sweet scent of her perfume that smelled like candy.
In any other circumstances he would have welcomed someone else’s devotion to his daughter but he hadn’t let anyone get close to them since his wife had broken their hearts. He’d always been attracted to strong, independent women and Summer wasn’t afraid to challenge him when necessary but he would never be distracted again when it came to Gracie’s welfare.
The way Summer was already so integrated into their lives was unnerving but Gracie had never responded so well to a female influence. Not even her own mother. Christina had been hurt by her refusal to interact with her at an early age, had taken it personally when it had merely been a symptom of her condition. She’d been embarrassed when their baby had failed to reach the milestones of others her age. In the end she’d simply told Rafael she wasn’t cut out for motherhood or marriage and had gone back to the single, carefree life she’d apparently missed so much.
The irony was that he’d been able to get the help and advice needed to aid Gracie after she’d gone. Christina had been in denial that her baby could be anything other than perfect, when Rafael had known all along there had been something wrong. Once he’d been able to get a diagnosis so they knew what they were dealing with, it had been easier to cope. If Christina had hung around she would’ve watched her child reach all those milestones, if slightly later than her peers.
It hadn’t made life as a single parent any easier to have a daughter with special needs and there certainly wasn’t room for a Christina replacement. He couldn’t trust anyone not to hurt Gracie again.
Miss Ryan had to remain a mere bystander when it came to his family. Otherwise he was doomed to repeat the past and the opportunity to come to Maple Island would have been wasted. He hadn’t relocated here for anything other than the stability it offered Gracie. Bringing another woman into their home wasn’t going to achieve that, only offer more possibilities of heartache when she decided Gracie was too much reality for a pretty young blonde to handle.
Rafael had had his time of putting his wants first when he’d left his family behind in Spain to come and study medicine in America. Unlike his parents, he wanted what was best for his child, not necessarily what was more acceptable for them. That selfishness and all the other negative family connotations he’d turned his back on could stay in the Mediterranean as far as he was concerned.
Rafael’s mood hadn’t improved at all by the afternoon. As usual he’d had a busy morning catching up on the day’s schedule, meeting the team at the facility to discuss the status of their patients and prioritise his cases depending on the urgency of their conditions.
One of the reasons he’d relocated to the clinic had been the hope it would be less demanding on his time, making more room for Gracie, with fewer emergencies coming in at all hours of the night when they were primarily a rehabilitation facility.
However, his caseload was always full, dealing with back-related conditions that required surgical intervention. The clinic’s reputation, combined with the privacy and beautiful surroundings provided by the location, made it the ideal hiding place for the rich and famous wishing to recuperate away from the glare of the spotlight and the paparazzi.
He understood that mind-set to some extent. Unknown to his fellow islanders, he was a bit of a celebrity in his own right. In Spain, at least. The eldest son of a duke attracted more attention than he’d ever been comfortable with, and though he’d been glad to leave that cosseted lifestyle behind to come to America and study anonymously, it had caused a huge fallout with his family, but he didn’t regret the sacrifice he’d made when it meant he and Gracie retained their privacy.
The majority of Rafael’s clients here tended to be sports stars keen to recover from injury as quickly and quietly as possible and the on-site rehab facilities provided everything they needed post-surgery.
He didn’t follow American sports himself but even he’d heard of Tom Horner, the ex-football star turned commentator, who was here for a lumbar discectomy to relieve his sciatica pain. The procedure Rafael was carrying out today was to remove the herniated portion of the lumbar disc pressing against a nerve.
‘Buenos días, Doc.’ The All-American hero slapped his meaty hand into Rafael’s and shook it vigorously. Even now, in his fifties, the man was a powerhouse, the strength of the handshake alone reverberating through Rafael’s limbs so he dreaded to imagine how much damage a hit from him in his heyday would have caused.
‘Buenas tardes, Señor Horner. Are you all set for your surgery today?’ The surgery unit was still in its infancy at present but sufficient that they could carry out procedures on an outpatient basis. Any major operations were still carried out at their sister hospital, Boston Harbour, and patients were often transferred here for secondary surgeries as well as rehabilitation. Sometimes they had a team out from Boston to assist and other times Rafael’s expertise was required back on the mainland and the sharing of skills was working successfully so far.
‘I can’t wait to have it done and get back to normal.’ From his appearance alone no one would be able to tell this man had been in pain for some considerable time. A lot of people tended to look vulnerable sitting in a hospital bed in their gowns, waiting to put their lives literally in the hands of the doctors here. Not Tom Horner. His hulking frame dominated the space, the fabric of the flimsy gown stretched to accommodate him and he was as intimidating a presence as ever.
‘You know you’ll have to take it easy for a while after surgery? We’ll discuss it at length post-op but we need to make sure you avoid any undue strain to keep your spine in proper alignment.’ He knew Tom’s kind, having started out in sports therapy. Sportsmen didn’t make the easiest patients, wanting to shake off injury as soon as possible to get back on their feet and back in the game, often ignoring rehab advice to their detriment.
‘Don’t worry, Doc. I’ve hired a place on the west side of the island where I’m doing nothing but resting up until I’m fighting fit again. As far as anyone knows, I’m on extended vacation and I want to keep it that way.’
‘Of course.’ Although wear and tear on the body was all part of the ageing process, Rafael had treated men and women who saw it as a sign of weakness, almost something to be ashamed about. Whilst it wasn’t his business who his patients did or didn’t tell about their health problems, it was his duty to ensure there was some after-care in place at home. ‘Do you have any family or friends over with you who can help you out during your recuperation?’
He hadn’t seen any evidence of a support system even at the initial consultation in Boston before Tom had followed him out here, over the moon at the prospect of having his treatment in private.
The big man’s cheeks turned pink before he answered. ‘My daughter’s here, fussing around. She insisted on coming with me but as far as the ex-wife is concerned we’re on a father-daughter getaway. Terri can read me better than her mom ever could and knew there was something going on.’ He threw his hands up in exasperation and the fact his daughter had got the better of him made the corners of Rafael’s mouth tilt upwards for the first time that day.
Daughters had that knack of tying their fathers up in knots around their little fingers. Thankfully that bond didn’t break even when the marriage did. At least, not for him. Gracie’s mother hadn’t had any problem abandoning her child but she’d never taken to being a parent the way he had and now he was doing the job for both of them.
The responsibility of motherhood had curbed her nights out when he’d been working and unable to mind their daughter. A baby with special needs had been a step too far for a woman who had still thought and acted like a single twenty-something. It had almost been a relief when she’d ended things because
