From Brooding Boss to Adoring Dad (6 page)

“If you want to take a chance, because I haven’t worked in Emergency since I was in medical school.” Of course, she hadn’t worked in obstetrics since med school either, and that’s what Coulson had her doing.

“It’s like riding a bicycle. Once you learn how to do it,
you never forget.” He sobered. “Did you ever get to ride a bicycle when you were a child? ”

“By the time I was well enough to play outside, I was old enough to drive a car. So, no, I never got around to the bicycle.”

“Then someone will just have to teach you. To live on the island, you must have a bicycle.”

“Do you?”

“Mercy, no! I have a very nice automobile, and a wife who delights in driving me because she believes I drive too fast. But maybe you and I will have time to learn to ride a bicycle together.”

“Bicycle paths.” she whispered absently.

“Excuse me?”

“Bicycle paths. Around the hospital. My children will need bicycles because I think some of them will be able to ride. Maybe not the two-wheelers, but I’m sure some will be able to handle the three-wheelers. So we’ll need riding paths.”

“My donation, then. Bicycles and a bicycle path. Along with someone to teach you to ride.”

“All that, plus your time?” What an amazing man. She loved him nearly as much as she did her father.

“It’s worthy, and it will give me something to do in my retirement. Besides, if I learn how to ride, and you have those bicycle paths laid in, that will give me more excuses to come visit my old friend and his lovely daughter.” He shoved through the open doors to the emergency department then held them open for Erin. “And I won’t let Algernon go to waste, Erin. You have my word on that. I love that man like he’s my own brother, and I’m glad he’s coming home, where he can be around his friends. He’ll find himself here.” He gave her another huge hug. “We’ll make sure of that.”

“You don’t know how that makes me feel, hearing you say it,” she sniffled.

He chuckled. “And you don’t know how it makes me feel knowing that you’ll be here, moonlighting, every once in a while. Or spending time with Alvinnia and me, when you’re able. You’re a daughter to her, you know. Now, put on a white coat and come and see this patient with me. And the doctor you’ll be meeting is quite interesting, too. A headstrong fellow, but good.” He grinned his infamous grin. “Handsome, too, and, if I’m not mistaken, single. Don’t know him well. Wasn’t the one to hire him, but I’ve heard good reports of his skills. And did I mention handsome? So maybe you can get to know him in due course?”

“You sound just like my father,” she said, swatting playfully at his arm. “He’d turn himself into a doting old matchmaker if I ever gave him the least little bit of encouragement.”

“Because your father is worried he won’t get grandchildren. And I’m worried I won’t get grand-godchildren. We’re turning into old men, child. And old men need children around them to keep them young. You wouldn’t deprive us of that, would you? ”

“I’ll have plenty of children for you at the hospital. And right now I’m really just interested in getting it going. No entanglements.”

“Even if they’re handsome?”

“Especially
if they’re handsome.” As they strolled through the tiny emergency department, Erin was impressed by what she saw. Emergency was full to overflowing, but people were patiently awaiting their turns to be seen. “And I especially don’t want an entanglement if it comes in the form of a.” Pushing through the curtain in cubicle number three, where Serek’s patient waited, Erin stopped dead in her tracks. “In the form of
him!
“

Adam turned round, didn’t smile at her, but definitely looked surprised to see her. “Are you following me?” he asked.

Serek looked first at Adam then at Erin as a sly grin spread across his face. “So you two know each other?”

“It’s his hospital I bought,” she explained.

“You own a hospital, Adam?” Serek asked. “You never told me that.”

“Used to own one. Not operational. Sold it to …” He nodded toward Erin.

“It’s what I bought for the children’s hospital. And he thinks I won’t be able to make it work.”

“Well, I had no idea that’s where you lived, Adam. But it’s certainly a small world, isn’t it, with you working here and Erin buying your hospital? You two have quite a connection.”

“Then
you two
know each other?” Adam asked.

“I’m trying to convince Erin to come and moonlight for me.” Serek grinned. “And since you two seem to be living in the same area, maybe you could ride in together. It’s a long drive, and you can keep each other company. And, Erin, child. Alvinnia’s going to be so excited by all this.”

“Alvinnia?” Coulson questioned, clearly confused.

“My wife,” Serek replied.

