The M.D. Next Door

by Gina Wilkins

  Brushed by the curls of her saucy new haircut, Alice’s cheeks reddened with embarrassed pleasure. She pushed her glasses up on her nose and muttered, “I’m not the star, Daddy. I only had two solo lines. Andrea Merchant is like the star of the choir. She always gets the long solos.”

  “I like your voice better than hers,” Meagan asserted loyally as she dipped a french fry in ketchup. “She leans too heavily on melisma for my taste. I know it’s the style these days, but I think it’s overused.”

  “Melisma?” Seth wasn’t sure he’d heard that term before.

  “Stretching a single syllable with several notes,” Alice supplied quickly, her reciting tone suggesting it was a definition she’d learned in class. “You know, like ba-a-a-aa-by.”

  She warbled the word in illustration, hitting several notes in the process.

  Seth nodded to indicate he understood. “That technique is overused these days. I didn’t know what it was called, but I often wish the singer would just pick a note and stick with it.”

  Meagan and Alice launched into a discussion of current music stars and their singing styles, and Meagan proved to be quite up-to-date on contemporary music, though she admitted she didn’t follow the younger musical acts as much. Alice, whose taste in music had always been eclectic, made a snide comment about the teen-idol performers most popular with her classmates. Watching her, Seth tried to hide his amusement at her obvious attempt to appear more mature than the other young teens in front of Meagan.

  His smile faded when he noted that Alice seemed to be imitating some of Meagan’s mannerisms, following the older woman’s example in cutting her cheeseburger into neat quarters before eating it, dabbing her napkin tidily at the corners of her mouth after each bite. He really didn’t mind that Alice had befriended the nice neighbor, but he hoped she wasn’t getting too attached. For all he knew, Meagan could lose interest in the kid once her sick leave ended and she returned to her former schedule. Not many single women Meagan’s age wanted to spend time with a thirteen-year-old—not even one as clever and sweet as his daughter, he thought, well aware of his bias.

  It had been his idea to invite Meagan to join them for dinner after the concert. He’d figured she hadn’t eaten that early, and she’d confirmed his guess. He’d told her he’d promised Alice cheeseburgers and fries at her favorite burger joint after the concert—a rare treat, since he tried to promote healthy eating most evenings. At the time he’d offered, he hadn’t been sure he’d even be at the concert, but he’d promised to take her to dinner as soon as he could get there afterward. He was relieved he’d been able to make it to the event, though it had required almost superhuman effort to make it there on time.

  Meagan had hesitated when he’d extended the invitation to her, but once again Alice had persuaded her to accept. He figured the least he could do was buy Meagan a burger since she had been nice enough to attend Alice’s concert. As kind as her intention had been, it still grated that it had been partially motivated by pity because poor Alice had a busy, working dad. Even though Meagan had assured him she understood the demands of single parenthood, she’d still felt obliged to fill in for him tonight, apparently. He was doubly glad he’d been able to get there, both for Alice’s sake and to prove to Meagan that he really did put his daughter above all his other responsibilities. He couldn’t say why it was so important for her, in particular, to see that.

  He’d invited Nina to dinner, too, but Nina declined, saying her favorite television program was on that evening and she didn’t want to miss it. Seth hadn’t missed Nina’s little nod of approval when he’d included Meagan in the outing. Nina had dropped a couple of little hints about what a nice woman Meagan seemed to be and how well she and Alice got along and wasn’t it interesting that such a pretty single woman—emphasis on single—lived so close to his new house?

  Seth was more amused than annoyed by his longtime housekeeper’s blatant matchmaking. Meagan seemed to be exactly the type of woman he should date, actually. Attractive, intelligent, and she liked his daughter. He had to admit he had quite a physical reaction to her warm smiles, and he enjoyed watching the emotions dancing through her expressive blue eyes. He’d been keenly aware of her sitting so close to him in the darkened auditorium, her arm bumping his when they applauded, her eyes meeting his in the shadows when they found something mutually amusing.

