Taking A Chance On The Single Dad

When he’d decided to make the move west, he’d thought through all the consequences and while accepting he’d once loved Brenna more than life itself, he believed she wasn’t going to be a problem—if he ever saw her. At the time he hadn’t known he’d end up working alongside her for four weeks.

He should’ve turned down the request to work on the emergency helicopters the moment he’d heard her name. Hard to do when the base director had all but gone down on bended knees begging him to give whatever time he could manage, they were that short-staffed. Anyway, he loved emergency medicine. The adrenalin shot when racing out to an accident always made him feel needed and happy to be helping people.

The position he was taking up next month at Vancouver General would have plenty of those moments, but there was something about getting into an ambulance and racing to help someone. Since arriving in town he’d been walking on hot coals every day with nothing more to do than wait for his hospital job to start and to move into his house on the settlement date. With Dylan happy at his new preschool he was redundant for hours.

Jess had told him about the rescue service’s need for a temporary paramedic and had offered to look after his son before and after school if he took it up. She was probably sick of him hanging around the house during the day.

The airport loomed ahead far too quickly, and Hunter was pulling into the rescue centre long before he’d prepared himself. Bren wasn’t just a part of his past. She was still real, and, for a few weeks at least, a piece of his life again. Hopefully she was still always late to everything, and he’d get a few more minutes to pull himself together.

His palms were damp on the steering wheel. His ears filled with a thumping sound coming from behind his ribs. Was she as beautiful as he recalled? Would that regret over what they’d lost, which he’d felt the day he’d married Dylan’s mother, return?

Would Brenna shoot him on sight just for turning up?

Hunter put the gear stick in Reverse. He was out of there. Doing a runner. He’d head for the hills until it was time to pick Dylan up.

His foot remained on the brake pedal. He had to stay and go into the hangar, sign on and do his job. Twelve hours and he’d be able to quit—until tomorrow, when it would be a little bit easier. The ice would be broken. With a sigh he turned the ignition off. Since when had he become so gutless?

Stepping inside the cavernous hangar, he headed in the direction of the voices coming through an open door. Kevin, the base commander, and—He stopped. It was Bren’s voice he was hearing. His skin tightened. Brenna. Not Bren. Those days were gone, over, finished, because he might stumble in his determination to make this move work if he allowed any feelings from the past to beat him around the head. As were the days over when he dropped everything and everybody to be there for his parents. He did love them, but they weren’t playing the guilt card any more.

Brenna was saying, ‘Sorry I’m late. A burst water main on my avenue had traffic diverted all over the show.’ A metal locker door banged shut.

‘You’re fine. Nothing’s happening so far,’ Kevin said.

She thought arriving right on time was late? Change number one.

‘Good. I want to go online and book the car onto the ferry before it’s too late. When I got home late from Whistler last night I was exhausted and figured I’d find time today. Mum was supposed to do it but she ran out of time too. She’s busier than ever now she’s retired.’ Brenna laughed.

That laugh, warm and endearing, and much too familiar, crunched Hunter’s gut. His feet dragged towards the doorway, her voice winding around him, reminding him of sultry nights between the sheets. Spinning around to run for the car park was tempting. Instead he clenched his hands and tightened his leg muscles. Running wouldn’t solve a thing. Beneath his ribs a heavy thudding felt as though he was being beaten with a stick.

This was far more difficult than he’d believed. The past would be harder to ascend than Mount Baker, and it seemed Brenna still had the power to make him aware of her. Right down to his toes. He’d once loved her with all his being. Now he didn’t. Didn’t? Or shouldn’t? His mouth dried. He still loved Bren? Had he been in denial all along? No. He couldn’t have. Then why these wild emotions brought out by the sound of her voice?

‘Find anyone to cover for Patch while that broken femur heals?’ she was querying.

‘Yes. I heard about the man who’s taking over as head nurse at the hospital’s emergency department next month. He’s had experience as an ambulance paramedic. Figured I had nothing to lose by approaching to see if he’d help us out. He was more than happy, which takes the pressure off for now.’

I’d still be a full-time paramedic if I’d been able to make the hours work around Dylan.

