Abigail Gordon - Winter Wonderland Wishes

Heath knew that no woman would ever replace Natasha. And, even more than that, he thought every day of how Natasha had been denied the joy of watching her child grow into a man. Some days were harder than others. The sadness, the guilt, the emptiness … Aside from Oscar, Heath’s work was his saviour. It was a distraction that gave him purpose.

But today he felt as if someone else was pulling his thoughts away momentarily. Someone who was not only academically and professionally astute, and beautiful from head to toe, but whose humility appeared genuine. But, he reminded himself as he took Oscar to the bigger pool for a father-son swimming lesson, he barely knew her and he was happy with his life just the way it was. He had Oscar and he had his career and that had been enough for him for five years.

He slipped small brightly coloured goggles over his son’s eyes and held him securely, encouraging him to take big strokes and put his head under the water, and he didn’t look back in Phoebe’s direction. Not once.

Despite her best efforts, Phoebe couldn’t concentrate on her book. Initially she thought it was tiredness that made her read and reread the same sentence until there was no point continuing. But then she realised it was curiosity, or something like it, that drew her to glance back at Heath and his son. Through her sunglasses Phoebe could see how the two were incredibly close, and the love between them was palpable. Heath looked to be the perfect father, and watching them made Phoebe smile just a little.

She had never thought too much about having children. She’d assumed she would, and had looked forward to being a mother one day, but it hadn’t been a driving force in her life. Unlike some of her friends, who had set a date by which they wanted to have the picket fence and three children, Phoebe liked to live her life as it unfolded and had never been one to over-plan. She had spent so long studying, achieving her career goals through long hours at the hospital and in surgery, and then she had got caught up in the wedding …

She blinked away memories that needed to be forgotten and decided, sitting on her damp towel in the sticky heat and looking up at the towering gum trees, that this would be the day she packed them away for good. The pain, the disappointment and the humiliation had no place in her life. She didn’t know what did have a place exactly, but the sadness seemed to be fading in the warmth of the Australian sun and Phoebe finally felt good about life. Three months in the same cold town hadn’t helped, but the distance and the glorious summer weather appeared to be working. Her decision to set sail was one she felt a little surer she would not regret.

With her mind wandering, she hadn’t noticed the two handsome men walking towards her. Both dripping wet, they stood at the bottom of her towel and she came back to the present with a jolt. But a very pleasant one.

‘I hope we didn’t scare you. You looked like you were a million miles away.’

‘About ten thousand, to be exact.’

‘You’re homesick for Washington already?’ Heath asked, almost hoping she would confirm his thoughts and tell him she was planning on returning immediately to the US. That would be fortuitous news for him, because he had a gut feeling that Phoebe’s presence might bring complications into his otherwise contained life.

‘Not at all,’ she replied honestly and, being completely clueless to his hopes, she had lightness in her voice. ‘I was just thinking about how lucky I am to be melting rather than freezing.’

‘If you were a chocolate bar you wouldn’t say that!’ Oscar told her with a big smile, before he scampered back to the wading pool and signalled to his father to follow.

Phoebe watched Oscar run in and out of the pool for the best part of an hour, and she found it difficult not to occasionally look at Heath, who stood watch over his son. She walked to the far end of the pool, as she didn’t want to infringe on Heath and Oscar’s time together. He was a single father, who no doubt worked long hours like most medical professionals, so their time together as father and son was precious. She was surprised that a man who said he didn’t like to compromise certainly appeared to let his son make the rules.

Sitting on the pool edge, she dangled her legs into the water and thought for the first time in her life she had no future plans. Past these next six months in Adelaide she had no clue where she would go. Perhaps back to Washington—perhaps not. There was a newfound security in having no security in place. Nothing set in stone. And no one to let her down since she only had herself to rely upon. No man to break her heart and shatter her dreams. She had a temporary job and an income and that was all she really needed for the time being.

Phoebe Johnson was finally sailing her own ship and she liked it. She hoped that in this town, so far from everyone she knew, she might possibly find herself. But not for a very long time did she want to share her heart, her bed or potentially her future with a man—if indeed she ever did.

She pulled her legs out of the water and headed back to her towel, where she ate her apple and her strawberries and then felt her stomach rumble. It was time to go back to her house for lunch, she decided, and began to pack up her belongings. Heath and Oscar were lying in the shade, eating ice cream, so she waved and quietly headed out to the main road. She planned on hailing a passing cab.

After five minutes, with no sign of any passing cabs, she reached into her bag to dial for one.

‘Daddy, look—there’s Phoebe. Is she waiting for her daddy to pick her up?’

‘I don’t think so, Oscar. She just arrived in town and her father lives in another country a long way from here.’

‘Then we need to take her home. That would be a nice thing to do.’

Although part of him knew extending an invitation to share a ride home was close to the last thing he should do, given his desire to stay away from Phoebe when she had so little clothing on, Heath knew it was the right thing to do. Phoebe knew no one, and she was stranded at the pool after she’d taken him up on his suggestion. She had at least now put shorts on.

There was only one thing to do, he knew, as he took Oscar’s hand and walked slowly over to Phoebe.

‘Can we offer you a ride home?’

Phoebe had accepted the ride back to her home with a still mostly serious Heath and his very excited and happy little boy. She assumed Oscar had inherited his outgoing personality from his mother. The conversation came predominantly from the back seat, where Oscar was recalling his swimming prowess, until they drew near to her house.

‘I’m here on the left—well, I think I am,’ she said, then paused as she questioned the accuracy of her directions. ‘I tried to notice the way the cab driver took me and reverse it in my head.’

‘It’s two down on the right, actually. I have your address,’ he told her as he ignored her directions and kept driving. ‘I noted it from your personal records, which were transferred with the immigration form. It’s listed as your residence for the next six months.’

Phoebe could sense he was being a little condescending, and while he wasn’t exactly rude she still didn’t take kindly to it. She had only been in the country two days, and she thought even to be in the close vicinity of her new home was quite good. She doubted he’d do any better if the tables were turned and he was dropped into Washington.

‘Well, maybe it was transcribed incorrectly and maybe it was the street you just passed—on the left. ’

Heath sensed she was being petulant and he found it almost amusing. He had grown up in Adelaide and knew the street she was referring to was home to a food market and some restaurants—not houses.