  He’d been aware of the curious glances they’d gotten from his acquaintances among the other parents. They had probably assumed he and Meagan had arranged to meet there. Had that been true, it would have been the first time he’d attended one of his daughter’s school activities with anyone other than his housekeeper or, occasionally, Alice’s maternal grandparents.

  He wouldn’t mind getting to know Meagan better—on a one-to-one basis—but what if it didn’t work out? Would Alice be disappointed yet again? Or, equally worrisome, what if it did work out? Was Alice really prepared to share her father’s attention, when he had to ration his time with her as it was? And speaking of time, did he really have enough of it to divide between his daughter and a more adult relationship?

  “I felt so sorry for Jeffrey when his voice cracked in the middle of his solo line,” Alice said, calling Seth’s attention abruptly back to the conversation. “Jeffrey was so embarrassed. He’s really nice, in a shy sort of way.”

  Something about her self-conscious tone caught Seth’s notice. Did his daughter have a crush on a boy in her choir? Was she old enough to have crushes already? Did he have to start worrying about that now? She wasn’t anywhere near old enough to have a boyfriend, and if she thought she was going to date at thirteen she had another think coming!

  And hadn’t he just been sitting there worrying about the consequences of a relationship with a woman he hardly knew? One who might not even be interested in going out with him anyway?

  They were quite a pair, he and his daughter. For now, it was probably best for them both to stay single.

  “I had a good time tonight, Dad. Thanks for the burger. And for letting me have the hot fudge sundae for dessert. It was so good!”

  Tossing his keys on the counter as they walked into the house a while later, Seth ruffled his daughter’s hair affectionately. “You’re welcome, Roo. You deserved it after that great concert.”

  She wrapped her arms around his waist for a big hug. “I’m glad you could be there.”

  “So am I, kiddo. Though there will still be times when my work will interfere with other things,” he warned her candidly. “I have to make a living for us.”

  “I know, Dad,” she said, rolling her eyes a little as she stepped back. “I’m not a little kid, I understand about work commitments. But I’m glad you could come tonight, anyway.”

  “Me, too.” He picked up a stack of mail Nina had left on the counter for him and flipped through the envelopes. Bills, mostly. Credit card and insurance offers. A postcard from his favorite men’s clothing store announcing an annual sale on suits. He’d have to check that out, he could use a new suit for summer.

  Slitting open a small, square, cream-colored envelope, he drew out a folded card and scanned it quickly. He groaned.

  Alice looked around from the sink, where she was cleaning Waldo’s water dish and filling it with fresh water for the night while the dog whined impatiently from the other side of the back door. “What is it, Dad?”

  “It’s a reminder for a fancy charity thing I’m supposed to attend. It’s a week from Friday. Clever of DeAnna to send out reminders ten days ahead, this thing’s been scheduled for months and I’d forgotten all about it.”

  “You hate fancy charity things,” Alice said sympathetically.

  She knew him well. He nodded grimly. “I do. But I’ve got to go to this one. DeAnna is the managing partner’s new wife. He’s going to be checking who supports her at this.”

  “Then I guess you have to go.”

  “Yeah,” he grumbled. “I guess I do.”

  She glanced at the Norman Rockwell cal
endar attached to the side of the refrigerator with a heavy-duty magnet, the calendar Nina used to keep track of the family’s schedule. “It’s already written down. You just haven’t looked.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure it’s on my personal calendar, too. Just been too busy lately to look that far ahead. I’d have seen it eventually.”

  “That’s the night of my sleepover party at Gayla’s house for her thirteenth birthday. Her mom’s hiring a party planner and we’re going to learn how to decorate cupcakes all fancy like they do on the food channel shows. We’re going to do piping and everything.”

  “Sounds like fun. Don’t eat too many sweets,” he said automatically, still scanning the party reminder.

