Cinderella's Guardian (2 page)

His heart had shattered that day.

He hadn't realized Gloria had been so unhappy with him. He'd tried to ring her but she refused his calls. She even refused him contact with Tina. Twelve months later the divorce papers came. It had felt like a blowtorch to his chest when he'd signed those damn things. Being off shore on the oil rig so much meant he didn't have a chance at fighting for custody so he'd signed that over too, although he had made sure the court orders contained phone call provisions. He could ring Tina on her birthday and Christmas. There was nothing Gloria could do about it. Gloria had already proven she'd never let him have any contact without the court's say so.

It was now clear as day that Gloria didn't love their daughter, just as she'd never loved him. He'd fallen in love with Gloria the first time he saw her in high school. She'd loved that he was the best footballer and was the best-looking bloke there. Apparently, that was all she'd loved. He chuckled humorlessly. Gloria had always been all about the glory.

My poor little sweet pea.

She must be scared and hurting so much to learn her mother didn't care when she needed her so much.

He rang the airport and booked the first available flight then snatched his suitcase from the floor in his walk-in-closet. He dialed the hospital to obtain more details on Tina's injuries and well-being. Once he got off the phone from the hospital, he rang work. From what her doctor had said, it was going to take more than two weeks to move Tina and for her to settle in here in Tasmania. His boss, Greg, was sympathetic to the situation and told Dale to take as much time as he needed, just give him a call when he was ready to come back. With a heavy heart, he put his phone on to charge. Something about Greg's tight tone had him thinking getting back on the rig wasn't going to be that simple.

It was probably going to be at least a few weeks before he could bring her home from the hospital, and she'd be in a wheel chair for some time. The doctor had warned him she might need it permanently. He could only imagine how Tina was coping with it all. The absolute best-case scenario still never had her going back to competition level gymnastics. As he packed his case, he thought about all the changes he was going to have to make. He was going to have to keep working so a nurse or caretaker of some kind was going to be needed, at least until she learned how to care for herself and move around in her wheelchair. Damn, the wheelchair. His house was going to need some major renovating to accommodate it. He didn't mind doing anything required to keep his daughter happy, he just worried about accomplishing it all in time. Especially without him here to supervise it all being done. Maybe he could ring around to a few of his friends and have one of them oversee the renovations while he was in Sydney. For starters, the bathroom and front steps would have to be done before Tina could move in.

~ * ~

"Was that Dale Anderson's car that just went racing past, for the third time today?"

Robyn looked up from the appointment book at Barbara, her friend and employee.

"What kind of car was it?"

"Black dual cab Toyota Hilux—that's his car isn't it? He sure looked like he was in a hurry too."

"That's his car all right. Wonder what's happened..." Robyn let her voice trail off as she thought about what would have Dale in such a spin.

The elderly lady sitting in front of Barbara, getting her hair permed, spoke up.

"Oh, you haven't heard the news? Poor man."

Robyn gritted her teeth to ward off the sudden desire to throttle the woman. Why did little old ladies have to gossip? Couldn't they just spit the information out already?

"Don't tease, Doris. If you know something, please, do tell." Barbara coaxed.

A sneer curved Robyn's lips. Where Robyn would have probably fisted Doris' hair and demanded the information, Barbara gently reprimanded her while she requested the story.
Whatever
. So long as it worked.

"Dale's daughter, Tina, had an accident at the Olympic Trials. The word is she might not walk again," Doris let out a decidedly non-ladylike snort of disgust before continuing, "and that hussy, Gloria, just walked out on her. Poor girl. Fancy your own mother walking away from you without a care when you need her most. Apparently, she rang Dale earlier today, ordering him to come get her. No doubt she had to rush off to get her nails done or some such rubbish. Naturally, Dale is running around to get things organized before he flies out to go get his daughter."

"What kind of things does he need to organize?" Robyn's mind was working overtime. She had always fancied Dale but had never been able to catch his eye. This may just be her opportunity to take her place in his life.

"Well, he's going to need to renovate his place quick smart. No way can a wheelchair get up those front steps of his, for starters. I believe he's also looking for a caretaker for her, for when he has to go back out working those rigs of his. Just until Tina learns how to cope on her own, I'm sure." Doris sighed loudly. "Only twenty years old and having to learn how to live in a wheelchair. So sad."

That got Robyn thinking, she was no renovator but she could be a caretaker. How hard could a twenty year old be to look after? She'd better get in quick before someone else offered.

"I'm just heading out for a bit. You're right to handle things, Barbara?"

"Sure thing, boss." Barbara finished with a wink, indicating she knew full well what Robyn was thinking.

As soon as Robyn was out the back door, she was dialing Dale's number. A number she'd pinched from Gloria's phone many years ago but never had the courage to use. He picked up on the third ring. "Hey, Dale here. Who's this?"

"Hi Dale, it's Robyn. Robyn Taylor, we went to school together. Don't know if you remember me or not?"

"Sure I remember you. What can I do for you?"

"Well, it's more what I can do for you. I heard about your daughter's unfortunate accident and wanted to offer my services in caring for Tina."

"Oh, um, great. That would be a big help. Do you have experience with this kind of thing?"

"Nothing professional, but I used to help with my cousin. He's been in a chair his whole life."

She didn't tell him that all she did was bitch and moan to her mother that they had to look after the brat every time her aunt had needed a break.

"Ah, okay. Well, I'm guessing Tina won't need a lot of help anyway. I'm not going to be able to stay off the rigs for very long unfortunately, so she'll need help with her rehab stuff and maybe a little with getting around. That type of thing, do you think you'll be right with that?"

"I'm sure Tina and I will get along just fine."

