Ethan's Daughter. Rachel Brimble

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СКАЧАТЬ face that problem when I have to.” He glanced toward the kitchen door. “Look, it’s getting late. Maybe you should go.”

      Leah crossed her arms. “Will you please just talk to me? Whether you like it or not, I’m involved and starting to kind of like you and Daisy. So until I know she’s safe...”

      He shot her an impressive glare of his own before he rubbed his hand over his jaw and sat. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to make it any clearer. I don’t want you mixed up in this. I know Anna—you don’t. Believe me, you’re better off out of it.”

      “Maybe I am, but unfortunately for you, I’m not the sort of woman to walk away from someone in trouble. I’m a nurse, Ethan. I take care of people, and I can’t abandon you and Daisy until I know any danger has passed. I’m sorry.”

      “Abandon us? We’re not your responsibility.”

      Her cheeks heated. “Intellectually I know that, but morally you are my responsibility.”

      “I’m trying my best to be nice here.” His gaze burned with determination. “You getting any more involved than you are already isn’t up for debate.”

      “You know something? By rights, I should’ve reported what happened to the police last night, but so far I haven’t. For your sake. For Daisy’s sake. Having said that, if I suspect Daisy could be exposed to further danger, then I’ll have no choice but to go to the police. So you need to convince me that little girl asleep upstairs is safe.”

      Leah squeezed her eyes shut before opening them again. “I’m a professional who loves her job and the people who live in this town. I’m duty-bound to help them to the best of my ability. By sending me away, telling me to mind my own business, you’re making it hard for me to do my job. Just tell me how things were left with your ex. Is she likely to come back?”

      “Honestly?” His stare turned hard and his cheeks darkened. “I don’t know and that scares the crap out of me.”

      Chills tiptoed up her spine. “Then call the police. Get a restraining order. Whatever. You need to do something to ensure Daisy is kept out of harm’s way. Why don’t I take you to the station tomorrow?”

      “No.” He shook his head. “If I decide to go to the police, I’m perfectly capable of going there alone.”

      She couldn’t just leave. Somehow, after such a short time, Ethan and Daisy had gotten under her skin. She pulled back her shoulders. “I told you... I’m a nurse.”

      “And you’re duty-bound, right?”

      She swallowed against the coldness in his gaze and looked toward the darkened back garden. “Right.”

      Professionally and personally, she wished she’d walked any other route home than past the beach last night.

      That’s right. Keep telling yourself you wish you hadn’t come face-to-face with this lonely author and his daughter. That you aren’t thankful it was you who found Daisy instead of some sicko.

      Purposely softening her tone, she faced Ethan. “What are you going to do? I really don’t want us to fight about this.”

      He tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling. Leah gazed at his jaw and exposed throat. Everything about him attracted her...and the fact he was a published author gave her a thrill that should’ve been deemed juvenile. But the things she’d like to do with the man were far from juvenile.

      “You’re worrying about nothing.” He dropped his chin. “Anna lives in Bristol. That’s almost eighty-five miles away. She can’t just pop by.”

      Leah stood, needing some distance. The man was so damn stubborn. “Yet that’s exactly what she did.”

      “Yes, but I can’t see it happening again anytime soon. She wanted money from either me or her current lover in order to make a new start. Sooner or later, she’ll find a way to get that money, but she knows it won’t be from me, so why come back here?”

      Leah frowned. “So she’s in some sort of financial trouble?”

      “Yes. Well, no. Not really.”

      “What does that mean?”

      “Leah, please. Just leave it.”

      “She’s Daisy’s mum, Ethan. If she’s in some sort of physical danger, what will you do if something happens to her? Could you live with that? Could Daisy?” Looking at his good hand where it lay on the table, she hesitated before reaching forward and covering it with her own. “You have to do something. You know you do.”

      His jaw tightened before he gently slipped his hand from hers and looked away.

      “Do you know why I became a nurse?”

      His chest rose as he inhaled and turned. He blew out a breath. “Why?”

      She barely knew the man. But what choice did she have but to share something about herself if she wanted him to see sense? “When I was about fifteen my grandmother disappeared. I was closer to her than any other member of my family, including my parents.”

      His gaze was steady and intense on hers.

      “Unbeknownst to me, she was diagnosed with cancer and my parents put her in a hospice as soon as they possibly could. Any place they didn’t have to look after her themselves. That’s the sort of people my parents are. I had no idea where she’d gone.” Tears burned behind her eyes. “They took it upon themselves to decide I was too young to watch my grandmother becoming more and more sick. She died without me having the chance to spend her last days with her, or even to say goodbye. I swore there and then that I would do all I could to help others who are sick. Help their families to care for them, be with them until the end.” She shook her head, fighting the urge to take his hand again. “Life is precious, Ethan. It can change in a heartbeat through no fault of your own. If Daisy’s your priority—”

      “She’s my only priority.”

      She pulled back her shoulders, praying he heard her. “Then prove it. Go to the police. Talk to Cat Garrett. She’ll help you ensure Daisy is safe. This has to be about your daughter. Not your anger toward your ex-wife.”

      “I sent Anna away because of Daisy. If this was about me, I could handle Anna whether she was here or a million miles away. I don’t want her near Daisy because my ex-wife would have no more qualms about using a seven-year-old to her own ends than she would an adult.”

      The sincerity in his eyes was undeniable. “So what are you going to do? I still think not involving the police is a bad decision. You can’t guarantee Anna won’t reappear any more than I can.” Leah frowned. “Do you have some sort of problem with the police? Don’t trust them?” Frustration merged with suspicion and chipped away at her thinning patience. She crossed her arms. “Or are you just too bullheaded to accept the fact that nobody can be there all the time for somebody they love?”

      He slowly pushed himself to his feet, his voice dangerously low. “There are more people in this than Anna. She witnessed some sort of drug deal, and when she said she was going to tell the police, her thug of a boyfriend threatened her. She says she wants the money to get away from him, but it could be she just wants money from me and has no intention СКАЧАТЬ