by Nella Tyler
I opened my desk drawer with a sigh and took out my purse. I reached inside and fumbled around until my fingers closed around my phone. Of course. Of course on the night I actually have a date, some asshole in the clinic decides to ruin it. I pushed my irritation aside and found Patrick’s number in my contacts list.
“Hey, Mack—I didn’t expect to get a call from you so soon!” I smiled wryly at the pleased sound in Patrick’s voice.
“I hate to do this to you, but I have to take a rain check for tonight,” I said quickly. “If it were anything else, I’d move heaven and earth to make it, but I’m going to be stuck here for the next few hours.”
“What’s going on?” I looked over at the man, and then out into the waiting room where the police were talking to the lone front desk woman who remained in her post.
“There was an incident here a few minutes ago; you remember that guy who came in with his daughter just before you and Landon left?”
“No… I was too focused on you to notice anyone else,” Patrick said. “What happened?”
“He blew up at my friend Amie and, to make a long story short she’s on her way to the hospital. The cops just got here, and I’m the senior PT on duty and on the scene—so I have to do all the paperwork.”
“Oh shit! I hope Amie’s okay!”
“We think she might have a concussion. She’s going to be on limited duty—at best—for a month or two.” I shook my head, glancing over once again to the strong male PTs holding down the asshole that had assaulted my friend. “But I’m going to have to file a police report and fill out a bunch of forms and deal with a lot of other details. I’m just not going to be able to get out of here in time to meet you for the play.”
“If you have to take care of business, of course I understand,” Patrick said. “Take care of yourself, and stay out of the way of that guy—they tend to get even more aggressive once the cops start putting the squeeze on them.”
“I’ll do that,” I said, smiling in spite of how awful I felt. “If you’re free in a day or two, I’d love to make it up to you.”
“I look forward to it,” Patrick said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.
“Cops are coming to the back,” I told him. “I have to go.” Patrick said goodbye and I had my phone put away by the time the cops made their way to the back.
“Who’s in charge back here?” One of the officers asked me.
I stood up from my desk and made my way quickly to the two police who’d showed up in response to the call. Taking a deep breath, I introduced myself to them. “I’m the senior PT on duty right now; Amie—the victim—was senior to me, but obviously she is on the way to the hospital.”
“That the man involved?” The cop pointed to the parent, still held down by two of the therapists.
“It is,” I confirmed.
“And it looks like you’ve kept most of the people who witnessed the incident,” the second cop said, almost making it a question.
“All but the other staff members who are taking Amie to the hospital,” I told him. “You can catch up with them at the hospital, right? I think they’re taking her to West Suburban.”
“We’ll find out where, and we’ll talk to her once they’ve got her stabilized and able to have a chat with us,” the first officer said. “Why don’t you have a seat? This will only take a few minutes, and then we can give you what you need for your reports.” I nodded and sat down.
It may have only taken a few minutes for them to get my report on the incident, but it took a lot longer for them to wander around the room, talking to the patients’ parents and the other members of the staff who’d witnessed the attack. One or the other of the two cops stood with the asshole father all the while, and once they’d cleared everyone to leave, they started interrogating him—about what had happened, about whether he had someone to take care of his daughter while they took him into custody.
Predictably, the dad started yelling once it became clear to him that the police weren’t just going to let him walk away. “You’re going to believe that bitch over me? I told you, she was putting my daughter in danger!”
“Daddy, no she wasn’t,” his daughter said, her voice shaking.
“Sir—you’re scaring your daughter right now,” the cop said. “You need to calm yourself down. Now.” I shook my head, thinking to myself that if the asshole had been capable of calming himself down, the incident wouldn’t even have happened. The police finally got him to admit that he had a wife, and I sprang into action, calling the poor woman to come and get her daughter. Two more cops had arrived by then, and the source of the terrible situation found himself escorted out of the office and then the building, still yelling and shouting about his rights as a parent and cursing.
Charlotte sat with the man’s daughter as we waited for her mom to show up, and I started working on my paperwork, getting the details I needed from the two cops who’d responded to the situation first. They were waiting for the man’s wife as well, and they were going to explain about the arrest and what she could expect. I could only hope that the whole stupid mess wouldn’t lose us a bunch of patients—not that I could blame anyone who didn’t want to come in after something like that had happened. When the asshole’s wife finally arrived, she snatched up her daughter and held her tightly. She didn’t seem all that surprised that her husband had been arrested for assault and battery. “If I promise that he’ll never come back—that I’ll bring her in myself—can Dani keep coming? I don’t want to risk her missing out on recovery time,” she said. I thought about it.
“I’ll have to talk to the office manager, and to Amie,” I told the woman, feeling exhausted after all of the drama of the situation, and after the fear that had boiled in me at how injured Amie had been. “But your husband is absolutely no longer welcome in the building. I wish it could be different, and I know that Amie won’t want to jeopardize Dani’s recovery anymore than you do.” I took a deep breath. “If we do have to sever the relationship, then we will provide you with a list of other physical therapy clinics that your insurance will cover.”
