was a bit of a surprise but I’m so glad to be here and it’s such a worthwhile cause.’ As Jessica looked around the museum, which was brimming with artefacts, she realised that it was far better being there than alone at home with a movie. She had plenty of time to do solo nights when she left Armidale.

  ‘And please let me introduce you to my wife. Jessica, this is Grace...and Grace, darling, this is Dr Jessica Ayers, our locum paediatrician who, by all accounts, and I do mean all accounts, is doing a wonderful job.’

  ‘Pleased to meet you,’ Jessica said, extending her hand to Grace Langridge. She guessed the pretty woman to be in her early sixties; she had short blonde hair and was wearing an elegant navy dress that skimmed her knees. A
single strand of freshwater pearls adorned her neck and she wore matching earrings.

  ‘Lovely to meet you too, Jessica,’ Grace replied.

  ‘And thank you, Errol. I’m thoroughly enjoying my time here; you have such amazing staff and facilities and the final selling point of this placement is the drive to work every day; it’s a dream,’ Jessica laughed.

  ‘Talking about placements, I thought I should warn you, young lady, we may try to keep you on staff. And there’s more than one of your colleagues who would like to see that happen,’ the Professor remarked as he took a glass of champagne from the tray being circulated by smartly dressed hospitality staff and handed it to his wife. ‘Would you like some champagne, Jessica?’

  Jessica nodded and Errol handed her a long-stemmed glass of bubbles, complete with a strawberry dressing the rim.

  ‘Speaking of your fan club, Dr Ayers, the unabashed leader of it just arrived.’

  Jessica turned around to see Harrison in the doorway. He took her breath away in his charcoal-grey suit, crisp white shirt and dark patterned tie. And perfect wide smile as he acknowledged one by one people he knew in the room.

  He was the leader of her fan club?

  She turned back, hoping she wasn’t too obviously flushed. She could feel her cheeks warming and she hoped he continued to greet everyone individually, giving her cheeks time to calm down.