Laura Iding - Snowbound With The Single Dad

There it was again. The little surge he’d felt yesterday when he’d seen her. That buzz of attraction. He hadn’t imagined it. He hadn’t imagined it at all.

She gestured down the corridor. ‘I’m fine. Honestly. No ill effects.’ She gave him a little smile. She was definitely a little more relaxed today but, then, Parkhill was her comfort zone.

‘How are the kids?’

Her expression was still serious. ‘We’ve still got two in ITU, both serious but stable. Four were allowed home yesterday, another four were kept for observation overnight but are being discharged today. The last two will be in for a few days, both have different kinds of fractures.’

He gave her a knowing smile. ‘Busy day, then?’

She let out a little laugh. ‘What? No way. We’ve only had another thirty admissions on top of the accident yesterday. It’s practically been a walk in the park.’

‘Thirty? Is there some kind of outbreak?’

She nodded. ‘Yip.’ She handed over a set of case notes to the secretary next to them. She folded her arms across her chest. ‘It’s called a Scottish winter.’

‘What do you mean?’

She gave a little shrug. ‘It’s like this every year. Asthma and chest infections flare up and there’s always an outbreak of norovirus somewhere. Public health had to recommend closing two nurseries yesterday.’ She waved her hand. ‘We’ve got a baby with chickenpox in ITU. Oh, and the usual slips, trips and falls. We’re thinking of putting a sign on the door of ward 1C saying Only people in fibreglass may pass these doors.’

He couldn’t help the smile dancing across his face. ‘It’s that bad?’

She gave a little sigh. ‘It’s just how things are. That, and all the parents that come to the desk and give it laldy.’

He smiled. ‘Now, there’s a word I haven’t heard in a while.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘It’s the most accurate description. I said it the other day to one of the Spanish registrars and he was totally lost. Thing is, it’s never the parents with the sickest kids who cause a scene, it’s the ones who probably shouldn’t even be in an A and E department and don’t think they should be waiting.’

‘We get our fair share in the fire service too. Last month it was a guy who called 999 every time his house fire alarm went off.’

‘Did he have a fire?’

Callum shook his head. ‘Nope. He just kept burning his toast and thought we should come out.’

‘Thank goodness. I thought it was just us that got the crazies.’

He looked over at her. Although her outward appearance had improved since yesterday, he could still sense the tiredness in her body.

‘Are you sure you want to do this today? We can do it some other time if it doesn’t suit you.’

She shook her head. ‘You’re going to need the statement at some point and it’s probably best I do it while it’s all still fresh in my mind.’

‘Have you got time for a coffee?’

She glanced at her watch. ‘Actually, I’ve got a couple of hours.’ She looked around her. ‘Can we get out of here for a little while? I need to cover for someone tonight so I’ll be here until tomorrow.’

He bit his tongue. From the look of her she’d already covered last night too. Did she really need to do it again? the thought of getting her out of this place was very appealing. Maybe some fresh air and a change of scene would lessen the tiredness in her eyes. There was no way he’d say no to her.

‘Sure. As long as you don’t mind travelling in a fire and rescue vehicle.’

Her eyes widened. ‘You’ve got a fire engine sitting outside?’ He could hear the edge of excitement in her voice. It was almost everyone’s childhood dream to ride in a fire engine.

He laughed. ‘No, I’ve got the four-by-four. But I’m on call and can be paged at any time, so I need to be ready to go.’

‘Oh.’ She looked a little disappointed. ‘Does that mean you can’t go anywhere?’

He shook his head, his heart clenching a little as he realised she’d looked a little sad at the prospect. ‘Of course I can. But let’s not go too far. That way, if I get paged I can drop you back here quickly. Is there somewhere local you’d prefer?’

She nodded. ‘There’s an Italian coffee shop that does great food and some killer carrot cake about five minutes’ drive from here. Just let me grab my bag and coat.’

He stood for a few seconds until she reappeared at his side, wearing a thick purple wool coat and pink scarf. He smiled. ‘I take it you came prepared today.’

‘After yesterday? I’ve honestly never been so cold. The first thing I did last night was put on the fire, find the biggest, snuggliest pair of pyjamas I could and pull my duvet in front of the fire.’

The picture was conjured up in his head instantly. Snuggly pyjamas might not be the sexiest nightwear he would normally think of for a woman, but it still brought a smile to his face.

They walked outside into the cold air and she automatically moved a little closer to him, letting his body shield her from the biting wind. It was all he could do to stop his arm reaching out to wrap around her waist.

He felt on edge. He hadn’t seen her in years. She had a whole other life he knew nothing about. Little things started to edge into the corners of his mind. Who did Jessica have to snuggle up to after a stressful day at work? Had she spent the night alone in front of the fire?

Curiosity was killing him. Particularly after the comment Miriam had made the previous day about Jessica reverting to her maiden name.

He had a burning sensation to find out why. It suddenly seemed really important—even though it shouldn’t. Did Jessica feel the nervous edge that he did?

But Jess seemed relaxed around him. She shot him another smile as she climbed into the car. ‘You would have been horrified. I even resorted to bedsocks last night!’

‘Were they pink?’ He started the car and pulled out of the car park.

‘How did you guess?’

‘Because some things don’t change.’ Pink had always been her favourite colour. The words had come out before he’d had time to think about them. Because nothing could be further from the truth. Things had changed, for both of them—probably more than they could ever have imagined.

Thirteen years was a long time.

There was silence for a few seconds, as if she was thinking the same kind of thoughts that he was.

She gestured to the side. ‘This way.’ She waited until he changed lanes. ‘I guess I always did like pink,’ she said quietly. She touched the collar of her coat. ‘I’ve even got a pink coat, I just didn’t wear it today.’

Another little memory sparked into his brain. Jessica’s wardrobe. She’d had the biggest array of clothes he’d ever seen. He shot her a smile. ‘Knowing you, you’ve probably got a coat for every colour of the rainbow.’

She tilted her head to the side as if she was racking her brain. ‘Emerald green.’

He raised his eyebrows.

‘That’s the colour I’m missing. I need to get an emerald-green raincoat and the rainbow will be complete.’ She pointed in front of them. ‘It’s just over here. Pull in to the left.’

He halted just in front of the Italian-style coffee shop, walking around and opening the door for her.

The heat hit them as soon as they walked inside, along with a whole host of mouth-watering smells.

He pulled out a chair and helped her off with her coat, before sitting across from her and bringing out his array of paperwork. But his brain wasn’t focusing on the paperwork.

Taking Jessica out of her own environment felt a little odd. It felt personal but this was business. A professional meeting. Nothing more, nothing less. No matter how casual it seemed.