Florida Fling with the Single Dad, page 4
She knew that her brothers loved her and she could always count on them to have her back. If only they understood she needed a little space right now.
“Katie, did you hear me? Is everything okay?” her brother asked.
“Sorry. I just got home from the office and my mind is kind of scattered,” she said. After grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, she unlocked the back door.
“How did it go? Did you get to see your friend Alex?” Mikey asked.
“No, he’s still out of town on some type of family emergency. But I did get to go up today,” she said. Stepping out onto the deck, she took a deep breath. The air was heavy with a humidity she didn’t think she could ever get used to, but the soft breeze coming from the water made up for it.
“How was that?” he asked. “Any issues?”
If she told her little brother about almost losing her temper with the other emergency responders, he’d know something was wrong. McGees were known for their patience, and normally she was the most patient of the siblings. With four brothers, she had to be.
“No, it was great. I wish you could see this place. It’s beautiful. The water is so blue and everywhere you look there’s some tree or bush blooming. And the pace seems so much slower here.”
Something moved in the short bushes that backed up to the deck. She eased back toward the French door even though her mind told her she was safe. A large yellow beak peaked out of a bush before it disappeared through the trees. A bird? She took the stairs down from the deck and followed the sandy path that Violet had used to get to the water.
“That’s good, right? Not that I want you to get used to it. We still need you here in New York,” her brother said. “What about that counselor from the precinct? You still talking with her?”
Hadn’t she already dealt with this enough today? No one understood how hard it was to bare your soul to a stranger who clearly did not understand that all she needed was to work and put the shooting behind her. She wasn’t going to let this one incident define her life.
She stopped on the path, not daring to even breathe. A large white bird stood a mere five feet in front of her. Its dark legs, long and spindly, made it over three feet tall. Was it dangerous? Would it follow her if she ran back into the house?
Before she could decide what to do, it unfolded a pair of impossibly large wings, making its size even more intimidating. With a couple flaps it soared into the sky, leaving her standing there with her mouth open. She stood and watched as its magnificent wings took it out of sight.
The sound of her brother’s voice brought her back down to reality.
“Oh, my goodness, Mikey. There was this bird. This really big bird...like three-foot-tall big. It was beautiful. So beautiful. It was white and...” She stopped talking, suddenly hit with a need she hadn’t felt since...since before her life had been shattered into a million meaningless pieces.
“I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later,” she said as she ended the call and raced up the path to the cottage as fast as she could. She tried to keep the image in her mind.
She found her sketch pad and pencils in an unpacked box stuck in the back of the closet. Rushing back outside, she sat on a wicker chair and pulled a small table in front her where she could arrange her supplies, and then she began. In minutes the image of a beautiful, but strong bird began to take shape. As the light began to fade with the setting sun in front of her, she filled in the background with the many different shrubs and flowering trees that she was just beginning to notice. She’d have to ask Dylan the names of all these plants. Maybe she could buy one of the smaller ones to bring back home with her.
Finally setting her sketch pad down, she realized how much she had enjoyed the last few hours. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d truly relaxed for that long. It was like she had found her happy place, even if it would be for only a few weeks. She was right. All she needed was a little peace and quiet, and soon her life would be back to normal.
She headed inside and saw the folder she had meant to get back to Dylan. Before putting her art supplies away, she sat down and finished the paperwork. A peek in the mirror told her she needed to do something with her hair as the breeze had made a mess of it. She pulled it back into a careless knot then washed her face.
Checking her phone, she wasn’t surprised to see that she’d missed a call from her brother. He must think she was crazy for hanging up on him like she had. She’d take a picture of her drawing and send it to him before she went to bed. He’d understand then. He’d always been the only one in the family that understood how much her art meant to her.
It was only after she rang the doorbell of Dylan’s cottage that she realized it was probably too late for her to be visiting her neighbor. Why hadn’t she thought to text him? He’d given her his number for things just like this. She started back down the stairs.
* * *
Dylan stood in the door staring down at something he’d never seen before: a smiling Katie. She waited on the bottom step of his home and something about that smile made his insides suddenly warm and weak.
“I’m so sorry. I wanted to get the paperwork back to you. I meant to get it to you earlier, but I got busy and I’m afraid I didn’t realize how late it was.” She held the folder out to him. “I guess I could blame it on the bird, but it really was all my fault.”
“A bird? Why do I feel like there’s a story there?” he asked. She really wasn’t making much sense, but he wanted her to keep talking. There was something different about her tonight. Or maybe not different. Maybe this was the real Katie McGee. The one his friend Alex had told him about that was always smiling and fun. The intense woman he’d been with earlier that day had shown no sign of either of those two things.
“I was just in the backyard and there was this big white bird. It wasn’t a stork. I’ve seen pictures of them before, they’re stockier. But it was tall and it had these dark legs and big wings,” Katie said.