Hunter stopped in the doorway. Exhaled hard. His gaze was rooted to the woman before him. Beautiful, still as curvy. Those caramel eyes still sparkled with fun, her crazy curly auburn hair was still long and tied back in a ponytail, her mouth still soft and enticing and undeniable. Bren, as he remembered her, as he’d loved her. Brenna.

Tying up her bootlaces, she laughed. ‘The man never stood a chance once you got your teeth into him. Who is he? Anyone we know?’

That beating against Hunter’s ribs became a whipping. On a deep breath he stepped right into the room.

Kevin said, ‘Probably not. He’s shifted across from Kamloops. Name of Hunter—’

* * *

‘Ford,’ Brenna finished as she stared at the sexy apparition strolling towards her with all the panache of someone totally at ease with his world. Her head spun. This wasn’t a vision brought on by a restless night. Only one man she knew swung his left leg slightly outward as he walked, thanks to a quad-bike accident as a kid. ‘Hunter, what are you doing here?’ she squeaked, thoughtlessly launching herself at her past.

‘Hey, Brenna. Great to see you too. Oof.’ He put his hands on her shoulders, keeping her from plastering her body all over him.

‘I can’t believe it’s you.’ Damn it, she was pushing close, wanting to lay her face against his chest like she’d always done back when they’d been together. Then reality got in the way. She jerked backwards. Hunter had dumped her. He hadn’t wanted her any more.

Hunter gazed down at her, not a hint of enthusiasm in his eyes. ‘You’re looking good.’

Brenna took his reaction on board and reacted accordingly. ‘Why wouldn’t I?’ He wasn’t about to find out how hard it had been to get over him. ‘You’ve scrubbed up okay yourself.’

The boyish good looks of six years ago had hardened into a strong, handsome face. Looking closer, she noted the weariness blinking out from those steel-grey eyes where there used to be laughter shining. Then his apathy registered. They were not lovers, not even friends, nothing but colleagues for the next few weeks. Brain slap for being such an idiot. Throwing herself at Hunter like she’d been waiting for this moment, like she had to have him, was ridiculous.

Stepping away, she flattened her mouth, swallowed her annoyance at having been so stupid. This was the man who’d phoned to say that after three years together they were over. Finished. Told her to go get a life and forget him.

What did people say when they first met each other after a long time apart? With their history? She said tartly, ‘So you’ve returned to Vancouver.’ Hope fluttered awake. She squashed it. Don’t go there.

Hunter’s hands fell to his sides as he too took a backward step. ‘Yes.’ This man used to talk non-stop, not coming up for air for hours.

His reticence spurred her on. ‘How long have you been in town?’

Why haven’t you got in touch? This is me, us. I’m not going to blast your head off for walking away from what we had going. Or am I?

Six years ago, she’d wanted to, but not now. What was the point? It couldn’t be undone. Except there was a flame of attraction scorching her inside and out.

He left you. Don’t forget that.

Like she could.

‘We arrived ten days ago.’

We? Brenna stepped further away; widening the gap physically, if not mentally.

I threw myself at him as though we were still an item.

He had a significant other half in his life, and she’d done that. Her stomach shrivelled and all the moisture evaporated from her mouth. Her chest lifted, stayed there as a breath stuck in her throat.

I didn’t stop to think. Instead, the moment I saw Hunter I reacted like I used to. How bad is that?

Now he’d get the wrong idea. ‘How are your parents?’ Banal but safe. Unless... The air finally whooshed out of her lungs. ‘Sorry.’

‘They’re fine, living in a retirement village. Mum’s having a wonderful time. Even Dad’s happy. The orchard sold last year.’ Hunter didn’t look overly thrilled, but then he hadn’t looked too happy about anything so far. Including her. He hadn’t been surprised to see her. So, he’d known she worked here and had still taken the job.

Her teeth gnashed. He’d signed on despite the fact this was her space. About to spew her sudden anger at him, she bit down, kept herself under tight control. Having a spat wouldn’t change a thing, only make the coming weeks even more awkward than they were going to be. ‘That’s great.’ It was far from great, but it was better than saying what was really on her mind.

Kevin interrupted, looking pleased with himself. ‘So, you two know each other.’ Rostering staff problem solved?