  A gusty sigh was her response as she carried the bowl of water to the door. He reached out to open the storm door for her, using his body to block Waldo’s eager attempt to dash inside to cause chaos. Seth was still skeptical that obedience classes would work any miracles with this particular dog. But the instructor had assured him when he’d signed up Waldo for the classes that Labradors were usually quick to learn. Waldo appeared to be mostly yellow Lab, though Seth suspected a slightly more rambunctious breed might be mixed into the bloodlines.

  “So, Dad, have you asked anyone to go with you to the fancy thing yet?” Alice inquired when she came back inside a short while later. “You know, a date?”

  “Well, no. I told you, I forgot all about it.”

  “You can’t go without a date,” she scolded, shaking her head. “That would make you look all pathetic, like you don’t have a social life.”

  He resisted pointing out the obvious fact that he did not have a social life. He was too overtaxed by his work life and his home life.

  “Maybe I’ll ask Susan if she wants to go with me,” he mused, naming a woman he’d dated a few times on a very casual basis.

  Alice made a gagging noise, pantomiming a finger down her throat.

  He frowned. She had met Susan only once, and that was for maybe fifteen minutes. Susan had ridden with them while he’d driven Alice to a friend’s house before he and Susan attended a holiday party early in December. Susan had been perfectly nice to Alice, and Alice had responded politely—as she was expected to do with adults. It occurred to Seth only now that Alice had never mentioned Susan since.

  “What’s wrong with her?” he asked, genuinely curious.

  “She’s so fake. Fake tan, fake hair, fake eye color, fake boobs.”

  A little shocked that his young daughter had noticed those things—kids grew up way too fast these days!—he scolded, “That’s not very nice, Alice.”

  “Sorry. But it’s true.”

  Well, yeah, he thought with a little wince. It sort of was. Susan was unabashedly vain about her appearance, and didn’t mind resorting to artifice to enhance it but it paid off for her. She looked great. And she was quite pleasant company, though he admitted uncomfortably that she rarely crossed his mind when he wasn’t in need of a convenient escort for some professional function. He doubted that she thought of him any more often. They were casual friends, nothing more, and that suited both of them.

  “She’s not so bad. She said she thought you were very sweet.”

  Of course, she’d said it in a slightly patronizing tone that Alice would have hated. Susan made no pretense to be the maternal type.

  Looking a little abashed, Alice shrugged. “I guess she wasn’t so bad, really, but so not your type, Dad.”

  “I’m not sure I have a type right now.”

  “What about Meagan?”

  He paused in the process of getting a glass for a drink of water. “Uh—what about Meagan?”

  His daughter gave him a wide-eyed, innocent smile. “You could always ask her to the charity thing. I bet she’d go. She’s pretty bored, being on sick leave and all.”

  Hardly a flattering reason for Meagan to accept an invitation with him, he thought, then quickly shook his head. “I don’t know, Alice. I hardly know her.”

  “You’ve had two dinners with her,” she reminded him unnecessarily. “You seemed to like her fine. You smiled a lot with her.”

  “I do like her. Your friend is quite nice.” He stressed the “your.”

  “But that doesn’t mean she would be interested in going with me to a charity ball.”

  “You could ask her and see. Or I could ask her for you. I’m going swimming at her house after school Thursday.”

  “I’ll do my own asking,” he said hastily. “Don’t you even think about it.”

  She poked out her lip a little, as if she couldn’t see a problem with her making his social arrangements, but she nodded. “Okay. So you’ll ask her? I’ll give you her cell phone number. She gave it to me.”

  “I’ll consider it.” Maybe he would ask Meagan. Maybe she wouldn’t mind being invited at a fairly late date to attend a rather exclusive social event with him. He’d make it clear when he asked—if he asked—that there would be no hard feelings if she declined, that she and Alice could still be friends, if she wanted, and that they could still be cordial neighbors. No pressure.

  Still—

  “If you’re trying to be a matchmaker for me and Meagan, you can forget it,” he warned his daughter. “I’m not looking for a girlfriend right now, okay? You know how busy I am. There’s just no time for a relationship. I want to spend as much of my free time as I can with you.”

  “I’m not matchmaking,” she protested too quickly and a bit too loudly. “I just thought you’d have fun with Meagan at the charity thing. Geez.”

