Karin Baine – The Single Dad's Proposal (страница 2)
Summer had witnessed her fair share of toddler tantrums but a child on the autism spectrum needed extra-careful handling and would have no concept of making her father late for work at any age.
‘Something must’ve happened this morning to make them late. He hasn’t even had time to dry his hair.’
Even from this distance Summer could see his still-wet hair glistening in the sunlight. That wasn’t a big deal in itself, but whatever had caused this disruption to their routine had the potential to become an issue for Gracie. Summer loved working with the little girl but she had communication issues and learning difficulties that often led to these bursts of temper.
She caught sight of Kaylee smirking at her. ‘What?’
Okay, so she was imagining Rafael’s dark hair curling at the nape of his neck and soaking his collar. It didn’t mean anything other than she noticed the small details in other people’s lives. People-reading was part of her skill as a child life specialist, even if her job here required more of her child-care services for now.
Alex Kirkland, the medical director and one of the clinic’s founders, had employed her with a view to eventually moving her into her preferred position. With the extension of the children’s ward in the future she would be needed more in her role as a child life specialist to help the young patients cope with their illnesses and prepare them for whatever medical procedures they faced.
She was happy to wear either hat if she could stay here, leaving the mess of her personal life back in Boston. It wasn’t as if she was missed when Marc and Leo were back living as a family with his ex and her own mother had her second husband to support her instead of Summer.
‘Nothing,’ Kaylee replied, obviously meaning everything as she did a double take between Summer and the two figures she hadn’t been able to take her eyes off.
‘Oh, shut up!’ Summer hit her playfully over the head with a soft-bodied panda she’d been minding for one of the children.
Not for the first time she wondered where the child’s mother was, or any other family for that matter. There was very little known about the spinal surgeon other than what a coup it was to have him on board here. Despite his sterling reputation as a surgeon, she’d found him difficult, stubborn and resistant to taking on any friendly advice. If he had that attitude to people other than her it could explain his single status, regardless of him being so smoulderingly attractive. Even she experienced that flutter in the pit of her stomach when he was near. She’d seen how loving he could be with his daughter so she knew there was a soft heart in there somewhere.
It might come across as judgemental but sometimes she thought parents often didn’t try hard enough to salvage a relationship when children were involved. Broken families would always be a source of pain to her when they represented her own difficult background. The children suffered most when the parents decided they couldn’t live together and, in her case, not only had she lost her father but he’d taken her stepbrother too, severing all contact between them and leaving her feeling incomplete.
Robbie may not have been her biological sibling but she’d grown up thinking of him as her big brother, someone she could turn to for advice or comfort, and losing him had been akin to having a limb cut off. Since then, she’d lived her life always feeling as though something was missing, and the loss of a mother had to be even more devastating to a child of Gracie’s young years.
She never talked about her mom and she’d noticed Dr Valdez didn’t wear a wedding ring so there didn’t appear to be a significant other anywhere in the background. There was a chance he was nursing a broken heart, which would explain his defensive behaviour. It was the same reason Summer had come to Maple Island in much the same mood at first. Perhaps he was finding life as a single dad difficult. Given time, he might get back together with his ex again too, just as Marc had when he’d left Summer out in the cold over a year ago. Apparently, it was easier to share the parenting of a small child with their
Men with motherless children were double heartbreak waiting to happen because when things ended you lost them both. Regardless of the love and time given to help raise their offspring, when the relationship was over an ex-girlfriend didn’t have any right to remain in the child’s life. Losing Marc had been difficult, but having five-year-old Leo taken away from her too had been devastating when she’d come to think of him as her own. Until Marc had decided to forgive his ex for cheating on him when she’d asked to come back and, just like that, Summer had been surplus to requirements.
That bitter taste of loss and betrayal tinged her objectivity. She knew nothing of the secrets the Valdezes might be hiding and she intended to keep it that way, having sworn not to get involved with another family outside the workplace again. If and when she decided to date again, her requirements for a suitor would include being single with no dependants or exes lurking in the background.
She doubted Rafael had any desire to jump into the dating quagmire either. There certainly hadn’t been any talk of him seeing anyone since arriving on the island and his devotion to his patients, including the ten-year-old Walsh twins who’d suffered severe spinal injuries and were taking up a lot of his attention, didn’t leave him with much down time.
She might not view him as relationship potential but she could see he was a good father, trying to give his daughter the best start in life and struggling with the demands of juggling his home and work life. It couldn’t be easy for a busy single dad contending with the special needs of an autistic daughter and Summer would never dare criticise his parenting skills but it wouldn’t hurt him to ask for or accept help once in a while.
Her own mother had been equally as pig-headed when they’d been left as half of a family when her father had taken off, refusing financial or emotional assistance from any quarter. As an adult she recognised how her mother must’ve been hurting badly to be so determined to do everything on her own and prove she didn’t need a man around. Except Summer had been the one to suffer, forced to grow up too quickly and dragged into the conflict between her parents by having to choose which one to live with. She hoped Gracie would never be subjected to that kind of stress when it could have such a devastating impact on her development.
It hadn’t been fair to Summer as an eight-year-old to put her under that much pressure to pick sides, but emotions had been running high and she’d been compelled to stay with her mother since her father had been the one having an affair. Once she’d made her position known, her father had demanded custody of her stepbrother and moved abroad to start a new life with the woman he’d left them for.
They’d all been devastated by the split but her parents had wanted a complete separation, things having been said and done that neither could apparently overlook in order to let the siblings maintain contact. Perhaps they’d imagined they had been young enough to forget and would get over it, but she hadn’t and now she didn’t even know where to start looking for Robbie.
With hindsight she could understand why her mother had chosen never to rely on anyone else after that epic betrayal, but when her health had suffered, Summer had been the only one there to pick up the pieces.
Unable to work full time, there had been no money to fund things every other child took for granted and it hadn’t been long before she’d been taking on after-school jobs to supplement their income at a time when her teenage peers had been going to parties or shopping for clothes. She’d never resented her mother for those sacrifices but when she had eventually married again Summer had gone a little wild, exploring her sudden freedom and leaving her responsibilities far behind. They hadn’t really been close since. She’d even been replaced at home.
Summer had no wish to interfere in anyone else’s life but Dr Valdez didn’t have to be Gracie’s whole world. There were no parent-of-the-year prizes for running yourself into the ground, only more problems for the child when there was no one else around to lend a helping hand.
She’d studied hard to enable her to work with vulnerable children and she knew how much time and patience it took to communicate effectively to make any progress in their development. If he would simply give her the chance, she was willing to share everything she’d learned to make their lives a little easier.
‘Hold this for me,’ she said, handing the plush toy to Kaylee, and left her vantage point to meet them in the corridor, persuading herself her actions were based purely on Graciela’s needs.
When she reached Rafael, he’d changed tactics and was murmuring in soothing placatory Spanish to his daughter. Summer’s school-level Spanish was rusty but she recognised