“It sounds like a great white heron. We have them everywhere. There’s a wildlife refuge set up for them here in the Keys. They’re very common around here,” he explained.
“A white heron? I knew there were blue herons, but not white ones. Aren’t they beautiful?” she asked, another smile lighting her face.
“Very, beautiful,” he said. Her eyes sparkled with excitement that he saw every day when his eight-year-old made a new discovery. There were so many wonders on the island that he suddenly wanted to show her. So many things that he knew she would find enjoyment in.
Like a gust of wind, his daughter suddenly blew past him and down the steps to where Katie stood.
“Hey, Katie, what’s that?” Violet asked.
His mind switched gears and he was reminded that his daughter was his priority. Not spending time with his new neighbor.
“I had a visitor today in the back of the house. Your father says it’s a white heron,” Katie said, passing Violet her drawing.
“Daddy took me to the park where there’s a lot of these up in the trees in their nests. It’s where they take care of their babies,” Violet said, then handed back the sketch pad. “Maybe next time you can go with us. Can she, Daddy?”
Dylan looked down at the two of them, Violet with her hopeful eyes that had seen way too much for her eight years of life. And Katie, who just hours ago had been determined to prove to everyone that she was fine but anyone that looked at her could see the shadows under her eyes. While the first one held his heart, the latter brought out that old protective side of him that he knew he couldn’t acknowledge. Not where Katie was concerned. He’d had enough of women coming into his life and wreaking havoc before leaving him to pick up the pieces.
“We’ll see. How about you go jump in the tub? It’s getting late. You did say you wanted to ride the bus tomorrow,” he reminded her.
“Okay, but can I go over to Katie’s when I get home tomorrow?” she asked with puppy dog eyes.
“We’ll see,” he said. He’d learned early that his daughter was a true negotiator with a talent that had gotten the best of him more than once. And once she got the answer she wanted, there was no way budging her no matter what might have come up. “Katie might have plans.”
“Unless I’m working I don’t have any plans,” Katie said.
“Great. There’s a big book in the library at school that has pictures of birds. I’ll finish the book I checked out last week before I go to bed and check that one out if it’s there. That way I can teach you about all the birds we have here,” Violet said.
“There’s not going to be any reading time tonight it you don’t get in the tub. Now,” he told his daughter.
“Night, Katie,” Violet called as she rushed back up the stairs and disappeared into the house.
“Sorry. If she gets to be too much just let me know. We’ve had to have more than a few conversations concerning boundaries since she came to live with me.” He smiled at the memory of that first conversation when he’d brought a date to dinner, and before the meal was over his daughter had somehow gotten the woman’s whole life story out of her, including some things that had been more than enough to make him realize there wouldn’t be a second date.
“I’m sure we’ll be fine. I can’t wait to see the book she’s talking about,” Katie said. “So, not married?”
“No. It’s just me and Violet. Her mother and I were never married.” He didn’t see any reason to add that he hadn’t even known he had a daughter until she and her mother had shown up on the houseboat he was living on at the time. “Lilly, that’s Violet’s mother, is a bit of a free spirit.”
“Well, she seems to be a very happy little girl. I can tell you’re doing a good job with her,” Katie said. “And I’ve taken enough of your time. I’ll check my email for my schedule.”
“If you need to take some time to get settled just let me know. Alex leaves the scheduling up to me and with me filling in for him I’ve done some rearranging.”
“I’m sure whenever you’ve scheduled me will be fine. Like I said, I don’t have any plans right now.” She started down the path before turning around and calling back, “Good night.”
He didn’t take his eyes off her until she had gotten to her front door and disappeared inside.
The woman was one big complication in his life. But there was something about Katie that made him want to peel back all those layers of armor that surrounded her to find out exactly who she was before her life had changed the night she’d been shot. But how deep would he have to go to find that woman? Did she even exist anymore? Or had the trauma she’d survived changed her forever?
And then there was that spark of attraction he’d felt from the first time they’d met, before he’d known who she was. Before he’d known she was just one more person passing through his life.
“I like her,” his daughter said as she ducked under his arm where he stood in the doorway staring across at Katie’s cottage.
“I think I do too,” he said before turning and shutting the door behind them, wishing he could shut out the warning bells telling him this woman could be trouble. No matter how attracted he might be to his next-door neighbor, the last thing he needed was to find himself involved with another woman who was just passing through the islands. He’d had enough of those relationships even before he had learned that he had a daughter. A daughter that needed the stability she didn’t get for the first seven years of her life.
But he couldn’t deny how easy it would be to forget his past mistakes after seeing the wide-eyed beauty that had just shown up beaming with excitement over a common white bird.
