Doctor to the Rescue

Lord, mend this broken family. Help Tia trust her daddy. Help her daddy trust You. Prove to them You Are.

The next time Ian passed, Tia rested a chafed and soppy cheek against his broad shoulder. Ian’s tenderness melted Bri.

Wow. He wasn’t the icy-hearted guy she thought she knew. Bri strained to see past shadows muting her view. Emotion glimmered in his eyes. He didn’t look as though he had strength left to care who saw it, either. Though Ian’s brooding insolence reminded Bri of Disney’s Beast, she’d help them for Tia’s sake.

Kate entered with Bri’s bone surgeon, who examined her, wrote discharge orders and left. Kate handed Bri a gift bag.

“Clean clothes!” Bri’s heart swelled at the gesture. Kate helped her dress around the cast. “Um, is Ian still here?”

“I’ll send him in.” As Kate stepped out, she smirked.

Ian walked in, looking worn and weary, moments later. “Kate’s watching Tia so you can speak with me. What’s up?”

Bri’s nerves coiled like a Slinky. “About that barter. We’re still on, right?”

Ian smiled like a sunrise. “You’re sure?”

“Absolutely. Bring Tia tomorrow morning, in fact.”

His gaze tacked across her casted arm. “Not sure that’s—”

“My surgeon said I could still train for the fundraising marathon. If I can run a 5K race, I can chase a kindergarten-bound kid.”

“‘Chase’ is right.” His face sharpened. Eyes narrowed. “How did you know her age and that she’s starting school next year?”

“Uhm, I—” she stammered. “It’s a small town. People talk, Ian.”

His mouth thinned. “Apparently.”

“So, about that barter...”

“You’ll let me help renovate the lodge, no resistance?”

“None. You save my cabins from foreclosure. I solve your child-care problem.” She reached out her hand. “Deal?”

He hesitated, then shook guardedly, nodding to her cast. “Deal. So long as you don’t overdo it and undo the repairs we did.”

“We?”

He scrubbed his neck. “Yeah. I, uh, scrubbed in for your surgery.”

“Why? It’s not like my injuries were life threatening.”

His silence unnerved her, and negated her statement.

“Thanks, Ian. That was nice of y—”

“It’s my job,” he responded too quickly. She opted not to inform him he wasn’t convincing. She stuffed her feet into her shoes and realized she couldn’t tie them one handed.

He knelt and did it for her without her having to ask.

Bri bristled and cringed. She hated to be the one needing help.

“Thanks. By the way, the really caring guy I glimpsed on the asphalt yesterday? Then today in the hall hoisting a princess in poufy purple? I hope he sticks around awhile.”

Chapter Two

Ian hoped this wasn’t a mistake.

He was who he was, and that was that. Appeasing Bri wasn’t a priority. Yet, here he was, trekking to her house with Tia.

Coyotes howled in the dusky morning distance. Not distant enough for his liking. He put himself between the woodlands and Tia as they crossed a forest-flanked parking lot between the ritzy state-of-the-art trauma center and Bri’s humble log home. Another feral round of howls sounded. He reached for Tia.

She jerked away, pink tutu fanning her jeans. “I don’t want to hold your hand and I don’t wanna go to her icky tree house.”

Ian stopped. Eyed Bri’s place. Icky? Hardly. Tree house? He smiled. Tia had obviously never seen a log home before. It did look pioneerish under the effect of a purple twilight.

“Tia, I have to be in surgery with my patient in twenty minutes.” He gritted his teeth and ignored the guilt.

A newborn winter breeze rustled Tia’s curly brown hair and caused it to fall over her amber-eyed scowl. As they passed the luminous main lodge and approached Bri’s cabin, Tia got busy in bribe mode. “Please-don’t-make-me-go!” came out as one word. Her face brightened. “I’ll even clean my room.”

Ian dipped his head to hide the snicker. Truth be told, her offer tempted, since this morning her room had turned into a disaster. How could one small person make that big a mess? “Tell you what, we’ll get Sully’s sherbet after work.”

“I don’t like ice cream. And I don’t like you!” She shoved him away, looking like a fugitive pondering flight. He pinched the hem of the new coat he’d bought her in case she made good on the getaway brewing in her eyes. Bri must’ve heard the sidewalk scuffle, because she peeled her window curtain back.

Ian knelt in front of Tia, who glared at him. “Clearly, you’re not happy about having to come here. But I need your cooperation. Please, mind Miss Bri, and be careful of her arm.”

Bri stepped onto a rambling redwood deck that shone with a new coat of cherry lacquer she must’ve applied. Ian stood.

Tia went ballistic, eyes darting around the tree-dotted yard as though seeking escape. Panic filled him that she might actually pull it off. His eyes veered to the deep lake. Images of last night’s river drowning victims flooded Ian’s imagination. He bent down, embarrassed he didn’t know this yet about his own daughter. “Tia, how well do you swim?”

“I don’t know. I never tried it.” She eyed the sparkly sapphire lake, looking very much as though she wanted to, though. Fear like Ian had never known noosed his neck.

Bri knelt. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t leave my sight,” she reassured as though seeing the stark fear swirling inside him. Ian had never known fire-red, dragon-breathing fear. Not even in combat.

This was his daughter. His joy. His life.

If something were to happen to her...

Ian swept her up in his arms and hugged tight despite her wriggling and making gagging noises. A kiss planted on her forehead, he carried her inside Bri’s cabin and set her down at the farthest end from the lake and all its dangers. “I’ll be back at two. Sooner if I can. Later if traumas pour in.”

Ian felt hope as Tia darted behind his legs, away from Bri. He knelt at eye level, bracing Tia’s arms. “Listen, Miss Bri is your new babysitter. She’s fun. You’ll like her.”

She scowled at him, then Bri. “I’ll hate her.”

“Not acceptable, Tia.” Beyond that, he didn’t know what to say. Make her apologize? He could crawl under a rock. As a dad, he was an epic failure. He studied Tia, hoping for a lightning bolt of wisdom.

Bri knelt in front of Tia. “You mean to tell me you’d hate a babysitter who loves to fairy hunt?”