Page 44 of A Mommy for His Daughter

She was such a talented surgeon.

I wish she would stay.

He cursed under his breath, angry at himself for continuing to think that way. Evelyn wasn’t going to stay and he couldn’t get attached even if he wanted to do just that. Surgeons like Evelyn never stayed. And how much work could Wolf’s Harbor pull in for a surgeon of her caliber? Not much. They were a town of just under a thousand people. Most of that population elderly or male.

Not a huge call for OB/GYNs, even though his clinic did also serve the surrounding area. There were a lot of small villages near Wolf’s Harbor.

Maybe there would be enough work for her. That was if he could get his small hospital off the ground.

Stop trying to find reasons for her to stay. You’ll only get hurt.

“There you are. I was wondering where you’d got too.”

“Just wandering. Waiting,” he responded gruffly.

He had to get control of these thoughts.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

No.

“Yeah, fine. Let’s go get something to eat.”

Derek couldn’t remember when he’d got so good at pretending that he was okay. It was just something he’d learned to do. Learned to cope with the fact that he’d forgotten what it was like to feel.

* * *

It was his fault that dinner was so awkward. He’d thrown those walls back up, even though he wanted to let Evelyn in. He didn’t blame her when she excused herself and went to bed early. It was for the best.

The next morning was no better, but when they picked up Mo from his in-laws whatever tension there was seemed to melt away.

Or at least Evelyn acted as if there was no awkwardness between them for the benefit of Mo, which he appreciated immensely.

She was so good with Mo, and Mo just adored her. Why did this have to be so complicated?

“I can’t wait to get back home,” Mo chirped from the back seat.

Derek smiled as he glanced back at her in the rearview mirror, and then he looked over at Evelyn, who was smiling too, but then she frowned.

“What’s going on?” she asked as they approached the ferry terminal, which seemed to have a blockade around it.

“I don’t know.” Derek slowed down and one of the state troopers who had clearly set up the blockade came forward when Derek stopped and rolled down his window.

“Good morning, folks. Are you headed to Hoonah?”

“Yes,” Derek said. “We’re on the first ferry back.”

“A fog bank has rolled in from Sitka. It’s pretty bad and there are no ferries operating that way at the moment.”

“So what do we do?” Derek asked. “Will the ferry service resume once the fog bank clears?”

“Tomorrow. hopefully,” the trooper said. “Even the planes are grounded. If you have tickets you can head to the office. They’ve made arrangements for accommodation for all stranded passengers.”

“Thank you, Officer.”

The state trooper nodded and stepped back, directing Derek where to go.

“What do we do?” Evelyn asked.

“Well, we’re stuck. We’ll find out what accommodation they have for us and I’ll call Dr. Vance and let him know about our delay.”

“Aren’t we going on the boat, Daddy?” Mo asked.

“Not at the moment.” Derek pulled into a parking place. “I’ll go in with the tickets and find out what’s going on.”

Evelyn nodded. “Sure.”

“I’ll be back.”

The line wasn’t too long. The ferry terminal had everything moving swiftly and accommodation had been set up at motel further up the road that was formed of a series of small cabins. The only problem was that the three of them would have to share a cabin. There wasn’t a separate cabin for Evelyn. At least the cabin had two rooms. He could stay with Mo in her room and Evelyn could have the other one. But they were stuck until the fog bank cleared, and that wasn’t likely to happen until the morning.

He headed back to the car and slid in the driver side. “We have a cabin.”

“A cabin?” Evelyn asked.

“That sounds like fun!” Mo said excitedly.

“Nothing to do but wait it out.”

“I hope they have television,” Mo said.

Evelyn shared a secret smile with him.

“Well, I was thinking we’d check into our cabin and then maybe drive up the coast to where the road ends and see if we can spot the sea lions in Point Bridget State Park.”

“That sounds like fun!” Evelyn said.

Derek turned back to Mo. “Is that okay?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, sea lions it is.”

It was just a short drive to the cabin motel and they checked in, dropping off their bags. There was a small café in the motel, where they grabbed a quick bite to eat and Evelyn bought some sandwiches to eat later in the park.

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