“I appreciate it,” she said. She left quickly after that, and I sat down at my desk, answering a few more questions about the incident and giving the cops the details they would need to wrap up the investigation. I thought about the date that I was missing, and knew that no matter how much I wanted to be there, I was too tired—even if we could have made it on time. When the police left, I finished the job of straightening up and started gathering my things to go home. As I thought about the phone call to Patrick, I wondered if he hadn’t maybe agreed to a rain check a little easily. He hadn’t even asked if I was sure I wouldn’t be able to make it—or if I wanted him to come over instead, maybe spend the night in. It’s only the third date. You can’t expect him to be that familiar with you and that attuned to you so soon. I tried not to think about it, but in the back of my mind I decided that if he didn’t call later in the night to at least check up on me—or the next day or so to reschedule—that I would just assume that it had been a nice try, and some good sex, and leave it at that.
Chapter Eight
Patrick
“I’m glad everything worked out okay with Amie,” I told Mackenzie, holding her hand tightly as we both glided together on the ice. “Do you think she’ll be back at work soon?”
“A couple of weeks,” Mack said, smiling wryly. “At that she hates the fact that she had to cut off from her other patients so abruptly.” She shook her head. “I’ve taken on a couple, and some of the other PTs have taken on the rest of them.”
I’d been worried when Mackenzie had called me to cancel our date a few days before; the fact that one of the parents had flown off the handle and started to attack one of the therapists was almost unbelievable. I’d been on the point of asking her if she wanted me to come back. I had already dropped Landon off with his aunt Mary for the night, and I had thought at the time that maybe Mackenzie would appreciate the comfort; but I had
second-guessed myself.
“I was worried you wouldn’t think this was all that great a date,” I said, gesturing to the ice rink, the park all around us.
“No! I love it,” Mackenzie smiled, looking up at the lights that ringed the rink. “I haven’t gone ice skating in—probably years, now that I think about it.”
“Not even on your own?” It surprised me. But then, I had started taking Landon ice-skating when he was barely a year old. I couldn’t imagine a winter without going to a rink.
“Not as much fun to go ice-skating on your own,” Mackenzie pointed out. I had to agree with that.
“Well now you get to brush up on your skills,” I said, gripping her hand a little tighter. “Before you know it we’ll have an Olympic-caliber routine together.” Mackenzie laughed again, shaking her head.
“I am way too clumsy for that,” she said. “I might—if you’re lucky—let you spin me, but I’m too good at falling on my ass to let you lift me.” I tugged her a little closer to me and let go of her hand so I could wrap my arm around her back.
“I won’t be lifting you any time tonight, anyway,” I said, brushing my lips against her cheek. “I’m going to be full to the gills until lunch tomorrow after that meal at the restaurant.” I’d let Mackenzie pick our dinner spot, and she’d made a good choice: a tiny little hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant, staffed by a family that spent the entire meal we were there bickering and fighting in a good-natured way, whenever they weren’t fussing over the people in the dining room. We’d both stuffed ourselves with samosas and biryani, curry and naan and rice pudding until I was sure if I ate another bite of anything, I wasn’t going to be able to go ice-skating at all. At that, we’d taken big to-go cups of chai with us to drink out on the ice.
“I’m glad you liked that spot,” Mack said, grinning. “I’ve eaten a lot of takeout from them—and the place itself is so cozy.”
“Is it just me or was the owner’s son hitting on you?” I raised an eyebrow, pretending to look jealous; Mackenzie hadn’t acted the slightest bit interested in Ranjit, our server.
“I have it on good authority that I am a very good prospect for marriage,” Mackenzie said, giving me a haughty look. A second later, she grinned. “Though Ranjit made it clear to me months ago that if I married him, he would expect me to either work in the restaurant or stay at home. I’m sadly a career woman by temperament; I couldn’t leave the clinic just because I got married. Thus I have ruined the great love of my life.”
The mention of marriage reminded me of the bet I’d made with Landon. After three dates, I was starting to think that it would be good at least to see if she and Landon could work well together in a different setting. “You seem to really like kids,” I said, as we completed another circuit around the rink. “Do you think maybe you’d ever want to have some of your own?” Mackenzie looked startled at the question for a moment, and then a thoughtful look came across her face.
“I’ve thought about it,” she admitted. “I really do like to be around kids. There was a time—years ago, mind you—when I did the girly thing. You know: planning the dream wedding and thinking about how many kids I wanted to have.” She shrugged. “If I found someone…and if I could make it work with my job…I wouldn’t be against it.”
“If you found someone?”
Mackenzie blushed. “Someone I thought I’d want to spend the rest of my life with, obviously. I wouldn’t want to have kids with someone otherwise. And if I was by myself…” she shrugged again. “I have a lot of respect for you, raising Landon on your own. I’ve seen how hard it is to be a single parent, and I don’t know if I’d be a good parent on my own.”