Oh, no. She usually paired with Patch. She wasn’t working with Hunter. ‘It was a long time ago.’ Hunter was back in town. For how long this time? How permanent was his permanent job at the emergency department? Why did she even care? He wasn’t alone any more. Even if he had been, it still wouldn’t matter. She was not revisiting their relationship. He’d broken her heart once; she wasn’t handing it over to be devastated a second time.

‘Then you’ll have plenty to catch up on. Good thing I’ve rostered you together this week.’

Brenna tightened her mouth against protesting, and instead managed to say in a semi-steady voice, ‘There’ll be opportunities to talk over the coming weeks.’ Though hearing what Hunter had been up to since they’d split might help soften the blow seeing him had inflicted, she did not need to learn how in love he was with another woman.

She stared at this man she’d once believed would share her life right through to the rocking-chair days. The good looks that had women falling at his feet were still there, somewhat jaded now, but somehow that made her soften towards him. Silly woman. Note that wariness in his gaze. It was foreign to her. Seemed the years away hadn’t been kind to him. Through a sigh she asked, ‘Want a coffee before our first callout?’

That tiredness dipped further, tightened his face before he rallied. ‘Sure do. Might try to have my breakfast since I ran out of time at home.’ He shrugged off the small pack slung over his shoulder.

Heading for the kitchen, she asked, trying to sound, oh, so uninterested, ‘Is this a long-term move?’ Again, the question arose—how permanent was permanent in his book? At her side her fingers crossed. She wanted him to stay? Or to be heading away again? It wasn’t as though they would kick-start their relationship. That was finished. Besides, even if Hunter was available, she wasn’t prepared to get involved only to find herself coming second to someone or something else again. She’d learned that lesson the first time.

Hunter answered in a manner suggesting he was wondering how much to say. ‘The plan’s to settle here long term. I’ve bought a house in Kitsilano and take it over in a fortnight.’

She gasped. Of all the places to move to. Not only was Hunter back in town, but he was right on her doorstep, apparently settling in for the foreseeable future. Not fair. Once more she struggled for calm. ‘I can’t believe you’re here.’ True. ‘What’ve you been up to?’ Truly? She wanted to know? No. Well, maybe. Depended on what he had to say.

‘Nothing out of the ordinary,’ was Hunter’s acerbic reply. Followed by, ‘I didn’t expect to find you working on the choppers.’

‘Why not?’ she snapped, before engaging her brain.

Don’t let Hunter see how rattled you are.

Sure. Like that would work. This was the guy who could read her without a glance. Hopefully he’d lost that ability when he’d pulled the plug on their relationship.

‘More than anything you wanted to be head of an emergency department before you were thirty-three.’

He remembered. Why wouldn’t he? She had been driven about getting that position. Until they’d broken up and restless energy had overtaken her. Then she’d needed something more to her life than working in an emergency department. Not that that wasn’t drama personified, but she’d wanted something for herself and, adding in her passion for adventure photography, flipping around the sky in helicopters and whipping down hillsides on skis or a mountain bike had given what she’d hankered after. It made her feel exciting and not a woman intent on studying and being the best doctor with nothing else to her name. ‘I changed my mind.’

Tilting his head slightly to one side, he said, ‘I hope you haven’t regretted that. You were so determined I thought nothing else would do.’ Was there a hint of annoyance in that? Surely, he wasn’t thinking she could’ve moved to Kamloops to be with him instead?

‘Not once. Because it was easier on Mum being where she could reach me at all times, I continued working in the emergency room until Dad died three years ago.’ After her dad had gone her restlessness had become impossible to live with and that’s when she’d gone in search of adventure.

‘I heard about your dad. I’m sorry.’

‘He lasted longer than expected.’ Dementia was so tough. ‘It wasn’t nice towards the end.’ A familiar sadness rubbed at her. She hated that it had been a relief when her father had left them, but he’d have detested what his life had been reduced to if he’d been aware.

‘Dave told me. I would’ve come to the funeral but thought it might be inappropriate.’ Hunter watched her too closely.

She nodded once. It would’ve been. ‘How is Dave?’

‘Married with two kids, living in Kitsilano. Happy as a pig in mud.’

Was everyone from her past moving to Kitsilano? ‘Lucky guy.’ She’d always got on well with Dave but after Hunter had left town, she’d deliberately stayed clear of his best friend. Seemed easier than being reminded about him all the time. ‘Two anklebiters, eh? Who’d have thought?’ Dave being the focused, suit type at one of the country’s leading banks didn’t seem the man to change dirty diapers or calm a crying toddler to sleep. Guess some people shifted focus when needed.