“My godmother,” Erin added. “And Serek is my godfather, by the way.” She latched onto the older man’s arm. “He’s also one of the volunteer doctors who’ll be coming to my hospital. Along with Aunt Alvinnia … she’s a surgeon.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. You’re actually getting a surgeon?” Coulson looked first at Serek then at Erin and it wasn’t her imagination that made her think she heard a loud, discouraging sigh escape his lips. She did, and she saw the look of disappointment on his face. Rather than
the satisfaction she’d expected to feel, she actually felt sad for him. Another best-laid scheme
gang agley.
He couldn’t even hide the disappointment. Of course he’d thought she would fail and go away. Of course he’d thought he would swoop in then and pick up the pieces and be all the better for her defeat. Yet there wasn’t great triumph in this victory and she did feel bad for him.

Not bad enough to give up her hospital, though. “Yep, I’m getting a surgeon.” Which meant Erin was one step closer to her dream while Coulson was one step further from his. What concerned her about this situation, however, was that she cared that he was a step further away. She wasn’t sure why she cared, but she did. And it was unsettling.

T
HE
one thing that was for certain with a good boat—the hull didn’t give way. That’s what his grandfather had said the day he’d decided to sink the boat and let it spend its eternity on the ocean floor, building up a coral reef and habitat for little sea creatures. The
Stella,
as his grandfather had named it, had almost given way with a hole so large in its hull that the expert boat repair shops in Portland had all turned it down. Quite simply, it would have been less expensive to buy a new boat. And Cornelius Coulson, not being a man who cared to wander too far from home to look for any more marine repair shops, had taken that as a sign. He’d run aground on an outcropping of rocks one time and survived, and he wasn’t going to tempt fate by repairing the boat and risking another rock outcropping. Better to allow nature to reclaim the wooden 1951 Lyman Islander than let it claim him or anybody he’d loved, his grandfather always said.

But Adam had begged to keep the boat. For a playhouse. Or they could turn it into a pretend fort or even a make-believe pirate ship. All imaginative plans for a ten-year-old. Luckily, Grandpa Coulson had seen merit in turning
Stella,
named after his wife, into a toy. And that’s how Adam Coulson had become the only kid in his school who
owned his own boat. Albeit one that wasn’t sea-, river-, or pond-worthy.

Twenty-six years later, he still owned the boat. It was his legacy from an extraordinary man and pretty much the only thing his wife hadn’t wanted to snatch away from him in the divorce.
Stella
kept him grounded as a man, and testified to the fact that nothing was futile if you wanted it badly enough. She was nearly sea-worthy again. It had taken him the better part of the past ten years to bring her back to this point, an hour here, a few minutes there. And while he didn’t fancy himself as a master ship repairman, he’d taken a fair amount of pride in the project. Wished his grandfather could have seen the transformation. Oh, there were still some minor things to do … a bit more varnish, some work to unwarp the warped deck, a new wheel … nothing insurmountable. Which was why, when he took to sanding the deck, like he was doing today, he felt his spirits lifting.
Stella
was a symbol of what he could do. So was the white building sitting off in the distance. The hospital. The courts had seen fit to let him keep a modest inheritance from his grandfather, along with
Stella,
and he’d celebrated that small victory by buying the hospital with that inheritance. Except that was half-gone now. But maybe that was good. He was trying hard to think so, anyway.

“It’s all good,” he muttered, crawling forward on his hands and knees to the plastic cooler with the bottle of water. He grabbed the water and two cups, poured and handed one cup across to his companion who sat opposite him on the deck, cross-legged. “It has to be all good, Tadeo,” he said to the bright-eyed boy who came so often to the beach to help him with the boat that working on the boat without Tadeo didn’t seem right. “Because if it’s not, then what’s the point?”

“All good,” Tadeo agreed, smiling.

“So, what kind of sandpaper do we need to use over in that corner of the deck? “ He pointed to the right stern. Another source of pride these days—Tadeo. He’d gone from withdrawn to involved. His skills at boat refurbishing weren’t bad either, for a kid his age.

“Fine grit. To finish it. Then extra-fine, before we do the varnish.”

Yes, Tadeo had come a long way these past few months, and the change was satisfying to Adam. But it also pointed out something painfully obvious … how absolutely, totally alone he was in the world. He looked at Davion as a protégé, and Tadeo as a protégé as well. He was doing things with them he’d have loved doing with his own son … except for the obvious. He didn’t have a son. But what could he expect? He couldn’t hang on to a relationship that might give him a son or daughter and, more than that, he didn’t particularly live a lifestyle that would be attractive to a woman. No stability, no woman, no children. There was definitely a pattern there. Or maybe it was a habit. Didn’t matter, though. Alone was alone, any way you stated it.

