Second Chance with the Single Mom

‘Thanks for the talk. Especially the part about redefining best...’ She murmured the words and then she was gone.

Alistair slowly raised his fingers to his cheek. He could no longer convince himself that he’d take what they had and be content if it never happened again. Every part of him wanted more.

* * *

They were like flies, caught in amber. Raina was afraid to go on, but she didn’t want to go back either. Alistair had made no move, and perhaps he was feeling as confused as she was.

Concentrating on the task in hand helped take her mind off it all. After her second session with Ben, she felt able to write a basic overview of how the computer system worked, and what it could provide. Now she could move on to medical and social issues, which she felt much more at home with.

It was fun as well. Working on this stretched her in a way that she’d missed since she’d given up work to look after Anya.

Anya was learning how to make the most from her new prosthetics. She still used the fixed hand for rough and tumble games, so that the myolectric one wasn’t damaged, but Kaia had begun to teach her how to use the myolectric hand for more complex tasks.

It was becoming the norm that she’d walk into Alistair’s office and find that he and Anya were taking a break from the serious business of the day and concentrating on building castles. When she walked into his office, two faces looked up at her with exactly the same expressions.

Only Anya voiced the disappointment. ‘I don’t want to go, Mum...’

‘We’ll be back tomorrow.’ Two faces brightened at the prospect, Alistair’s a little more because he had a firmer grasp on the reality of tomorrow.

‘But my castle...’ Anya stuck her bottom lip out.

‘Alistair will keep your castle safe for you. It’ll be here.’

That wasn’t Anya’s concern. She got to her feet, walking carefully around the half-built fairy castle made from sparkly bricks, and put her small hand on the side of Alistair’s face, tipping it towards her.

‘Can you hear me?’

‘Yes, I can hear you, Anya.’ Alistair was trying to suppress a smile and failing miserably. Anya’s insistence that he hear everything she said was something that seemed precious to him.

‘Don’t play with my castle when I’m not here.’

‘No, Anya. I won’t.’

‘Promise!’

Alistair nodded solemnly, putting his hand on his heart. ‘I promise.’

Clearly suspecting the same as Raina, that the promise might be a hard one for him to keep, Anya tugged at his arm, and Alistair got to his feet. Pulling him away from the castle, and to the other side of his desk, she pushed him into his chair.

A tall, powerful man entirely at the mercy of a child. Anya wasn’t just another child that The Watchlight Trust could help, he was falling in love. Raina blinked tears from her eyes as she bent down, lifting the castle carefully and putting it on top of the filing cabinet. Alistair stayed put, grinning, while Anya helped her scoop the bricks on the floor back into the bucket.

‘Shall we take your magic hand off now?’ The fixed hand was much lighter for Anya to wear.

‘I want it on me. In the car.’

Raina glanced in Alistair’s direction and he nodded. ‘All right, sweetie. Go and say goodbye to Heidi.’

Anya ran from the room, and Heidi turned her swivel chair to give the little girl a hug goodbye, and a sweet from the jar on her desk.

‘How is she doing?’

Alistair frowned. ‘Kaia’s made a lot of progress with her, but she’s still using the hand as a scoop. She’s having a bit of trouble using the muscles in her arm to move the fingers.’

Raina held up her little finger, wiggling it. ‘But she’s managed to get you wrapped round this one.’

‘Nonsense.’ Alistair took a shot at an unconvincing denial, and then smiled. ‘I’ll see you both tomorrow.’

* * *