CHAPTER FOUR
KATIE FOLLOWED SUMMER into the hospital ambulance entrance as the other nurse explained the transfer process between the hospitals. They’d been dispatched to fly a patient from the local hospital to a hospital in Miami that could provide further cardiac diagnostic and treatment for his heart arrhythmia. With the man symptomatic as he continued going in and out of supraventricular tachycardia, the doctor in Miami had requested that he be transferred immediately by air.
“We’re a small hospital, but you can’t beat the care. It’s just impossible for us to provide a lot of the specialties that our patients can get in the big-city hospitals,” Summer said as they passed through another door that led to a hallway with an elevator.
“And the staff is always good to work with,” the bubbly nurse continued, and not for the first time that day Katie wondered if Dylan had assigned her with Summer because he knew Katie had overheard Summer sticking up for her in his office.
Not that she was going to complain. If he’d put her with Max for her first shift things could have turned into a nightmare. She had enough of those at night. She didn’t want to spend her days that way.
“A lot of the flight crew staff pick up days in the ER when they can,” Summer continued as the bell on the elevator rang and she pressed the only button for an upper floor. “Does the crew in New York do that?”
“Several of us do. It’s a good way to keep our hospital skills up. And it’s a nice change, too, from the pack-up and deliver speed that we are used to on flights.” And it had been Katie’s backup plan if she’d had to give up flying after the shooting.
“I know. And it’s nice to talk to your patients sometimes too. Most of our flights are spent with patients that are too sick to talk. And the flights are usually so short that we spend most of our time too busy to get to know them,” Summer said.
So Summer was a people person. She could see that and even appreciate it.
Katie had been that way too. But then things had changed. It seemed her whole life had changed because of one night. It wasn’t that she didn’t like people. She did like most people on a one-to-one basis. But put her in a crowd, like the one she could see in the room they were about to enter, and the stress of being surrounded by so many strangers was just too much.
She had learned to work around her anxiety. No one thought there was something wrong with a nurse if she asked the family to step out for a moment.
Except for that first flight here, trauma scenes hadn’t been a problem because everyone was so busy doing their jobs that they didn’t get in each other’s way.
Summer introduced her to the charge nurse on the cardiac floor before they entered the room where a fiftyish male lay in the bed surrounded by family members.
“Hello, Mr. Marshall. My name is Summer and this is my partner Katie. We’re going to be your flight crew today.”
After the information had been given to his family concerning the Miami hospital they would be flying to and their expected arrival time, they were soon back in the air and headed north.
Their pilot today was Jackie, and like Roy she had been military before retiring and taking a civilian job for Heli-Care. Katie relaxed into her old routine as she applied the monitors that would give them the cardiac tracing and vital sign information critical to their patient’s care.
“Weather is looking good for us today. ETA in forty,” Jackie said over the headset.
“Looks like this is going to be an easy one,” Summer said as she pointed to the monitor where it showed the patient in a normal sinus rhythm.
“I’m glad the doctor agreed to order him some Ativan before we left. Fear of flying can send anyone’s heart into tachycardia.” Katie adjusted the fluids hanging as Summer recorded the vital signs.
“I love flying. Always have. You?” Summer asked.
“There’s nothing like it. I mean look at that view,” Katie said, looking down at the water that went from pale green in the shallows to a dark blue as the waters deepened. She could see several groups of people decked out in snorkel gear down below. She made a mental note to see about taking one of the boat tours to the reefs while she was there.
“You must have some great views in the city. Especially at night,” Summer said.
“We do,” Katie agreed, remembering the flight she’d been on the night she was shot. The lights of the city had been breathtaking. She remembered thinking that she’d sketch the scene out when she got back to their quarters. Then later at home, she’d pull out her paints and try to capture that perfect color of the dark night sky with the lights twinkling on and off from all the high-rise buildings, where some people were shutting down for the night, putting their children to bed and preparing for sleep while others still worked to hammer out a living in the local diner or one of the big corporations that made up the city.
But she’d never gotten the chance to record the beauty of that night. Instead she’d experienced the pain and violence that the darkness of the city had hidden from her until it was too late. Until a man had decided that taking her life was just collateral in his plan to kill someone else.
“Do you live in one of those high-rises? Those New York apartments always look so glamorous on television. It must be a big change living in Dylan’s cottage. Not that I wouldn’t love to live in that cottage. It’s adorable.”
“Believe me, my apartment is nothing like the ones you see on television. Most of them aren’t. You could easily put two of my apartments into the cottage.” And that wasn’t even considering the space she had on the back deck.
“I bet you miss it, though. The city. I love it here on the island. I’ve always been a small-town girl. But sometimes I think about what it would be like to disappear into the crowds and live that fast-paced life,” Summer mused.
“Well, if you decide you want to make a change, just let me know. I’d be glad to show you around the city and there’s always an opening on our crew,” Katie said. She checked their patient’s vitals again and noted a small four beat of SVT before the man’s heart rhythm returned back to the nineties.
