Falling For The Single Dad: A Single Dad Romance

‘I assume,’ Caroline said, after listening to Abi’s predicament, ‘that you would actually like to do this favour for your boss?’

Would she? Part of her worried that if she agreed she would be setting a precedent and part of her also worried that she was letting him take advantage of her. But she could also remember what it was like to be left to find her own way home because her mother was incapable, again. Back then nobody had noticed if you weren’t collected from school, lots of kids made their own way home, but not many primary school children had that freedom now. They were bundled off to after-school care before anything untoward could happen to them. Abi remembered all too well that feeling of abandonment and if she could help by collecting Summer she would. It didn’t matter that Summer didn’t know her; she imagined just knowing her dad had sent someone would be better than being forgotten. Abi wasn’t doing this for Damien.

‘I’m not doing this for my boss, I’m doing it for his daughter,’ she explained. ‘She was expecting her mother to collect her and I don’t want her to feel that she’s not important.’ Abi knew that Caroline understood her reasons and where they stemmed from. They’d been over a lot of old, and new, ground together and Abi didn’t have many secrets left that Caroline hadn’t heard. Damien, however, was a new topic and not one they’d discussed, and neither did she intend to. Abi felt it was best, safest to leave him in the category of work colleague. There was no reason to go into any detail about him, he was of no consequence. ‘But I have never met Summer, I don’t know the school, I don’t know the staff and they don’t know me. It’s making me nervous.’

‘The school is close to your house, though?’ Caroline asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Why don’t you go home and collect Jonty?’ the psychologist suggested. ‘Take him with you. You’ll feel better and if Summer likes dogs it will break the ice with her too.’

Abi took a deep breath. She could do this. ‘That’s a good idea. Thanks.’

She felt better when she ended the call, far more confident. This might just work.

* * *

Abi pulled her 4x4 into the school car park. The building was long and low and stretched out before her, but fortunately the car park was virtually empty and she was able to put her car two places from the front entrance. She took a moment to survey her surroundings, not that she really expected any danger but it was a habit she had formed over the past six months and it was proving hard to shake. There was no one around and she could see nothing suspicious. She was in the middle of suburban LA, she reminded herself. It wasn’t Kabul and she was unlikely to encounter a suicide bomber here. But her paranoia still got the better of her and she reached across to her right and opened the passenger door, letting Jonty jump out first. He sniffed the air and once she was certain he was showing no signs of distress she took a deep breath and stepped out of the car.

She showed her ID at the office and was taken to the after-school-hours area, where about two dozen kids were engaged in various activities. She spotted Summer straight away. Three girls were jumping rope and one of the girls turning the rope was a miniature, female version of Damien. Dressed in pink she had her dark hair tied in two short pigtails that stuck out from the sides of her head but there was no mistaking that gene pool.

‘Summer,’ the school secretary called to her, getting her attention. ‘This is Dr Thompson. She works with your father and she’s come to collect you.’

‘Please, call me Abi. And this is Jonty.’

‘A dog! You brought a dog in.’ All three girls, Summer and her two friends, immediately surrounded Abi. Jonty lapped up the attention. Caroline’s advice to bring him had been spot on.