Читать книгу Ethan's Daughter - Rachel Brimble - Страница 13
ОглавлениеLEAH LAID THE last piece of tape around Ethan’s bandaged hand and sat back in his kitchen chair. “There you go. Good as new. Those stitches will need to stay in another few days, but I think—if you keep it clean and dry—I won’t need to come back tomorrow. But I can swing by Saturday morning if you like?”
He gently probed the bandage. “Um, why not leave it for a few days, and if there’s a problem, I’ll call you.” He lifted his bright blue eyes to hers. “You said yourself it’s healing well.”
It was clear the man was no closer to trusting her than she was him. “Look, I know you want me to butt out of your problems, but all I’m doing is trying to help.”
“And you are. With my hand, at least. Everything else, you need to leave to me.”
Their gazes locked and frustration hummed through her. Sooner or later, she was going to have to make a choice to either call the police or leave Ethan to his own devices. But how could she do that without ignoring her professional obligations? She inhaled a long breath, then exhaled. “How about we exchange numbers? If there’s a problem with your hand, you can call me. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll come by in a few days to remove the stitches. Agreed?”
A muscle in his jaw flexed. He shrugged, his gaze returning once more to his injured hand. “Okay, fine.” He met her eyes, gave a tight smile. “That would be good. Thanks.” He stood and walked to the counter to grab his phone. “What’s your number?”
She told him before typing his number into her phone. So she liked him. So caring about his hand had been partly a ruse to get his number, but now she would stop being friendly for a while and be her usual pain in Ethan’s butt instead.
“So...” She inhaled again. “As much as I don’t want to harangue you about what happened with your ex, and as much as you want me to stay out of it, in order to do that I have a few questions I need answered.”
His tentative smile dissolved and irritation simmered in his gaze. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
She stared at his bowed head, her impatience rising. “Ethan, your ex attacked you. What would’ve happened if Daisy had been in the house? You need to ensure your ex-wife doesn’t come back and end up physically hurting you again. Or worse, hurting Daisy.”
His jaw tightened. “I won’t allow Anna anywhere near Daisy.”
“So you’ve said before, but she’s the child’s mother. You might have full custody, but sooner or later Daisy will start asking about her mum. She might even want to see her. Then what?”
“I’ll face that problem when I have to.” He glanced toward the kitchen door. “Look, it’s getting late. Maybe you should go.”
Leah crossed her arms. “Will you please just talk to me? Whether you like it or not, I’m involved and starting to kind of like you and Daisy. So until I know she’s safe...”
He shot her an impressive glare of his own before he rubbed his hand over his jaw and sat. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to make it any clearer. I don’t want you mixed up in this. I know Anna—you don’t. Believe me, you’re better off out of it.”
“Maybe I am, but unfortunately for you, I’m not the sort of woman to walk away from someone in trouble. I’m a nurse, Ethan. I take care of people, and I can’t abandon you and Daisy until I know any danger has passed. I’m sorry.”
“Abandon us? We’re not your responsibility.”
Her cheeks heated. “Intellectually I know that, but morally you are my responsibility.”
“I’m trying my best to be nice here.” His gaze burned with determination. “You getting any more involved than you are already isn’t up for debate.”
“You know something? By rights, I should’ve reported what happened to the police last night, but so far I haven’t. For your sake. For Daisy’s sake. Having said that, if I suspect Daisy could be exposed to further danger, then I’ll have no choice but to go to the police. So you need to convince me that little girl asleep upstairs is safe.”
Leah squeezed her eyes shut before opening them again. “I’m a professional who loves her job and the people who live in this town. I’m duty-bound to help them to the best of my ability. By sending me away, telling me to mind my own business, you’re making it hard for me to do my job. Just tell me how things were left with your ex. Is she likely to come back?”
“Honestly?” His stare turned hard and his cheeks darkened. “I don’t know and that scares the crap out of me.”
Chills tiptoed up her spine. “Then call the police. Get a restraining order. Whatever. You need to do something to ensure Daisy is kept out of harm’s way. Why don’t I take you to the station tomorrow?”
“No.” He shook his head. “If I decide to go to the police, I’m perfectly capable of going there alone.”
She couldn’t just leave. Somehow, after such a short time, Ethan and Daisy had gotten under her skin. She pulled back her shoulders. “I told you... I’m a nurse.”
