Read Online Practice Makes Perfect by Kathryn Shay - Free Book Online Page B

alone, Paige.”
    She started to bristle. “I...” Then she remembered his parents’ boating accident. “You’re right. It’s just that I’d never get to use the pool if I had to wait for company.”
    They drank in silence, though she noticed Ian only sipped a little, probably because he was driving.
    “Today was hard for you, wasn’t it,” she finally said.
    Drawing in a deep breath, his eyes got bleaker than an overcast sky. “I didn’t expect it.”
    “They’ve only been gone a year. What
did
you expect?”
    “For it to hurt less by now.”
    “There’s no time limit on grief. Go easy on yourself.” She smiled. “Elsa would have loved the Center.”
    He grinned. “More than you would have guessed.” His eyes focused on her. “That I was adopted came as a surprise to you?”
    “Yes.”
    “You never knew?”
    “No, of course not. Elsa and I didn’t share many personal things. Sometimes, when I was worried about Jade, I couldn’t help confiding in her. Asking for her advice. But I never wanted to be a burden.”
    “Helping your friends isn’t a burden.” She said nothing more. “Who’s Jade?”
    “My sister.”
    His eyebrows arched. “I didn’t know you had one.”
    “She lives in New York City.”
    “Why did you need to talk to Mom about her?”
    “I raised her till she was eighteen.”
    “What about your parents?”
    The coldness seeped in.
There’s no time limit on grief
. “They’re dead. They died when I was seventeen and Jade was fourteen.”
    “I’m sorry.” He waited. “It must be hard having your sister live so far away. I wouldn’t like it if my brother wasn’t nearby.”
    Trying to conceal her interest, she asked, “Is he...”
    “Adopted? Yes. Derek wasn’t Lynne’s child, though. Mom and Dad got him through another one of Dad’s patients.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Lynne and Derek’s mother were my father’s patients.”
    “Oh.”
    “It’s not that unusual. Doctors sometimes arrange private adoptions.”
    “Is that why the process was open?”
    “No. My dad was a big believer in openness and honesty about everything. He thought this way would be best for everybody.”
    “Was it?”
    “Yes. My life has been far richer with Lynne Chandler in it.” He gazed at the water again. “Especially now.”
    “It’s a little unusual to keep the birth mother’s name, isn’t it?”
    “I guess. Mom and Dad said they had so much of me, they could give her that one little piece.”
    “That’s nice, Ian. I’m glad it worked out for you.”
    “But you don’t agree with open adoption, do you?”
    “Why would you say that?”
    “Your reaction when I introduced Lynne. And now you seem tense.”
    Paige did not want to discuss this. “I think young mothers have to decide for themselves what’s best. What works for one girl, or family, isn’t necessarily the best thing for everyone.”
    “No, of course not.”
    His perusal of her made her uncomfortable. Or maybe it was just the topic.
    “In any case, it worked for me,” he told her.
    “And Elsa, she was all right with it?”
    “She was a gem.” He cleared his throat. “In more ways than one.”
    Again, images of her mentor surfaced: Elsa demonstrating how to give shots with a minimum of trauma; Elsa staying all night by a little boy’s bedside, teaching dedication by example. She was a gem professionally, and from what Ian said, in her personal life, too.
    Paige’s stomach growled, and she was thankful for the distraction. “I’m hungry. Shall we put the steaks on?”
    Scalpel barked.
    “Looks like everybody wants to eat,” Ian said.
    An hour later the remains of rare steak, a huge green salad and hot crusty bread that Paige had bought on the way home—Ian had called it manna from heaven—was spread out before them. Ian closed his eyes as he put his feet up on the chair opposite him and sighed. “What more could a man ask for?”
    Scalpel lay at Paige’s feet. She wasn’t used to having dogs