Healed by the Single Dad Doc

weetman was clearly thinking of an apparatus connected to the wall by a wire. ‘That sounds rather clever.’

‘Dad will show you. He showed me on his phone.’ Sam seemed eager to help and Ethan breathed a small sigh of relief as the doors of the church hall opened. Offering Mrs Sweetman his arm, he walked slowly inside.

Kate was nowhere to be seen. Display boards with photographs were laid out on one side of the hall and a tea table on the other. The crowd migrated as one to the tea table.

‘Where are the dogs, Dad?’ Sam was looking a little disappointed.

‘They’ll be outside. We’ll go and see them after we’ve got Mrs Sweetman a cup of tea.’

‘Oh, thank you, dear. I could do with one after all that waiting.’

Sam carefully carried a plate of biscuits over to Mrs Sweetman and offered her one. He was duly thanked, and then they were free. Ethan hurried Sam through the hall and out of the fire doors at the side before anyone else could buttonhole them. The village had known his every move practically since he had been born. Now that he was a young widower with a child, its elders seemed intent on engaging him in conversation whenever they saw him to fend off any possibility of loneliness. It was kind, and a gesture that Ethan had appreciated when Jenna had first died. But he’d come to terms with being alone now, and this afternoon there was somewhere else he needed to be.

On the grass in a semi-circle, large, open-sided tents shaded the dogs and their owners from the sun. The police were there, along with a stand for hearing dogs and one for guide dogs. The mountain rescue dogs were at the far end, and Ethan wondered whether he would have to work through all the rest before he got to see Kate.

Sam saved him the trouble, running across the grass towards her. She was wearing a red T-shirt, with the mountain rescue insignia, and when she saw Sam she stretched her arms out in an expression of joy that made Ethan’s heart thump in his chest.

He saw Sam hug her. He didn’t often do that, saving his hugs for people he really liked. A little quiver of foreboding—the thought that he shouldn’t let Sam become dependent on her hugs—was forgotten as he saw Sam’s face when one of the men Kate was with issued a command to his dog and the animal trotted over to Sam, holding out its paw. Ethan saw Kate nod to Sam and he took the dog’s paw and shook hands.

She looked up and saw Ethan. This time she didn’t stretch her arms out, but her smile was no less broad.

‘You made it, then.’

‘Yes. We made it.’

He knew that Kate was perfectly capable of smiling through the most challenging problems. He’d fallen for her cover-up himself, believing that she was coping well with the after-effects of the attack, but he fancied that he was beginning to see a little more clearly now. And this afternoon, she had a lightness about her that convinced him her joy was genuine.

‘Looks as if we have a budding dog trainer here.’ She grinned over at Sam who was being introduced to each of the dogs in turn.

‘I’m hoping so. We’ll need to commit to some classes when the puppy’s old enough.’

Ethan smiled across at one of Kate’s companions and Mike strode over to shake his hand.

‘Ethan. How are you doing? I haven’t see you in a while.’

‘I’m good. I’ve been busy.’ It occurred to Ethan that he’d slowly withdrawn from village life over the last year, intent on proving to himself that he could manage alone. Maybe he was lonely.

‘Sam told me all about his puppy when I saw him the other day with your father. Where is George?’ Mike looked around.

‘He’ll be along later. He’s taking Mum over to her tailoring class first.’ The tailoring class was actually an excuse to sit around, drink tea and talk. His mother had been attending it for ten years now, which meant she’d probably learned just about all she needed to know about the sewing part of the afternoon.

‘Well, I’ll let you have a look around. Kate, you’ve got the leaflets?’

‘Yes.’ Kate picked up a pile of leaflets from the table behind her and handed one to Ethan. ‘Here you are.’

‘Thanks.’ Ethan knew all about the activities of the mountain rescuers, but he took the leaflet anyway, its value growing in inverse proportion to its usefulness, because Kate had given it to him.

‘I’m in there...’ She grinned and pointed out a small figure, standing with a group of others. ‘I’ll mention that because you wouldn’t be able to recognise me otherwise.’

Maybe not. Maybe it was just his imagination that he’d recognise the way she held herself anywhere. ‘Do you go out with the team?’

‘Yes, I’ve completed my training and I’m a fully fledged mountain rescuer now. Even got the T-shirt.’ She pointed at the logo on her shirt, and Ethan tried not to stare. The thin material draped over her curves looked great.

‘But you don’t handle any of the dogs?’ Each dog responded only to the commands of one of the men.

‘No, the dogs live with their handlers, and I didn’t want to leave an animal alone while I was at work. I decided it was best to just help with them. And be a part of the team when we go out, of course.’

This meant a lot to Kate. She was all about the challenge, and the more he saw that the more he knew she could challenge her own demons if she just had the right tools to do it with. And, even though he’d decided to leave that to Usha, he couldn’t help wanting to be a part of it.