The Single Dad's Proposal

‘Excuse me?’ He cocked his head to one side, waiting for an explanation when he could see no reason why a successful pundit would exhibit the slightest bit of jealousy towards him.

‘Forgive me for speaking out of turn but if I had a wife who looked like yours, she wouldn’t be an ex.’ The bawdy laugh didn’t help unravel the mystery for Rafael, only deepened it. He had no idea how anyone here would know about Christina, but if they were acquainted with her they’d also be aware nursing anyone wasn’t in her DNA. Her job was strictly in medical research and she wasn’t hands on in any way unless she was in a club with her girlfriends in the early hours of the morning and looking for some male attention.

‘I think you must be mistaking me for someone else.’ He decided not to go down that dark alley and dismissed it to concentrate on Tom’s notes.

Unfortunately, Tom wasn’t so easily deterred from whatever it was he thought was going on in Rafael’s life.

‘I saw you this morning with your family when I came in. Beautiful. You’re a very lucky man. We weren’t good together, me and Jess, but I miss having that closeness with someone, you know?’

He didn’t know, staring at him blankly for some time before it dawned on him who his patient was referring to.

‘Oh. Oh!’ An image of him handing over the care of his daughter to Summer in the corridor popped into his head. He supposed to an outsider the mistake was understandable but it did knock the breath out of him that Tom had assumed her to be his wife and Gracie’s mother. Did she really appear so comfortable in either role?

‘Summer’s not my wife, she’s—’ What exactly was she? An employee? A co-worker? None of those titles accurately depicted how significant she’d become in their daily lives yet he couldn’t describe her as a friend either. Not when he was trying so hard to resist having her play a part in his personal life for his own sanity.

There was no discernible line between work and personal matters when Summer’s efforts with his daughter broke through any perceived barriers. He reaped the benefits at home with Gracie’s improved verbal and motor skills apparently honed by the time and energy Summer had put into working with Gracie.

However, with every achievement she accomplished, guilt took a bigger nibble at his conscience—that if he’d spent that time with her instead he could’ve been the one to further her progress. Except that would have prohibited them from moving to the island, having an income or helping countless people with his surgical skills.

He had to accept some things were out of his control. Including thoughts about Miss Summer Ryan, which seemed to be coming much more frequently and less about educational matters.

Contemplation about her current relationship status, how she was spending her evenings or if she liked him beyond her official capacity were not things he should be concerning himself with if he considered her only in her role at the day-care centre.

He wanted to get to know her but with that came a whole web of complications he couldn’t afford to get caught up in again. Investing emotionally in someone other than his daughter left him vulnerable to another rejection or worse, more heartbreak he could do without when he would still have to get up every morning and carry on for Gracie’s sake.

‘Summer’s my daughter’s nursery teacher,’ he filled in, unwilling to give his patient any further insight into his complicated personal matters. ‘Now, are you clear about what’s going to happen today in surgery?’

‘Could you run it by me again, Doc?’

‘I’m going to make a small incision in your lower back and insert a small tube that will act as a corridor for me to access the herniated disc with minimal tissue disruption to the surrounding area. We’ll use local anaesthetic and some mild sedation so you won’t feel anything.’ Sometimes there could be irritation afterwards caused by the operation itself but once the bone spur or disc material causing the pain was removed, patients usually felt an improvement.

‘That’s all I need to hear.’

‘I’m sure we’ll have you back on the football field in no time at all.’ He closed Tom’s file with a smile and tucked it under his arm.

‘I spend more time behind the sports desk these days but I appreciate the confidence.’

They parted on a friendly, firm handshake but the exchange had shaken Rafael. It wasn’t the fact someone had assumed Summer was part of his family that bothered him. No, it was that the idea wasn’t totally unappealing to him. Exactly why he should try extra-hard to push her out and prevent her from doing to him what every other person close to him had done and let him go without a fight.

CHAPTER TWO (#u6867f42c-fee4-5146-a812-18f5f5986e67)

‘SEE YOU TOMORROW.’ Summer waved off another of the little ones for the day as her parents finished work and came to collect their baby.

People came and went from the nursery at different times according to shift patterns or unforeseen overtime. The clinic even provided a live-in night service for those hard-working doctors and nurses who had to cover nights in the clinic and required extra child care. The set-up was all to keep disruption to a minimum for the families of the employees here, and attracted the best medics in their field for that reason.

The day-care aspect of her job could be seen as a step down on the career ladder when she was a highly qualified child life specialist. However, the position she’d held in Boston had proved difficult to transfer from when it was in such a competitive field and she’d needed something, anything, to get her away from her ex-boyfriend and the wife he’d reconciled with.

It had turned out her skills had become useful for the small children’s wing they’d later opened at the clinic. Although there wasn’t yet a need for a full-time child life specialist, she’d come to an arrangement with Alex and Cody to go wherever she was needed most.

Currently, she was content to help keep the children entertained at day-care but the arrival of the Walsh twins on the island had ensured her diary was full in both areas.

