Read Online Practice Makes Perfect (Single Father) by Janice Macdonald - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Janice Macdonald
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fossils?”
He tried to remember his schedule for the coming week. He was on call at least one day. And he’d promised Lucy something he could no longer recall until he checked his calendar. “Ah, let—”
“That’s okay,” Sarah said, her voice artificially bright. “You’re busy, I know.” She smiled. “Unlike me, unemployed and footloose—”
“Sarah, shut up. I’d love to do something, I’m just trying to remember what I have going. Let me check my schedule and talk to Lucy.”
“I was thinking of driving out to Agate Beach,” Sarah said. “There’s this little girl in Nicaragua she was…probably about twelve. I used to tell her about the fossils. I promised I’d take some pictures for her.”
“She was one of your patients?”
“One of the girls in an orphanage. They were all my patients. Pepita was special, though.”
“I never asked you why you left.”
“Difference of opinion with the people who ran the place. More and more bureaucracy. As much as I loved the girls, I could just see the way things were going. It was time for me to leave, to do something else. But I miss the children.”
“You stay in contact with Pepita?”
Sarah nodded, her expression faraway. “Ted and I even discussed adopting her, but her birth mother fought it. The mother had fallen on hard times, which is why Pepita was in the orphanage, but the mother had first rights.”
Matthew thought of a dozen things he wanted to ask her, but she’d retreated to that secret place again where questions felt like intrusions. And then as though a curtain had parted, Sarah was back again. “Remember when we got trapped by the tide at Agate Beach?”
“I know, I was just thinking about that. And that time you split your head open—”
“Trying to get away from you,” Sarah said. “You were trying to make me eat seaweed.”
“Why don’t we all go to Agate Beach?” he suggested. “Checkout the tide pools. I think Lucy would enjoy that.” But even as he spoke the words, he was imagining Lucy’s reaction. As though he’d proposed a root canal sans anesthesia. “It would be educational for her,” he said. “Left to her own devices, she’d spend all her time at the mall.”
N OTHING WAS RESOLVED of course, but walking through the hospital lobby after seeing Matthew, Sarah couldn’t stop smiling. She smiled at an old woman in a brown raincoat, smiled at a young mother holding the hands of a curly-haired toddler, smiled at the janitor. This feeling of happiness could get addictive, she thought as she walked out to her car. Just spilling her guts to Elizabeth, that surprised her no end, then actually confronting Matthew instead of just hiding out—which she would have done if Elizabeth hadn’t suggested talking to him. It was like lancing a boil or something, letting all the poisonous feelings out. Maybe one of these days, she would tell him about Ted.
In the car, she dug out her cell phone and called Elizabeth at the restaurant. “If this is a bad time, I can call back,” she said when Elizabeth answered, sounding distracted. “I just wanted to say thanks for the suggestion. About talking to Matthew, I mean. I did and I feel a whole lot better.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Yeah, well, I can’t always say I feel better after I’ve talked to him. Mostly he makes me feel like throwing a brick through the wall, but, hey, glad to be of help.”
“I thought maybe I could buy you lunch?”
“Can’t get away,” Elizabeth said. “I serve lunch, remember? But call me, okay?”
O N THE WAY back to her apartment, Sarah stopped at her mother’s house to pick up the rest of the boxes still stored in the basement. As she let herself in, an enormously fat tabby met her in the hallway and hissed at her. Since Rose had always professed to be allergic to cats, the cat was something of a surprise. It seemed to take an instant dislike to Sarah, hissing again as she moved past it.
“Listen, buddy,” she told it,
He tried to remember his schedule for the coming week. He was on call at least one day. And he’d promised Lucy something he could no longer recall until he checked his calendar. “Ah, let—”
“That’s okay,” Sarah said, her voice artificially bright. “You’re busy, I know.” She smiled. “Unlike me, unemployed and footloose—”
“Sarah, shut up. I’d love to do something, I’m just trying to remember what I have going. Let me check my schedule and talk to Lucy.”
“I was thinking of driving out to Agate Beach,” Sarah said. “There’s this little girl in Nicaragua she was…probably about twelve. I used to tell her about the fossils. I promised I’d take some pictures for her.”
“She was one of your patients?”
“One of the girls in an orphanage. They were all my patients. Pepita was special, though.”
“I never asked you why you left.”
“Difference of opinion with the people who ran the place. More and more bureaucracy. As much as I loved the girls, I could just see the way things were going. It was time for me to leave, to do something else. But I miss the children.”
“You stay in contact with Pepita?”
Sarah nodded, her expression faraway. “Ted and I even discussed adopting her, but her birth mother fought it. The mother had fallen on hard times, which is why Pepita was in the orphanage, but the mother had first rights.”
Matthew thought of a dozen things he wanted to ask her, but she’d retreated to that secret place again where questions felt like intrusions. And then as though a curtain had parted, Sarah was back again. “Remember when we got trapped by the tide at Agate Beach?”
“I know, I was just thinking about that. And that time you split your head open—”
“Trying to get away from you,” Sarah said. “You were trying to make me eat seaweed.”
“Why don’t we all go to Agate Beach?” he suggested. “Checkout the tide pools. I think Lucy would enjoy that.” But even as he spoke the words, he was imagining Lucy’s reaction. As though he’d proposed a root canal sans anesthesia. “It would be educational for her,” he said. “Left to her own devices, she’d spend all her time at the mall.”
N OTHING WAS RESOLVED of course, but walking through the hospital lobby after seeing Matthew, Sarah couldn’t stop smiling. She smiled at an old woman in a brown raincoat, smiled at a young mother holding the hands of a curly-haired toddler, smiled at the janitor. This feeling of happiness could get addictive, she thought as she walked out to her car. Just spilling her guts to Elizabeth, that surprised her no end, then actually confronting Matthew instead of just hiding out—which she would have done if Elizabeth hadn’t suggested talking to him. It was like lancing a boil or something, letting all the poisonous feelings out. Maybe one of these days, she would tell him about Ted.
In the car, she dug out her cell phone and called Elizabeth at the restaurant. “If this is a bad time, I can call back,” she said when Elizabeth answered, sounding distracted. “I just wanted to say thanks for the suggestion. About talking to Matthew, I mean. I did and I feel a whole lot better.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Yeah, well, I can’t always say I feel better after I’ve talked to him. Mostly he makes me feel like throwing a brick through the wall, but, hey, glad to be of help.”
“I thought maybe I could buy you lunch?”
“Can’t get away,” Elizabeth said. “I serve lunch, remember? But call me, okay?”
O N THE WAY back to her apartment, Sarah stopped at her mother’s house to pick up the rest of the boxes still stored in the basement. As she let herself in, an enormously fat tabby met her in the hallway and hissed at her. Since Rose had always professed to be allergic to cats, the cat was something of a surprise. It seemed to take an instant dislike to Sarah, hissing again as she moved past it.
“Listen, buddy,” she told it,
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