One day she’d like to have children. If she ever again went out with a man long enough to establish a loving relationship. Which wasn’t exactly her life plan at the moment. Possibly never would be. Two failed relationships had kind of opened her eyes and brought caution to the fore.

‘His wife would agree with you. She pinches herself every morning.’

Did Hunter want a family? He used to say he did. But then he used to look happy. Her skin tightened. He’d said we, remember? He might already have a brood. It was none of her business. She had to remember this was Hunter, a man she’d once loved, and now didn’t. Though there was no denying how often she’d wondered if he still lived in the Okanagan, and if he’d continued training as a paramedic or had returned to his original career as a nurse. She’d be patient and who knew what she’d learn over the coming days?

As long as she remembered the past had to remain where it belonged, she’d be safe from the little vibe of heat trickling through her right now. Dropping the talk of family, Brenna answered his earlier query. ‘I like the challenges of rescue work. Landing in a field one day, dropping into the bush on a wire cable on another, bringing in a mum and her baby from an outlying sound in a storm.’

‘Seems like you’ve become an adrenalin junkie.’

‘It’s a way of using up excess energy.’ The one thing she was never short of.

‘Brenna, we’re on,’ Andy called from beyond the door. ‘There’s been a car versus bull out near Richmond.’

Relieved, Brenna placed the coffee jar back on the shelf and brushed past Hunter, aiming for the door, trying not to suck up a noseful of his scent. But he still used that spicy aftershave, the one she’d introduced him to as a birthday present during their first year together. Thank goodness she no longer sprayed the fragrance she’d worn back then over her skin every morning. That would be too much.

‘Let’s go,’ she snapped. Her head was pounding, and she needed to be busy.

Hunter followed, grabbing the pack she indicated with a tip of her head. She was running hot and cold with him. This was unknown territory. How did a person act towards the man she’d loved with everything she had after he’d walked away so long ago?

‘You want me in the back?’ Hunter asked as they approached the chopper.

‘Take your pick.’ She leapt aboard and stowed her bag before sinking onto a seat, clipping safety belts in place and donning a helmet. ‘Hey, Andy, how was your weekend?’

‘You missed a great party, Brenna. Like seriously great.’

‘Them’s the breaks. Anyway, we had quite the shindig at Whistler after the last race. Lots of ice cream and hot chocolate.’

Hunter joined her, pulled on his helmet, looking confident and relaxed, apparently not afraid to face the monkey in the small space. ‘You’re into ski racing now?’

‘Not quite. Photographing the participants is my thing. Which often means going as fast as the racers. I’m the doctor for a local school team and end up with more photos than broken bones at competitions.’ When Hunter’s eyes widened Brenna shrugged helplessly. This situation was spooking her. Made that morning’s traffic woes a doddle. Hunter was sitting beside her. Unreal. A deep breath and she spoke into the headset mouthpiece. ‘Andy, have you met Hunter? He’s covering for Patch.’

‘Welcome aboard, Hunter.’ The rotors were spinning, and the engine noise was increasing rapidly. ‘We’ll talk later.’

Brenna creased her brows together, clasped her hands in a tight fist on her lap and spilled the question that was itching like a hornet sting, ‘Why Vancouver?’ Why Kitsilano when there were lots of suburbs to choose from? ‘You get run out of Kamloops?’

He grimaced. ‘Not quite.’ Then his gaze met hers. ‘I’ve got through the last years by keeping the idea of returning here at the front of my mind.’

That bad, huh? Her heart melted a little for him. Then it froze up again. Had he not once thought how this might upset her? Obviously not. Then again, ask her an hour ago how she’d have felt about Hunter returning to her city and she’d have shrugged and asked, ‘What’s the problem?’

They’d first met in Vancouver General’s ED while working with a badly haemorrhaging patient. She’d been in her last year as an intern, gearing up to specialise in emergency medicine, and he had been tossing up where to go next. Hitting it off instantly, with sparks flying and the temperature rising, Hunter had asked her out for a drink at the bar next door where hospital staff flocked every day, and they had become inseparable overnight. Literally.