“And you’re duty-bound, right?”
She swallowed against the coldness in his gaze and looked toward the darkened back garden. “Right.”
Professionally and personally, she wished she’d walked any other route home than past the beach last night.
That’s right. Keep telling yourself you wish you hadn’t come face-to-face with this lonely author and his daughter. That you aren’t thankful it was you who found Daisy instead of some sicko.
Purposely softening her tone, she faced Ethan. “What are you going to do? I really don’t want us to fight about this.”
He tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling. Leah gazed at his jaw and exposed throat. Everything about him attracted her...and the fact he was a published author gave her a thrill that should’ve been deemed juvenile. But the things she’d like to do with the man were far from juvenile.
“You’re worrying about nothing.” He dropped his chin. “Anna lives in Bristol. That’s almost eighty-five miles away. She can’t just pop by.”
Leah stood, needing some distance. The man was so damn stubborn. “Yet that’s exactly what she did.”
“Yes, but I can’t see it happening again anytime soon. She wanted money from either me or her current lover in order to make a new start. Sooner or later, she’ll find a way to get that money, but she knows it won’t be from me, so why come back here?”
Leah frowned. “So she’s in some sort of financial trouble?”
“Yes. Well, no. Not really.”
“What does that mean?”
“Leah, please. Just leave it.”
“She’s Daisy’s mum, Ethan. If she’s in some sort of physical danger, what will you do if something happens to her? Could you live with that? Could Daisy?” Looking at his good hand where it lay on the table, she hesitated before reaching forward and covering it with her own. “You have to do something. You know you do.”
His jaw tightened before he gently slipped his hand from hers and looked away.
“Do you know why I became a nurse?”
His chest rose as he inhaled and turned. He blew out a breath. “Why?”
She barely knew the man. But what choice did she have but to share something about herself if she wanted him to see sense? “When I was about fifteen my grandmother disappeared. I was closer to her than any other member of my family, including my parents.”
His gaze was steady and intense on hers.
“Unbeknownst to me, she was diagnosed with cancer and my parents put her in a hospice as soon as they possibly could. Any place they didn’t have to look after her themselves. That’s the sort of people my parents are. I had no idea where she’d gone.” Tears burned behind her eyes. “They took it upon themselves to decide I was too young to watch my grandmother becoming more and more sick. She died without me having the chance to spend her last days with her, or even to say goodbye. I swore there and then that I would do all I could to help others who are sick. Help their families to care for them, be with them until the end.” She shook her head, fighting the urge to take his hand again. “Life is precious, Ethan. It can change in a heartbeat through no fault of your own. If Daisy’s your priority—”
“She’s my only priority.”
She pulled back her shoulders, praying he heard her. “Then prove it. Go to the police. Talk to Cat Garrett. She’ll help you ensure Daisy is safe. This has to be about your daughter. Not your anger toward your ex-wife.”
“I sent Anna away because of Daisy. If this was about me, I could handle Anna whether she was here or a million miles away. I don’t want her near Daisy because my ex-wife would have no more qualms about using a seven-year-old to her own ends than she would an adult.”
The sincerity in his eyes was undeniable. “So what are you going to do? I still think not involving the police is a bad decision. You can’t guarantee Anna won’t reappear any more than I can.” Leah frowned. “Do you have some sort of problem with the police? Don’t trust them?” Frustration merged with suspicion and chipped away at her thinning patience. She crossed her arms. “Or are you just too bullheaded to accept the fact that nobody can be there all the time for somebody they love?”
He slowly pushed himself to his feet, his voice dangerously low. “There are more people in this than Anna. She witnessed some sort of drug deal, and when she said she was going to tell the police, her thug of a boyfriend threatened her. She says she wants the money to get away from him, but it could be she just wants money from me and has no intention of leaving the guy at all.”
Leah felt sick to her stomach. “Drugs? Her boyfriend is dealing drugs. Then that’s more reason than ever to go to the police. Do you have any idea how many overdoses I’ve had to deal with? Kids cutting themselves on syringes while playing God knows where?”
He closed his eyes. “I can imagine.”
She took his hand, tightening her grip on his fingers until he looked at her. “Then we need to do something about it.”
He stared at her before turning to the kitchen door. “You should go.”
Trembling with suppressed anger, Leah glared. “I just shared something personal with you to try to make you understand that things can change without warning. People’s lives are turned upside down every day. Did you think for one minute your ex would turn up here brandishing a knife?”