"Yeah, sure. Look, I'm under the pump at the moment and need to get moving. I'm not sure when I'll need you to start. Can I get back to you once I return with Tina?"

"Sure, Dale, take your time. There's no rush. I'll text through my contact details and wait for you to call me."

"Great, thanks Robyn. We'll talk soon. Bye."

"See-ya, Dale."

Robyn hit the end-call button on her phone as a big grin spread across her face and butterflies took flight in her belly. Finally, Dale had noticed her and she would never be stuck in Gloria's shadow ever again.

All she had to do was keep his daughter reliant on her.

Chapter One

1 September 2012

The hollowness Tina felt in her chest seemed to be increasing each day, the depression sucking her further down into a deep dark pit of despair. Two weeks ago, on the two-month anniversary of her accident, her nightmares had started getting worse. They were now plaguing her sleep every night. When she closed her eyes, all she saw was either the last moments of her routine and felt the pain as her leg broke, or she relived watching her mother walk out of her hospital room and her life. She wasn't sure which hurt more, never being able to do gymnastics again or her mother proving how much she didn't love her.

Tina rubbed her thigh as she recalled the feel of it cracking against the beam. The remembered agony momentarily stole her breath. The doctors had confirmed she'd basically shattered her femur and cracked her pelvis, and that the injury was severe enough to have her living in a wheelchair, for a while at least. They'd said once the bones healed and with time and rehab she
should
get back the full use of her leg. She would always limp though, and never have the range of movement in her hip she'd had prior to the accident. Thanks to all her years of gymnastics, she had great flexibility. Just not in her pelvis anymore.

Every morning when she woke she would put all her energy into moving her leg, but on her own she couldn't do much. It didn't help she'd only been shown the exercises a couple of times and struggled to recall precisely how she should do them. Robyn was supposed to be helping her with them but she never did. Her Dad might pay her to be Tina's "caretaker" but she was pretty lousy at it. Robyn was also a real mean bitch when she wanted to be, so Tina tried to stay on her good side. After all, without Robyn, Tina would be housebound.

She tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling.

"How the hell did I end up here?"

Her life wasn't her own and there wasn't anything much she could do about it. Confined to a wheelchair, she was unable to do so many everyday things for herself, stuck with a harsh evil bitch who she was forced to rely on.

Her father had taken leave from his engineering job on the oil rig out in Bass Strait when she had her accident. One month later when his savings started running low, he'd rung to go back to work but there were no jobs available. His old boss had heard about work going out on the rigs in the Middle East. It was great money, but the only position open had been a twelve-month contract. He wasn't due back for another eleven months. Which meant not only would he miss Christmas, but he'd also miss her twenty-first birthday.

Even though she hadn't seen much of her dad in the last five years, the two months they'd spent together before he had to go back to work had been great. He'd been mostly busy renovating the house around her, but she'd sit and chat with him while he did his work. Life hadn't seemed so bad with her dad around, cracking jokes and calling her his sweet pea. She loved her dad, and he made sure he told her every day that he loved her.

So unlike her mother.

Tina couldn't for the life of her work out why her mother had left him. He was a hard worker, still good looking with his short brown-blond hair and trimmed beard, and he treated everyone in his life well. Her mother must truly be mad to have left him. Then again, the woman did abandon her only child in the midst of a crisis—and didn't that just say it all. Tina briefly wondered what her mother was doing with herself now, before she released a huff as she shook her head. She honestly didn't care what her mother was up too.

Tina came back to the present as she lowered her head to look back at the computer screen in front of her. Within days of entering Robyn's care, she'd declared Tina needed something to fill her time. So Robyn had shown her how to do the salon's bookwork. Tina had always liked working with numbers. She'd excelled at mathematics the whole way through school, so doing the bookwork didn't bother her. The fact Robyn didn't pay her for it, now that bothered her a great deal.

Rolling the mouse to wake the screen up, she stared at the home page of the accounting software with a sigh. She needed to head out to the front desk to grab yesterday's receipts. Robyn always forgot to bring them out for her, but got shitty with her if she caught Tina out front. Tugging on her fingerless gloves making sure the padded palms were where they needed to be, she began wheeling herself out to the front desk. She didn't pay any attention to what was going on around her. There was no need. Robyn and Barbara simply ignored her existence unless they wanted her to do something, and she didn't want to focus on the happy customers going about their day. She was on her way back to the office with the receipts, wheeling past the front door when it burst open and a man came barreling in, nearly plowing right into her chair. Her muscles tensed and her heart sped up in fear. Without raising her head, she quickly apologized and tried to wheel away before Robyn noticed.

"What on earth do you think you are doing out here, Tina?" Robyn's high pitch voice grated over her nerves. With a long exhale, Tina looked up as Robyn approached. She knew better than to try and defend herself. Robyn would never listen.

Tina turned her gaze from Robyn to see who had come in. Her breath froze in her chest. The man was gorgeous. He had to be at least six-foot-two, ink black hair that was long enough to look shaggy in a cool designer kind of way. His eyes, framed with dark lashes, were blue with grey specks and they were focused on her with a scorching intensity that left her feeling a little lightheaded. A twitch of his lips drew her attention to the most kissable mouth she'd ever laid eyes on. This hunk put to shame any other man she'd ever seen before, even the pretty-boy athletes she used to date in Sydney.

"Tina, leave young Mr. White alone. You know better than to talk to customers. Now return out the back this instant and get on with those books like you should be doing. They won't do themselves, you know." Robyn grabbed Tina's chair and quickly wheeled her out of the man's sight, breaking the moment and the energy sizzling between them. Once they were behind the door-curtain, Robyn gave her another mouthful of choice words, which Tina really didn't care about enough to listen to, before she returned to the salon, leaving her alone.