His mind wandered to Erin. She had such … stability. It suited her. Became her. And he had … well, an old boat, a transient medical practice, and several odd jobs. Nothing someone stable would want. Not that he would even consider
having
anything with Erin. Or maybe it was the other way around. She wouldn’t consider having anything to do with him. Didn’t matter. It was what it was, and he was good with that. “The varnish is a way off,” he explained to Tadeo. “Especially when we’re doing all the work the old-fashioned way … by hand.” No sander, no tools. Just what his grandfather called elbow grease. And it was a good thing to teach Tadeo, like it had been a good thing taught by his grandfather.
Life moves too fast, Adam. Sometimes
it’s nice to slow down and enjoy the process. There’s a good view, and a good lesson in the process if you look for it.
How many times had he heard those words? Well, this was the process and the view was good, especially when he watched Tadeo taking it all in.

“But you’ll let me help?” Tadeo asked.

“Couldn’t do it without you. And you remember what I promised?”

“That I’ll be the first one to steer the boat once you get it away from the dock.”

He gave Tadeo a thumbs-up. “The very first one.” It wasn’t much for all the hours Tadeo had put in, but Tadeo clung to that promise like
he’d
clung to the very same promise of steering the boat when his grandfather had made it to him.

“Are you busy?” Erin called from the bow.

Adam rose, waved her aboard. “Use the ladder, and watch your step. It could shift in the sand.” Naturally, he stood to help her, but by the time he’d got to the side to extend a hand, she’d already scrambled over the rail.

“That’s the ma’am doc,” Tadeo said, shrinking back against the side.

“He’s shy with strangers,” Adam explained to Erin.

Erin kept a respectful distance from the boy. “My name’s Erin,” she said to him. “And I used to be shy, too.”

His eyes widened, but he said nothing.

“But if you’d like to tell me your name, I’d certainly like to know.”

Tadeo thought about it for a moment, the full weight of a serious decision scrunching up his face. Then, gravely, he nodded. “Good afternoon, ma’am. I’m Tadeo, ma’am. Tadeo Alejandro Reyes.”

“Good afternoon, Tadeo Alejandro Reyes. It’s nice to meet you,” she said, trying as hard as she could to be
serious when all she really wanted to do was break out in a grin, the boy was so cute. But his serious demeanor set her tone, and she stayed serious as well. “I’ll be living here all the time, so maybe we’ll see each other again.”

His answer was to pick up a piece of sandpaper and go back to work on the decking.

“Cute little boy,” Erin whispered to Adam.

“Good helper, too. Shows some definite skill in woodworking. So, what brings you to my side of the property line? Come to admire my boat? ”

“Your boat?”

“The only thing I have left after both you and my ex-wife got through with me.”

“Am I detecting some bitterness about women in general, Coulson?”

“Never bitter when I’m on my boat,” he said, stroking the smooth wooden deck rail like it was the smooth flesh of a woman. “She’s the one woman who won’t ever let me down.”

“Looks like it’s been around for a while.”

“She. She’s been around for a while. Longer than any other female in my life, come to think of it.”

“Well, never let it be said that I came between a man and his boat. So.” he held out a box to him “… take this, then I’ll leave you to get back to whatever it is you’re doing with your boat.”

“Sanding,” Tadeo said. “Then we’re going to start varnishing.”

“He’s anxious to move on to the next phase of restoration,” Adam commented, taking the box. “Couldn’t get this boat back into shape without him. So … if I open this, will something jump out and bite me?”

“Just open it, Coulson. I’m trying to make a nice gesture here, and you’re ruining it.”

“Nice gestures involve giving me back my hospital, but since my hospital won’t fit into the box.” He opened the lid. Studied the stethoscope for a moment, then pulled it out and put it around his neck. “Tadeo,” he said. “Come over here. I want to try something out.”

The boy obliged, taking care not to walk too close to Erin. When she noticed, she stepped back to give him freer passage to Adam. “What is it?” he asked.

“Haven’t you ever been examined by a doctor?” Adam asked, frowning.

Tadeo shook his head. “Pabla says we don’t need doctors. Sometimes Trinique looks at me, but never a doctor.”

“Pabla’s his guardian,” he explained to Erin. Then, to Tadeo, “Well, we’re about to fix that. This is called a stethoscope, and when I put it on your chest, I’ll be able to hear your heart beating.” He smiled up at Erin. “Unless ma’am Doc would rather I examine her first.”

