Sleigh Ride With The Single Dad

‘You were both very brave in the dark,’ he told them. ‘And you’ve both been a big help by being so good when you had to stay at Daddy’s work all day. I’m very, very proud of you both.’

‘So we can go to the park?’

‘Tomorrow,’ he promised. ‘We’ll go to the park even if it’s still raining. You can put your rubber boots on and jump in all the puddles.’

They could take some time out and make the outside world unimportant for an hour or two. Maybe he would be able to put aside the guilt that he was taking emergency leave from his work and stop fretting that he was creating extra pressure for Elijah or that his other siblings would worry about him when they heard that he was struggling as a single parent—yet again. Maybe he could even forget about the background tension of being part of a family that was a far cry from the united presence they could still display for the sake of a gala fundraising event or any other glittering, high-society occasion. A family whose motto of ‘What happens in the family stays in the family’ had been sorely tested but had, in recent years, regained its former strength.

A yellow taxi swooped into the kerb, sending a spray of water onto the pavement. Charles hurried the twins past a taco restaurant, souvenir shop, a hot dog stand and the twenty-four-seven deli to turn into the tree-lined avenue that was the prestigious address for the brownstone apartment block they called home.

And it was then that Charles recognised why he’d felt the urge to reach out and try to help Grace Forbes.

Like taking the boys to the park, it felt like he had the opportunity to shut the rest of the world out to some extent.

Grace was part of a world that had ceased to exist when the trauma of the family trouble had threatened everything the Davenport family held dear. It had been the happiest time of Charles’s life. He had been achieving his dream of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a doctor who could one day be in charge of the most challenging and exciting place he had ever known—Manhattan Mercy’s ER. The biggest problem he’d had was how to balance a demanding social life with the drive to achieve the honour of topping his class, and the only real barrier to that position had been Grace.

He’d managed to succeed, despite the appalling pressure that had exploded around him in the run-up to final exams, by focusing only on the things that mattered the most—supporting his mother and protecting his siblings from the fallout of scandal and passing those exams with the best possible results. He had been forced to dismiss Grace, along with every other social aspect of his life. And he’d learned to dismiss any emotion that could threaten his goals.

But he had never forgotten how simple and happy his life at medical school had been up until that point.

And, if he was honest, he’d never forgotten that night with Grace...

He could never go back, of course, but the pull of even connecting with it from a distance was surprisingly compelling. And what harm could it do? His life wasn’t about to change. He had his boys and he had his job and that was all he needed. All he could ever hope for.

But Grace had been special. And there was something about her that made him think that, perhaps—like him—life hadn’t quite turned out the way she’d planned. Or deserved?

‘Shall we stop and say hello to Horse before we go upstairs?’

‘Yes...’ The tug on his hands was in a forward direction now, instead of a reluctant weight he was encouraging to follow him. ‘Let’s go, Daddy...’

CHAPTER THREE (#u9b31b2ca-6d47-5327-8e60-5753769b425c)

‘SO HERE’S THE THING...’

‘Mmm?’ Grace was still trying to get her head around hearing Charles Davenport’s voice on a phone for the first time ever.

The twang of a New York accent had probably been mellowed by so many years at exclusive, private schools but his enunciation was crisp. Decisive, even. It made her think of someone in a suit. Presenting a killer summary in a courtroom, perhaps. Or detailing a take-over bid in the boardroom of a global company.

She was sitting cross-legged on the couch in Helena’s apartment, a take-out container of pad Thai on her lap and a pair of chopsticks now idle in her hands. She was in her pyjamas already, thanks to getting soaked in the tail end of the storm during her long walk home from the nearest subway station.

Was her attire partly responsible for hearing that slightly gravelly edge to Charles’s voice that made her think that he would sound just like that if his head was on a pillow, very close to her own?

‘Sorry...did you say your neighbour’s name was Houston? As in “Houston, we have a problem”?’

The chuckle of laughter came out of the phone and went straight for somewhere deep in Grace’s chest. Or maybe her belly. It created a warmth that brought a smile to her face.

‘Exactly. It’s their dog that’s called Houston and they chose the name on the first day they brought him home as a puppy when they found what he’d left in the middle of their white carpet.’

The bubble of her own laughter took Grace by surprise. Because it felt like the kind of easy laughter that she hadn’t experienced in such a long time? The kind that made her think of a first date? Or worse, made her remember that night. When Charles had found her, so stressed before the start of their final exams that she was in pieces and he’d tried to reassure her. To distract her, by talking to her rather like this. By making her laugh through her tears and then...