‘Papa?’ At the sign of activity around the door, Gracie came to stand beside her with her pink backpack clutched in her hands.

‘Not yet, Gracie. Your papa was working very hard today so he might be a bit later than usual.’ The erratic hours were something the staff accounted for but it could be difficult for the children to comprehend. Especially for the younger ones or those like Gracie with learning difficulties. It didn’t matter how often she was told her father wouldn’t be taking her home yet, when she saw other parents arriving for their sons and daughters she expected to leave with them. The best thing in these circumstances was to try and distract her until Rafael did get here.

‘Home.’

‘I know you want to go home, sweetheart. Why don’t we make your papa a nice picture while we’re waiting?’ Summer eased the bag out of her hands and hung it back on her coat peg. With the aid of some glitter and glue she could try and keep her busy enough to forget his absence temporarily.

Summer wasn’t privy to the family circumstances but from observation she could see life wasn’t easy for father or daughter without the mother’s presence. What Gracie needed more than anyone or anything was stability and currently the sea of ever-changing faces managing her care was doing nothing to aid that.

There was no one nominated care-giver at present, with different staff managing her needs according to the rotas and time sheets. The attention Summer provided whenever she could seemed to calm Gracie down, the meltdowns less frequent during her shifts. Perhaps it was because Gracie trusted her, or that she took more time trying to understand her than the staff who might not have as much as experience with special needs children, but she responded to Summer. Sometimes.

Without speaking or making eye contact, Gracie put a purple crayon into her hand and in her own way indicated she was supposed to contribute to the picture too. Summer pulled up one of the tiny chairs to join her at the colouring table.

‘You want me to do something?’

‘Draw,’ Gracie demanded, tapping the page impatiently.

With confident strokes Summer drew the bold outline of a flower, which her co-artist set about obliterating with a succession of colourful scribbles. She didn’t mind staying on even when her working day had supposedly ended. It wasn’t as though she had anyone waiting for her at home, or anything of a social life that necessitated consideration.

The child’s learning difficulties would probably require extra assistance when she reached school age but for now Summer was of the opinion she was the most qualified person in the nursery to look after her. There was no formal arrangement in place but if Rafael, the day-care manager and the medical directors agreed, she wanted to put herself forward to care exclusively for Gracie. Outside her clinic responsibilities, of course. That way there wouldn’t be a stream of strangers coming into her life day and night when Summer was willing to be there for her every minute she could, and offer that stability Gracie was lacking.

The biggest obstacle to overcome in that plan would be Dr Valdez himself and his insistence he could do everything single-handedly. If this morning was any indication, he was resistant to any offer of help. He’d been so defensive about the idea of her accompanying Gracie to nursery for him one would’ve thought she’d come from child protective services to take her from him permanently, not do him a favour.

‘Your father’s going to love this.’

Gracie smeared glue and glitter in between the now indistinguishable petals, turning the flower into a sparkly, purple blob she was sure the proud daddy would display along with her other works of art.

There was no verbal response from her protégé but once Gracie was interested in something it often became her sole focus. Although that could be problematic in public places, it did prove useful when Summer had to go elsewhere. Like now, as she saw Rafael through the window, striding towards the nursery unit.

She wanted to intercept him before Gracie spotted him and shut down any chance of a private talk about future arrangements for his daughter.

‘Kaylee, could you watch Gracie for a minute while I talk to her father?’ Summer quietly caught the attention of her colleague, trying not to disturb her art student or alert her to her father’s appearance in the process.

‘Sure.’ Quickly and quietly, Kaylee slid into the seat she’d vacated and Summer hoped she could achieve her goal before the switch became apparent.

With ninja-like stealth she slipped out, closed the door gently behind her and managed to accost her target in the hallway.

‘Dr Valdez, could I have a word with you about Graciela?’ She positioned herself directly in front of him, forcing him to come to a halt.

‘I’m late. Sorry.’ He rubbed his hands over his face, giving her some indication of the day he’d had. His dark brown eyes were hooded and heavy as though he hadn’t slept well in days and it made her more determined to offer some assistance. She wasn’t sure the man knew how to relax but she’d been around enough children with special medical needs to understand the toll it could take on the parents without them realising the importance of self-care.

There was also her experience of watching her own mom’s health decline rather than accept outside help. All those years of hard manual work her mother had done to earn a living, taking on cleaning jobs where she could, had caused the early onset of arthritis and limited her mobility at a relatively early age. If they’d given in and let someone else into their circle of trust, that might’ve been prevented, or at least delayed.

Summer opened her mouth to assure him she wasn’t here to scold him or delay him any longer than necessary, only for him to dodge around her. She backed up, praying there was nothing in her path she could fall over as she tottered backwards, trying to keep up with him. In the end she resorted to grabbing his arm to get him to stop, almost knocked completely off balance by the discovery of the taut muscles beneath his pale blue shirt.

It must be the swimming, she mused, before her mind drifted towards his cycling and running regime and what effect that might have on other parts of his body.