“Ma’am Doc is just fine without an examination,” Erin said, as little skittery goosebumps trotted their way up her arms. Something about seeing Coulson with pants cut well above his knees and an unbuttoned cotton shirt revealing a rather nicely bronzed, hairless chest was attracting attention from her she hadn’t known she had for him. He was all lean, in amazing proportions, and thinking about all that virility laying a hand to her chest, albeit a hand holding a stethoscope, shook her all the way down to her toes. “But thank you for asking,” she said, hoping her voice didn’t sound as unsteady as she suddenly felt.

“And thank you for the stethoscope,” he replied, holding up the bell in salute. “I do appreciate this, Red, and just for you being so kind, I promise not to bother you about the hospital for the next twenty-four hours.”

“A promise made before that you haven’t kept yet.”

“Well, this time I’ll keep it.”

She smiled. “I’ll believe that when I
don’t
hear it.”

“You wound me, Red. When I make a promise, I always intend to keep it.” He arched playful eyebrows at her. “You’ll just have to keep reminding me.”

Which would put them in closer proximity than she wanted. “Like I said before, Coulson. I’ll believe it when I
don’t
hear it.” She rubbed her arms, trying to fight back the multiplying goosebumps, cursing inwardly that he always did that to her.

He winked at Tadeo, who smiled back at him. “One of the lessons you’re going to have to learn about women, Tadeo, is that no matter how hard you try to convince them, it’s never hard enough. They make you work for it.”

“Why?” he asked, innocently.

“Yes, Coulson. I’d like to hear why.”

“That’s the nature of a woman,” he said, trying to keep a straight face.

“Or is it the nature of a woman who’s trying to stand her ground against the nature of a man?”

Tadeo, clearly bored with the repartee between the two, picked up the bell of the stethoscope and laid it to his belly. Adam quickly adjusted it, smiling at Erin. “I think he’s trying to tell us something.”

“Out of the mouths of babes.” The air between them was practically sparking and it totally confounded her how an innocent conversation over nothing could turn into something else. But it had. One wink, one arch of the eyebrow and she had been seduced.

“Babes who have other things on their minds,” he said, inserting the earpieces. “Now, Tadeo, this isn’t going to hurt at all. All I’m going to do is listen. Nothing’s going to poke you.” Bell to the chest, he started to listen. Looked up at Erin. “Nice,” he murmured. “Excellent resonance.” He moved the bell a couple of times, nodding, listening.

Amazing, Erin thought, how something taken so for granted in the medical world was so important. She’d never thought about a stethoscope. There’d always been one around. Her father’s. Then hers. And Adam was acting like a child on Christmas morning over a simple thing.

“Can I hear?” Tadeo asked, shyly.

“Just a minute,” he said absently. Then moved the bell to another location. “I think ma’am Doc should get to listen next, since she’s the one who gave me the stethoscope.”

Normally, she didn’t share earpieces. Always used her own stethoscope or swabbed the one she was going to use if it wasn’t hers, but something odd in Adam’s expression caused her to break her own rule. So, without a word, she bent down, took the stethoscope from him and had a listen. “When you were born,” she asked casually, “was it at home, or in a hospital?”

Tadeo shrugged.

Erin glanced up at Adam, whose face had drained of most of its color. Then she mouthed the word “murmur.”

He nodded. “Tadeo, how about I let you listen to your heart a little later? I need to go over to the clinic for a while, see if I have any patients, check some supplies …”

“OK,” Tadeo agreed. “But can I stay here on the boat?”

“'Fraid not, sport. You know what I’ve told you about not getting up on the boat when I’m not here with you. That’s the rule you can’t break. But here’s what we’re going to do. Come to the clinic later on, and I’ll let you listen to your heart, and to mine. OK?” He nodded sideways at Erin. “And maybe she can show you some other medical tests she likes to do. Sound good to you?”

Obviously not as good as working on the boat, but Tadeo agreed, then scampered down over the side and ran off through a thicket of palms toward his house. Adam watched
him for a minute then finally turned to face Erin. “I’d say it’s at least a three, maybe a four. And he was resting.” Heart murmurs were graded on a system of one through six, with one being the weakest, six being the strongest. “Damn it to hell, I work with the kid almost every day. Have meals with him, play with him. How could I have not known?”

“Because he’s your friend, not your patient. And his guardian hasn’t taken him to see a doctor. He probably wasn’t born in a hospital, so he didn’t get diagnosed then. So don’t beat yourself up about this, Coulson. It’s not like you can even hear a heart murmur when you’re not listening to his chest.”

He slammed his fist on the deck rail. “Son of a … I haven’t seen symptoms, Red. Not a damn one.”