“I think you’d be fine,” I told her, thinking of how she talked to the kids—Landon, and the other patients she dealt with. “You’re really good with Landon. He minds you better than his teachers.” Mackenzie laughed.
“Well I’m also dealing with him while he’s being active, which seems to be his preferred mode,” she pointed out. “For active boys like Landon it’s easier to get through their skulls when they’re moving around.”
“Maybe I should use that,” I said, chuckling. “Sometimes it’s hard to get through to him.”
“Kids always get toughest with their parents,” Mackenzie said. “They have to test the boundaries, they have to figure out what they can get away with, learn right from wrong. I’m practically a stranger to Landon.”
“Well, if we keep dating, that won’t last for long,” I pointed out. “I would—I hope you’re okay with this—expect for you and Landon to spend some time together. Do you think that would risk your professional interactions with him?”
“I don’t think so,” Mackenzie said. “Do you mind if we sit down for a minute? I’m getting a bit tired.”
“Sure!” We cut across the ice to the benches set up along the perimeter. I gestured for Mack to sit down first and then dropped to the bench next to her, taking a quick, deep breath. “So you planned your dream wedding. What did it look like?” Mackenzie giggled.
“Oh—typical teenage, early-adult stuff,” she said, shaking her head. “Perfect white dress, off the shoulder, with a train and all of it. Beautiful flowers, handsome groom waiting for me at the end of the aisle. The honeymoon down somewhere tropical.” Mack shook her head. “Of course, that’s if you never have to worry about money, if it’s just nothing to you.”
“That sounds pretty good, now that you describe it,” I told her. “What about your reception? Did you want a band or a DJ?”
“Oh—band, totally. And for the first dance it’d be some croony, sweet love song, and we’d make everyone in the room envy our great and lasting love.” Mackenzie laughed again. “I’ve come to the conclusion now though that it’s probably never going to happen.”
“Why not?” I gave her hand a quick squeeze, thinking about Landon—about his need for a mother figure, about the bet we’d made, and how much I liked Mackenzie; just liked her, above and beyond the great sex we’d had. If she’d decided that she never wanted to get married, I’d definitely have to convince myself to move on sooner or later; I couldn’t afford to get Landon’s hopes up and then disappoint him.
“I’ve been a bridesmaid too many times,” Mackenzie said, giving me a slightly sad little smile. “There’s this old saying: ‘Three times a bridesmaid, never a bride’.”
“That’s just superstition though,” I pointed out. “It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve been a bridesmaid. Not really.”
“I’ve been a bridesmaid about six times,” Mackenzie said with a sigh. “I’m not against the idea of getting married someday, but between the long hours I work and my lack of any real social life…” she shrugged, grinning again. “Why the sudden interest in my attitudes towards marriage?”
“Well,” I said, glancing out over the ice for a moment before I turned my attention back onto her. “I’m a single dad, you know? I’m not saying I want to get married next week or anything—and I want us to take it however slow you need, and just let the relationship go however it’s going to go. But eventually I do want to settle down with someone. Landon needs a real mother figure in his life.” I saw the look of surprise on Mackenzie’s face. “I’m not saying that if you’re not ready to get married tomorrow it’s not going to work. I want to do things right. But it is something I have to think about.”
“You can’t just date around with a son to raise,” Mackenzie said, nodding slowly. “You want someone you can have a long-term relationship with, someone who can kind of…not help you—you don’t need help—with Landon, but who can be sort of… there for him.”
“Right,” I agreed.
“It makes sense,” Mackenzie said quickly. She licked her lips and I wanted more than anything to kiss her; I gave in to the impulse. I let my hands fall to her waist, and even with the thick, heavy clothes she had on it was so easy to remember what Mackenzie had been like in bed, how hot she’d looked. I made myself pull back after a moment.
/> “I wish I could ask you to come home with me,” I told her lowly.
“You can’t?” Mackenzie met my gaze and I smiled sadly.
“Landon’s with his aunt; I can’t leave him there all night. If I could…” I kissed her briefly again. “But next time, I am going to plan ahead enough to make sure I can spend the whole night with you—and if possible the entire next day.” I gave her hand a squeeze and took a deep breath, trying to push down the raging hormones in my body. “Let’s get back on the ice and cool down.”
Chapter Nine
Mackenzie
Even though I would never have expected it when I first agreed to go on a date with Patrick, I found myself getting giddier and giddier, looking forward to our next night out together more and more. I’d hoped that our third date together would end the same way our second date had; but I could understand that he needed to put Landon first.
It was a slow day in the office—a lot of the other parents had heard about the incident with Amie and some of them had postponed or canceled their appointments. Patrick had had to cancel Landon’s appointment, and while I’d been disappointed, I knew that it wasn’t because of the attack; he’d mentioned that Landon had a last-minute event to get to at school, some kind of end-of-semester award ceremony that he’d been invited to.