He stared at her, a muscle ticking in his jaw. She raised her hands in surrender. “Do you know something? Do what you want. I’m leaving. But I’ll tell you this—if your little girl ends up in the ER on my shift... God help you.”
She snatched up her purse and first aid kit before marching from the kitchen. Of all the stubborn assholes...
She gritted her teeth and opened the front door before slamming it shut behind her. Two nights she’d been to Ethan James’s home and twice she’d left thoroughly irritated.
He could deal with his own problems from now on, but if anything happened to Daisy... Leah got into her car and slammed the door. She looked in the rearview mirror toward the house. Goddamn it.
How could she leave him alone to stave off whatever danger lurked around the corner? What if knives, guns or drugs suddenly became a part of Daisy’s world?
Leah started the engine. I’m in this, mister, whether you like it or not.
* * *
SUNLIGHT CAME THROUGH the blinds in Ethan’s bedroom as his eyes flickered open. He stared at the ceiling as his conversation with Leah last night replayed in his mind. The woman seemed hell-bent on helping others, her professional obligations overriding anything he had tried to explain to her. He clenched his jaw. And along with her protests, she’d made sure he realized that there was a chance he could let Daisy down, as he had when she’d been born.
He and Leah were opposites. Their life choices and sense of purpose were so far apart he couldn’t see how they’d ever agree on anything, let alone what to do about Anna.
Taking a deep breath, he reached for his phone to scan his overnight email. That done, he checked his Twitter and Facebook, searching again for Leah as though she might have suddenly decided to join the chaos of social media overnight.
As he shut off his phone, Leah and her parting words zoomed into his mind once more. Memories of her had disturbed his sleep throughout the last two nights. He lifted his injured hand. He’d been sufficiently careful to avoid any further bleeding, so at least Leah’s fiery temper wouldn’t be aimed at him for neglecting to look after her handiwork.
Shoving back the covers, he got out of bed and padded into his en suite bathroom.
Once showered and dressed, he grabbed his phone from his bed and went to check on Daisy. He quietly pushed open her bedroom door.
“Hey, sweetheart. How long have you been awake?” He approached her bed, to find the quilt covered in shredded toilet paper and three of her Barbies wrapped in three-ply bondage. He smiled. “Are they Egyptian mummies or sick?”
She scowled, a line darting between her perfect eyebrows. “They’re sick. I’m making them better, like Leah did you.”
“Right.” He stared at her dark curls as she bent over one of the dolls, her tongue poking from between her lips as she wound some toilet paper around one of the Barbies’ legs. “What happened there?”
“She fell over the edge of Clover Point and broke her leg.”
“Ah, nasty.”
“Yep, but Leah operated and sewed her back up. I’m her helper.”
“Uh-huh.” Ethan bit back his smile. “Do you want some breakfast, Nurse Daisy?”
“Yep. Pancakes and strawberries.”
“Coming right up. I’ll call you when it’s on the table.”
“Okay, Daddy. I mean, Mr. James.”
With love for his daughter squeezing his chest, Ethan resisted the urge to kiss her, knowing from Daisy’s expression it wouldn’t be welcomed in the middle of such a delicate operation. Leaving her room, he walked downstairs into the kitchen.
Just as he put his phone on the counter, it beeped with an incoming text.
Good morning. As it’s such a nice day and we parted on pretty bad terms, I was wondering if you and Daisy would like to meet me for a picnic on the beach. I promise not to beat up on you again...well, not too much anyway. Leah x
Slowly, he put the phone on the counter as though it was a ticking bomb. He’d vowed to find a way to keep distance between them. All night he’d battled to find a solution for his hand healing without infection, but not involving Leah, a doctor or any other damn medic. How could he be certain any of them wouldn’t call the police as Leah wanted to?
Now she held out an olive branch.
No matter how tempted he was to accept her invitation, he had to refuse—had to maintain his determination to enforce some distance for all their sakes. He couldn’t be around someone as caring and attentive as Leah. She reminded him too acutely of his own ineptitude.
He walked to the kettle and flicked it on.
Yet hadn’t he finally found a woman who intrigued and interested him, as much as she infuriated him? Maybe, but the timing sucked.
The knock on his door jolted him upright.
Leah?
