The Single Dad's Marriage Wish (Bachelor Dads) by Carol Marinelli Read Free Book Online Page B

mouth.
    ‘Does that help?’
    ‘I’ve no idea,’ Charlotte admitted. ‘But it seems logical!’
    He left them sitting on sofa, both sucking on lemonade-flavoured ice-lollies—and, yes, Hamish admitted, maybe it did make sense. Only there was nothing logical about his thoughts as he drove to the hospital!
    He was thirty-five years old, for goodness’ sake! With a child and a mortgage and an endlessly demanding job—bogged down with responsibility and exhaustion—an impetuous thing like Charlotte wouldn’t even entertain …He stopped his thought pattern right there before it went any further. In a desperate attempt to distract himself, Hamish rang through to the hospital and chatted with the resident about the problem patient.
    A thirty-year-old male who the resident was pretty sure was putting on an impressive act in an attempt to get some drugs.
    ‘I think I know him,’ Hamish said. ‘I’ve come across him before—just tell him you need a second opinion before you can give him any pain medication. I’ll be there in five.’
    One look at Hamish’s rather familiar and less than impressed face and the patient knew he’d been rumbled, quickly jumping off the gurney and getting dressed at full speed then adding a few expletives for good measure as he raced out of the department as Hamish watched without uttering a single word.
    ‘Sorry to drag you in,’ Cameron addressed his boss. ‘He came in under a false name, so I didn’t know that you’d already seen him.’
    ‘Several times.’ Hamish nodded. ‘And don’t be sorry for calling me in—you did well to pick up that he was lying. He had me fooled once.’
    ‘Really?’ Cameron said doubtfully. Hamish Adams rarely got things wrong.
    ‘Well, nearly. Is there anything else you need me for before I head home?’
    ‘Nope, we’re pretty quiet. Hopefully I won’t have to wake you again.’
    ‘With the way Bailey’s behaving at the moment, I somehow don’t think it’ll be you waking me.’
    Only this time he was wrong…
    Letting himself into the house, expecting chaos, or at least a bordering-on hysterical Bailey, he frowned at the darkness, flicking on the kitchen light, and it was as if the fairies had whizzed in in the short time he had been away as he stared at the relatively tidy family room. Bailey’s bag had been repacked and stood ready to go in the morning, cups and bottles washed and draining, and most surprisingly of all the delightful sound of silence.
    DELEGATE!!!!!!!!!!!
    He saw the bold word written on Bailey’s chalk board and smiled as he picked up a piece of chalk, thinking of her scribbling it before she’d gone to bed—the chalk board Charlotte’s newest tool in communication as she endlessly came up with suggestions to help his work situation. She’d run the gamut—had even had him considering ascending, or metaphorically descending, the miserable stairs to a senior advisory role in hospital admin.
    She was right—he should delegate more. There were three consultants in the place so why did everyone, when it was urgent (and given the nature of his job it usually was!) always end up calling him?
    Hamish knew the answer. Picking up the chalk, he revealed it to Charlotte.
    ‘Already tried that—only no one does it as good as me!’ he wrote, then changed his mind, deciding that his words might possibly be misconstrued as a bit, well, suggestive! Carefully he rubbed out ‘it’ and changed it to ‘my job’, then headed upstairs, passing first Charlotte’s bedroom, the door slightly ajar, and, after pausing for just a fraction, heading to Bailey’s.
    Staring down at his son, seeing the flushed, tear-streaked face he had said goodbye to pale and peaceful, his sore mouth now relaxed in sleep, Hamish knew, with the relief only a frazzled parent could know, that he was out for the count, that a couple of hours of serious sleep were possibly about to ensue…and he wasn’t thinking about Bailey!
    Heading to bed, still