It had been wonderful. Until the day he’d received the call from his mother and had had to get home fast. End of relationship. End of story. Except now he was back on her turf, looking amazing. So strong, yet wary, sexy yet—Sexy. Her teeth ground together. ‘Sounds like you have unfinished business here,’ she muttered around the sudden yearning clogging her throat. That wouldn’t be her.

‘It’s more about being somewhere I’m comfortable. Some place I can make things work for both of us.’

Brenna’s face tightened at the reminder he wasn’t alone. The yearning slowly abated, and she began to focus on what she was here for. Pressing the button on her mic, she asked in a monotone, ‘What are the details, Andy? I didn’t get the brief.’ Too busy trying to ignore the fact she had to work with Hunter.

‘Three male teens in the car, going to the skating rink for hockey training. Rounded a corner and smacked into a bull that’d escaped from the field. The beast took out the right front of the car. An ambulance is there, along with the fire crew, who are cutting the vehicle apart so you can retrieve the lads.’

‘Messy,’ Hunter commented, sitting a little straighter, immediately focused on what lay ahead. ‘There’ll likely be blunt force trauma injuries for the two in the front seats. Are we the only air base responders?’

Andy answered, ‘The second crew’s warming up. They won’t be far behind us.’

‘You’d better be landing on the road,’ Brenna muttered. ‘There might be more bulls wandering around in the field.’ She wasn’t a big fan of cattle, or any livestock. A city girl through and through, she preferred sheep on a plate as chops, and her beef definitely as steak, medium rare.

‘I’ll see what I can find.’ Andy laughed.

Looking at Hunter, she grimaced. ‘You’ll be in your element.’ Having grown up in the country, he’d have no fear of animals with hard heads.

‘I learned to be cautious around cattle after my quad-bike accident.’

‘Here we go,’ Andy told them. ‘Looks like the beast’s been put out of its misery.’

Glancing down, Brenna noted the large animal on its side at the edge of the road, none of the emergency personnel taking any notice of it. Relief sneaked under her skin. Total focus was what mattered, and not on a bull. Nor on the temporary paramedic.

At the car wreck Brenna appraised the situation and listened to the ambulance officer’s observations. The teens looked too young to be driving but according to a fireman two of the boys were seventeen.

‘We’ll see to the front passenger,’ Brenna told Hunter. He’d taken the brunt of the impact. ‘Carl and Nick will see to the driver when they arrive. The ambulance crew will continue with him until they get here, then take care of the boy in the back. His injuries aren’t so serious and a road transfer’s possible.’

Hunter squatted down beside the lad she’d indicated as their patient. ‘Hello, there. I’m Hunter and this is Brenna.’ Hunter’s and her names in one sentence. She shivered. ‘We’re here to look after you. What’s your name?’

‘Johnny.’

‘How old are you, Johnny?’ Brenna asked. How alert was the lad?

‘Um, fourteen? Seventeen. Yes, seventeen.’ His mind was wandering, a sure sign of a possible neurological injury.

‘You were going to the skating rink?’ Hunter was digging into his pack for a neck brace.

Brenna began assessing Johnny’s injuries. This was like old times: different setting, same questions and empathy for their patient. Different feelings for her medical partner. Kneeling opposite Hunter, memories flooded in of them working together. It was a struggle to ignore the flare of awareness that came with those.

Patient first, Brenna. Patient second, and last.

They needed to put that neck brace on Johnny in case of vertebrae injuries before anything else. Together they got it on, then she put her finger on the boy’s pulse: rapid and erratic. Was he bleeding somewhere? With her other hand she felt under the boy’s body, touched a sticky spot.

Johnny cried out.

‘Easy. We’ll give you something for the pain shortly.’ In an aside she told Hunter, ‘Torn tissue on the left side of his thigh.’

He nodded.

‘H-how are my mates?’ His breathing was rapid and shallow.

Without checking, Hunter told him, ‘They’re doing okay.’

Good move. Johnny didn’t need anything else to worry about. ‘Breathe long and slow, try not to panic. We’re here to look after you.’

Hunter repeated a question to the teen, ‘Where were you guys going so early in the morning?’ By doing that, they’d know if he began losing awareness and if the neurological dysfunction had worsened.