He strode from the kitchen into the hallway, pushing some fallen hair from his brow. His apprehension made his heart rate hitch as he unlocked the door and pulled it open.
His postman stared back at him, wide-eyed. “Everything all right, Ethan?”
The air eased from his lungs and he forced a smile. “Hey, Norman, how you doing this morning?”
“I’m fine. You, on the other hand...”
Ethan huffed a laugh. “Didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. What can I do for you?”
“Got a package here. Too big to stick through your letter box.”
“Thanks.” Ethan took the padded envelope. “See you soon.”
“That you will. Take care.”
Ethan stared at the typed address label before turning the envelope over to see if the sender’s address was marked. Nothing. Frowning, he closed the door and wandered back into the kitchen. He sat at the table, ripped open the envelope and pulled out a blank sheet of paper. And another.
“What the hell...” He tipped the envelope, giving it a hard shake. More papers fluttered onto the table, followed by a couple of snapshots. He picked one up and his heart leaped into his throat.
Daisy smiled at the camera, holding her ten-meter swimming certificate and pin in her hands. Another picture showed her astride her first bike at age four, wheels glistening. Ethan turned over the copied certificates, report cards and health updates, and the words jumped and blurred in his vision.
What the hell was Anna playing at? He’d sent her all this stuff because it was the right thing to do. Now that he’d refused her money, was she telling him she didn’t want anything else about Daisy sent to her? That she was washing her hands of her child in every possible way?
He pushed himself to his feet, the chair teetering behind him. He gathered up the papers and photographs and slipped them back into the envelope before snatching up his phone. Walking into the hallway, he struggled to keep his voice calm as he called up the stairs. “Daisy?”
“Yes, Daddy... Mr. James.”
He closed his eyes, his anger immediately fading to a low hum. “I’m just in the living room making a phone call. Your breakfast won’t be long, okay?”
“Okay.”
Gripping the phone, he walked into the living room and quietly closed the door. He moved to the window and stared into his driveway, trying to think of what to say to Anna. How the hell did he talk to her about this?
Tossing the envelope onto the armchair, he quickly dialed Anna’s number before he could change his mind. The words would come, because one way or another, Anna would bloody well explain this new level of callousness.
She picked up. “Ethan?”
“The one and only.”
“I can’t talk right now.”
He closed his eyes and huffed a laugh. “You can’t talk right now... God, why didn’t I think to say that to you when you turned up on my doorstep the other night?”
“I mean it. I’m...” There was a rustling, and the faint sound of a door closing echoed in his ear. “I’m at the club. Harry is in the other room. If he knows I’m talking—”
“I couldn’t care less what he knows. What did you think you would achieve by sending all Daisy’s pictures and certificates back to me? You think that will go some way to persuading me I was wrong in refusing to give you money?”
“What are you talking about?”
Ethan opened his eyes. “The pictures, Anna. The pictures of our daughter that arrived in an envelope at my house this morning.”
“I didn’t send you any pictures.”
“No? Then who else would? I can’t imagine for one minute you share the stuff I send you with anyone else.”
“I don’t know. Ethan, you have to believe that I’d never get rid of them. I might not be the best mother in the world, but I do care about Daisy.”
“Really? Well, you’ll have to forgive me if I find that very hard to believe.”
“That’s not fair. I tried to be a mother to her. You know I did.”
“You tried? For crying out loud, Anna. Trying is what real mothers do every day. They try their damn best and then get up the next day and do it all again. What real mothers don’t do is walk away.”
“This again? You’re going to do this again? Now?”
His pulse beat at his temple, and his knuckles ached from clutching the phone. “The pictures, Anna. Why did you send them back to me?”
“I didn’t. If you don’t believe it, that’s too bad.” She paused, her voice quieting. “What if they were meant as some kind of message? What if Harry knows I came to you for help and he’s threatening you with the potential to hurt Daisy?”
Ethan paced the room, uneasy. “We’re not starring in some TV show, Anna. This is real life. Real life that involves Daisy. Now you either go to the police with the crap you’ve found yourself mixed up in or I will. I won’t let this affect Daisy. Do you understand?”
“Ethan—”
“No, I mean it.”
“Harry is not the sort of man to ignore. Now there’s a possibility he’s made contact with you, we’re in this together.”
Ethan clenched his jaw. “The hell we are.”
“What if he comes after Daisy, huh? What then?”