  “Okay, fine. Just remember what I said.”

  “But it’s not like you couldn’t get married again or something, if you wanted to, Dad. You don’t have to stay single just because of me. I mean, I know you and Mom are never going to get back together.”

  “You’re right, honey. That’s not going to happen.”

  “It’s okay,” she assured him. “I know all about some people not being able to live together. You and Mom are too different. I love you both, but you’d never be happy living the way she does and she wouldn’t be happy living here with us. I want you both to be happy.”

  Sometimes his daughter’s quaint mix of innocence and maturity broke his heart. This was one of those times. “Thank you, Alice. That’s all we want for you, too.”

  “I know, Daddy. So you’ll ask Meagan to the thing?”

  The segue made him a little uncomfortable, but he nodded. “I’ll ask her. That doesn’t mean she’ll accept. Which is perfectly okay. Promise me you won’t say a word to her about it either way.”

  She frowned a little but nodded reluctantly. “I promise.”

  “Okay. Now, you’d better get busy with whatever you have to do before bedtime. It’s still a school night.”

  “I don’t have any homework tonight. But I’ll go change into my pj’s and lay out my clothes for tomorrow.”

  Asking Meagan to the charity thing could be a bad idea on so many levels, Seth thought as his daughter headed for her room. Yet picturing himself attending with Meagan made him dread the event a little less. Assuming she agreed to go with him, of course.

  Meagan hung up her phone Wednesday afternoon feeling slightly bemused. Her mother and sister looked up from their coffee with interest when she rejoined them at her mother’s kitchen table, having taken her call in another room for privacy. With Meagan still on sick leave for another week and Madison free for a rare weekday afternoon, they had taken advantage of the chance to get together for coffee and cake.

  “Well?” Madison prompted before Meagan was even settled comfortably in her chair again. “That was obviously a call from a guy. We want details, don’t we, Mom?”

  Their mother shook her head with a laugh. “Don’t get me in the middle of this. I’m not asking any questions.”

  “Well, I am. Who was it, Meagan?”

  Meagan sighed gustily. “Not that it’s any of your business, but it was Seth Llewellyn.”

  “Alice’s dad?”


  “Yes.”

  “And?”

  “And…he asked me to attend a charity dance with him next Friday night. Nothing serious, he just needed a date.”

  “Ah hah!”

  “Ah hah, what?”

  “I thought you were interested in him,” Madison said smugly. “You said he’s cute and you’ve been spending time with his kid. Meagan’s got a crush.”

  “Don’t be so juvenile, Maddie.”

  “Just being observant,” her sister retorted. “Your cheeks were all pink and your eyes were all shiny when you came back from your call. You’re so interested.”

  Meagan felt her cheeks warm again. So maybe she’d been a little flustered by Seth’s call. She wasn’t going to deny that there’d been a few sparks between them, which she had suspected weren’t all on her side. But she hadn’t expected him to call today.

  He had apologized for asking with only a little more than a week’s notice, and had made a somewhat rehearsed-sounding speech about how he would understand perfectly if she turned him down. It had been that rather charmingly self-conscious assurance that had prompted her to accept despite any reservations she might have about going out with her single-dad neighbor.

  “Like I said, he needed a date for a professional function,” she muttered, picking up her cup of cooling coffee. “I got the impression he had forgotten about the event.”

  “And your name just happened to pop into his mind.”

  “Or maybe I was the only person he thought might be available on rather short notice,” she shot back at her sister. “Really, Madison, aren’t we beyond teasing each other when we have a date? We’re hardly naive teenagers still all giggly about spending time with boys.”

  That said, Meagan turned firmly to their mom. “Is Meemaw eating any better since her doctor changed her meds?”

  Their grandmother had visited with them for a few minutes when Meagan and Madison arrived half an hour earlier but she’d excused herself then for a nap, asking her daughter to assist her to bed. She was spending more and more time in her bed these days, despite her daughter’s efforts to keep her active and engaged.