And then there’d been that astonishing moment when they couldn’t break the eye contact between them and the kiss that had started everything had been as inevitable as the sun rising the next morning.

It was an effort to force herself to focus on what Charles was actually saying as he kept talking.

‘The boys call him Horse, because they weren’t even two when he arrived and they couldn’t pronounce Houston but he’s quite big so that seemed to work, too.’

Grace cleared her throat, hoping her voice would come out sounding normal. How embarrassing would it be if it was kind of husky and betrayed those memories that refused to stay where they should be. Buried.

‘What sort of dog is he?’

‘A retro doodle. Half poodle, half golden retriever. One of those designer, hypo-allergenic kind of dogs, you know? But he’s lovely. Very well behaved and gentle.’

Grace closed her eyes for a moment. This was so weird. She hadn’t seen Charles Davenport in more than a decade but here they were chatting about something completely random as if they were friends who caught up every other week. And they’d never been friends, exactly. Friendly, certainly—with a lot of respect for each other’s abilities. And they’d been passionate—so briefly it had always seemed like nothing more than a fantasy that had unexpectedly achieved reality. But this?

Thanks to the memories it was stirring up, this was doing Grace’s head in.

On top of that, her noodles were getting cold and probably wouldn’t appreciate another spin in the microwave.

The beat of an awkward silence made her wonder if this apparently easy chatting was actually just as weird for Charles.

‘Anyway...I’m sorry to disturb your evening but it occurred to me that it could be a win-win situation.’

‘Oh?’

‘Houston’s parents are my neighbours on the ground floor of this block—which, I should mention, is about two minutes’ walk to Central Park and ten at the most to Manhattan Mercy.’

‘Oh...’ How good would that be, not to have to battle crowds in the subway and a long walk at the end of the commute?

‘Stefan’s an interior designer and his husband, Jerome, is an artist. They’re heading off tomorrow for a belated honeymoon in Europe and they’ll be gone for about six weeks. They’re both fretting about Houston having to go into kennels. I suggested they get a dog-sitter to live in but...’ Charles cleared his throat as if he was slightly embarrassed. ‘Apparently Houston is their fur child and they couldn’t find someone trustworthy enough. When I got home this evening, I told them about you and they seem to be very impressed with the recommendation I gave them.’

‘Oh...?’ Good grief, she was beginning to sound like a broken record. ‘But...I work long hours. I couldn’t look after a dog...’

‘Houston has a puppy walker that he loves who would come twice a day on the days that you’re working. That’s another part of his routine that Stefan and Jerome are worried about disrupting because he gets to play with his dog friends who get taken out at the same time. Even more importantly, if he was still in his own home, he wouldn’t miss his dads so much. And I thought that it could give you a bit of breathing space, you know? To find your feet in a new city and where you want to be.’

Not just breathing space. Living space. Sharing a tiny apartment, even with a good friend, was a shock to the system for someone who had guarded their privacy so well for so long.

‘I know it’s all very last minute with them being due to drop Houston at the kennels in the morning but they’re home this evening and they’d love to meet you and have a chat about it. Stefan said he’d be delighted to cover your taxi fares if you were at all interested.’ Charles paused and Grace could hear something that sounded like a weary sigh. ‘Anyway...I’ve only just got the boys to bed and I need to have a hunt in the fridge and see if I can find something to eat that isn’t the boys’ favourite packet mac and cheese.’

Again, Grace was aware of that tightness in her chest. Empathy? Charles might have the blessing of having two gorgeous children but he had lost something huge as well. Something that had changed his future for ever—the loss of a complete family.

They had a lot more than he realised in common.

Her new boss had also had a very difficult day, coping with a crisis in his department and the added blow of having to deal with a personal crisis with his nanny being put out of action. And yet he’d found the time to think about her and a way to possibly help her adjust to a dauntingly huge change in her life?

How astonishing was that?

‘Thank you so much, Charles.’ Grace dropped the chopsticks into the plastic bowl and put it onto the coffee table as she unfurled her legs. It didn’t matter that she would have to get dressed again and then head out into this huge city that never slept. Despite so much going on in his own life, Charles had made a very thoughtful effort on her behalf and she knew exactly how she needed to show her appreciation.

There was something else prompting her, too. A niggle that was purely instinctive that was telling her not to miss this unexpected opportunity. That it might, somehow, be a signpost to the new path in life that she was seeking. The kind of niggle that had persuaded her, in the end, to come to New York in the first place.