“Fine. You want to try the emotional blackmail route, I’ll go to the police. Today.”
“No. Don’t. Ethan, please. I’m sorry, okay? Just leave everything to me. I’ll sort this out. Promise. Harry doesn’t work alone. Those pictures could’ve been sent by any of the guys who work for him, or even someone he deals with.”
“So we could be looking at any number of people? We have to involve the police, Anna. This is ridiculous.” There was a rumbling of voices in the background. “Anna?”
“I can’t talk now,” she hurriedly whispered. “I’ll call you later.”
The line went dead.
“Damn it.” Ethan clicked off his phone, his body rigid. What the hell was wrong with the woman? She’d always enjoyed sneering at him, saying how he was a dreamer, that his writing mattered to him more than anything else. She couldn’t have been more wrong, but her selfishness and disregard for Daisy had chipped away at his previous love for his ex-wife until there was nothing left but cold, hard resentment.
Once upon a time, he’d adored her. Thought her the moon, the stars and then some. Slowly, all that was good and lovely about Anna had changed. Just weeks after Daisy was born, Anna’s thin patience was revealed. The smile that had once come so easily morphed into a permanent grimace; her once softly whispered words of love for him became angry shouts of hate.
And now Anna had stepped way over the line.
He moved to the window and pressed his hand to the wall beside it as he stared blindly across his driveway. What if Anna was right and the pictures and certificates were a message from Harry? That someone was threatening Daisy’s safety because of his ex-wife’s actions?
Whirling away from the window, he called up a search engine on his phone to look for the number of Templeton’s police station.
Enough was enough.
He found the number and his finger hovered over the call button. Anna was adamant she did not want the police involved, but Daisy was his priority.
Fear of his own weaknesses, of doing wrong by his daughter and all the other people he cared for, burned hot inside him. Would the police take Daisy away from him? Put her in protective custody? No matter how irrational those possibilities might be, his blood turned cold.
He slid the phone into his pocket and closed his eyes. Damn Anna for putting him in this position.
Their divorce had been inevitable. He just wished she’d told him she no longer loved him, so he could share the fallout calmly and with as much gentleness as possible with Daisy. Instead, Anna had walked away without warning, leaving their daughter to believe her mother had abandoned her. Which was exactly what Anna had done.
He could have—should have—done more to protect Daisy against heartbreak five years ago, but he wasn’t that miserable and uncertain man anymore. Nor was he stuck in a seemingly endless emotional revolving door. Being a single parent, a father, had made him stronger. Made him stand up for what was right for himself and Daisy.
If he didn’t hear from Anna by tomorrow morning, or the outcome of their conversation wasn’t to his satisfaction, he would speak to DI Garrett.
He reread Leah’s text.
The notion of spending time with her today suddenly felt like the only balm to his frustration. Yet wouldn’t she just get on his case again for not calling the police?
The living room door opened and Daisy entered, her sick Barbies laid out on a kitchen tray. He smiled. “Uh-oh, they don’t look too good.”
“They’re resting, Daddy. I didn’t want to stay upstairs anymore, so I thought the living room could be the new hospital.”
“No problem.”
“I wish we could go out somewhere today. It’s sunny.”
He looked to the window. The sky was clear blue, the sun bright and inviting. Leah’s text taunted him until he slowly exhaled. He turned to Daisy with a strained smile. “How about we take your patients to the beach?”
Her eyes lit up. “Really?”
Ethan nodded. “Yes.”
Her gaze dimmed and she frowned. “But they might get sand in their cuts.”
“Maybe...but Leah will know what to do if that happens.”
Her sudden grin was wider than the sun. “Leah’s coming, too?”
He shrugged. “If you don’t mind?”
“Yay! Quick, hold my Barbies. I’m going to find my swimsuit.”
She shoved the tray at him and fled from the room.
Smiling for real now, Ethan laid the tray on the coffee table and turned to his phone. Whether it was more for Daisy or himself, he wasn’t sure, but spending the day with Leah was bound to mean, at best, a nice few hours at the beach...or worst, Leah manhandling him into Templeton’s police station. Either way, it would turn out to be a different kind of day than he and Daisy had been expecting when they woke that morning.
He typed Leah a returning text before doubt could set in.
The beach sounds great. You might want to bring your first aid kit. Nurse Daisy has some critically ill Barbies. Ethan.
